frozen water bottles in DWC?

Discussion in 'Advanced Growing Techniques' started by Deleted member 833875, Dec 28, 2014.

  1. #1 Deleted member 833875, Dec 28, 2014
    Last edited: Dec 28, 2014
    hey guys i just had a quick question for the city
     
    I'm using a 18 gallon tote DWC. its in a 2x4x7 tent with a 600w dimmable HPS. the light is on 300w right now and its being air cooled by a 6 inch hurricane fan. i also have another 6 inch inline fan blowing into the tent to lower the temps.
     
    when i had the fan sucking it made the whole tent pull in which i heard was good but the temperatures got really high (82-84) so i switched the fan to be blowing into the tent and now its holding steady at 75-77. do any of you know why negative pressure would raise the temps? i thought it would suck the hot air out.
     
    my rez temperature on the other hand is way to high. its at about 70 right now. i don't get how because the light is 3-4 feet above it. i know i have to lower it to under 68. i really want it at like 62 to totally eliminate future algae problems.
     
    i read all about how to do this but my only real option is frozen water bottles or something similar for financial reasons haha. 
     
    my question:
     
    can i put frozen water bottles in the bucket with the roots. will its shock them or have any negative side effects. and if so, what do you recommend to lower my temperatures at least 5 degrees?
     
    thank you guys 
     
     
    plants are about 2 weeks old

     
  2. any ideas besides a waterchiller for dwc?
     
  3. this is why I don't do hydro hehehe, try it out bro, experiment a bit with the water bottle's thugh,and also get another 6" in-line and have it suck hot air out to even the flow of air being put in the tent. keep the frozen bottle away from the root's as far as possible if possible, I grow in a cold climate and cold likes to stunt plants.  This "Sucking" should not occur if you have a good balance air being put into your tent, and should eliminate some heat caused by your 600w,  Or even throw those frozen bottles/ or a nice big 5/6 litreand plop that bitch in front of the fan blowing air in , this is what i did in the summer and it lowered my temp from 28c to 24/23c witch is optimal for growth but i had to replace it twice a day and it sweats and makes a mess. other then that man i hope some of this shit i am rambling about helps you out , since i had some fierce run ins with heat . 
     
  4. Here is the best recommendation I can give you as far as venting goes whatever fan you use to extract heat make sure it's up high and make sure you have enough air intake sounds like before was struggling to keep up with the exhaust, you need air movement helps the plants helps cool things down in general. Try to get the coolest air you can for intake whether your intake is pulling air off the floor or pulling from outside. As far as your reservoir goes a cheap and easy fix is wrap at least the lid (leave holes big enough for plant to grow and stretch as needed) with aluminum foil, sides wouldn't hurt too. Foil does a few things

    1. Reflects the light around and on undersides of leaves and does help at young stage.

    2. This is going to help you keep light from penetrating into the res and causing rapid algae growth on other bacteria which will lead to constant res changes (that's why wrapping sides doesn't hurt either)

    3. Foil as you know will also help reflect that heat away from your res and I guarantee you it will be at a cooler temperature

    Hope this helps happy growing


    G
     
  5. I had the same problem keeping res temps down, I tried doing the frozen water bottle thing which worked well it's just a pain to have to keep switching them out. Definitely safe for the roots. I did have better success by putting panda film white side up over the top of the bucket just cut a slit so that you can slide it around the base of the stem.
     
  6. I used the blue things that go in the freezer for lunch boxes. I made sure to get the paper label off and wash it. This lowered my tempeture but because I didn't add water or anything didn't change my PH at all.


    Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
     
  7. I think u will be fine w/ frozen water bottles. (Salt water lasts longer). They sell foil bubble wrap insulation & foil tape for duct work that u can use to insulate your lid & bin/ bucket(s). But there are other DIY options short off shelling out big bucks for a retail H2O chiller. U can pump cold H2O into OR thru your rez w/ $18 pump.
    A) Use pump to suck H2O out of rez. Before it gets pumped back in, it passes thru 1/4" ID copper tubing coiled inside any insulated container; (Gatorade drink cooler, 5 gal. bucket, foam cooler, etc.) Packed w/ ice. The H2O being pumped back in will be ice cold.
    B) Keep separate cooler/bin/ insulated bucket, etc. full of ice water & use pump & PVC or silicone tubing to circulate it. (W/out any H2O ever leaving this closed loop) Run the tubing into your grow rez, connect it to a length of aluminum or copper tubing that u bend to zig-zag the bottom of your rez, (a la radiant heat flooring) & connect other end back to plastic tubing, which then returns to your ice H2O cooler. As the super cold H2O passes thru your grow rez, it chills the nutes via the very heat conductive copper/ aluminum tubing (w/out adding/ subtracting/ diluting any of the nute solution)
    If u enjoy DIY & can afford to buy (or otherwise source) a couple reasonably common and/or inexpensive items, u might have fun making a water chiller for $15-60 that will serve u just as well as some ridiculously priced model @ the Hydro store. If u're handy & have a slightly bigger budget ( or access to surplus bubblers, room AC's, office water cooler, etc.) the sky really is the limit.
    If u have ZERO $, & zero confidence in building/ rigging things- the frozen H2O bottles will work just fine, IMHO.
    Good luck. I'm gearing up for my 1st DWC right now. Nute/ rez temps have been 1 of my primary concerns.
     
  8. I know this post is old but I have heard that copper coils are a bad option because it can poison your plants., And that other metals are a better option. I believe I read this in a book by Ed Rosenthal. I will confirm this later and quote the book and pages where I read this . Not trying to step on any toes here... just want to be helpful
     

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