Help with DIY UnderCurrent in RDWC

whats it change besides water level?

this is just a micro grow so unlevel water levels between the control bucket and two buckets with plants is fine for me. its not a four 32 site double barrel system

If the control/res bucket is lower than your buckets then you will not be able to have the water level in the buckets at the ideal height. I assume you are using this as a DWC system. In which case you will be reducing the root zone size if you reduce the water level.
If the control/res bucket is higher than your buckets then you will not be able to drain all the water out of the other buckets which defeats one of the main purposes of a control/res bucket.

Im gonna build two stands so the res/control is 6" higher than the stand for the plants. I have the current culture 1" drain out kit + some parts coming to be able to drain all the water out the buckets except the 2 gallons that will be left in the piping that is on the floor -I could probably drain then fill with plain water then flush again if I had to.

the stands should get rid of the high point of the piping that enters the tent and will eliminate the downward after entering the tent

There’s a place I want to say it’s north west hydroponics they have a bunch of rdwc videos but they have a similar setup on how they run theirs but they use a few 2in 45s I believe for it just utube it they have a rdwc waterfall setup try that to search and u should see it…However I never have done it personally I will either go in the middle of the tent if it zips from the middle or go in the lower zipper or if all else fails cut a hole in the tent esp if ur going to keep it forever then cut a hole I cut mine out in my veg for my return line …And I’d highly recommend using tees instead of elbows esp for 2in PVC as w rdwc u have to be able to clean and scrub every inch of the system as a cleaner alone idc what it is will not work and then getting a test plug for the end cap instead the rubber end caps w a band clamp the test plugs are much better way to go…Also for piping 1/2,3/4,1in orbit PVC fittings are best esp for water pumps and others that has threads as not only are they removable and reusable no glue obviously and the pipe will spin inside the fitting so threads on a pump is nothing…Home depot carries them make sure u get the white ones they are PVC only the black and blue ones are pex tubing only will not work…And buy a dc pump they take at least 1/2 the power of a/c ,pumps and the way to grow

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what kind of system is that and do you get any light leaks from cutting your tent?

I built the system myself and no light leaks or anything that causes a problem however that’s my old setup as I sold it and went to the bucket company instead got tired of having 40gal in the system at all times and worrying about leaks and problems all the time as those days are over and still getting hydro and the same yield so works for me and alot more efficient that’s for sure

From an aquarium builder/fixer brain, you can get things out of balance & when the power goes off there will be a siphon effect on the supply & drain pipes that will want to pull the water down with gravity. If you get into that situation, you can sometimes use a check valve to stop water from moving in whichever direction you need. So right off the pump outlet, you put the check valve. Imagine a pump either submerged in a reservoir/sump or connected to the reservoir pumping water up into a tank/dwc bucket, if the power is cut it will drain back down through the pump and can overwhelm the reservoir capacity. The weight of the water will close the valve and prevent water from moving back through the pump. Of course, it’s not ideal, it’s just a possible fix or safety precaution.image

Do people use these for an Under Current system or other rdwc setups?

finished the stand and most the piping/tubing. just waiting on a piece to arrive for the res/control bucket stand then I can finish and test with water.

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They are commonly used in ponds or water gardens or other applications where you might want to stop the pump and work on things without overwhelming the reservoir capacity.