Would This Setup Work?

justugh said:

well this depends

the area the tents are in ........the ducting will transfer heat and this will increase the temps of your tents intake air

Always Flexie ducting the semi ridged stuff is a bitch to work with
http://www.amazon.com/Dundas-Jafine-AF625ULPZW-Aluminum-6-Inches/dp/B001AHASV8/

my flowering tent since it was HPS i used insulted ducting (the trick is to get long strips of tape tape it down to the wall then use a staple gun to put a few at the top point and few at the lower point so the tape holds ....like tape brackets redneck style)
http://www.amazon.com/Dundas-Jafine-BPC625R6-Insulated-Flexible/dp/B0049H997K

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Glad to see you back!

malicifice said:

Glad to see you back!

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thanks man the case when away the judge basically told me go home do not get in trouble for a year or the case comes back ......the pills they were pumping into me finally cleared so my head is back to normal and i can help ppl again while i learn

SmerkedOut said:

I'm trying to decide if I should use 4 x 5 gallon buckets or 2 x 27 gallon Commander totes to make my RDWC. I'll be running 4 plants either way. The totes make the tubing way easier but also waste more water when I have to change the res.

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with a HID light

u want to go the 5 buckets 4 grow 1 mixing cell .............this will allow u to add a chiller to the set up
if u can u want to mimic this set up

justugh said:

with a HID light

u want to go the 5 buckets 4 grow 1 mixing cell .............this will allow u to add a chiller to the set up
if u can u want to mimic this set up

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Alright I'll definitely run with that then. I just wish I had a way to run my res outside my tent but it won't work because I'm doing RDWC and I couldn't get the return line out of the tent without cutting a hole in it somewhere.

SmerkedOut said:

Alright I'll definitely run with that then. I just wish I had a way to run my res outside my tent but it won't work because I'm doing RDWC and I couldn't get the return line out of the tent without cutting a hole in it somewhere.

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what tent do u have

a Dr120 will work for this they have hole in the back of the tent for power cords a low one and a high one ...........the low one would work as a pathway for the water and all that as long as u set the buckets /and mixing cell at the same lvl
this is the one i ordered .......it is darkroom dr120 rev 2.5
http://www.amazon.com/Secret-DarkRoom-II-Pro-120/dp/B0029AHQKG/

here is the marker page with info and pics .........the one u want is Darkrooom dr120 Rev 2.5
http://www.secretjardin.com/us/grow-tent-secret-jardin/dark-room-ii-grow-tent-secret-jardin.html

justugh said:

what tent do u have

a Dr120 will work for this they have hole in the back of the tent for power cords a low one and a high one ...........the low one would work as a pathway for the water and all that as long as u set the buckets /and mixing cell at the same lvl
this is the one i ordered .......it is darkroom dr120 rev 2.5
http://www.amazon.com/Secret-DarkRoom-II-Pro-120/dp/B0029AHQKG/

here is the marker page with info and pics .........the one u want is Darkrooom dr120 Rev 2.5
http://www.secretjardin.com/us/grow-tent-secret-jardin/dark-room-ii-grow-tent-secret-jardin.html

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Lighthouse Hydro 4x4x7 tent. It also has a low hole for power wires, but my return lines are hard pipe. Plus the electrical hole faces a wall in my situation. I actually think I won't have a problem with having the res in the tent if I plan out the spacing. I did the same setup in my first tent but I used a stand I already had built, so the buckets are further apart than they need to be.

SmerkedOut said:

Lighthouse Hydro 4x4x7 tent. It also has a low hole for power wires, but my return lines are hard pipe. Plus the electrical hole faces a wall in my situation. I actually think I won't have a problem with having the res in the tent if I plan out the spacing. I did the same setup in my first tent but I used a stand I already had built, so the buckets are further apart than they need to be.

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well in the tent with a HPS .....u will need that waterchiller for sure to keep the temps down

i would also use some IR blocker around the mixing cell so the light/heat is not absorbed into the water as fast

justugh said:

well in the tent with a HPS .....u will need that waterchiller for sure to keep the temps down

i would also use some IR blocker around the mixing cell so the light/heat is not absorbed into the water as fast

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The buckets are insulated, and the room is pretty cold. My water usually measures 68 degrees, and I'm going to be adding a microbe tea to my res. So I should be okay without a chiller, but I'll keep an eye on temps and see.

justugh said:

well in the tent with a HPS .....u will need that waterchiller for sure to keep the temps down

i would also use some IR blocker around the mixing cell so the light/heat is not absorbed into the water as fast

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Oh and if I need a water chiller I'll rig up an old window AC unit or something. That's sooooo much cheaper lol

SmerkedOut said:

Oh and if I need a water chiller I'll rig up an old window AC unit or something. That's sooooo much cheaper lol

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not as easy as u think

the AC unit would be running all the time u would basically need to make a radiator infront of it and pump the water up tho and then back into the buckets

the water chiller is basically that but compact and has a controller built in so if the water is at the correct temp it is not running only comes on when u need it
at the end of the day the chiller is some money but the effect it gives u and the control vs the money ........chiller is worth it

i am working to get my cash funds back up so i can get my own i plan to do RDWC under LED lights

justugh said:

not as easy as u think

the AC unit would be running all the time u would basically need to make a radiator infront of it and pump the water up tho and then back into the buckets

the water chiller is basically that but compact and has a controller built in so if the water is at the correct temp it is not running only comes on when u need it
at the end of the day the chiller is some money but the effect it gives u and the control vs the money ........chiller is worth it

i am working to get my cash funds back up so i can get my own i plan to do RDWC under LED lights

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But 2 chillers would cost me over $700. 1 AC unit, 3 water pumps, 2 liquid to liquid heat exchangers, and a couple pump controllers would cost me under $200. I'm not an expert at electronics engineering (no schooling or degree), but I do have a decent knowledge of it and I would be able to override the air conditioner's built in temperature controller. If I end up having to build this I'll post a tutorial to help others.

SmerkedOut said:

But 2 chillers would cost me over $700. 1 AC unit, 3 water pumps, 2 liquid to liquid heat exchangers, and a couple pump controllers would cost me under $200. I'm not an expert at electronics engineering (no schooling or degree), but I do have a decent knowledge of it and I would be able to override the air conditioner's built in temperature controller. If I end up having to build this I'll post a tutorial to help others.

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your going to need a 10,000 btu or higher AC unit ............i had a 6000 btu unit and it was going on full blast for 2 months last year and barely held the temp i needed (that was the reason i moved to LED to lower the heat in my area)

the chiller does cost but u will make it back with in a few grows at most 2 years (energy savings) ........u might be able to make it work but i know from my exp the chiller is needed (that HPS and black buckets black lines they absorb all that light and heat ) black takes it all why it is black ....white reflects it

that is the sucky part with hydro .........u have to have black

white allows light to pass tho to the roots .........that will cause the roots to build a bark layer keeping it from absorbing feed.......u see it in nature when the roots pop out of the ground

justugh said:

your going to need a 10,000 btu or higher AC unit ............i had a 6000 btu unit and it was going on full blast for 2 months last year and barely held the temp i needed (that was the reason i moved to LED to lower the heat in my area)

the chiller does cost but u will make it back with in a few grows at most 2 years (energy savings) ........u might be able to make it work but i know from my exp the chiller is needed (that HPS and black buckets black lines they absorb all that light and heat ) black takes it all why it is black ....white reflects it

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5000btu is equal to 2 HP, and the recommended chiller for my res size is 1/10HP. Are you talking about the evaporator of the AC being IN the water, or just the cold air blowing into the tent?

SmerkedOut said:

5000btu is equal to 2 HP, and the recommended chiller for my res size is 1/10HP. Are you talking about the evaporator of the AC being IN the water, or just the cold air blowing into the tent?

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i have a 12x12x7 room......with 3 tents 3x3x5 drying tent 4x4x6 veggie and 5x5x6 flower ........the ac was in the only window in the room pushed to one side giving me 14 inches to make a exhaust point with some plywood (the room has been sealed with polywrap and IR blocker on the ceiling ) only point of air flow is tho the door that has a 12x12 inch hole with a 500 cfm 12 inch fan installed into .....the exhaust was a 240cfm veggie and about 300cfm for flower (2 powered intakes for the tent a about 220 cfm each )

i had the ac full blasted set to 68 degrees(settings at 60 68 is the lowest it would hold) .......running a 600w veggie cool tube and a 1000w flower cool tube (hood i linked u) because i was running it so much and hard i had to get a 2 breaker for the room to handle the power .......it was barely keeping my tops under 80 F (at 80 F THC degrades faster ) i was running a 10 degree but when the temp got to be only a 6/4 degree different i was get to 86 in the tent and leaves showing heat stress

in the tent i have a 6 inch fan that moves to cover the tops and the powered intake allows me to direct the air under the fan so greater cooling of the leaves

i am east coast .........when the temps outside got above 90 the room was in trouble ........it was the only reason i did not start Rdwc i already had a fail in the test dwc to see if the temps were steady enough to run a hydro .......a 6000 btu was to weak it destoried the bush that has been growing about 8 inches in front of the window fried the whole top

just so u have a full understanding .........the house is a 2 lvls with the 1st 40% under ground on 2 side (where the tents are) ...the house has central AC(set for 72) the room it is in has no vents but the hallway that the door is in links to a room with 2 vents and a fireplace (currently the fireplace is my intake vent....as the AC vents are closed and sealed off ) summer time i reverse close the fireplace off and open the Ac vents .........the house is in a yard with several large trees that shade it most of the day about 6 hours of direct light hits roof.......the room the air comes from has no direct light windows blacked out

i took advantage of every possible fact i could to control temps ........thinking that i would not need a powerful AC like with HIDs ..........i tried everything i could think of and more there are work arounds but they require more effort time and energy to do the work (i am a redneck jerry rigging is a way of life)


i am telling u what i know out of the fact good karma saves my ass on nearly a daily base......that what i had and what i did it did not work ..........the investment in it now will save u about 3 months of head aches and freak outs with low returns

now i am testing LED
currently HID has always gotten me the most returns HP off a plant or better was avg ..........u know how it is some nice dense and some fluffy stuff

LED i am getting much denser buds with more weight per flower but the over all yield is only 3 oz to 5 oz a plant (the fluffy zone from HID is gone)

dwc during winter time to see if does like HID in winter ....keep soil going .....summer comes made the money for chillers and whole RDWC i know i will have no issue might ever get to try HID and LED both at same time same tent see those results

justugh said:

now i am testing LED
currently HID has always gotten me the most returns HP off a plant or better was avg ..........u know how it is some nice dense and some fluffy stuff

LED i am getting much denser buds with more weight per flower but the over all yield is only 3 oz to 5 oz a plant (the fluffy zone from HID is gone)

dwc during winter time to see if does like HID in winter ....keep soil going .....summer comes made the money for chillers and whole RDWC i know i will have no issue might ever get to try HID and LED both at same time same tent see those results

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I run a 10k BTU for my room cooling, and it can hold a steady 70 on the hottest day. The 5k I was talking about would actually be modified into a water chiller, with the evaporator (the super cold radiator) submerged into an antifreeze solution. Then a pump would pump that chilled antifreeze into a stainless steel heat exchanger (basically a metal box with a divider in the middle and liquids on either side of the divider). Then I run my nutes through the other side of the heat exchanger. I'd add in some simple controllers and boom, I've got a 2HP water chiller with the ability to cool 2 separate reservoirs at once without mixing them!

SmerkedOut said:

I run a 10k BTU for my room cooling, and it can hold a steady 70 on the hottest day. The 5k I was talking about would actually be modified into a water chiller, with the evaporator (the super cold radiator) submerged into an antifreeze solution. Then a pump would pump that chilled antifreeze into a stainless steel heat exchanger (basically a metal box with a divider in the middle and liquids on either side of the divider). Then I run my nutes through the other side of the heat exchanger. I'd add in some simple controllers and boom, I've got a 2HP water chiller with the ability to cool 2 separate reservoirs at once without mixing them!

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good luck ..........i am sorry i see u are set on this trying to talk u out of it would be a waste of time .........just 2 things 1 antifreeze near a hydro setup (bad idea) 2 soldering any an all needs to be done in silver solder to avoid lead poisoning

justugh said:

good luck ..........i am sorry i see u are set on this trying to talk u out of it would be a waste of time .........just 2 things 1 antifreeze near a hydro setup (bad idea) 2 soldering any an all needs to be done in silver solder to avoid lead poisoning

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Trust me, if I could afford the off the shelf chillers I would buy them right now just in case... But I just can't afford that right now. Maybe in the future I can afford a single 1/4HP chiller. Can you think of a way to share that between 2 separate reservoirs? Because $350 for a chiller is maybe doable, but $700 for 2 chillers is just tooooooo much.

Or maybe I can pump my water through a radiator and put that in front of my room AC. Only problem there is no temp control. How cold is too cold for an RDWC?

SmerkedOut said:

Trust me, if I could afford the off the shelf chillers I would buy them right now just in case... But I just can't afford that right now. Maybe in the future I can afford a single 1/4HP chiller. Can you think of a way to share that between 2 separate reservoirs? Because $350 for a chiller is maybe doable, but $700 for 2 chillers is just tooooooo much.

Or maybe I can pump my water through a radiator and put that in front of my room AC. Only problem there is no temp control. How cold is too cold for an RDWC?

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nope not a car one ........this is something u have to make yourself and it needs to be out of stainless steel pipes or a chemical resistant plastic one (copper is not a choice with the antimicrobial proprieties the copper has ) the little things in the water would die off and your root zones would suffer

anything made on the market uses Lead solder since it is ment for something else ......this is a complete build yourself ( i thought about this very same idea to cool a worm for a still )

i am not telling u buy 2 .....i am only saying buy 1 for the HPS tent/ bulb ..........the MH bulb is nothing .........the IR heat from that HPS is the killer

u can move the plants over using the basket ....from growth to flower the root mass is not going to get massive until flower and only need to take that out when it is time to harvest