need some help with DWC water temps.

[zierf]

i have 5 gal. DWC bubbler. my nute level in the bucket is 3.5gal. and am having trouble with the nute water getting to warm.on avr. it gets close to the closet temp. my closet avr. room temp is 84F. in light cycle and 72F in dark cycle.



what i was thinking if trying is. down grade the bucket size to a 3 gal. that would put my nutes level to about 1.5gal in the bucket. and then have anouther bucket just outside the closet.(the bedroom temp. is always around 70F.)with the same level of nute water in it . then have a small pump in each bucket to push water fron the cooler bucket in the bedroom to the closet. and have a pump to push the closet water back into the bedroom bucket. and have a timer set up to run a short period 6 times a day.



would that work?

does anybody have anything better that works and is easy to set up?

 

[DroJo]

yup bro what your thinking of doing is setting up a "recirculating dwc system".. you're headed on the right path

 

[zierf]

is there a way to do that with one pump or would 2 be needed

 

[OldMedUser]

Being the lazy SOB that I am the thought of pumps, recirculating, increased chances of leaks and general higher level of hassle makes me shudder.

How about using a cheap styrofoam cooler with some ice packs to put your air pump in and bubble cool air through the nutes to cool them down. Maybe put some insulation around the bucket to help keep it cool once the cool air is bubbling away in there.

You could go low-budget by using plastic pop bottles full of water with some salt, freeze 'em and keep some spares in the freezer for changes. Wrap a big old blanket around the bucket for insulation. Cost. 5 or $10 for the cooler. Best if the cooler was kept out of the grow room as well.

I have nute temp probs too but the other way. I just keep my tubs off the cement floor with styro slabs and my nutes are warmed by the air temp in my grow room. Usually 65-70F nute temp all the time.

Good luck and good growing.

I haven't tried the method I described but it makes sense to me and might be worth a try before f'n with pumps and extra hoses. Also I would not recommend going to a smaller bucket as when your plant(s) get bigger you'll have a lot harder time keeping the water level, pH, nutes etc at optimum levels.

 

[Tead]

I once tried a closed, recirculating water cooling system using an old water cooler and a single pump. Just ran hose thru the res and cooler. Worked ok, but I was trying to do it outside in the heat.
If you have a refrigeration unit of some sort hanging around, you might consider it.

Cheers