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new heli chamber

  • #21
I checked out home depot yesterday, found those panels. They were 15$/panel of 3/4" thickness and one side only is covered with mylar. Its around 3' x 8'. Ended up coming home empty handed as my Honda Civic coupe cannot carry that + I didn't want to cut it up right there without planning.

But nice to see you can get some light in the bottom shelf B....put those 2' fixtures to use for now. ;)

HA I ended up doing the same thing. In both my local Lowes and HD the thinnest 4x8 were 12 bucks. I jotted the design on my N900 but ended up leaving in order to double check the measurements. And i also cant fit the sheet into my civic coupe heheh.
 
  • #22
I'm looking to get some of my first Heli's soon and am trying to figure out my settup. This is an inspiration :) I have the exact same shelving unit with just one empty shelf at the bottom that I am thinking of using as a highland plant shelf by closing it off, much as you have done, and getting some refrigeration in there (by breaking down a mini refrigerator? has anyone done that succesfully?). I'm excited !
 
  • #23
Update:

The automatic watering system works better than hoped.... only one moving part too, gotta love basic physics :)

This was really the main goal in moving to the new rack, well that and Jeremiah's made my ghetto system look so dang bad LOLOL Dang you ;-)

Ill give the 4 bulb a chance and see how she does.... if I lose too much color Ill redo and just build the dang rack with treated lumber

Found some 4 bulb T8's at Lowe's so Ill use those for the low canopy plants... (young helis)

But no more watering (practically) woohoo.... and its a flood and drain system, so still get good gas exchange in the root zone. I'll make a detailed DIY post about it later... super simple design.

Rich, if you are in a low humidity enviroment, consider evaporational cooling ;-)
 
  • #24
well getting closer.... baby steps though, ugh
newrack2.jpg


some of my self watering system details:
newrack3.jpg


Top line is feed (and "power-off" drain) line from pump, bottom is main drain back to reservoir. Notice both lines bend over to bottom of container (This is critical).
Holes in bin are drilled slightly smaller then the tubing to self seal against them.

The top is fed using a small fountain pump controlled via timer... the pump is located in a main reservoir that is setting under the plant rack's lower shelf. The volume of water in the reservoir exceeds that required to make the system operate. The level also is less than it would take to overflow the system in case of something unforseen happening.

As the pump runs, water level in the bin increases and soon reaches the height of the main drain line where it enters the bin. At this point, a siphon forms in the drain line and draining begins.

It is important that the main drain flows faster then the feed line fills (smaller pump size is better for this reason). I have a common aquarium flow control just in case I needed to fine tune this balance, but it was not needed.

After a period of time, all the water is drained....and the hose size is small enough that the suction is maintained even as the pots slowly drip their residual water.
A larger hose size would not work as well in this application, it would "break" suction too early.

If the timer or power shuts off at a point where the water level has not yet created the siphon, the water pump's feed line then starts back flowing, forming its own siphon.

System operates normally.... cycle is completed, plants watered and drained as normal, system ready for next watering cycle.
System operates but timer stops mid cycle or unexpected power failure.... water drained via feed line, system ready for next watering cycle.

Timer is set for an hour and half.... plenty of time for at least one complete cycle.

Works better then hoped, notice the water level is empty.... the system accomplished this on its own, its been doing the watering/draining for a couple days now :D

Since the pots partially flood then drain, fresh air is pushed in behind the exiting water... providing good gas exchange in the root zone.

An elegantly simple and effective system if i do say so, I'm very pleased with it's performance!

Ohh and the tubs in front will be gone soon...
 
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  • #25
What's on the bottom shelf :0o: *stretches self out to see under bottom of photo* OMG I see a truncata....
 
  • #26
ohhh those are in the bins on floor, yep a couple royal truncatas, one is mine and one im baby sitting
 
  • #27
Well what else is in there?! :spazz: :spazz:
 
  • #28
hmmm i got a villosa and a hamata, but the hamata has been in suspended animation for a long time...villosa likes me though

i gave my big neps away long ago dear....
 
  • #29
Excellent as always Butch! :bigthumpup:
Indeed, automated is the way to go. I have a few automated systems going & I spend only a few minutes every couple weeks to add water to them & that's it! :woot:
Hardest part is sometimes forgetting about them altogether when things get busy, but my one large self watering terrarium actually "sounds" different when the water is low, which helps a lot!
People can't believe I have a terrarium that "rains inside"! Freaks most people out! :-O

Oh, and for those who need to get large sheets home in a small vehicle, they used to keep a large T-square in the sheet lumber department, but have stopped the practice. So for recent years I have simply walked over to the department with the metal yard sticks & grab a T' off the rack, go measure & cut what I want & then return it. I already carry a small tape measure & folding box cutter with me, so cutting most things is a snap! when cutting styrofoam products, make your cuts shallow & many, & from both sides. Then snap the panel to break it apart. Otherwise the knife will snag on the styro & the cut edge will be rough & not cut well at all. :headwall:

Well, guess its time for me to finish redoing my shelves too. They have been a pain & problem for a long time, & I have been needing to automate them like my other set-ups for a long time. A project put off long enough! :lac:

Nice work Butch! :clap:

:water:
 
  • #30
Thanks Paul.... my local Kroger grocery store as a neat feature for their fresh produce display.

A few moments before the high pressure misters come on, the display's lights flash and the sounds of thunder are played.... now that would freak out your friends even more LOLOL

Update:
An unknown was what was going to happen to the TDS of the reservoir. My helis have a long history of monthly ferts and Trichodrema applicaitions plus they are grown in 1:1:1 APS/LFS/Perlite.

So I wasnt sure what to expect.... but after three days things have stabilized at a very desirable 39ppm :)

Later on, I plan on making a portion of the reservoir into a sphagnum culture (think of wet/dry aquarium filters). This should add some some additional biofiltration to the system and extend reservoir water change intervals even more.

And possibly add a airstone ;)

:)
 
  • #31
I'm definately saving your info on the self watering settup. Hopefully someday I'll have the resources to put something like that together. Ingenious!!
 
  • #32
Butch,

I like the idea of the crash & flash of lightning/thunder! Mmmnnn.... :-D

Indeed, my past posts with the sphagnum growing like a Banshee was in the terrarium with the "rain" & drain. I never expected that to happen, and now every few months, I have a fresh crop that overwhelms my plants.. whether I want it or not! :eek:

Now if only I can get a rainbow to show up after the "rain"! Mmmmnnnnnn! :scratch:
 
  • #33
quickie video of the drain line scavaging the bottom of the bin. The pump is also powered off and if you watch carefully you can see it's also scavaging any remaining water.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/mvTXXxUP_go" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

gotta love physics :)
 
  • #34
Love the self watering system. I'm going to have to try to set up something similar...
 
  • #35
Butch,
Just a thought.... perhaps down the line, remember to occasionally keep a watch for algae or some other "mystery meat" that decides to plug up some of the smaller tubing.
I seem to often eventually have some crud plugging up the works, especially on small tubing, drain holes or drip holes. (My system has been going thru ongoing changes as these things show their ugly faces & I have to continually modify my designs to overcome them!) I am not good at keeping things clean however, & don't have the time to do regular upkeep like I know I ought. So for me I know it is usually my own fault. But indeed, I usually will see the crud accumulating, but for some reason... ignore it! Then later, when it plugs things up, I get all surprised & upset as if I didn't know it was coming! Duh! (Actually the real issue is that I am always doing too many things at one time!) But then that's what made me automate things back in the first place.

On my current auto' set-ups, I have to occasionally wipe, clean or otherwise clear out plugged holes in my rain/mist/watering systems. Most of the time it is from the growth of algae which over time, works its way into the strangest places. I do however, use larger tubing as a result, and now only have had issues with the ports in the "rain tubes" plugging a bit here and there, as the algae over grows the holes (which are the only real small holes in the system) as the months pass.

As far as your thoughts on accumulation of substances (tricho/fert's/etc.) , I have had decent luck simply running clean water thru the system during one of my "fills", which has kept problems to a minimum so far. About once every year or year & a half, I open things up & do a sort of minimal cleaning, and so far so good.
I also use Tricho regularly, as well as some hydroponic fertilizers of my choosing. The sphagnum actually lets me know when I have overdone something, or let things get out of wack! (It is the proverbial 'canary in my mine' so to speak!)

Again, good luck with things. :-D
You have certainly motivated me that it is times to get my shelves up to date, as my other set-ups currently are. It has been my "problem child" for long enough!

By the way, your video looked funky until I realized I was seeing it sideways.
Hey friend... are you just trying to mess with my head!? :-D

Take care!
:water:
 
  • #36
Butch you have me drooling!
 
  • #37
Paul,

yes....Wise words of wisdom my old friend :)

I learned early on that even having my ultrasonic humidifier in the grow area (exposed to the lighting) was bad mojo.

I figured a good cleaning would be in order a couple times a year,... and the aquarium tubing is cheap enough to just replace out when it gets a little on the funky side

Josh, thanks :D

couple more pics that I had posted in a heli thread
topshelf.jpg


bothshelves.jpg


Thanks for looking,
Butch
 
  • #38
So fresh and clean! Great pics of the new setup. Awesome to see the evaporative cooling in action :)
 
  • #40
This looks amazing, as I'm sure we've all come to expect from you :) Do you keep the front of the rack open?
 
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