Grow Mediums How does everyone cool their reservoirs or buckets ???

steelrat

steelrat

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Hello People of the Hydro :)

My current grow is my first attempt at hydro (well, second after a restart!).

I'm in the UK and we're having a heatwave.

Cab temps can hit 30-32 Celsius, and the DWC bucket is hitting around 5 degrees below ambient, so 25-27.

I have some great Hydro books (PM me for link) that say some fruits/vegetables can accomodate root temps of 27C.

But i don't want to take chances and have been looking into cooling methods.

My DWC bucket is only 11 litres and i don't like putting coolpacks in there in case the roots get frozen on contact.

I've had to do a half res-change twice today just to keep temps down, they were hitting 27. Lucky i work from home!

I had a look at PC cooling systems, peltier circuits etc but am at a loss as to what is the best cooling method?

Two things i will do are :

1. Cut another intake hole in the cab (maybe two).
2. Move the air-pumps outside the cab.

How do others cope with this, would be interesting to hear.


Cheers,

steely
 
I would move anything out of the cab you can to cut down on extra heat. I've had to resort to a swamp cooler in my room and switching to 18/6 light cycle. I also put frozen ice packs in the rez so the nutes don't get all weird.I just use frozen water in used water bottles, just incase they leak. Works pretty good. That's all I got.
 
I really dunno how anyone cools their DWC buckets without having a low temperature in their cabinet or tent. Really I've no idea.

Reason: Water quickly acclimises it's temperature to the ambient air temperature around it. Because most grow room are about 24 degrees or so, maybe more. I don't see how you're supposed to keep your water temperatures below 21 degrees, without some kind of heat removal system or cooling the air temperatures with airconditioning etc.

First thing I do with my DWC buckets is wrap them in aluminium bubble foil (insulation stuff). Secondly I make sure it has LOTS of air. Thirdly I add something like Dutch Master Zone or Phytoff to keep the solution STERILE. Thirdly I use a chiller and a recirculating system, like RDWC or NFT or Aeroponics or something like that.
 
Cheers Roark and HH :)

@Roark - ye, deff gonna move the pumps out.
@HH - When you say chilller .. what, like an open mini beer fridge by the intake ?

I'm also thinking, what with the thermal properties of water, a bigger bucket (20L, twice my current size) would take twice as long to warm up so cut down on daily, temp-induced res-change.

I like the jacket idea, may look into that too.


Cheers pals,

steely
 
Yes i was looking at those, a couple of cheap ones on ebay and easy to mod, cheers max :)


All the best,

steely
 
hailea chiller. For one pot a HC-100A will do and there was a secondhand one on ebay. I know its quite expensive for a small grow but losing your lady because of high temps has got to cost more!
 
briman said:
Heya steely, try this on the outside too!! I used it the last time I had hydro buckets. It's no chiller, but for rez temps, it helps...
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Reflectix-16-in-x-25-ft-Staple-Tab-Insulation-ST16025/100012574
Click to expand...

Cheers briman, found something similar on UK ebay :

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/310900271592?var=610247518408

V10diesel said:
hailea chiller. For one pot a HC-100A will do and there was a secondhand one on ebay. I know its quite expensive for a small grow but losing your lady because of high temps has got to cost more!
Click to expand...

Nice one V10, ye pretty cheap second hand :

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HAILEA-NU...Bottle_Warmers_Coolers_LE&hash=item4ad8a4f69e

Lots to think about.

In the meantime i've begun cutting extra intakes and also moved the airpumps outside the cab :

https://www.autoflower.org/f61/steelys-first-hydro-grow-led-dwc-33805-17.html#post652525


Cheers for Ideas :)

steely
 
Hi Steely

Yip like V10 says a Haliea HC-100A is the job. You'll need to buy a small aquarium pump (submersible), have it inside the bucket and pump water into the Haliea, a tube comes out of the haliea and back into the bucket. Or you can buy an external pump, probably better.
 
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