Blumats work great. I've been using them for years with coco and have great success. I don't use dripclean, I don't flush the lines, I just keep the reservoir filled. As for the lines clogging, they don't if you use the right type of nutrients. As for washing away salt buildup, you don't need to if you feed properly.
They pretty much shoot holes into the theory that you have to water coco daily until runoff. All I do is set them and keep the reservoir topped off until harvest. It's as easy as that. As with most things cannabis, many make it more complicated than it needs to be. Set it and forget it. I'll never hand water coco again. To make it even easier I'm thinking of just setting fabric pots on a capillary mat maintained by a surface blumat. That will make it a real set it and forget it system. It will also allow for the easy removal and addition of plants without having to deal with individual blumats in the pots. Just set the pots on the mat and walk away. I go days without even looking at my plants or worrying about them being watered.
Surface Blumat for use with a capillary mat. Only $38.
Blumats in action. As you can see I don't defoliate anything either. No the lower stuff that does not get much light is stealing nutrients from the buds. That gets stripped off and made into dry ice hash. The end result is more product not less.
