Silly question about recirculating system and drainage back to rez?

[Qwobbler]

hey there,

 

my brain isnt working right.

 

my grow tub is sitting on a small pallet to raise the drain hole to the same height of the water level in the rez.

 

the drain hole from my grow tub is connected to the rez just above the water level so the drainage is going back to the rez by gravity.

 

i can lift the grow tub any higher because of cabinet height and a lot of water seems to not drain back because the drain line isnt really going straight down into the rez, its going in a straight line (is that makes sense)

 

can i put a return hole in the bottom of the rez? not above the water line? 

 

 

see how its above the water line, can it go under the water line? that way i could also take my tub off the pallet and give me ore height..

 

or will the weight of the water in the rez not allow water to flow back into the rez?

 

did that make sense?

 

im just tring to get better drainage from the bottom of my tub

Edited April 18, 2015 by qwobbler

[old toke]

sounds like you have it sussed now mate.

[Sir PsychoHashy]

You want to keep the drain hose's outlet above the level of the solution in your res, if only to get the oxygenation from the water falling back in.  Gravity basics involves the water level in the res being lower than the base height of your medium's container, a bit of a drop is required.  If your drain hose is going upwards at any point you run the risk of the system backing up, particularly if the drop from tub to res is minimal, a simple bubble of air can cause problems in this case.  Either raise your tub, or drop your res a bit more, and ensure that the drain pipe is on a slight downward slope all the way.  You also need to be sure that roots don't block your outlet, though this shouldn't be the case yet with your plants.

[Qwobbler]

cheers, brain working again.. tough night... havnt had a smoke for 1 month, insomnia is taking over my life :-/

[Qwobbler]

You want to keep the drain hose's outlet above the level of the solution in your res, if only to get the oxygenation from the water falling back in.  Gravity basics involves the water level in the res being lower than the base height of your medium's container, a bit of a drop is required.  If your drain hose is going upwards at any point you run the risk of the system backing up, particularly if the drop from tub to res is minimal, a simple bubble of air can cause problems in this case.  Either raise your tub, or drop your res a bit more, and ensure that the drain pipe is on a slight downward slope all the way.  You also need to be sure that roots don't block your outlet, though this shouldn't be the case yet with your plants.

 

 

I remember reading back in one of your posts that u have a bit of pvc that goes to your drain hole so you can move the roots, i love that idea and will try it next time... hopefully i dont have too much problems with that 

 

updates on diary to come soon bud... i can believe whats happening it there

[Qwobbler]

You want to keep the drain hose's outlet above the level of the solution in your res, if only to get the oxygenation from the water falling back in. 

 

i have an air stone in the rez,  so does this mean i can have the inlet at the bottom of the rez?

[sunnycoaststoner]

you could, but I know I like to be able to see the water draining back to the rez so I know my pumps are working properly and nothing is blocked up with roots. why not try a bigger gauge return pipe, make it as short as you can so is running directly with gravity. otherwise the run off has to push itself through the length of tube, I think the bigger guage will work. that way your tray only has to be a little higher than your rezy.

[Qwobbler]

you could, but I know I like to be able to see the water draining back to the rez so I know my pumps are working properly and nothing is blocked up with roots. why not try a bigger gauge return pipe, make it as short as you can so is running directly with gravity. otherwise the run off has to push itself through the length of tube, I think the bigger guage will work. that way your tray only has to be a little higher than your rezy.

good point, cheers mate... i got some 25mm poly, might change it to that... its only 19mm now..

[sunnycoaststoner]

cool, i know i had  problem in the early days where my pots were filling up to almost overflowing, my rezy was nearly running dry and my pumps nearly shit themselves, all because the water couldn't get away faster than the pumps could pump. I had 19mm then too and changed to 25mm and there you go, I had drainage. so 19mm for feeder mainline and 25mm for drains it was. never had a problem since.