berkman858
Well-Known Member
Nice, keep it up and you will have a pretty accurate system.
Automatic nutrient refill systems - Anyone use one, or know of a good DIY way?
- Thread starter DIYer
- Start date
I had to add two more drippers to one of the lines in order to get its flow under 8mL, getting it up to five total drippers got the flow down to 4mL over the time the res fills, perfect. I only had to do it for the one that uses the least amount of nutes though.
Also, i had to adjust the drip and air line inside the syringes. When i was testing the system minimum i had them depressed all the way, and both lines were mounted flush with the rubber piece inside. When not fully depressed though, the water will run from the tip of the drip line over to the tip of the air line and block it off, not allowing the syringe to fill any at all. I just lowered them 1/4" from the rubber and now they are all dripping and filling kinda perfect......
....a little too perfect in fact...
See I made the air lines extend up past the water level, you can see 2 of them in that post i made with all the pics, they go all the way up to the handle. I did this because i fully expected the water level to go up the line, to the level of the water inside the jug. That's exactly what happened in my earlier tests. But for some reason now the water is filling the syringes only until it reaches the tip of the air line inside the syringe, and stopping cold. This is pretty freaking cool, because the amount of liquid in the air line would very as the level in the jug went down, throwing off the dose, all be it just a bit. To lesson this veritable as much as possible, i ran a length of wire down the inside of the 1/4 white tube, you can even see that in the pic too. It takes up most of the volume inside, lowering the amount of liquid that can go up inside,... but i'll be damned if any will now anyway, lol. Maybe it's a pressure thing, and i'm just hitting it just right, because i know if there were more pressure the water would go somewhere. If you don't have the seal around the black rubber gasket part inside the syringe liquid will push past it from the pressure, it'll also get past the outside of the drip lines tween the holes i made for them, so i had to seal that up with some waterproof glue too.
I'm sure some of these sweet spots i'm finding now, in order to hit my marks, will drift as the jugs empty of nutes, less pressure inside and all. But that will take months to happen. I might be lazy, but i'm not that damn lazy, lol. I can top off my jugs every month or so, between vacations, i guess, ha
I'd much rather man the machine, then be it.
Also, i had to adjust the drip and air line inside the syringes. When i was testing the system minimum i had them depressed all the way, and both lines were mounted flush with the rubber piece inside. When not fully depressed though, the water will run from the tip of the drip line over to the tip of the air line and block it off, not allowing the syringe to fill any at all. I just lowered them 1/4" from the rubber and now they are all dripping and filling kinda perfect......
....a little too perfect in fact...
See I made the air lines extend up past the water level, you can see 2 of them in that post i made with all the pics, they go all the way up to the handle. I did this because i fully expected the water level to go up the line, to the level of the water inside the jug. That's exactly what happened in my earlier tests. But for some reason now the water is filling the syringes only until it reaches the tip of the air line inside the syringe, and stopping cold. This is pretty freaking cool, because the amount of liquid in the air line would very as the level in the jug went down, throwing off the dose, all be it just a bit. To lesson this veritable as much as possible, i ran a length of wire down the inside of the 1/4 white tube, you can even see that in the pic too. It takes up most of the volume inside, lowering the amount of liquid that can go up inside,... but i'll be damned if any will now anyway, lol. Maybe it's a pressure thing, and i'm just hitting it just right, because i know if there were more pressure the water would go somewhere. If you don't have the seal around the black rubber gasket part inside the syringe liquid will push past it from the pressure, it'll also get past the outside of the drip lines tween the holes i made for them, so i had to seal that up with some waterproof glue too.
I'm sure some of these sweet spots i'm finding now, in order to hit my marks, will drift as the jugs empty of nutes, less pressure inside and all. But that will take months to happen. I might be lazy, but i'm not that damn lazy, lol. I can top off my jugs every month or so, between vacations, i guess, ha
I'd much rather man the machine, then be it.