The Absolutely Incredible And Bulky RDWC 750w LED Dr. Krippling Incredible Bulk: 2019 Indoor Feminised

[Aroxol]

The overflow tube can be fixed if you so desire, 1" tubing is a little big for feed line, small submersible pumps can have difficulty raising the column of water. Here is a pic I did a while back you may find useful, on the siphon effect and few options available including fixed overflow tube.

Great diagram, and pretty much fully aligned. Looks like the bottom res will be 13” below the top res and I can also exhaust cool air from my tent into the cabinet to keep air circulating. Because I want some storage space in the cabinet for nutes and other stuff, my plan is to use a tub that’s narrower than what I could fit, which results in feed/ return line being about 11” apart. Here’s basically what it looks like from bottom res (grey is feed, white is return).




And then from the top res point of view, feed line will be where the lip indents, overflow/return will be where the bulkhead is (I’ll make it 1-2” for quick draining).


Finally, I started thinking about the additional water pump that came with the system which attaches to the brain/ water override switch on the front of the machine. My thought is to put that pump back into the top reservoir, direct connected to a 2nd bulkhead drain hole which attaches to a hose running outside. When I flip the water override button on the machine I can auto drain/ flush the system without doing anything to the overflow tube, just need to shut off the valve on the res below. Thoughts?

 

[Alienpus]

Great diagram, and pretty much fully aligned. Looks like the bottom res will be 13” below the top res and I can also exhaust cool air from my tent into the cabinet to keep air circulating. Because I want some storage space in the cabinet for nutes and other stuff, my plan is to use a tub that’s narrower than what I could fit, which results in feed/ return line being about 11” apart. Here’s basically what it looks like from bottom res (grey is feed, white is return).



And then from the top res point of view, feed line will be where the lip indents, overflow/return will be where the bulkhead is (I’ll make it 1-2” for quick draining).


Finally, I started thinking about the additional water pump that came with the system which attaches to the brain/ water override switch on the front of the machine. My thought is to put that pump back into the top reservoir, direct connected to a 2nd bulkhead drain hole which attaches to a hose running outside. When I flip the water override button on the machine I can auto drain/ flush the system without doing anything to the overflow tube, just need to shut off the valve on the res below. Thoughts?

I like what I see. 13 inches is plenty of room. Your feed seems close to the drain up top, are you going to extend your feed to the other extremity of the top reservoir?

The only issues I can see using the small pump is it might be slow to drain but that does not affect the plants, so why not, it's kinda cool. It is designed to not clog with roots I assume. Just keep in mind you do drain the table often to adjust solution.

Do you know how much water the new reservoir holds?

 

[Aroxol]

I like what I see. 13 inches is plenty of room. Your feed seems close to the drain up top, are you going to extend your feed to the other extremity of the top reservoir?

The only issues I can see using the small pump is it might be slow to drain but that does not affect the plants, so why not, it's kinda cool. It is designed to not clog with roots I assume. Just keep in mind you do drain the table often to adjust solution.

Do you know how much water the new reservoir holds?

The new reservoir holds 12 gallon, and here’s where we’re at so far. I was thinking about feed to drain distance as well, so lmk what you think this new placement. Gotta use a little imagination, but this is where I’m planning to drill.

Reading the picture:
-Front center black tube is feed line.
-Front right bulkhead is water override to flush top res completely out of the system (not to bottom res).
-Left back bulkhead is overflow tube back to bottom res.
-Right back pump is solely for water override to auto flush the top res out of the system (not back to bottom res).
-4 white circular air stones surrounding center netpot location.



Cabinet base staged, box will sit on top.

 

[Alienpus]

The drain tube needs periodic inspetion to make sure no roots are going in (rare), at the very least, and frequent removal if used for draining. Would it not be more practical in the front? I never ever touch the inlet pipe though. The top pump out option (not to reservoir) seems to indicate you intend to use overflow tube the drain to table back to reservoir.

When you drain the top you need it to drain back to reservoir for solution maintenance. Say your PH is up, you shut feed valve, drain the table down to the reservoir, adjust PH and PPM, make sure it's perfect, and start the system up again. It is easier and safer then trying to adjust a running system. If your little pump pumps to reservoir then I can understand using it, otherwise I see no practical reason to make another hole for it, especially not directly over the reservoir (in case of leaks). Could that pump be used to run the system or is it too small? It is the right type.

What I see will work fine. Personally I would place feed towards rear left corner in that notch, and overflow in bottom right for easy access and greatest distance between them. It's going to be a really nice system.

 

[Aroxol]

Great points, and thank you from saving me from an ill placed drain! Oversight on my part, I got it wrong in my placement thinking and general description of top res pump. The top res pump will feed into a bulkhead that has a 3/4” flex hose on the bottom, that hose could default to the reservoir (makes more sense per your comment) OR go completely out of the system, but you’re right that it should be on the front left side over the res in case leaks happen. While I could run everything off of a single pump, my thought was to leave the overflow tube as a fixed structure with a filter so I wouldn’t have to move/ unscrew it for every flush, yet still have a fast way to drain the top res. In the bottom res I was planning to leverage your design for different valves to either drain the res or recycle using a Rio 1100 aquarium pump with 1/2” tubing. You make great points, and after a quick reread, I get the logic of all placements. Thanks again for all the time/ knowledge on this, incredibly helpful!

 

[Aroxol]

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[Aroxol]

Made headway today, more work to do tomorrow. Drilled in the bulkheads, tested for water leaks, cut the overflow tube to size, etc.. My goal is to have a fully functioning RDWC system by Wednesday, which I think is doable pending being able to lift the cab onto the vanity. Overall, excited. New leafs look great and excited to see what comes.

 

[Alienpus]

Keep us posted, really want to see how it turns out.

 

[Aroxol]

Keep us posted, really want to see how it turns out.

I think you’re gonna be stoked man, your design realized. Everything came out very clean and is looking good, I just gotta button up sealing the PVC and lift the cabinet, etc.. btw that should be an interesting exercise/ experience seeing the wife help out LOL.

On a separate note, ~5 roots finally popped through the 5” rockwool today and the seedling is looking super healthy. Pics don’t really do the roots justice, but IMO they are HUGE. Can’t wait to see how these look in a reservoir. I get the feeling this strain just wants to grow.

Looking forward to what to come!

 

[Aroxol]

Getting close! Everything is pretty much squared away, but I need to build a new mobile base and the materials I bought today turned out to be low quality so I’m not going to use them. The space I need to put the box is very tight, so after some analysis I can’t use the vanity, and instead need to build a base and add casters. Plan is (4) 3x3 ~20” connected with 2x3 to give it some stability.

Here’s some pics of progress:

The lower res (underneath cabinet). Has air stones and a water pump inside, here’s the view from the top:
-front left hole is for forced flush drain from main (top) res water pump.
-valve next to it is so I can empty for res changes/ flush the whole system.
-front right hole is drain for overflow tube in main (top) res.
-PVC pipe in back is direct connected to water pump which is circulating water either up to the top res as a feed line (center valve), recirculate water/ mix the nutes back into the same tub (right valve), or flush the whole system (front valve).


Here’s the custom lid, cut out a portion in the front and adding a hinge so there’s a viewing window to the roots without having to lift the whole thing. Also gives me access to res. Plan is to use removable caulking tape to completely seal lid against wall during grow to avoid light getting to roots.


Here’s the main (top) reservoir.

-feed line from bottom res comes in behind the water pump back left, I didn’t have it attached in this photo.
-water pump is hooked to water override switch and when activated, quickly drains the top reservoir into the lower reservoir via the PVC/ newly drilled bulkhead bottom left which connects to a 3/4” drain hose.
-bottom right is a 3/4” bulkhead that has an overflow tube set at the height of 4.5 gallons.
-there’s also 4x 4” circular air stones not pictured that will be in place.



Cabinet floor (above bottom res):

-front left hole is for the 3/4” flex PVC that drains the water pump setup in the top res back to the bottom res.
-front right is for 3/4” flex PVC that drains the overflow tube back to the bottom res.
-back left hole is for feedline from bottom res to top res.
-bottom right hole is where the power cord and 4 air lines from the GH Dual Diaphram will come in (keeping the air pump outside/ below the cabinet, but still have it connected to the cabinet brain/ din rail and switch)



Plant looks good, more big roots are coming in but forgot to take pics. Will update some tomorrow and hopefully get her into the cabinet.

 

[Alienpus]

Nice job and attention to detail, choice of materials, it looks space worthy. Did you swap out the lower reservoir for a different one?

 

[Aroxol]

Thanks! Yeah, I found a different Husky container that was shorter than the black/yellow one I bought at first. My local HW store is closed today due to Thanksgiving, but the plan is to go the tomorrow morning to grab the wood so I can build the stand and then add in my BlueLab monitor to the res. If everything goes to plan, we will officially be operational in the cab tomorrow.

In terms of sensor placement, I was planning to put the EC/PH monitors in the bottom res, do you have any thoughts? I’m also thinking about building an arduino automated PH doser, but probably won’t get to that for a few weeks (if at all). I just don’t know if the recirculating (constantly moving water) would throw the PH readings or result in overdosing.

And as always, thanks for the guidance and design for this build, it’s awesome.

 

[Aroxol]

Day 22 from seed.
75 degrees, 55RH
Current Nutes: PBP Grow, Silica Blast, Cal Mag +
Handwater 5” Rockwool

Still hand watering under LED and (3) 2’ PowerVEG bulbs. Plant looks great and BIG stocky roots are popping through bottom of rockwool, but not past net pot yet. If I can get the new elevated base built, the plan is to move her into the cabinet and RDWC setup tomorrow. I’ve done as much planning/ prepping as I can, but this will be my first go at DWC and so you just never know. Appreciate all you guys helping me out and looking forward to getting this party started. Should mention, as long as res temps are steady below 70 Fahrenheit, im going to try and add HydroGuard in place of DutchMaster Zone. If temps are above 70, I’ll have to use Zone to keep things sterile. Only other nute I anticipate adding for this grow is HydroPlex during bloom.

If anyone has a line of microbes that don’t smell like absolute shit, I’m open to that, but I recently had to remove Photosynthesis + because the smell was just too much. I’ve had wonderful results with microbes outside, but inside seems like a no go.

Here’s the girl as of today on her first Thanksgiving!

 

[Alienpus]

Thanks! Yeah, I found a different Husky container that was shorter than the black/yellow one I bought at first. My local HW store is closed today due to Thanksgiving, but the plan is to go the tomorrow morning to grab the wood so I can build the stand and then add in my BlueLab monitor to the res. If everything goes to plan, we will officially be operational in the cab tomorrow.

In terms of sensor placement, I was planning to put the EC/PH monitors in the bottom res, do you have any thoughts? I’m also thinking about building an arduino automated PH doser, but probably won’t get to that for a few weeks (if at all). I just don’t know if the recirculating (constantly moving water) would throw the PH readings or result in overdosing.

And as always, thanks for the guidance and design for this build, it’s awesome.

Place your probes in the bottom res where convenient, whatever they read will be the same as the root zone. As for the PH doser, or meter for that matter, the circulating solution does not affect readings on mine, when compared to my PH pen.

I was a little worried at first that the circulating fluid in the pipes would create an electrical charge screwing up readings but that does not seem to be the case. I was also worried about overdosing or the pump sucking up concentrated acid upon dosing so when I built my doser I integrated pump control with timer relays and a dedicated mixing pump, should be easy to design something even better if you know arduino.

 

[Aroxol]

Cabinet is up and running and I just moved the plant in! Right now water temps are stable at mid 60’s, hoping it stays that way. Cab temp is pretty hot, roughly 86F with just the HPS (T5s turned off). Love the sound of the RDWC, like a soothing waterfall you can fall asleep to. Ended up getting a great deal on a BlueLab PH controller, it has kept the PH locked in and so far seems to be working well.

The plant already smells very strongly of skunk, surprising given how young it is - getting to the fun part now!

 

[Alienpus]

Wait, what? You got yourself a PH controller! Boy are you gonna love RDWC. Congratulations on your build and good for you.

 

[JinxMeTwice]

Looking good so far!, I'm gonna be watching your little plant come along.
I'm interested to see how your DWC works out, I've tried it before and plan on doing it again. Hope all goes well with the plant!

 

[Aroxol]

Wait, what? You got yourself a PH controller! Boy are you gonna love RDWC. Congratulations on your build and good for you.

Was not part of the plan, but yes! My plan was to build an Arduino PH Controller, but in searching local ads I found a brand new Bluelab PH Controller (with connect stick) for $200. Wife didn’t like it, but come on - that’s over $500 normally. Dude, I feel like this is gonna be sweet. I have to say, I am SHOCKED at how much this plant already smells. Do you remember if you encountered that too when you ran the bulk? Makes me nervous about how bad flower will be.

 

[Aroxol]

Looking good so far!, I'm gonna be watching your little plant come along.
I'm interested to see how your DWC works out, I've tried it before and plan on doing it again. Hope all goes well with the plant!

Thanks man, looking forward to seeing how this shakes out.

 

[Alienpus]

Was not part of the plan, but yes! My plan was to build an Arduino PH Controller, but in searching local ads I found a brand new Bluelab PH Controller (with connect stick) for $200. Wife didn’t like it, but come on - that’s over $500 normally. Dude, I feel like this is gonna be sweet. I have to say, I am SHOCKED at how much this plant already smells. Do you remember if you encountered that too when you ran the bulk? Makes me nervous about how bad flower will be.

$200! And you only bought one. Every one of my Bulk phenotypes had a different odor, one was a lot stronger then the others but they were not as bad as yours sound.