For All Cap Ebb and Grow Users

[morrisgreenberg]

make sure your rubber grommet are not in sideways or the lips will not engage the crease if that makes sense, if too forceful with these things they wont lock in right and may drip, also if your too hard on the buckets you can get a hairline crack right at the drain hole

 

[mrduke]

thanks MO the grommets are all seated correctly it just leaks out where the hose connects to the "T" ?

 

[morrisgreenberg]

i had a tiny drip recently, i fixed it with a good push, perhaps the hose isnt on the tee good enough, like DG said a little more elbow greese. for some of us the added elbow greese is killer, personally i needed like half a bottle of percocets to put these units together, between creeky knees and an even worse back ...forgetaboutit

 

[shnkrmn]

I got tired of the sore fingers and got out a heat gun That worked like magic and they are on tight and aren't going anywhere. leak tight too.

i had a tiny drip recently, i fixed it with a good push, perhaps the hose isnt on the tee good enough, like DG said a little more elbow greese. for some of us the added elbow greese is killer, personally i needed like half a bottle of percocets to put these units together, between creeky knees and an even worse back ...forgetaboutit

 

[xceptional]

I got tired of the sore fingers and got out a heat gun That worked like magic and they are on tight and aren't going anywhere. leak tight too.

screw the hot water and screw the big heat gun i got a quick easy trick that's a old plumbers trick for when they put in the spirnkler systems. USE A LIGHTER TO HEAT THE HOSE! it's quick and easy as hell. just hold the lighter a few inches below the hose and twist the hose constantly. i actually just twist the hose really fast and put the flame right on the hose for about 10 seconds and then it's like putty. all of my hoses are pushed all the way down on the fittings as far as they can go and on both systems i've setup there has never been a leak.

here is a somewhat recent vid of my setup..
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[xceptional]

The only thing I really like about it is the sentinal digital controller. When you want to adjust your feeding schedule, having a digital display mounted in your control room ... a little classier than crawling under the tundra to fiddle with the never-convenient dial. Plus, if it had some kind of sensor/alarm for when things aren't going as planned, that would be sweet.

$599
http://www.nationalgardenwholesale.com/ngw/gardening_supplies.aspx?request=HORT_SENT_EBB-FLOW&title=Tray%20/%20Reservoir%20/%20Grow%20Systems&type=product

i had a convo a few months back when a buddy was thinking about getting this unit.

Sentinal makes good products from what i see. in fact the owner is the old owner/designer from CAP i've been told. regardless i would not buy this unit at this time.

my reason is it needs to be tested out and reviewed throughly before i trust it with my plants. Sentinal has done a good job with controllers but this is a new controller and i want to know the durability and stability of this unit before they get my money.

also i agree the controller may look better because it's digital but what benefit in digital again?

the cap unit has been on the market for years and works so I'm not looking to change it

i would prefer the Sentinal square buckets though! they are a little bigger i believe and they pack together nice and tight for veg.

 

[shnkrmn]

Would it be too hard for CAP to design the controller so the timer faces up? Definitely the worst design feature. I probably would have bought the sentinel system if I'd heard of it a month ago

 

[morrisgreenberg]

i woulda bought the sentinel too, who doesnt like shiney digital things ? one beef i have is i know they thought they were smart but a drain hole directly under a massive root system is a no go, if it dont outright clog the lines, it will slow drainage down considerably, and the performance of this design is all about the drain cycle vacuuming oxygen into the rootzone. if i were to design this system i would make it that so the buckets sit higher on a pedestal like the sentinel system, only drain from the side....love the idea of the lighter, once screwed onto the connectors you basically have a heat shrink, i wish you told me this a while ago

 

[smokingrubber]

Nice video xceptional, +rep.

Couple questions:
1. How long did you veg? Seed or Clone?
2. Nute system?
3. Strain?
4. Supercrop? FEM? Top? They look pretty natural.

That looks like a great height for this system. Thanks for the lighter tip.

 

[Wohjew]

hi ive been eyeballing a one of these sysytems . they are very expensive , but i dont wanna try and make one . 24 plant sites is perfect , but is one res. enough to flood 24 sites with large plants ? or would i be adding water and nutes daily 2 12s work better? the shop vac seems to be the easiest way the clean or flush since i use R/o water and i wouldt be flushing and changing twice in 24hrs . waste of good water . any one use the 24 site or even the 36 site with just one rez? i use tables but i think i wanna try this system

 

[smokingrubber]

The company claims it can run 48 sites. I wouldn't do it though. 24 is the maximum number I would even consider, because I like to have a good gal per plant ratio. 5gal per is perfect imo. They drink water and nutes at approx the same ratio with 5gal per.

So far, this system has worked very well with my 8 plants. For my next trick, I will use 12 and compare the differences in maintenance. Even with only 8 plants, I have to top off water and nutrients every 3-4 days. I could probably go longer, but I have to dose them with H2o2 every 3 days anyway ... so it's all on the same schedule.

 

[boxing119]

xceptional- is that a portable a/c unit you have in your grow room, i have been thinking about getting one just because i cant seem to lower the temp of my tent, how does it work?

 

[Wohjew]

is H2O2 a must with this system i hear ppl talking about it with this system , i use growzyme seems to keep pathogens in check and work for me . would you just recommend using 2 12's over the 24 system ? the systems will pay for it self anyhow...

 

[smokingrubber]

is H2O2 a must with this system i hear ppl talking about it with this system , i use growzyme seems to keep pathogens in check and work for me . would you just recommend using 2 12's over the 24 system ? the systems will pay for it self anyhow...

I would probably stick with one system just for convenience. It's no fun to have to buy double nutrient monitors, heaters, chiller, water lines, etc. Then you would have to dose two setups and it's just double the crap you gotta deal with. If the small reservior does pose a problem, I would quickly upgrade to 100 gal reservior but stick with one controller. Just my 2cents.

 

[Wohjew]

I would probably stick with one system just for convenience. It's no fun to have to buy double nutrient monitors, heaters, chiller, water lines, etc. Then you would have to dose two setups and it's just double the crap you gotta deal with. If the small reservior does pose a problem, I would quickly upgrade to 100 gal reservior but stick with one controller. Just my 2cents.

ya that totally sounds better. The 50 gal rez that they come with doest seem enough anyway for 24 i think 80 gal would be perfect . 80 gal works perfect for 4x8 table. thats roughly the same space to fill as the 24 system to me . thanks im sold on this system

 

[morrisgreenberg]

hi ive been eyeballing a one of these sysytems . they are very expensive , but i dont wanna try and make one . 24 plant sites is perfect , but is one res. enough to flood 24 sites with large plants ? or would i be adding water and nutes daily 2 12s work better? the shop vac seems to be the easiest way the clean or flush since i use R/o water and i wouldt be flushing and changing twice in 24hrs . waste of good water . any one use the 24 site or even the 36 site with just one rez? i use tables but i think i wanna try this system

i agree with smoking rubber totally, they claim 48 sites is ok but i wouldnt go over 24, once they hit 24 inches they will drink a ton of water daily, too much PH and PPM flux for my taste for the constant top offs. ya know i never thought about this but how does everyone drain the rez? i have every flavor and size pump so i drop a 1700gph in there and thats that, i would get a spare pump or 2 if you run this system. Plantlighting.com has this unit for $399 with like $50 shipping, this unit pisses on table setups fo sho

 

[mrduke]

i drain mine the same way witha 550gph pump. Then i lug the barrel out back to hose it out, and back in to fill with nutes. wish i had a way to drain the leftovers out of the buckets.....anyone?????

 

[Wohjew]

i drain mine the same way witha 550gph pump. Then i lug the barrel out back to hose it out, and back in to fill with nutes. wish i had a way to drain the leftovers out of the buckets.....anyone?????

try a shop vac , thats what im gonna try . also i think using an 80 gal low rez( my table rez)for the 24 site would be great and its easly accessable, not deep like the 55 gal drum . how does that sound

 

[doogleef]

Any rez will do as long as it has at least 2 gallons of water for each pot. 24 sites is about right. You will not use the whole 2 gallons per site as the hydroton takes up about a gallon of space but they will drink quite a bit and having at least 2 gallons per site in the rez helps to avoid chasing PH from adding back water on a daily basis. A low-profile 80 gallon tank rez would be great.

Shopvac is the BEST way I've found to empty the sites for cleaning. To dump the tank i just pump the water to the drain and rinse the tank, wipe it down with some isoprop, let it evap for about 15 minutes and refill. That and H2O2 keep my system nice and clean.

 

[smokingrubber]

Yeah, the shop vac is great for getting the water out of the pots when the plants are very young. Not so easy when they get 4ft tall. I don't sweat the water in the buckets anymore. I use a 250gph pump and its done in 15 minutes. I refill over-night then dose it in the morning.