Ok so I'm going to build a aero setup. Run to waste. I've decided to use a 27 gallon tote. I acquired a 12v pump with a built in pressure switch. The switch is set to 45 psi. I know that's to low of a pressure but I gave it a test run with 6 misters and it worked good. This pump can easily be changed out for a higher psi one anytime easily. There is 6 misting nozzles with 1/8"npt. These nozzles are going into the totes approximately 4" down from the top three on each side. They will each screw threw the side into a 1/8"npt 12v normally closed solenoid valve. I am going to run 1/4 tubing to each valve off of a 3/8" main line. The 3/8" line will tee off to two 1/4" lines feeding each side of the tote. then tee twice and 90 once. I'll do a picture when this stuff arrives. So this 3/8 line is going to run 20 or so feet to my shed where everything else we'll be. In order from the misters and solenoid valves to 3/8" tubing will be the accumulator tank then the pump then the filter to the Rez. The pump will be powered 24/7 with 12v and the built in pressure switch will turn it on and off when it needs to. The solenoid valves will be on a diy timer because I want a solid state relay so it can't stick on or off. This timer will pull in the contacts on the relay to open the valves on the tote. If anyone has any input or thoughts please share. I'm very excited about this build and I want it to work well I'm very confident about this but I don't have any experience. So agin thoughts and suggestions are appreciated.
I would create a ring of 3/8 tube around the tote and tee off for each solenoid to keep everything balanced. Solid state relays dont have any contacts to pull in The coil is replaced by an infra-red led and detector, the contacts are replaced by a triac (ac ssr) or a mosfet (dc ssr). Be aware that the solenoids represent an inductive load, so dont forget to use a flyback/freewheeling diode on the SSR output.
Its nothing special, any 1N400x (1Amp) series diode will do the job. The purpose is to dissipate the reverse voltage spike thats created by the solenoids when the power is disconnected. As it flows in the opposite direction to normal so its sometimes called Back EMF. The diode connects between the SSR output and the negative voltage rail. It is polarity sensitive, the silver band on the diode denotes the direction of flow and thats the end you want facing the positive rail.
Awesome I've bin reading and watching videos all morning. With your explanation I understand exactly what it is now. Thanks for the help and education. I'm definitely going to put this diode in.
just so I don't fry anything I put the silver band side of the diode to the negative load side of the SSR. And the other side to my 12v neutral? red= power Wight= switched power Black= neutral
Technically both sides of the SSR output are live but i understand what you mean. You have the diode in the right place, silver band to the output of the SSR. The other end needs to go to the negative feeding the solenoids. I generally do it this way, the brown and blue wires at the top feed the solenoids. When the solenoids turn off, the reverse spike travels down the blue wire through the diode (note the white stripe) and back up the brown wire, ie; it gets trapped in a endless loop to dissapate.
I like how yours dose the loop after the SSR. I think that's a better way of doing it. The spike won't be going threw the terminal on the SSR.
I decided not to use the 45psi pump and I am now using a 12v 115psi pump with a built in pressure switch. I've got it all together and am giving everything a dry run with water. It's bin going for 20 min now no problems. There is no drip at the misters. I said previously I'm going to use a 27gallon tote but I think I'm going to use a cooler/ice chest instead. The reason is root chamber temperature. A wight cooler will help out with this I think and hope.
Run it for a couple of days solid and if it doesnt leak you`re good to go I put another outdoor hpa system together today, just need to sort the timer/ solenoids and bury the chambers in the ground to keep them cool..
That's what I'm going to doing with my root chamber. Currently my hydro system has a berried Rez and 100'of 1/2"pvc 18" underground. Keeps it 64f-72f You ever use a cooler?
I have some 50L coolers i mix nutes in but they dont sit for very long before they go into the accumulator. I`ll be running a 30L cooler with this new system because the accumulator isnt big enough to run for days between each charge. It had to be compact so i could situate everything outdoors close to the chambers to make life easier. Initially it`ll run two (90L) chambers but eventually extend to eight
I was wondering if you use a cooler for your root chamber? What do you use besides a tote or plastic drum?
I`ve used coolers for root chambers in the past and they are very effective upto a point. If you want the ultimate indoor aeroponic root chamber i`d recommend using a chest freezer equipped with an STC1000 thermostat. You can dial in any root temperature you want and it`ll hold to within 3 deg F no matter what the room temperature is doing. I have one in a shed that can top 90F and have the rootzone swing set for 66F-69F. You just need a tall ceiling for it to work Here`s a quick vid of the new system after i set up the tank precharge and pressure switch. The plumbing is pretty much all plug and play. I need to get a pressure reducer but thats no problem. The vid shows the basic layout but i`ll be running the 15mm PEX tube all the way to the chambers where it`ll feed individual solenoids to keep losses to a minimum. I rigged up the 1/4" tubes to get an idea of the mist performance but its not easy manually turning a valve on/off in a second with one hand I`ll be housing the hardware in one of these lol
Nice job. My system is going to be put outside. I can't do indoor my kid will get into it and unplug it or something. I recently transplanted my hydro girls to bigger pots and broke a limb so I threw it in my aero setup to see if it will clone it. This is in my shed.
All right I've completed my aero build. I decided to go with the cooler. It has 6 misters all controlled by individual solenoids. Currently the timer is set to 2 seconds on and 3 min off. I put a clone into it yesterday. I have some shade cloth over it so the sun doesn't burn it.
It's bin about 25 days since I put her outside with nutrients and no problems. I have the misters running 1 second every 200 seconds. Ppm is 400 at 500 scale.
It's bin five days since my last post all is running smoothly and looking good. I raised the ppm to 650. I think she can handle it but idk.