DWC recirculating concern

[winterwhisper]

Sine my plants have become too big for me to deal with the 1 gallon buckets I've switched to recirculating DWC 5 gallons buckets for easier maintenance. I drilled my holes ( 3/4 bulkheads for 3/4 inch hose) about 4 1/2 inches up on the buckets which gives a minimum 2 gallon working capacity. The reservoir bucket has the holes drilled low for easier flow ( no lift necessary) with 2 cutoffs and I'm using a submersible pump. With the pump off the reservoir bucket has the same water level as the others ( which I planned on) but when in action the water in the feeder drains to barely having as much as 1/2 the pumps height. Is there a way I can manage the reservoir water level so I don't fear either for my pump or for overflowing the other buckets. I hesitate to just keep putting in water as so far that has seemed to have not have the desired effect.

Ps... you'll note that my buckets are elevated ( with the help of quart paint cans) inside of totes. As an apartment dweller I don't need to give my landlord any reason to kick me out and it did save me on the first test run !) These cover leaks on the bulkheads and the hose connections. I think later I'll add quick disconnencts cutoff in between buckets for more flexability. Any help will be appreciated...is my only option decreasing the opening of the feed line??

 

[rich5544]

Use your valve on the output side of the pump to reduce the flow. Or raise each bucket slightly higher than the one
after it to increase gravity flow. Fill the system while pump is operating. Just start and stop to be sure the sump
does not overflow.

 

[winterwhisper]

Thanks to rich for the response. I tried closing the output valve halfway and the reduction of water going out is the same reaching again 1/2 level of pump height. It's only the plant bucket water that seems to rise with no changes in the output or return volume. The buckets are all on the same level so gravity should be equal on all buckets except for the reservoir.
I drilled lower holes on the feeder which should be working *for* it rather than against. Maybe a pump needs to be placed on the return line? All the other systems I''ve seen online have just one pump. I bought a 400 gph pump and though that would be good enough for a 4 bucket system..but it's not turning out as effortless as I thought it would.

Use your valve on the output side of the pump to reduce the flow. Or raise each bucket slightly higher than the one
after it to increase gravity flow. Fill the system while pump is operating. Just start and stop to be sure the sump
does not overflow.

 

[powercat]

Thanks to rich for the response. I tried closing the output valve halfway and the reduction of water going out is the same reaching again 1/2 level of pump height. It's only the plant bucket water that seems to rise with no changes in the output or return volume. The buckets are all on the same level so gravity should be equal on all buckets except for the reservoir.
I drilled lower holes on the feeder which should be working *for* it rather than against. Maybe a pump needs to be placed on the return line? All the other systems I''ve seen online have just one pump. I bought a 400 gph pump and though that would be good enough for a 4 bucket system..but it's not turning out as effortless as I thought it would.

Check each bucket for roots clogging the drain. There may be a backup in one or more buckets.
Looks like you probably have a large root system.

 

[Bassman59]

I tried running a rdwc setup not unlike yours. Eventually I switch to 1.5" PVC for the buckets. On the DRAIN side, I reduced to 3/4" hose, and pumped using 285gph pump back to the res bucket. The main bucket uses 1.5" pvc, gravity fed.

This system worked like a freaking charm. And yes, even then I had massive amounts of roots in the pvc pipe, but because it was big enough, the flow was unaffected.

I should note, my pump actually pulled from the drain side and pumped through my chiller, then into the res. Water temp at plants was always a constant 65-66 degrees.

Check out uni-seals in your search engine. Get a bunch of extras. They are a bear to install, and harder even to remove the pvc. But done right, no leaks, high flow. That's what you want for rdwc.

 

[winterwhisper]

I checked the buckets and since these are adult plants they do have a very decent root system but nothing blocking or being sucked into the waterways. The flow doesn't seem to be that strong anyway. I wish now that I had bought bigger bulkheads and I might do that anyway like those that use the uniseals and the pvc but I needed flexability in my supply lines as I will be changing up my setup from grow to grow. I'm gonna try changing my pump to an inline position and see how that works for me.

 

[winterwhisper]

Well an update .....I did change the location of the pump to the half way point and made in inline instead of submersible. No problem like before. My 5 gal res now has water level that is double that of what is in the buckets. Not a problem for me now but if I want to have more than 2 2 1/2 gallons per bucket on plants then I 'll have to change something. I may try switching out the return line tubing to 1/2 instead of 3/4 to see if that will normalize levels but for now it works just fine. I really like the convenience of having to deal with the one bucket for nuts adding and checking meters.