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More Money Than Time: Blumat Adventure

Observe & Report

Observe & Report

Well-Known Member
I need an auto watering setup. Watering is time consuming and I'm lazy. When I go out of town on a long weekend my plants get really stressed out. I also want to be able to go on vacation for up to two weeks at a time. So I'm building a Blumat system.

I have a small perpetual stealthy cab with water cooled COBs inside a shallow/wide sliding door type closet. There's a flowering chamber with three Vero 29's @ 1.9A. Below it are side-by-side mother and veg chambers, each with a single Vero 18 (moms @ 1A, veg @ 1.7A) The COBs are affixed to copper water blocks and they're all plumbed together to a PC case holding a pump and radiator on the other side of the room and outside of the closet. Build thread http://rollitup.org/t/more-money-than-brains-a-water-cooled-cab-build.802108/

Pressure pumps are noisy and regular drippers may be tough tune so each plant gets the right amount since my plants range from party cup bonsai moms to 1 or 2 gallon fabric pots. I didn't want to do a flood and drain system. The bottom compartments are only a few inches above the floor, which would make things tricky since I can't spare any vertical space at all . There might be noise issues from pumps and drains and noise is very high on my priority list. The reservoirs would have to go next to the cab which I don't want while I do have space available above my cab. I'd have to start topping up the res and replacing it and all that jazz instead of just mixing up the same formula every time and dumping it in.

Blumats are silent and adjust watering for each plant individually. Just about everyone raves about them. The downside to Blumats is they can run away. A flood would be a major hassle that I want to avoid. So I'm taking a belt and suspenders approach to dealing with it.

Belt: catch basins custom sized to cover the entire compartment and can hold the entire reservoir
&
Suspenders: industrial leak detection rope surrounding and beneath the cab connected to reservoir shut off valves and a txt/email alert system. I can't wait for that scenario to play out while I'm on vacation. "uhh hey buddy sorry to wake you up, uhh yeah I like uhh have a grow at my house and can you check on it?? like now." One of my best friends revealed his grow to me when he went on vacation and I managed to keep his plants alive so he owes me one. I'm hoping to never have to call it in.

An issue for me is the mothers. I have sixteen party cups in there with mothers and potential mothers and I'm not all that interested in reducing the number of different flavors I can keep in my harem. Blumat is available with small cones for very shallow bonsai pots, so the system should be OK in the 18 oz cups. The bonsai carrots are $20 a pop vs $5.75 or so for the regular ones. While it's well established that I have More Money Than Brains, this project is going to be expensive enough without spending another $225+ just to get teeny cones. The regular ones physically fit in the party cups without the cones being all the way at the bottom or otherwise snugged against exterior, so I'm forging ahead with them. I couldn't find anyone else online attempting to use Blumats with party cups...

So the plan is two reservoirs and systems, one for flower and one for mom/veg. Parts are in transit and on the way and I've already built one catch basin (next post.)

Feel free to chime in with your own comments. Fair warning though: I'm skeptical, cynical, and kind of a dick...
 
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Observe & Report

Observe & Report

Well-Known Member
The first order of business is to make catch basins. I'm starting with the bottom veg compartments since they're smaller.
I've never done any acrylic fabrication or carpentry to speak of, but I watched some videos on YouTube so now I'm an expert at making these things. ;-) Actually, my first try went pretty well.

I measured the compartments and got some 3/16" acrylic cut. I got a pair of machinists angle plates and I'm using some magnets screwed onto the ends of dowels as clamps. The magnets work ok but they aren't strong enough. You can see here my big screw up. Next time I'm taking all the plastic coating off. There's no point since I'm not selling these things. The coating wasn't peeled back enough and some was trapped under the side.

pic-1.jpg

"Once when I was at band clamp..." I've had these band clamps forever, I think I got them to try to cinch something down and this is the first time I've used them for their actual purpose. I was amazed I was able to find all eight corner pieces. They came in handy because the top edge needed to be clamped together to make a good fit. I probably should have paid closer attention to how they did it in those videos.

pic-2.jpg

Here is the moment of truth, the water test. There was one tiny pinprick the let a few drops out over the course of a couple of hours due to the plastic issue mentioned above. I've put more solvent in there, hopefully it sealed up. I'll test it again later.

pic-3.jpg

Installed with a nice fit. I reckon it holds 4.75 gallons of water.

pic-4.jpg

One more of these and one that's twice as big to go. I might also make my reservoirs, we'll see. Still lots of work to do!
 
Zoltan32

Zoltan32

Well-Known Member
looks like you got it all figured out? it took me a second to grasp what was going on. So you are going to put the actual reservoirs up top and let gravity do the rest? the reservoirs you are putting in each section is just to catch the entire reservoir above if it decides to drain away?
why not just drill in ~3/4" hole in the bottom of each cabinet, put a barb fitting on the bottom of each of the lower reservoirs, and run tubes down to the bottom of the cab? or even route them somewhere safe to drain... maybe only attach the tubes when you are going to be gone, take them off when you need it to look 'normal'
Id worry about the plants floating up and falling over, esp in the the solo cups, if you were to leave it completely sealed and it overfills to the top.

Just went through your grow thread, that things so rad. Anyway just wanted to try and give ya some ideas, These cabinet grows are where its at. So cool to see all the various methods you all come up with.
 
Observe & Report

Observe & Report

Well-Known Member
Blumats are low pressure and can work on gravity. There is no drain near my cabinet. There isn't any space below the cabinet for catching run off nor is there next to the cab. The Blumats will be set to little to no run-off. The catch basins are just for emergencies.

Thanks for the heads up on the floating cups, didn't think about that. I wonder how much of an issue it will be because the cups have (or will have) holes in the bottom and the catch basin will fill up very slowly, allowing time for air to escape from the medium (coco.) Maybe I need to weigh the cups down before going away for an extended time.
 
a senile fungus

a senile fungus

Well-Known Member
Observe & Report said:
Pretty cool but I'm planning to deal with pressure variation through a pair of wide/shallow reservoirs above the cab instead of pumping up to an overflow regulated upper res.
Click to expand...

I figured you had a plan.

I watched while you built your water cooled cab, I'm sure you're more than able to design an effective system for the blumats.

I just thought it'd give you an idea for clean plumbing/drainage.
 
Observe & Report

Observe & Report

Well-Known Member
Also,the moms and veg aren't anywhere near as thirsty as the flowering plants so the reservoir for the lower compartments isn't as large. I was also considering plumbing the two lower basins together. Combine those two things and an overflow in the lower compartment won't rise more than about two inches.

Those cups you see in the pic above are for clones and won't be getting Blumat carrots.
 
Observe & Report

Observe & Report

Well-Known Member
a senile fungus said:
I just thought it'd give you an idea for clean plumbing/drainage.
Click to expand...
Thanks! I'm hoping the pressure variation (about 17%) isn't too much, I'm really hoping to avoid doing an overflow system. However, now that I seem to have the capability to do rough acrylic construction, I can create a reservoir with a built in upper level to pump up to. So I can still keep everything on the shelf above the cab and use a tiny pump instead of a big able to push 6'+ from the floor. I have a feeling I'll have to eventually do that but hopefully not.
 
Observe & Report

Observe & Report

Well-Known Member
cutting holes in acrylic is a pain in the ass, almost done with reservoirs and I have all the parts for the rest, so more to come soon


pic-1.jpg
 
Observe & Report

Observe & Report

Well-Known Member
Here is the veg reservoir. The bottom holds about 3.5 gallons and the little pump on the lower right is constantly pumping up to the top through the bulkhead on the left. The water is constantly draining through the bulkhead on the right back down into the bottom. Water to feed the plants is taken from the bulkhead in the front of the top compartment. In this way the pressure going to the Blumats stays constant. The top part doesn't extend all the way to the front of the bottom, leaving a few inches to top up the reservoir or reach in and fiddle with stuff, etc...

pic-1.jpg
 
Zoltan32

Zoltan32

Well-Known Member
Pretty cool, I've been looking into building my own reservoir too. I'd like to have a sump on one side I can sit the pump in, that way I can make better use of all the water. I've watched a few videos of guys building their own fish tanks, seems pretty straight forward. Crazy that little bit of acrylic glue will seal it together.
Another little issue ive had; i dont have a top on my resv. It just slides in my cabinet under the flood table. Well the bubbles for the airstone pop and mist which ends up getting the wood damp, not good. So now i slide a piece of plastic over the top to keep it under control.

Anyway, looking good, thanks for sharing, I'll be referring to this post if I ever get started on building one.
 
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