4 Reservoirs - 1 Chiller

[fortphoenix]

1 - 1/2HP water chiller
2 - water pumps
1 - 75 gallon tote for chiller & water pumps
4 - 50 gallon totes for flood and drain tables
4 - copper immersion wort chillers (25’ of coiled copper, 1 in each 50gal tote)

hey guys, heres the plan… I’m going to have a 1/2 HP water chiller with its own reservoir&pump that is recirculating 24/7 so the 75gal tote is always cold as fuck… then i am going to have another pump in the chillers reservoir thats connected to the 4 copper coils (1 in each 50 gallon res) through hose so the cold water runs through each coil/res and then once it flows to the last coil/res it just gets pushed back to the chillers res and then recirculated over and over again…

since i can't upload the pic here, heres a link to a sketch i made
Image - TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting

but my question is, how powerful of a pump should i use to run through the (approx.) 110ft of tubing/hose? I’m not sure if i should keep a high pressure flow of water going through the coils or a low pressure, any thoughts? and also, what would be the best material for a coil.. stainless steel or copper? thanks for any advice!!


heres the immersion wort chiller copper coils I’m talking about in the link below...

Immersion Wort Chiller w/Garden Hose Fittings | Midwest Supplies

 

[fortphoenix]

Re: 4 Reservoirs... 1 Chiller

the best part is you save a lot of electricity and you only need too buy one chiller! plus you never have to worry about your plant res getting contaminated with chiller water because theres bends at the top of the coil so the fittings stick out of the res. plus its a coil so you can literally stick the flood table pump in the middle of a coil to make sure all the coldest water is what i being flooded into the tables and realistically if there was too much tubing to cool all the 50 gallon totes i could just put each coil on its own pump.. either way it beats buying 4 separate water chillers

 

[fortphoenix]

bump

 

[Bassman59]

the coils are a waste of $320.

1 pump is all that's needed.

Highly suggest, 1.5-2" pvc for flow through all buckets and res.

On return side, reduce to 3/4 hose, attach your return pump. *(pro tip: add a check valve before pump to stop flow). Pump via 3/4 hose directly through chiller, flowing into res.

Your plants roots will stay nice and cool, sub 67 is no issue at all.

Adding coils into the root zone could potentially cause problems to the roots. If they do get cold enough to freeze at the coils, your roots will break off and your growth will be stunted tremendously. Probably not going to happen, but just an fyi. Also, your roots love lots of room to grow big and strong. So why take up space with coils?

Good luck and best wishes.

 

[fortphoenix]

the coils are a waste of $320.

1 pump is all that's needed.

Highly suggest, 1.5-2" pvc for flow through all buckets and res.

On return side, reduce to 3/4 hose, attach your return pump. *(pro tip: add a check valve before pump to stop flow). Pump via 3/4 hose directly through chiller, flowing into res.

Your plants roots will stay nice and cool, sub 67 is no issue at all.

Adding coils into the root zone could potentially cause problems to the roots. If they do get cold enough to freeze at the coils, your roots will break off and your growth will be stunted tremendously. Probably not going to happen, but just an fyi. Also, your roots love lots of room to grow big and strong. So why take up space with coils?

Good luck and best wishes.

thanks for your reply but i don't think you understand what I'm doing. I'm doing ebb and flow tables. so the roots/plants will be in a flood tray and the reservoir for each table will be under the trays. the roots won't be in the reservoir/tote they will be in the flood tray. also, what are you suggesting i should put in the res to cool it instead of the coils, pvc? the coils be way more effective as cooling and staying cold then pvc

 

[Bassman59]

Ahh, my bad, I thought you were doing deep water culture from the drawing. I don't know squat for ebb and flow

 

[fortphoenix]

Ahh, my bad, I thought you were doing deep water culture from the drawing. I don't know squat for ebb and flow

all good mane, thanks anyway