Greenislands 5 Gallon Upgrade Ebb & Gro TEK

Just thought I would mention that this garden is also now essentially the same garden as the other garden in my other journal. The two gardens now share the same environmental factors (humidity,co2, temp). The things they dont share are the size of the ebb and gro system, the gardens also dont share any light AT ALL. They both use the same sentinel environmental controller, they both have only one CO2 generator, and they both use the same 8" maxfan exhaust blower that is used either when temp or humidity is over the deadband. There is a 8" vortex at both corners constantly circling the air between the two rooms. Within 1 minute all the air from one room has been displaced into the other room, this rapid turn around keeps the environment as near as identical as possible. This serves several purposes, first only one environmental controller is needed and good PPM controllers with fuzzy logic (which I dont use cause I have a generator)or digital readouts are expensive, second only one CO2 generator is used to feed CO2 to both rooms. Thats one of the main reasons why theres so much ductwork everywhere. Im only allowed to have so many plants vegging at a time as per law, and a certain number of plants flowering at any one time so once the plants in the flowering chamber are culled I can start flowering the girls you see here. I guess technically I can have more because its for me and my girl but me and her definitively dont need any more. In fact I think what I have going right now is the perfect number because Im almost out of the last of my bluecheese and its only 3 weeks till the new stuff. Puuuurrfect!
 
Here is an add I recently ran into in a urban garden as well as maximum yield magazine that may interest us ebb and gro users. Check it out, looks pretty cool to me! I wonder what they cost?

100_1496_-_Copy.jpg


What do you guys think?
 
Something I would like to point out real quick. A little while back I think I made a mistake. I told someone that the 1000watt lumateks still use 1000watts even when they are set on 50% and only producing 500watts of light. This is TRUE. However I also said that that ALL dimmable e-ballasts as far as I knew were this way, talking about the only two ballasts I knew of with such a capability , "Quantum horticultures" 600 watt and 1000 watt and "Lumateks"400, 600 and 1000 watt. So my correction is this. I was reading a catalog for "Quantum digital dimmable ballasts" (the ones I use in my other garden) and this is what I found.

"One of the major factors that contributes to the purchase of digital lighting, is the increased power savings. The Quantum Series ballast is the only ballast on the market to offer you a dimming switch that enables you to run your ballast at the strength YOU desire. This not only makes it easier to harden off young plants just being introduced to HID lighting, but also allows you to control your footprint and power usage as well. You can increase the power to your ballast as your garden grows and demands more light, and save yourself a substantial amount of money on your power bill over the length of your crop cycle."

So after reading that excerpt it leads me to beleive that the "Quantum" ballasts unlike the "Lumatek" ballasts DO save you money on your electrical usage where as the Lumateks DO NOT. When the Lumatek is at 50% its still using 1000watts of electricity, when the Quantum is at 50% output its using roughly half as much electricity. This is a huge deciding factor in the purchase of future ballasts if is in fact true. It was writtem by Quantum horticulture themselves so you would hope that it was true. I always knew there was a reason why I like Quantum more, lol. Just doing my best to keep everyone updated on the most up to date info in the life of Greenisland. In case you havent already figured it out I live to build hydrogardens and read about new toys. For instance, GOD I love "hydro innovations" they have some really great stuff! Now I just need another $10,000 to spend on it! lol...yeeeeaaahhh right. Thats probably not gonna happen any time soon. lol. This room and kit KILLED my bank account! lol. Its now on the ground flopping around like a fish out of water gasping "money..uuughh need more money". lol. Ok thats enough. Talk to ya all soon!
 
greenisland said:
Something I would like to point out real quick. A little while back I think I made a mistake. I told someone that the 1000watt lumateks still use 1000watts even when they are set on 50% and only producing 500watts of light. This is TRUE. However I also said that that ALL dimmable e-ballasts as far as I knew were this way, talking about the only two ballasts I knew of with such a capability , "Quantum horticultures" 600 watt and 1000 watt and "Lumateks"400, 600 and 1000 watt. So my correction is this. I was reading a catalog for "Quantum digital dimmable ballasts" (the ones I use in my other garden) and this is what I found.

"One of the major factors that contributes to the purchase of digital lighting, is the increased power savings. The Quantum Series ballast is the only ballast on the market to offer you a dimming switch that enables you to run your ballast at the strength YOU desire. This not only makes it easier to harden off young plants just being introduced to HID lighting, but also allows you to control your footprint and power usage as well. You can increase the power to your ballast as your garden grows and demands more light, and save yourself a substantial amount of money on your power bill over the length of your crop cycle."

So after reading that excerpt it leads me to beleive that the "Quantum" ballasts unlike the "Lumatek" ballasts DO save you money on your electrical usage where as the Lumateks DO NOT. When the Lumatek is at 50% its still using 1000watts of electricity, when the Quantum is at 50% output its using roughly half as much electricity. This is a huge deciding factor in the purchase of future ballasts if is in fact true. It was writtem by Quantum horticulture themselves so you would hope that it was true. I always knew there was a reason why I like Quantum more, lol. Just doing my best to keep everyone updated on the most up to date info in the life of Greenisland. In case you havent already figured it out I live to build hydrogardens and read about new toys. For instance, GOD I love "hydro innovations" they have some really great stuff! Now I just need another $10,000 to spend on it! lol...yeeeeaaahhh right. Thats probably not gonna happen any time soon. lol. This room and kit KILLED my bank account! lol. Its now on the ground flopping around like a fish out of water gasping "money..uuughh need more money". lol. Ok thats enough. Talk to ya all soon!
Click to expand...

GI, please go buy one of these and use it to test your ballasts.

Kill A Watt Meter

You can easily find out wattage use of each one though you may have to wait until you are between grows to do it. I have one of these and they are great. It will be able to tell you if the Quantum claims are indeed true.

Also, if left on a circuit, it will keep track of your total KWh used until it is unplugged. I so wish it had battery backup but it does not so be sure to write down the KWH before unplugging it.
 
How thick are the STG inserts? If they fill most of the volume of a bucket, then I can see their value. The roots are to grow within that media.
 
They fit exactly in the bucket like already perfect size. What Ive heard from others is it gets soggy, and then from others ive heard it actually runs real dry because it doesnt wick water but the bottom inch stays soggy. Either way the reports I have heard arent good, EVERYONE says the concistancy is soggy and doesnt seem like it would hold up a plant with any weight, the other thing people are saying that really bothers them is algae growing on the side, and supposedly algae isnt supposed to grow on these things but it does. I actually plan on getting these Munki Powerbox 240 Volt Hydroponic Lighting Controllers & Timers They have the ammeters built in. Plus in a few months the room is going to make the switch to 220 volt so this would just be a good product to have either way. Thanks for the great idea though! much appreciated, I didnt even think of that! How much did your killawatt cost? I have a million catalogs laying around with it in them but Im being lazy and dont want to get up and look through the boxes of catalogs right now, lol. Damn Nosebleed with its couchlock effect!:ganjamon::thanks:
 
Heres a new pic for everyone! Just switched the bulbs so the halide is on the left now and hps on the right. Plan on doing this all the way through veg....mostly because Im being cheap at the moment and dont want to buy 2 more halides that I will barely ever use. In any case I blew ANOTHER timer..the same kind that stopped my other lights from working, so now the two 1000watters are on 24/7 just because I dont want to have to worry about any stupid timers going bad. You can tell the plants on the left havent grown much because of the bulb issue but thats fine because now they are all much more even in heighth and given another week will have a nice set of roots throught the 5 gallon bucket and should EXPLODE with growth from there. . . .Atleast thats the idea, lol. Here the pic.

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ENJOY! Hope for more soon. Oh and the ebb and gro set is working flawlessly, love it!
 
great drawings and design, im glad things are doing well aside from the timer
 
That clean room and set up makes me drool just a little. Am feeling a little envy but think I can keep it under control. Great job again...
 
Do you have pics of the offending timers so we may try to avoid them for high wattage equipment? One of those Intermatic timers like is used for pool equipment should do the trick; they just cost more.
 
Yeah, gimme a minute and Ill post the culprite. And these timers were rated for 1750 tungsten too! So they should EASILY be able to handle a single 1000watt.

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The ones I bougtht are black not greythough. I purchased them at walmart and home depot. Now I know thats what i get for shopping at walmart but damn home depot too? Crazy. the main problem I think is that they were 15 minute timers and not intermatic on/off so its switching or throwing power is greatly reduced because of that...And I know this but yet I still used them, I guess thats what happens when your being lazy. Like I said earlier though I have plans on using the powerbox so timers like this will be out of the equation soon enough. Thanks for stopping by everyone! And dont use these timers!
 
Greenisland i feel your plight bro. But trust me, you got the better of the situation. My timer blew last week, and my 1000w ballast didnt work as a result, and i had got my timer from HD too, it was a 1250 tungusten.
Blah, screw timers is how im feeling right now too
 
greenisland said:
Here is an add I recently ran into in a urban garden as well as maximum yield magazine that may interest us ebb and gro users. Check it out, looks pretty cool to me! I wonder what they cost?

100_1496_-_Copy.jpg


What do you guys think?
Click to expand...


i myself am planning a huge hydro run for my next grow... and i was looking into either STG or CC.. vids i've seen on STG

YouTube - Dense roots grown from hydroponic media using Sure To Grow (Part 2)



YouTube - Eyton shows you his meaty root mass



YouTube - Advantages of the Sure to Grow hydroponic media



YouTube - Sure To Grow introduces their new hydroponic inserts
 
Drojo Ive been gearing not so good things about the stg. I would steer clear atleast for now. Plus its expensive. Coco coir is a proven media. Hydroton works great but the best results ive seen came from higromite, yes really, but this was back when the higromite rocks were still big and not small pee sizes like they are now. I wish you luck drojo, it seems that timers are just getting cheaper and cheaper and cheaper!
 

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