8 place UC DIY build - parts/price list

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
You've basically got a badass recirc it sounds like. Holy fuck. THAT is a gnarly root ball. Whatever you've got going on there its clearly working well for you. All the info/input is greatly appreciated. I want to come up with a design where it's 100% water agitation for a source of DO. I also hate the loud commercial air pumps. Eventually, I will invest in a DO monitor and start playing around with water fall type designs. I like the idea of a dedicated pump drawing in res water AND some air through a Venturi and then being split off via some sort of manifold to each bucket.. aerate the water before it even gets to the root zone.
Constant recirculation through waterfalls in every tubsite works very well.

The waterfalls also agitate nicely, especially if they're aimed right under the netpot.

I'm always interested in seeing people's tweaks. A venturi injector wouldn't hurt but IME wasn't necessary, so I never tried it.
 

Porkymcchops

Active Member
IMG_1158.JPG IMG_1203.JPG I got my homemade UC up and running a while ago. Been lazy about posting. There's now a 600w MH over them. One thing I learned about this process that anyone making their own should know..

The glue used for PVC and ABS is not fucking around. It will soften the materials being used temporarily and actually is more like a weld when it's done. ABS plastic uses different glue and glueing ABS to PVC requires a special glue called transition cement.

I learned the last bit AFTER I had started gluing stuff so I used PVC cement on everything and it seems to be holding. i would recommend anyone else purchase the correct glue for materials being used. :joint:
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
View attachment 4010525 View attachment 4010523 I got my homemade UC up and running a while ago. Been lazy about posting. There's now a 600w MH over them. One thing I learned about this process that anyone making their own should know..

The glue used for PVC and ABS is not fucking around. It will soften the materials being used temporarily and actually is more like a weld when it's done. ABS plastic uses different glue and glueing ABS to PVC requires a special glue called transition cement.

I learned the last bit AFTER I had started gluing stuff so I used PVC cement on everything and it seems to be holding. i would recommend anyone else purchase the correct glue for materials being used. :joint:
The guys at Home dePot actually used the term chemical welding when describing how the adhesive system worked. I used it in my chiller system just the other day.

Your system looks good.

One advantage of my approach was that I used 1" diameter flexible hose and bulkhead fittings with barbed ends. This allows for super quick and easy reconfiguration to accommodate different plant sizes, room shapes, etc. Because nothing in my RDWC was glued, it basically acted like Lego for hydro, I just mixed and matched hoses and fittings to get the shape I needed at the time.
 

Porkymcchops

Active Member
IMG_1268.JPG
Constant recirculation through waterfalls in every tubsite works very well.

The waterfalls also agitate nicely, especially if they're aimed right under the netpot.

I'm always interested in seeing people's tweaks. A venturi injector wouldn't hurt but IME wasn't necessary, so I never tried it.
The pumps I have come with these cool little kits with a Venturi pump-outlet fitting and some air hose and little valve to control air flow. I want to use them somewhere I just think it's a great idea. IF they would actually increase DO any.
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
View attachment 4010537

The pumps I have come with these cool little kits with a Venturi pump-outlet fitting and some air hose and little valve to control air flow. I want to use them somewhere I just think it's a great idea. IF they would actually increase DO any.
Play with it, by all means! I don't see how it would hurt anything, as long as there's adequate water circulation throughout the system.
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
I'm just waiting on parts and chiller to arrive, going to be making a 3 x 35l tote system and 84l res. The 3 x totes have to be run in a straight line as my cab is rather narrow. Has anyone done a uc build this small?. Could do with a simple diagram on how it should be laid out.
Feel free to pm me if you can help out and I will start my own thread, rather than break this great thread up.
RDWC can be anything from one tub on up. Let me know if I can be of assistance.
 

Porkymcchops

Active Member
The guys at Home dePot actually used the term chemical welding when describing how the adhesive system worked. I used it in my chiller system just the other day.

Your system looks good.

One advantage of my approach was that I used 1" diameter flexible hose and bulkhead fittings with barbed ends. This allows for super quick and easy reconfiguration to accommodate different plant sizes, room shapes, etc. Because nothing in my RDWC was glued, it basically acted like Lego for hydro, I just mixed and matched hoses and fittings to get the shape I needed at the time.
Ya that's awesome. I really wanted to find a way to break apart or expand the system at the 2" pvc. There's quick connect style fittings at that size but pricey and bulky and how often am I gonna break it down so I skimped on that idea - I wasn't even sure at first if this was gonna work. Now that it is working I'm gonna build an identical UC for my flower room soon. That way lids or net pots can be flipped into flowering conveniently. It's all a work in progress.
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
Ya that's awesome. I really wanted to find a way to break apart or expand the system at the 2" pvc. There's quick connect style fittings at that size but pricey and bulky and how often am I gonna break it down so I skimped on that idea - I wasn't even sure at first if this was gonna work. Now that it is working I'm gonna build an identical UC for my flower room soon. That way lids or net pots can be flipped into flowering conveniently. It's all a work in progress.
I put a lot of thought into making everything as modular and easy to break down as possible. Eventually I had 6 systems with 6 tubsites each, and all parts were fully interchangeable.

Believe me when I tell you that the desire to reconfigure your system will come up more often than you might imagine lol
 

firsttimeARE

Well-Known Member
So tty your supply lines sit on the floor with your return lines and it doesnt affect performance having to push water up from the ground level to the lids?
 

Porkymcchops

Active Member
Another thing. What are those yellow sleeves? Were you leaking at the fittings?
It looks like there was some leakage going on in general but that also looks like a concrete floor where slow leaks may not matter. I'm growing on the second floor and don't want to deal with "why is the ceiling dripping?!?!" Lol so leak prevention is crucial here. As little flexible hose and barbed fittings as possible I like solid, cemented plastic.
 

firsttimeARE

Well-Known Member
It looks like there was some leakage going on in general but that also looks like a concrete floor where slow leaks may not matter. I'm growing on the second floor and don't want to deal with "why is the ceiling dripping?!?!" Lol so leak prevention is crucial here. As little flexible hose and barbed fittings as possible I like solid, cemented plastic.
Use slip bulkheads instead of barbed then
 

Porkymcchops

Active Member
So after saying how leak free everything is.. had the shitty active aqua pump leak from the big inlet o ring and found a half gallon of water on my floor. I have two of these pumps and they broke in similar ways. Shitty plastic hairline split on one. Drips slow. Shitty o ring seal on the other. Drips slightly slower. Gonna try and find a higher quality one. I have a feeling it won't be found at a hydro shop.
 

firsttimeARE

Well-Known Member
So after saying how leak free everything is.. had the shitty active aqua pump leak from the big inlet o ring and found a half gallon of water on my floor. I have two of these pumps and they broke in similar ways. Shitty plastic hairline split on one. Drips slow. Shitty o ring seal on the other. Drips slightly slower. Gonna try and find a higher quality one. I have a feeling it won't be found at a hydro shop.
If you had an epicenter with a pump in it that pumps to a manifold to a top feed waterfall this wouldnt be an issue.
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
So tty your supply lines sit on the floor with your return lines and it doesnt affect performance having to push water up from the ground level to the lids?
The supply lines are pressurised by the pump so there isn't an issue. As long as the pump flows enough to supply all the waterfalls it's good. The pump sits in the control bucket and the waterfall fittings are maybe 15" above that, so head height isn't really an issue. The supply lines are on the floor for convenience, harder to trip over them.
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
It looks like there was some leakage going on in general but that also looks like a concrete floor where slow leaks may not matter. I'm growing on the second floor and don't want to deal with "why is the ceiling dripping?!?!" Lol so leak prevention is crucial here. As little flexible hose and barbed fittings as possible I like solid, cemented plastic.
My RDWC wasn't leaking, the LED modules were so cold they were condensing water from the growroom! It took a lil while to figure out how to catch it all.
 
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