I've been wondering why my clones refuse to finish. Turns out my rez is too warm. stuck my finger in it and it feels warm, probably at least mid 80*s I am now rotating frozen jugs, but that's inefficient and inconsistent Anybody have a link to an inexpensive small cooler/ice maker that I can run tubing in/out of? Thanks
The res will be the same as your room. Few of us have to use a chiller in our water systems when the room is cooled proper. Sure industrial grows use chillers, but most are remote.
Oh, I'm well aware. Two of my systems aren't chilled. My moms in their top feed system, and a little E&F system. It all depends on the res temp you're going after.
So if your room is hot your res will be hot. Keep the room at mid 70s and your res should follow. A chiller will cost you more amps than an additional lamp. Best to just fix the problem.
I did. I built a chiller so I don't have to spend a small fortune running the AC so much trying to cool 4k watts worth of HID. I can run warmer rooms and pump co2. Res and root zone are ~65 degrees. OP asked about a chiller...
So you are not having any problems. Pretty sure the op is. Peflora, you are trying to get your clone machine water a bit cooler and are adding ice to get it down to proper temps. Pretty sure a chiller is not the answer for a clone machine. Because clones only take ten to twenty days, your methods might be difficult but sustainable. Think about cooling the room better or relocating your clone operation to a cooler location.
Yeah, I'll agree, you shouldn't need to chill a clone machine. Mine runs mid 80's with no problems. Developing roots like the warmth. Could be other issues at hand. Maybe a pump is getting old and running hotter than normal. I don't argue that keeping the room at cooler temps would suffice, it's just not always the most economical solution.
I see I've neglected this thread. (6/13) Now that I am feeding the same ppm to both I can feed from one rez, which will make life a bit easier As of 8am this morning, 1/4" Copper coil tubing was wrapped around a frozen gallon jug, which is now side packed with cold paks, and covered with HD Al foil. Temp is much cooler than it was once the one liter jugs melted (still adding them), but not yet as cool as I would like. After ~ 4 hours, the water in the gallon jug has only half melted, and that before I side filled with cold paks 6/17 I keep tinkering with the cooling system. Just now put the rez and ice jug into a can cooler, then filled in the space between them with cold water that was in the round cooler, surrounding the ice jug. The combination of the cooler + ice jug + cold water surrounding the rez should be the icing on the cake. Most likely this eliminates the need for the copper coil As of 5pm rez temp is quite cool. will be investigating 'blue ice' to fill the jugs which should stay cold for days Both reveg and clone buds are blowing up New pics tomorrow Go to my sig link for updates
I pruned my plant outside and just stuck the branch in a soil filled pot for shits and giggles. It survived with an occasional watering. It's in the low 90's.
Old thread, but my .02 cents worth: I've made a diy chiller by pulling apart an old dehumidifier.. Yes it worked, but the issue was all the warm air thrown off by the unit.. There's no way to capture it without building a plenum (I fabricate sheet metal for a living). Even with a plenum there's no way to filter the exhaust and you'll end up pumping stinky air outside.. If you're going to go that route just be sure to keep the unit outside of the grow space, and pump the water back to the res.. Fingers crossed, but I've been running without a chiller for about 4 years now. No issues.. Pressing my luck.. Perhaps I should just shut up lol ..