My perfect and simple Aero Setup.

Hey guys, I built this little gittup a few months back and figured I oughtta show it off.

Its using the same totes I once used with the same lids but for DWC. The water would get too hot from such a low volume of 3-4gals and changing it was a nightmare. 3" net pots and hydroton.
So I set it up with a reservoir down below, going to ball valved manifolds in each one using 1/2" vinyl tubing and spray heads. They go in to the totes through a simple grommet and an elbow through it. Manifolds are held to the walls simply by a zip tie, zipped up, with the loop on the inside of the tote and cinched tight against the wall. Easy enough.
Drains progressively get lower and on the lowest drain, it goes from 3/4 to 1" on the drain size. The drain bulkhead itself is still 3/4 like the other two.
1600gph pump turns on for 1min every 14mins, overcomes that 4-5' of head pressure, and rip roars a helluva spray that even little starts love. I figured it was a good time to show it off as I have multiple stages of growth from seedlings, to clones, to moms that are needing to be replaced.
Any questions, just ask.
Cheers!!!
Peace!

You have good luck with those valves with the green on them? I had some of those a long time ago and they would drip when closed.

Renfro said:

You have good luck with those valves with the green on them? I had some of those a long time ago and they would drip when closed.

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Yeah buddy, never had an issue. Mine are from home depot so that might make a quality difference. But the fact of the matter is, I leave them open all the time anyways even when the outer totes had nothing in em. Just to keep the pressure even for the pump. So not sure if they were kept closed for a long period of time if they'd drip. I just love vinyl tubing. And the zip tie mounts in this I thought were genius. One hole drilled. Not 2. Start the zip tie cinched, stick the loop in the hole, feed tube through, and cinch tight. The ratchet mechanism on the zipper hold it there and doesn't fit through the hole I drilled.
But the valves have come in handy when I'm fiddling around in there and I just happen to be there the 1 minute the water starts to spray. Easy shut off.

We're yours rain bird brand, @Renfro ?

Airwalker16 said:

We're yours rain bird brand, @Renfro ?

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yes

FWIW I did have a lot of head pressure above them.

Renfro said:

FWIW I did have a lot of head pressure above them.

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could leak probably then if you had say a 30gal res above it going through that 1/2" line and valve. Mine aren't used that way.

Do you think my spray intervals are too much with 14 min off/1 min on? I initially had 1 min every 4 mins but the pump was heating the water too quickly. This allows it to not run long enough to even get warm and if it does at all, there's enough time for it to cool. But I feel like I could get away with 1 minute every 29mins or even every 59mins.
I'm spraying with the 1 min on/14 min off timing for 1HR 36mins everyday still. 96mins total.

Airwalker16 said:

Do you think my spray intervals are too much with 14 min off/1 min on? I initially had 1 min every 4 mins but the pump was heating the water too quickly. This allows it to not run long enough to even get warm and if it does at all, there's enough time for it to cool. But I feel like I could get away with 1 minute every 29mins or even every 59mins.
I'm spraying with the 1 min on/14 min off timing for 1HR 36mins everyday still. 96mins total.

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Maybe 30 seconds is enough time on to do the trick? Maybe less when lights are off? I know in flood and drain I don't flood when lights are off.

As to the delay, I like to watch them close and see when it's pushed to the limit and then back off like 20%. But watch as the plants grow you may have to run more often. Simpler to play it safe I suppose, as long as you aren't getting rot I wouldn't worry. How warm do the nutes get?

Renfro said:

Maybe 30 seconds is enough time on to do the trick? Maybe less when lights are off? I know in flood and drain I don't flood when lights are off.

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If I was flooding, I'd be able to dictate it not turning on at night because I could just push the tabs down that are only during lights on. But unfortunately I'm not needing 15min on tines.

Renfro said:

As to the delay, I like to watch them close and see when it's pushed to the limit and then back off like 20%. But watch as the plants grow you may have to run more often. Simpler to play it safe I suppose, as long as you aren't getting rot I wouldn't worry. How warm do the nutes get?

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Not warm at all. Res is sitting on concrete.
Plus you get the swamp cooler effect from compressing the water into droplets and flingin em through the air.

I like repeat cycle timers for this application.

Airwalker16 said:

Not warm at all. Res is sitting on concrete.
Plus you get the swamp cooler effect from compressing the water into droplets and flingin em through the air.

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If it's not warm and the plants are happy I see no problem.

I'm surprised your roots haven't clogged the drain yet. When I did aero and small drains I would have to pick them out once a week.

DaFreak said:

I'm surprised your roots haven't clogged the drain yet. When I did aero and small drains I would have to pick them out once a week.

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I pull them out if they start into it.

Renfro said:

I like repeat cycle timers for this application.

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Which is what I use. A nearpow. But I don't know if it can do things like that. Maybe it can.

Curious why you choose that timing. Very different than your typical 1/5 or 15/15. At least I think it was 1/5, been so long.

DaFreak said:

Curious why you choose that timing. Very different than your typical 1/5 or 15/15. At least I think it was 1/5, been so long.

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I explained above. Don't want the pump on long so heat doesn't build up. They get soaked within that 1 min. One tine I forgot to plug it back in and the residual water in there kept them alive for 15hrs.

You using a repeat cycle timer?