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[Stauggydogg]

you're missing the point entirely,.. obviously ive proven if there rotating in the water for a short period of time then out for a longer period of time where they can breath and cool then no they can not drown

I admire your initiative... for someone who is fairly new to hydroponics, you have jumped in with both feet... I would recommend reading up on the basics of hydroponics. Mastering the fundamentals is the key to success in most things... The objective of cooling the resevoir is not to cool the medium or the rootmass, its because the colder the water the more disolved oxygen it can hold. You are right about aeration of the resevoir not being NECESSARY, its not even NECESSARY in DWC... i.e the Kratky method... However, the more disolved oxygen that is in your nutrient solution, the healthier your plants are going to be, and the faster their metabolic process... which Im sure even as a novice you can understand is the goal.
Now even if you dont want to invest in a chiller(or DIY one from a de-huey), at 70 degrees your nutrient solution can hold quiet a bit more O2. Air stones are great, they work well and are uber cheap. The most effective way of increasing O2 is through surface circulation.
A water pump mounted just below the water line so that it's outlet is about 2/3 under the water level is ideal. Aquarium supply stores/sites are best for this. Now the heat from the pump will raise the temp of the solution so I wouldnt go this route unless you add a chiller as well.... Adding an airstone to your res is wise... I would add 2... one pump, a 2 way split to feed 2 stones... one at each end of the resevoir... Good luck!

 

[Stauggydogg]

Not in the system ive made,.. the motor is completely silent and fans are a lot quieter then the bubbles an air stone in my res makes. This is due to the fact that the res is very shallow and the bubbles break loudly on the surface because of that fact. I have nothing against aeration of my res, but not at the cost of the whole system being discovered, and again just to remind anyone reading this, my roots are rotated in and out of the res water 3 times a minute so i don't think aeration of the res water is needed.



I see what your driving at but obviously roots can take up a lot more oxygen in an aeroponic system vs a DWC which lets say both used the same exact air pump and stone. This is proven by how roots grow hairy looking in aero,.. and there "damp at all times" in both scenarios. Roots do not get all there oxygen from water, we know this because plant roots in dirt drown if the soil isn't given a chance to dry out a bit so air can get down there. It just makes sense to me that drops of water or a thin layer of water on the surface of a table or a root lets say, would contain higher levels of oxygen and be more apt to regain even more oxygen from the surrounding air by rolling down the root and dripping off it, per sq inch or whatever, then say a 2 foot deep bucket of water just sitting there.




Perhaps then my wheel and roots breaking the surface 3 times every minute is all the agitation of the surface that i need to oxygenate my res water? The plants still growing btw,.. no aeration of my res to date so you obv don't NEED it.

Why not? Id think a drop of water on a root turning through the air would be able to collect more oxygen from the surrounding air the same as any drop of water being shot by a pump across the surface of res water,.. and even more so then any drop of water in a res that was next to an air bubble that floated past it.

Running the medium through the nute solution 3 times a minute is the same as running a flood and drain for 3 seconds every 20 seconds...
I would highly recommend aerating your resevoir.. if u use multiple stones(2-4) from one pump it will be much quieter... I would also think about slowing that wheel down... unless your going to get a chiller along with a few airstones.... which really would be ideal..
The only way your going to get real results, and I dont mean the plant survivng... I mean allowing and supporting your plants to reach their genetic potential, is going to be either to slow it way way down, or add a lower resevoir and only fill the tray 2-3 times a day, ooorrrr,
The actual ideal thing would be to leave at the speed u have and add a chiller and an air stone.
You cannot underestimate the importance of oxygen to the root system.... and the amount of disolved O2 in your nutrient solution is absolute key to mastering this fundamental in hydroponics. Just trying to help... good luck in any and everything!

 

[trailmixman]

Sooo I would like to post my old comment again.

I'm really more interested in how your going fix the motor to turn the wheel and what kind of, hopefully quite, motor your going to use. How are you going to do this?

And if you want criticism, then post pics of tha "wheel". WOF already said somethings about your "base" that's been up here for awhile.

I found the motor! Its a Dayton model number 4LL05

 

[trailmixman]

Where did you get the pvc circle?