Heisenbubbles Do it yourself RDWC build

inthetrees

Active Member
Great setup dude! That looks mint :)

What nutrient line are you using and are you guys running sterile or bene's?
 
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Ccuis

New Member
i want to do this system for 38 buckets. Any Recommendations of what to watch out for taking it up to this many buckets?
 

inthetrees

Active Member
i want to do this system for 38 buckets. Any Recommendations of what to watch out for taking it up to this many buckets?
I wouldn't go with that many buckets without dividing the system into 2 or more. That's just my personal opinion. Just gives you a few more lines of defense. If your try to run multiple strains in it your going to have issues unless you have cuts you've monocropped before and know they all feed and finish the same. It's also a buttload of fluid to deal with if you have a leak or major failure god forbid VS multiple smaller systems.
 

Thedadjokeguy

New Member
Thank you for posting this. Honestly best guide I've seen. I glanced at the prices of premade systems. Not sure what those vendors are smoking to have those prices. I certainly don't want to try said bud and loose touch with reality to that degree.

After doing a 4 bucket DWC on my first grow, gathering water from my bathtub (fast fill time vs sinks) carrying those down a bunch of steps. Then hauling up all the old water up a bunch of steps and outside (bad for septic system so I use it on the garden outside) my back demanded after months of that not to do it this way again. Time I was done I had to get a shower every time.

I have the drainage part sorted now. Pump and long hose out the window when needed.

4 Plants at this point is way to much for my personal needs but being new I get to try a bunch of strains. I ordered everything today to make a 5 bucket system (4 grow 1 control) using your build plans.

Seriously thanks for sharing this. You've condensed down at least a decade of hard work to jump start a newbie like myself. You saved me having to deal with all the headaches that came with that experience. This is going to be a big change in convenience not to mention the other benefits!

I'm a DYI guy and while down in my basement to measure what I'd need to plum that room for water to save on my back, I realized my kitchen sink has a 3M 3 filter RO system. Filters aren't bad in terms of price compared to what I've seen. Best part the sink line goes up just on the edge of the grow area wall where I'd want it, I just need to cut that and put a fitting on it and I'm done on the water plumbing part. It's even plex making it easier to move it where I need it.

With Covid, figure it's going to take a few weeks before everything arrives. Needed to do a lot of third party ordering to get what I need. Lot of links broken as expected, they never last long. When everything arrives and times allows I'll report back with the finished product.
 

angel4us

Super Active Member
Thank you for posting this. Honestly best guide I've seen. I glanced at the prices of premade systems. Not sure what those vendors are smoking to have those prices. I certainly don't want to try said bud and loose touch with reality to that degree.

After doing a 4 bucket DWC on my first grow, gathering water from my bathtub (fast fill time vs sinks) carrying those down a bunch of steps. Then hauling up all the old water up a bunch of steps and outside (bad for septic system so I use it on the garden outside) my back demanded after months of that not to do it this way again. Time I was done I had to get a shower every time.

I have the drainage part sorted now. Pump and long hose out the window when needed.

4 Plants at this point is way to much for my personal needs but being new I get to try a bunch of strains. I ordered everything today to make a 5 bucket system (4 grow 1 control) using your build plans.

Seriously thanks for sharing this. You've condensed down at least a decade of hard work to jump start a newbie like myself. You saved me having to deal with all the headaches that came with that experience. This is going to be a big change in convenience not to mention the other benefits!

I'm a DYI guy and while down in my basement to measure what I'd need to plum that room for water to save on my back, I realized my kitchen sink has a 3M 3 filter RO system. Filters aren't bad in terms of price compared to what I've seen. Best part the sink line goes up just on the edge of the grow area wall where I'd want it, I just need to cut that and put a fitting on it and I'm done on the water plumbing part. It's even plex making it easier to move it where I need it.

With Covid, figure it's going to take a few weeks before everything arrives. Needed to do a lot of third party ordering to get what I need. Lot of links broken as expected, they never last long. When everything arrives and times allows I'll report back with the finished product.
F9377FA1-85FF-408D-8309-30C9D58E455B.jpegThis is what to expect from November 22nd to today just a little growth !!!B48F152D-641B-4A47-BB10-F0346FFA4EDE.jpeg
 

happybanana89

New Member
4 Plants at this point is way to much for my personal needs but being new I get to try a bunch of strains. I ordered everything today to make a 5 bucket system (4 grow 1 control) using your build plans.
Welcome to THE rdwc thread, dadjokeguy!

Funny timing here, I've finally got my 4+1 bucket system going. I used the same uline buckets as Heisen, but upgraded to 2" PVC with current culture bulkheads, running the active aqua 1/10hp chiller and a stupidly loud active aqua air pump. Will prob switch to Alita if those are quieter when it fails.

Right now I've just got 2 blue dream clones in the system. These were rooted in rockwool and rapid rooter (1 of each) and transferred into a DWC tote for some veg time on Dec 3. Growth rate has been phenomenal ever since the roots hit the water. I'm sure it will only be better with the heisen bucket system. I transferred them into the buckets on Sunday 12/27; today's their fourth day in rdwc.

As u can see from the pics, I did a sloppy not pretty job on the primer and PVC cement, but I don't have any leaks from the pipes or bulkheads, so I'm happy there. Had to adjust and fiddle with the hoses and clamps to avoid any leaks at the chiller, pump, and the PVC to hose connection in front of the pump, but it's all good now. IMG_8629 (1).JPG


IMG_8630 (1).JPGIMG_8631 (1).JPG
 

angel4us

Super Active Member
Welcome to THE rdwc thread, dadjokeguy!

Funny timing here, I've finally got my 4+1 bucket system going. I used the same uline buckets as Heisen, but upgraded to 2" PVC with current culture bulkheads, running the active aqua 1/10hp chiller and a stupidly loud active aqua air pump. Will prob switch to Alita if those are quieter when it fails.

Right now I've just got 2 blue dream clones in the system. These were rooted in rockwool and rapid rooter (1 of each) and transferred into a DWC tote for some veg time on Dec 3. Growth rate has been phenomenal ever since the roots hit the water. I'm sure it will only be better with the heisen bucket system. I transferred them into the buckets on Sunday 12/27; today's their fourth day in rdwc.

As u can see from the pics, I did a sloppy not pretty job on the primer and PVC cement, but I don't have any leaks from the pipes or bulkheads, so I'm happy there. Had to adjust and fiddle with the hoses and clamps to avoid any leaks at the chiller, pump, and the PVC to hose connection in front of the pump, but it's all good now. View attachment 80839


View attachment 80840View attachment 80841
Here is a system in a four x four2AB5D794-73B2-4E8E-91B8-2355B2AB534F.jpeg44F3868F-0DB5-44FB-AF62-15C193A4492C.jpeg1ADCA171-F177-4261-9D15-454A7759C284.jpeg
 

angel4us

Super Active Member
Very nice! You always use totes?
Yes started out using 5 gallon buckets for dwc and then rdwc and realized if you want to get plants over 5 ounces there just isn’t enough room for roots ... if your growing small plants or doing high numbers of plants so you can still get good size yields then small containers eill work but for me 18 gallon totes would be minimal size ....
 

Armdog

RDWC GROWER
Welcome to THE rdwc thread, dadjokeguy!

Funny timing here, I've finally got my 4+1 bucket system going. I used the same uline buckets as Heisen, but upgraded to 2" PVC with current culture bulkheads, running the active aqua 1/10hp chiller and a stupidly loud active aqua air pump. Will prob switch to Alita if those are quieter when it fails.

Right now I've just got 2 blue dream clones in the system. These were rooted in rockwool and rapid rooter (1 of each) and transferred into a DWC tote for some veg time on Dec 3. Growth rate has been phenomenal ever since the roots hit the water. I'm sure it will only be better with the heisen bucket system. I transferred them into the buckets on Sunday 12/27; today's their fourth day in rdwc.

As u can see from the pics, I did a sloppy not pretty job on the primer and PVC cement, but I don't have any leaks from the pipes or bulkheads, so I'm happy there. Had to adjust and fiddle with the hoses and clamps to avoid any leaks at the chiller, pump, and the PVC to hose connection in front of the pump, but it's all good now. View attachment 80839


View attachment 80840View attachment 80841
I have a AL-40 that is quiet and a AL-60 that you can barely hear. The linear air pumps kill it
 

Armdog

RDWC GROWER
Yes started out using 5 gallon buckets for dwc and then rdwc and realized if you want to get plants over 5 ounces there just isn’t enough room for roots ... if your growing small plants or doing high numbers of plants so you can still get good size yields then small containers eill work but for me 18 gallon totes would be minimal size ....
I use 4 ez store 8 gallon buckets and 1 for the epi. Total 5 buckets. I consistently Pull 16 to 25 ounces from them.
 

cedew

Member
Great stuff here! Some questions...

Would it be better to offset the holes in the buckets? For the same reason the OP cuts off excess threads, would it be better if the openings weren't aimed right at each other? Seems like if you offset the intake to one side and the outlet to the other, it would force more circulation.

Since we're using everything blacked out to prevent light accessing the water and fueling bacterial growth, shouldn't the PVC be black as well? If we math out the surface area of 1.5" pipe (1.9"OD) by roughly 16 feet in a 12-site setup, that's nearly 100 square feet of surface area with some degree of light penetration. Perhaps black PCV pipe and fittings would be the way to go?

Has equal circulation across sites been verified? As the OP mentions, water functions like electricity in that it flows to the path of least resistance, so maybe having the pump connected to an end point rather than a middle point would be better? There's no way to make both sides truly identical and small variations in pipe length and hole placement will always make one half flow better/worse than the other. Instead of a tee for the hose to flow to the pump, what if those were closed off at the tee and each end is where the inlet/outlet were located? That would put the EPI in the middle, but of course you could put the "cut in" anywhere, in case one thought it were best to have the EPI closest to the inlet/middle/outlet. As it is now, the entire circuit is closed with a chiller/pump plumbed into two middle points, somewhat operating in more of a parallel arrangement, but what if the chiller/pump were actually part of the the circuit in series? That would make the flow of the entire circuit as "complete" as it can be.
 
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