How do you circulate your RDWC?

i have a multi-pot system with a brain pot... the brain pot contains a pump which is used to "top feed" although i use this on a timer just to recirculate water around the system every so often.

My question is....

i have water butt "main res" used to mixing nutes up at the start... i am going to introduce a chiller to the system.
Should i set a timer on my system to empty the system back to the water butt, then the chiller circulates there... then a pump activates in the butt to fill the system again? this set up seems over complicated plus the need for 3 pumps!? also doesn't that make it a flood and drain? i wont need air stones if i do it this way? i have spoken to DBkick.. just wondered if anyone does it a different way.

So....

Brainpot > Water butt > chiller > System.

brain pot - 1 pump, Timer
Chiller - Pump, Timer?
water butt - Pump, Timer

Thats 3 pumps and 3 timers? seems over kill to me...

Should i just drilled some holes in my brain tank and recirc through the chiller?

I'm a bit Confused but I will try to answer as best I can, what you call brain we call resaviour.
As far as your chiller you will need a Constant current to flow through your resaviour as it takes time to bring that temp down.

Pertaining to having three pumps?? You only need one and you can split up that single line Into three. With rdwc it never stops circulating. And yes your right if your going to just flood it and have it come back to the resaviour you won't need airstrones.

Hope I was able to help.

Avoid using 3 timers by using 1 power strip hooked up to one timer. Next bong rip

Vumar said:

Avoid using 3 timers by using 1 power strip hooked up to one timer. Next bong rip

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i use that for lighting...However that wouldnt work for this problem as the pumps, chiller need to be on at alternative times

Blakhash said:

I'm a bit Confused but I will try to answer as best I can, what you call brain we call resaviour.
As far as your chiller you will need a Constant current to flow through your resaviour as it takes time to bring that temp down.

Pertaining to having three pumps?? You only need one and you can split up that single line Into three. With rdwc it never stops circulating. And yes your right if your going to just flood it and have it come back to the resaviour you won't need airstrones.


Hope I was able to help.

Click to expand...

Odd my rdwc circulates 5 minutes every 20 minutes so all rdwc systems don't circulate 24/7.
I do however recirculate the chiller on my main res 24/7 (pump number 1).
I then have another pump that is controlled by an ebb monster control bucket (second pump that circulates as needed to control bucket and from there to rdwc). Third pump is in the last igloo water cooler and is on a timer( 5 minutes on 20 minutes off).
As I showed cooper pictures of the system so he may comprehend a little better I guess it didn't sink in.

I suppose cooper may be right and my system should probably be considered a hybrid ebb and flow/rdwc system but not really since when I drain back to the main res the control bucket is cycling the fill pump at the same time but thats where gravity takes over. The drain pump takes the igloo water coolers down to about half full. The cycle timer on the drain pump is there to dial in so I don't flood the fucking place but still get good mix. My main res which runs about half full ends up full at the end of the drain cycle.
I had an idea this probably wasn't the right setup for cooper and can see how you might think its over complicated but for me its worked flawlessly and I enjoy over-complicated.
Good luck and happy growing.

dbkick said:

I suppose cooper may be right and my system should probably be considered a hybrid ebb and flow/rdwc system but not really since when I drain back to the main res the control bucket is cycling the fill pump at the same time but thats where gravity takes over. The drain pump takes the igloo water coolers down to about half full. The cycle timer on the drain pump is there to dial in so I don't flood the fucking place but still get good mix. My main res which runs about half full ends up full at the end of the drain cycle.
I had an idea this probably wasn't the right setup for cooper and can see how you might think its over complicated but for me its worked flawlessly and I enjoy over-complicated.
Good luck and happy growing.

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I think the way you have yours works perfect but as you said.. needs to be tailored sometimes for individuals. i have come to the conclusion that i will dis connect my top feed line from the pump in my "control" bucket and connect it to the return from the chiller....

this is how it will go.

Control bucket > Chiller > Each individual bucket.

i wont top feed however, i will just have the hoses in the buckets so that freshly chilled water will be delivered throughout my system.

Sounds like a plan. All you really gotta worry about is keeping a good mix and in my case not flooding the place. My system holds about 70 gallon, my main res is only 30 gallon. If the fill pump fails that leaves me with a mess

dbkick said:

Sounds like a plan. All you really gotta worry about is keeping a good mix and in my case not flooding the place. My system holds about 70 gallon, my main res is only 30 gallon. If the fill pump fails that leaves me with a mess

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That why im going for this option... my buckets do have an overflow built in so it fills the a joining bucket but i don't want to risk it over filling my system

Your going to run a SLOW chiller pump to multiple sites? Why not just dump it all back into one bucket and gravity takes over? As long as your intake and outtake for the chiller are not close to each other it wont matter.

coopersheldon said:

That why im going for this option... my buckets do have an overflow built in so it fills the a joining bucket but i don't want to risk it over filling my system

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I intend to add a failsafe which amounts to another control bucket at the main res that will dump everything that may cause flood. I luv to over complicate things but hate cleanup of floods.

Vumar said:

Your going to run a SLOW chiller pump to multiple sites? Why not just dump it all back into one bucket and gravity takes over? As long as your intake and outtake for the chiller are not close to each other it wont matter.

Click to expand...

Well my pump is 1000lph? recommended flow through my chiller is up to 1200

it doesn't seem right to have suction and flow in the same bucket... seems like a big waste of energy and the fact i already have a top feed line in place just works out better

Good lord my friend get a smaller pump, I have a 128gph I actually bottom feed the water in and have an oversized drain where I want my water line to stop and that flows back into my resaviour at the same rate it's being pumped in, I even get a nice waterfall effect into my resaviour to Continue mixing nutrients. It's so damn efficient and my plants literally explode with growth, I was going through, 12-15+ gallons of water a water off three plants during later phases. I also have a secondary resaviour that hold about 45 gallons of pure 0ppm ro water, and since there nothing in it it doesn't need to be cooled or oxygenated. That secondary water has a line that feeds my nutrient res when the water line gets too low. I'll have to do a drawing for you.