Please critique my design. +rep for any decent input.

This is my plan for a new aeroponic system that I'm soon going to be building.

It is two stories, being retrofitted into an existing grow box.

The boxes are going to be the "Tough Boxes" that you can see in SOGs journal.

All white lines are 3/4" PVC.

This will be adapted to 1/2" black poly tubing to protrude through the reservoirs and the misters threaded into it.

I'll push this through a grommet on each side of the res to secure and seal it.

Roots will hang suspended from 3" net pots w/ hydroton.

I'm considering leaving 2-3" of water below the drain with a couple air stones as a safeguard incase of pump failure.

I don't know if individual ball valves to control a consistent spray would be necessary or not.

I'm also undecided about the pump. The total head from the pump to the top misters will be about 6 - 6 1/2'. There will likely be a total of 24 180' and 12 360' sprayers. I'm thinking 900GPH with a bypass to handle overflow.

The nutrient will circulate up through the sprayers and then back down through the drain tubes. I'll likely run the sprayers on a recycling timer.


For the return, I'm considering 1 1/2" or 1 1/4" PVC.
I will install this through a grommet for a good seal and easy removal.

Quick disconnects (john guest fittings) or unions will be used to make each individual res removable.

Notice the 3rd reservoir. This will house the bulk of the nutrient solution as well as the pump and the bypass. It will be housed externally from the box. This will help temps and make nutrient and ph adjustments easy and feasible even during lights out.

In addition, I'll install another bypass off of the main upright line. I'll use this to draw samples for ph and tds testing and I'll connect a garden hose fitting for easy draining.

I'll probably let temps dictate whether or not to install a chiller, or maybe I'll just install one anyway to ensure consistent temps.

I believe I've decided on one 3', 6 bulb T5 for each level.

I'm undecided whether to use a 4" or 6" centrifugal fan. It should only be about 40 cubic foot, but I use intake filters and exhaust filters, so there is some loss.

I'll clone directly into this box. I'll root & veg to about 12" tall, and then switch to flowering while still in this box. At this point I will lollypop and then keep strong blue light from the T5s on these to reduce stretch during these crucial weeks. After probably 2 weeks, they will get one more trim, then off to the HPS flowering box.

This brings me to one last concern. The box is about 14" tall. That leaves quite a bit of room for roots to hang. I think that if I allow them the proper drying out time, they won't ball up too bad and removing them for transfer should be pretty easy, but the plants will be pretty big at this stage and I'm not sure how much root mass to expect.

So, what do you all think? Did I miss anything?

What do you think about the pump sizing?
Sprayer count?
Ball valves to control flow?
3/4" PVC or 1/2" PVC for feeds and manifolds?
1 1/2" or 1 1/4" PVC for drain?
4" or 6" exhaust fan?
Do you think I'll be able to fit the net cups/ roots back through for transfer?

Attached Images

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there are a bunch of things i can comment about
I'm not sure they will all be in place since I'm not familiar with your exact situation
why r you running 3 res for 2 systems?
unless you place a pressure gauge on the lines with the valves
you will not be able to tell the pressure on the line!


get two small pump instead, you will have redundancy this way
if the pump goes it will not lose both sites!

one more thing I'm missing, is your return to main res!!!
i see it being pushed up with the pump, hows it getting back to main reservoir ???

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ebay has a 1560gph for $50, the seller is named "muca" this pumps are very good,i think you will need it to get decent mist on the second level, wont need control valves, you dont have a drain pipe back to the rez, but thats a simple fix im sure you forgot that in your sketch,i like the idea of running the plumbing through the wall to keep the rez away from that heat, but to be perfectly honest with you, ditch the rubbermaid with the pots in it, you can do way more damage with the stinkbud method

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as for PVC sizes, i just love 1/2", i know most use 1in and 3/4"

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i don't see the benefit in running the manifold at 3/4"
this will require building up more pressure with a bigger pump
stay with the 1/2" lines for spray lines and manifold
you still deliver the same amount of water through a 3/4 or 1/2
the question is how much pressure you will need to run them properly
id even recommend to go even lower the 1/2" if you can find piping that will work

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Thank you both for your input.

Yes, the drain is not shown as the picture was already pretty rough and it started getting really cluttered.
I'm not sure if I should use 1 1/2" PVC, 1 1/4" PVC, or even something smaller?

With your advice, I'll definitely go to smaller plumbing. Thanks.

I'm concerned that because of the additional head to the top box, that without restriction, the bottom will spray well, but the top will be much weaker. Maybe just one ball valve on the feed to the bottom manifold?

The reason I am using the tall box vs. a tube, is because I already know from my aeroflo that by the time these plants will be ready to transfer, the roots will be intertangled if they are in a tube. I'm hoping that because they grow straight down, that it will be easy to remove them. I was wondering if anybody had any experience with this.
Plus, it would be a bitch to run the tubes through the walls, though I was initially considering this.

This also basically explains why 3 res's. The two in the box are really just rhizospheres. I'm thinking about leaving a little water in them as a safeguard, but there primary purpose is as a chamber to mist the hanging roots in. The 3rd exterior res will hold the bulk of the nutrient solution.
SOG, it's basically like one of your units, except two of the same tough boxes will serve the function of your fence post.

Thanks again, and any other comments are welcome.

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Usually the fan's power is compromised by about 1/3 its original CFM with filtering, HEPA or charcoal. Therefore I'd go with the larger 6" centrifugal on account of the loss.

I know your diagram's not scale, so how far apart are you planning on spacing the hydroton pots in the T5 veg box? I don't think there should be too much root entanglement if they're only going to get to be 12" tall before flip, but if you let them co-mingle at the bottom of the Tough Box for to long and some damage is sure to be incurred.

I agree with SOG's two pump solution: 1) it's always better safe than sorry, and the store's not open on Sundays at midnight to save you from potential disaster. 2) this might up the Res temp enough to justify chillers, but it'll also nullify the disparity in head pressure with the top and bottom boxes you're concerned about.

Schematic question for you - will the top box be directly over the bottom box and its T5? What are the dimensions you're dealing with?

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you can calculate the pressure buildup in the pipes
sift through my posts there should be a link to download it
or experiment with this design
try to route your top feed in a way the the solution will have to go through and pressurize the portion first
for example:
run the top line first so the solution enters on one side on the top
and travels through it before it get to drop down
this will ensure the pressure is being built from the top instead of the bottom

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Agreed. I'll go with the 6". Thank You +rep
They will be pretty close. The worry of entanglement was directed at the suggestion to use tubes instead of tubs. My concern is fitting the root ball out of the 2 7/8" hole when I go to move the cups into my other system. I'm hoping that because the roots hang vertical, that it won't be an issue.

I'd thought about that to. The benefits are substantial... I guess I kind of have a feeling that if 1 box shits out, I'm fucked anyway. I still may take your advice on that. You've definitely got me thinking about it.

Yes:
Cieling
T5
Plants
Res
Shelf
T5
Plants
Res
Floor
Total height is just over 6', so about 3' vertical height in each chamber.

For ventilation, I'll probably just drill ports through the shelf and install the intake at the bottom, fan at the top.


That is fucking genius. Definitely what I'll do if I stick with one pump.
As far as calculating it, I don't like math. It's more likely I'll just buy a pump that is overkill and run it with a bypass. Thanks again, SOG.

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