What’s up everybody, Merry Christmas!
I might be drunk, I might be stoned, my 25 second timer kicked off, and waters still trickling.
Trying something new; Running coco, drip irrigation through floraflex bubblers powered by an active aqua submersible pump on an automated timer for 20 second intervals. New setup, just trying to get it together. I just filled a twenty gallon res & am now timing everything. Can’t help but notice after my timer kicked off, water kept trickling. Unplugged the pump from the timer that had clearly shut off (no noise, power LED was off) and it kept trickling… waited… a minute later I’ve pumped 5 gallons of water in what should have been maybe 1 1/2, it wasn’t until I lifted the pump out of the water that the trickle stopped.
I believe I’ve created a siphon? I pump UP at most 5’ through the top vent port of the tent then down to the manifold the floraflex bubblers are fixed to which are a few inches above where the pump sits. this one’s got me stumped
If it does sound like a siphon, what can I do to prevent this so the water stops trickling when the pump kicks off?
Top of the water line is when it’s 50% full. Have been pumping out of a 5 gal bucket last few days so that would explain why it’s happening now since I filled it for the first time.
Thinking I put a 1/2”x1/8” tee up near the top and let it spew a small bit of water in side the res while it pumps, and once it stops there’s open port for it to drain and break the vacuum? Like a sump pump
Yes, you created a siphon. When any dripper, or open hose, is below the high-water mark of your reservoir; once the water is flowing, the water will continue to drain out of the reservoir, through that dripper or opening, due to siphoning. If the drippers were all above that high-water mark, the water in the hose would get sucked back into the reservoir… potentially pulling contamination into the water lines or, back into the res.
I use a 4-foot tall trash can for a reservoir, and it holds water at a much higher level than my tray which is only 6-inches above the floor. To stop the siphoning, I added an L-shaped dripper fitting to the hose, just an inch or two below the topmost lip of the reservoir, and point it so that it squirts back into the reservoir… When the pump is active, some water will flow out of that fitting and, squirt into the reservoir. Then, when the pump turns off, that little fitting will allow air into the hoae and, that breaks the vacuum that causes the siphoning to occur.
I’ve got lower ports on the tent I could use but I don’t think that’s relevant to this problem? I may be wrong? I just went through the higher port for now leaving extra tubing incase I move stuff as I get the new setup dialed in. Pumps got plenty of head pressure to get the water flowing.
