Good Work Brother,
i’ve never understood why people pay these rediculous prices for aero cloner as these are so easy to build. You can even kill the bubble noise with small usb humidifiers. I’m trying these out soon…
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We must have popped about the same time. As of tonight the other two are still laying on the soil. I gave them a little dirt blanket over the tap root.
We’ll have to talk about the pottery. Myself and the hot nurse around these parts would love an additional piece to fill a space or two. That is some really nice work on those shelves. If you don’t mind, would love to see more.
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Newbie grower here - barely 1/2 way through my first grow in soil. Reading through this has really got my interest up in trying hydro. I didnt even consider trying hydro when I started because I just assumed it would be hideously complicated and expensive and difficult. You make it look easy!
I have a few questions…
You built two different systems - ebb and flow and a DWC setup. Is the plan to start the clones and seeds in the DWC container and then transfer them to the ebb and flow? How is that done? Do you just set the pots in the ebb tank with the roots hanging down or?
How often - and easy - is it to clean the ebb and flow tank? Do you also need to clean the table periodically?
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Hey @anon32470837 you nailed it. I plan to use two tents for perpetual grow for all year.
*Veg/clone = DWC
*Flower = Ebb & Flow
DWC containers like you see above will be to host mothers, clones and seedlings in a 4.5 sqft tent.
Once 27 clones have rooted, they will go in 5” netpots filled with hydroton and just sit right in the table in the 8 sqft tent until the are ready to harvest.
Maintenance/cleaning is easy for ebb & flow for me because I only do it after every harvest. Unless something bad happens like algae. As long as everything is functional this system will run itself. I do top off water and resupply nutes from time to time.
Cleaning involves washing the hydroton, reservoir, pumps, tubing, heaters, table, and tent, for the next batch.
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I get ya 100%
I wish my finances would allow me to buy ready made equipment. Sadly I am unable to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on this hobby, I understand most other have the income to spend but I have to stretch my dollar as far as I can. A real aerocloner is on my diy list tho 
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Im liking this.
So, is there going to be another top or lid for the ebb and flow table to hold the pots? I dont see that in the pics or any way to hold the pots in place?.
No cover, it will be an open table. Roots will grow into a thin layer of hydroton between the table and pots. Plants will create their own root mat by the time they are harvested. 27 clones will create a full canopy to protect the roots from the light.
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You can also do a bucket ebb n flow like this.
Ps I really like your set up Roux
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DIY Rosin Press
Yes another DIY project. After seeing some videos of people using a hair straightener to make some rosin, I decided why not my own version of a homemade rosin press. One video I saw, the guy was using the broken hair straightener plates and a vise, so I decide to build on that and make a more permanent press. I’m $70 all in.
Disassembly
As soon as the hair straightener arrived I broke it down to the bare parts. To get the at the guts of the straightener you have to disconnect the pivot by popping of the covers and removing the screw and pushing the key out. Then unscrew the plates and you’ll see the circuitry. Remove the screws and carefully remove the boards, wires, and plates. Then you will want to unsolder the wires from the from the heat plates to each board. I marked the wire and the junction with a red or black sharpy.
Modifacation/Fabrication Straightener
Then I resolded some longer wires to the board for the plates. We will connect the plates later, for now we just want enough wire to extend out to the vise from both boards.
The dremel did most of the work for the fab. I cut down the straightener frame to remove the plate section. DO NOT cut the frame with the boards in place, you risk damaging them. I have them shown to give the example. I had to widen the wire notches in the frame to accommodate the slightly heavier gauge wire.
Modifacation/Fabrication Vise
I screwed the vise on a piece of 2 x 6 I had. Then I attached the heating plates to the vise with JB weld. I carefully apply the adhesive on the vise and plates and used the vise to hold them in place were they would remain until the next day. I also used this time to complete the wire on the heating plates to the controls. Soldered the wires to the corresponding color I marked earlier. Had some extra tubing around so I enclosed the wires going from the control to the heat plates.
Securing the controls
I drilled out some holes in the straighteners frame were it wouldn’t interfere with the board or wires. and screw it into the 2 x 6 (red circles). I also used some drops of hot glue to secure the board and the wires in place (red arrows). Then just reassembled the straightener as normal.
The Rosin Press
Ok so I’m quite impressed with how this turned out. I had to try it out, I only used 2 buds size of nickles but I got results. It heats from 170f to 400f. I set it at 220f and let her rip. I squeezed the buds flat and they left behind the rosin. I scraped it together and this is what I got. I can see there is a little plant matter in there but it looks good.
It smoked really nice, and boy it sure feels good to have a solvent free concentrate. Its going to take a few presses to get the right timing and temperature but I’m sure I can dial it in.
Vise = $29.99
Hair Straightener = $32.02
JB Weld = $4.39
Total = $66.40
Solvent-free Rosin = Priceless
Stay Stoned
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Nice little DIY build.
I have never soldered before. Is there a trick for connecting wire to wire. Any other solder things to watch out for like melting the board or something. Really, never done it. Is this 14 gauge wire you have used? It’s a little hard to be sure. Are the plates able to withstand a lot of pressure from the vice? I can imagine crushing them.
Thanks for posting this. I may just go for it. Fits my budget.
99
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Soldering can be easy, or hard depending on how over complicated you like to do things.
Anyone can learn it, get a cheap iron at Walmart, some wire to practice on, and find some 63/37 rosin core solder (damnit I miss radio shack)
Basic idea,
Plug in iron let it get up to temp. If it’s new you’ll know it’s up to temp when the shiny silver surface of the iron starts to change colors.
Tin your iron by melting a dab of solder on it.
Connect your wires however you like, I like making two hooks and hooking them together. Place iron on the joint and start feeding solder into the wire. It helps sometimes to build up a blob on the iron before applying it to wire you want to solder together. A good solder joint with new wire shouldn’t take you more than 10-15 seconds to complete.
Rework is where it gets tricky.
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Well from what I’ve learned over the year I got some tips.
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Get a decent solder gun to heat up hot and fast also your going to want professional solder, not the one you get for free. I use solder with lead, but you can use lead free too.
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When combining wires, twist the two wires around each other like a candy cane. Melts the solder to the wires NOT the solder to the tip of the gun, you want to heat the wires. Just keep the hand steady and remember alligator clips are you friend. They hold wires were you need them while your applying solder.
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When soldering a wire to a board use your alligator clip as a heat sink on the wire slightly above your solder point. Be quick, every second your gun is on that board you risk damaging it. Also it never hurts to have a partner to help you when you solder, nice to have the extra pair of hands.
I think the wire I used was 22 gauge solid core I had laying around. The heat plates wires were a size smaller.
As far as I can tell, the plates are holding up. It has a strong solid stop feel with no mushiness when I turn on the vise, One plates back fin was slightly warped from the manufacture but it had enough surface area to maintain contact with the vise. Worst case scenario they bend, and I’ll re fab them custom to the vise 
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@99PerCent he has better instructions for soldering real things. My method will teach you basics and get you comfortable with the process, his method will make good solder joints and save your electronics lol.
Oh shoot @Jellypowered we post at same time lol…Yes also practice like he said with spare wire first and you’ll be a pro in time. Also youtube has great videos for basic soldering, worth checking out.
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The single biggest mistake you can make is moving the wires before the solder is fully cooled and hardened.
If the joint moves before the solder is fully hard, you will get whats called a “cold solder joint”. A cold solder joint is bad because it will have very hi resistance and things will not work correctly if thats the case.
Thats where the alligator clips on a little hobby vice, as Roux suggested, come in. They hold the two wires so they cannot move while you are doing the soldering. Its also a very good idea to do something like Roux suggested like twisting the wires together. You want a good, solid, mechanical join before you solder. If the wires are just casually touching or loosely connected, its much easier to end up with a cold solder joint.
By the way, a “cold” solder joint has nothing to do with not getting enough heat. Its the movement of the wires as it cools that causes the problem.
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nice build on the small press, always love people diy things.
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For the soldering impaired or lazy i’m kinda both
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Why? Please don’t do this, your’s looks just fine!!
This wasn’t meant sarcastic or anything… Go ahead and build everything, much appreciated!
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Lol no offense taken at all, never thought that at all @Illyssian . Truth be told I love doing DIY projects to see how things work. I learn best being hands on and making mistakes.
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