Eddy's AP in the works starting from scratch (update weekly)

edd024

Had a good find today, 4" pvc pipe and look at what i saw this morning looks like it's over 4'ft, in front of my house.

scotty435

Iguana out for a stroll and some chow -

edd024

So i was able to finish one :shock:

auto siphon, a lot of work or time goes in to making cuts on 4" pipe. I need find a faster way :think:

or one a day got 7 more to go :lol:

I was thinking of putting a cut wheel on my fixed/bolt-it down grinder i have. I am planing to run the PVC pipes under the ground. And i finish the cement that want into the bricks with the re-bars.

scotty435

If it were me I'd set this up Constant Flood to get it up and running, then finish the siphons at your leisure. You would just need a standpipe and gravel guard for now and of course you would need to pump 24/7.

On the down side, I don't believe your drain system is adequate and I'm pretty certain you will have backup problems. It looks like all your standpipes go into a pipe that's the same size as they are, and also the same size as the inflow pipe. Most people up the outflow at least one size from the inflow to reduce the likelyhood of problems like root plugs and overflow from pumping to fast and draining to slow. I think this would be a huge problem when running siphons.

You can try it this way using CF and see how it goes (it's not the end of the world). If it's to much flow then divert some back to the fish tank for aeration using a ball valve to regulate the flow. Eventually I think you'll want to use larger pipe for the outflow.

edd024

scotty435 wrote:

:think: If it were me I'd set this up Constant Flood to get it up and running, then finish the siphons at your leisure. You would just need a standpipe and gravel guard for now and of course you would need to pump 24/7.

On the down side, I don't believe your drain system is adequate and I'm pretty certain you will have backup problems. It looks like all your standpipes go into a pipe that's the same size as they are, and also the same size as the inflow pipe. Most people up the outflow at least one size from the inflow to reduce the likelyhood of problems like root plugs and overflow from pumping to fast and draining to slow. I think this would be a huge problem when running siphons.

You can try it this way using CF and see how it goes (it's not the end of the world). If it's to much flow then divert some back to the fish tank for aeration using a ball valve to regulate the flow. Eventually I think you'll want to use larger pipe for the outflow.

Thanks scotty, The inflow main pipe is 1" then T's up to the drum using 1/2" pipe. For the standpipe am using SCH 40 3/4" pipe thick wall. Then am using 3/4" pipe SDR 21 thin wall at the bottom of the drum that drain to the 1" SDR 21 main pipe. The green pump that will be filling may not flow as i hoped, i was planing to have it a timer to fill drums in 15min looks more like 45-60min. It seems that the check valve slow down the rate of flow. I will be going with Bullwinkle idle see quote, i will need a dirty water pump and will get it some time next mouth (Nov.).

BullwinkleII wrote:

Sorry if I missed it, and I have no idea what I'm talking about, but an overflow from the top of the filter (to bypass it and go direct to the grow bed) might be a good idea.

If for some reason you got a lot of crud in the filter, you might be better off sending dirty water through the system rather than having your filter back up and empty your fish tank onto the ground.

Here you see, starting from the left 1" SDR 21, 3/4" SDR 21, 3/4" SCH 40 and last 1/2" SDR 21

Here you see the (inflow) main line 1" SDR 21 Teeing up to drum using the 1/2" SDR 21, then at the bottom of the drum am using 3/4" SDR 21 that drain to the main 1" SDR 21 pipe.

Here what i will be using today to finish the cuts on the 4" pvc pipes, looks a lot better then that hand drill :lol:

edd024

So a few hours later i finish the cuts on the 4" pvc pipes ( Grinder for the save :headbang:

). This was a lot faster, it's time football :lol:

so after 4:00pm going to home dept. To get some pvc fittings, some rocks and dig out the trench to lay the pvc pipe. I do not have a lot money to buy all of the rocks, i will buy more some time next month.

DrLuke

Arg!!! All that PVC dust. I tried the grinder way of putting neat slits in my pipes once....went back to the crappy drill approach immediately due to the mess the grinder makes.

edd024

DrLuke wrote:

Arg!!! All that PVC dust. I tried the grinder way of putting neat slits in my pipes once....went back to the crappy drill approach immediately due to the mess the grinder makes.

Yes it is DrLuke, but drill too has it's fall back a lot more sanding.

I finish one bed, 2 bags of lava rocks and 4 bags of river rocks. At $4.00 US each it's $25.00 each bed :shock:

7 more to go with no money

scotty435

Looks like you made quite a bit of progress before football time

Regarding the pipe sizes - The SDR21 main pipe is the same on both sides of the system (inflow and outflow). This is what I was concerned about. Your risers and drains were not the issue because combined they should handle the water volume you are pumping. Due to blockage the return may back the system up because there is not much leeway built in. The other thing is when siphons kick in they release lots of water very fast so the draining process may lag, especially if more than one siphon kicks in at the same time. The water will keep pouring into the bed at the same rate but the bed won't be draining fast enough.

These are just my thoughts, your experience may vary

Ronmaggi

Buying gravel by the bag is not economical. Is there a place near you that sells it by the cubic foot? Also Scotty is bringing up a valid point about the drain. One inch out of each barrel is fine, but you will need to really up the size if they are on a common return line. If my barrels ever decide to bow out I might copy you and BullwinkleII with the wire reinforcement. All in all, looking good :headbang:

edd024

scotty435 wrote:

Looks like you made quite a bit of progress before football time

Regarding the pipe sizes - The SDR21 main pipe is the same on both sides of the system (inflow and outflow). This is what I was concerned about. Your risers and drains were not the issue because combined they should handle the water volume you are pumping. Due to blockage the return may back the system up because there is not much leeway built in. The other thing is when siphons kick in they release lots of water very fast so the draining process may lag, especially if more than one siphon kicks in at the same time. The water will keep pouring into the bed at the same rate but the bed won't be draining fast enough.

These are just my thoughts, your experience may vary

Thanks Scotty

But the pump that will fill the beds will be on a timer, will that work ? I was planing on running the pump till all siphons kick in. And the 1" SDR21 drain does not run all the way back to the reservoir, it runs to the 2" main drain hub (in picture).

Ronmaggi wrote:

Buying gravel by the bag is not economical. Is there a place near you that sells it by the cubic foot? Also Scotty is bringing up a valid point about the drain. One inch out of each barrel is fine, but you will need to really up the size if they are on a common return line. If my barrels ever decide to bow out I might copy you and BullwinkleII with the wire reinforcement. All in all, looking good :headbang:

Thanks Ronmaggi

Yes there is, need to look in to that. Need to find some one with a pick-up :lol:

or a SUV.

Thanks again Ronmaggi

Ronmaggi

Sometimes the cost of having the gravel delivered is still cheaper than bags, even factoring in how much they will short you. Their idea of a cubic yard varies, I always thought it was a 3 'x3'x3' cube... Which would be 27 cubic feet, or 202.5 gallons. That should fill 3.68 barrels or just over 7 half barrels. In my case it did not add up... I ended up buying a couple of bags, but it was still cheaper than going all bagged.

slowRider

I ran into the same issue with gravel... I don't have a truck. If I had, I could have picked up all the gravel I needed for less than $30. In the end, I spent more than I'd like to count buying 0.5 cu ft bags.

On the new system, I'll get a truck from Home Depot ($20/hour) and head to the gravel yard. Or maybe steal an in-law's truck

Ronmaggi

Yes, the best truck is the one you get to use, but don't own yourself!

edd024

Ronmaggi wrote:

Yes, the best truck is the one you get to use, but don't own yourself!

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Eddy's AP in the works starting from scratch (update weekly)

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