Hi @G-paS 
No, I didn’t pick save on boxes. I only picked the ship faster option, that’s how it was presented to me when I selected it. This is the very first time I have ever modified any part of any shipment.
What makes this frustrating is that I can see that package is about 1 hour away right now, but I won’t receive it until Monday, 2 days (48+ hours) from now… 
, friend,
WHAB
One shipment made it! It arrived in good order, package undamaged. 
Hydrofarm BAC100A Xtrasun 1000W MH HPS Ballast…
While it is fantastic this arrived so quickly and in good physical shape, it is the other package I am desperate for.
I did a local search looking for a pH tester (electronic or strips) and I don’t find anything…
,
WHAB
Cloning Machine II - Interesting Turn of Events.
I started working on Cloning Machine II. I duplicated the location of the center feeder pipe. I went to see how it lined up and where I can locate the additional pipes I have planned for this upgrade.
The sites are not measured equally. I checked a few sites and they’re not where they should be, they’re not aligned.
That’s weird! It’s messing with my symmetrical head! 
Besides the fact that I now see I incorrectly located the center feeder pipe in the wrong place to begin with, it shouldn’t be directly under the sites, the net pots. All of them, the original and the added pipes should split the difference (centered) in between the rows.
I know why I made it that way originally. The manifold sort of balanced on the pump sitting on the bottom of the tank. It did balance that way most of the time but a tug on the cord could seriously disrupt the balance. I put 2 add-on legs on it that worked for a little while. I adhered them to the underside of the tubes, one with white silicone, one with Gel Super-Glue. The silicone did not hold on for very long at all.
Balance won’t be necessary in this iteration. I will make 4 capped off legs in each corner regardless where the pump is in the system. Right now, I am considering not putting the pump in the center of the tank. It doesn’t have to be there with the legs for balance. For balanced pressure, it seems like it would need to be centered. BUT, this isn’t multiple jet engines that need to see fuel at the same rate consistently! 
Now, I’m going to ‘try’ and better align the spray nozzles in between all the sites, on first blush, adding an additional 1 or 2 feeder pipes.
I plan to put 180° spray nozzles all around the perimeter of the tank where I had 90° spray nozzles previously and 360° spray nozzles everywhere else. I used 90 spray nozzles in the former set-up and only added 360° spray nozzles this last time I used it.
Since nothing is properly aligned I ‘may’ have to skew the pipes out of square a bit to make them line up with the misaligned net pots! 
Still eternally thankful for the amazing effort and kindness of the person that made and sent it to me - whoever that was 
I’ll get’er running right.
Afterthought: I ‘may’ have to put a small hole (drill) in the bottom of the cap on each leg so nutrient doesn’t pool in there and turn bad, collect algae (potentially). A small hole the pump can push nutrient out of and put it back into circulation.
Afterthought - Afterthought: I ‘may’ be overthinking this!
Here’s to trying! 
,
WHAB
I feel your pain. I have many times felt the same with packages setting for week and hour away.
[quote=“WhiteHotAfterburner, post:304, topic:45523”]
That’s weird! It’s messing with my symmetrical head!
[/quote] 
I think I solved the misalignment problem. I rotated the manifold 90°. I’ll get the increased total of nozzles and better, easier layout. They’re still not equally spaced but I can better find the middle of each row. I drew a line at the edge of each row of holes (splitting the difference) and you can see they vary in width
I then found the ‘near’ middle of those widths to place the T’s.
I’ll have to remake that left side (the manifold is upside-down in all the pictures up to this point, btw 
) as it’s abandoned out there by itself with no matching T on the other end any longer.
Coincidentally, I over-bought T’s yesterday. I only needed 4 in the redesign I’ve now scraped. I bought 6. I caught it at check-out but went with it anyway. I still need 3 more T’s in what you see BUT, there are 3 T’s in the old manifold I can scavenge!
Then, off of the grid you see above, I’ll put the 360° nozzles in the diagonal grids in between the sites.
And, in case you were wondering, have thought of it, because I have 
…I could double the amount of sites to 30 by adding holes in between the existing holes. Getting someone to plasma/laser cut the holes in this Stainless Steel locally ‘might’ be a problem. I could also make one out of aluminum. ‘Maybe’ even plastic IF I could find one that size.
I don’t see a current need for more than 15 sites right now…but, maybe in the future.
I see now - literally just now - I can use that miss-located T I mentioned above for the stand pipe for the pump that feeds the manifold. Hmmm.
On The Fly Engineering! 
,
WHAB
You have the Earth City Blues, too, @G-paS ?
,
WHAB
@G-paS , Earth City is a shipping collection point North of where I live (from memory, about 3+ hours North-North-East). I have watched packages of mine sit there for days and days. 3+ days the best I can recall.
,
WHAB
This is looking pretty good!
A little more and I should be done, as far as I can go without having the nozzles.
I can bring the left and right ends in a little bit IF I find they need to come in to get the spray nozzles spraying where they need to spray!
,
WHAB
The Bluelab pH Pen arrived a little while ago…(the 180° & 360° spray nozzles and the bulb seal also arrived)
Reading the instructions, I’ll have to wait until tomorrow to use it. The user is instructed to “Hydrate” the Bluelab pH Probe Tip in KCI Storage Solution for 24 hours. I put it in a little more than an hour ago (1:31pm CT).
I’ll try and get some pictures of the plants just prior to Lights On. I’m a bit apprehensive of even unzipping the opening at what I might find. :frown:
I’ll get started on the 180° & 360° spray nozzles and the bulb seal for Cloning Machine II as soon as I can. I didn’t finish the new manifold yet…besides the Easter Feast and family taking me away, I noticed I got the spacing on one of the T’s a little off. I’m deciding on whether to recut that one. It’s not a big deal. I could leave it.
I also received the replacement of the Dewalt Magnetic Screw Lock driver tip. I contacted them about the one piece, the Magnetic Screw Lock driver tip that failed and they sent another whole kit
Make it a great week!
,
WHAB
Ever look up the population of Earth City, Missouri? It is ZERO!!!
IIRC, it used to be a landfill site and is too toxic to allow humans to live there. It’s full of office parks, industrial, and the massive UPS and FedEx hubs.
Hello, @BarefootAndBlazed
No, I never looked at the stats for Earth City, Missouri.
I only know my packages often reside their long enough to be considered in any Census study of its population!
,
WHAB
Yeah! The landed.
I got this far on the Cloning Machine II upgrade…
Going to turn to drilling out for the spray nozzles.
Now, the ladies:
They’re strong ladies! I did not expect them to be in as good a shape as they are. I thought the worst, to be honest! It looks like good color has returned to portions of some of them. Some of them look less droopy. And, they’re growing (even the wee little ones 
). The crapped-out pH meter was reading 5.5 but I really don’t know what the pH is.
Photo Day - Veg Day 9:
pics prior to Lights On…extra Sleepy (poisoned sleepy!)
Make it a great week!
,
WHAB
I’m not sure why XGarden suggests pre-drilling with a 11/64ths (0.171) drill (the twist drill on the right). In this Schedule 40 tubing it doesn’t work. I had to find a smaller drill to pre-drill with (the twist drill on the left). Then searching through some taps I have on hand to find the correct thread.
Gonna be a lot of work but it’s what I’m tackling next!
Good morning! ,
WHAB
So, what did you use? 10-24?
(inquiring minds etc. 
)
Cheers
G
I was wondering if that question would arise. I didn’t think there was a high chance of it. I was wrong!
It is indeed a 10/24 tap. Good eye !
Pre-drilled with a 5/32nds twist drill…
,
WHAB
This is with the old pump in place in the manifold in the Cloning Machine II, and I’ll make sure it works with this setup. Otherwise I’m prepared to upgrade the pump.
Why the Cloning Machine II needs legs in each corner…It was not as bad as this example because I centered the pump in the manifold but it didn’t balance as well as I had hoped.
Then simulating what it will look like with legs with the final length determined by what pump I go with.
Good morning! 
,
WHAB
You think this looks confusing to you?
It was about this time that I realized I was marking in the wrong locations, where there wasn’t any piping, and that I realized my marking tool had exploded!
Nozzles won’t go where there is no piping!
The nozzles will go in between the sites where there is piping!
I switched to pencil and marked the tentative locations, including the 180° nozzles on the perimeter.
It looks like I’m going to have to relocate the feeder pipe. I tried it in those 2 locations with that same piping, just switching them one for the other. I’m not sure now where it will wind up. ‘Maybe’ in that end pipe once I move the end pipes in towards the middle, closer to the end sites.
Gonna let my Thought Process Machine rest on it!
Good morning!
,
WHAB
Color me Surprised!
I was not expecting this. I assumed the pH level would be on the upper end of the scale.
It definitely was not!
First check… 3.3
pH check just before feeding…
Then when the nutrients returned to the reservoir.
I’m still by that first number.
And, I have been monitoring the reservoir temperatures and it hit 72°F last night. I added nearly 2 cups of H020 to the reservoir last night. I have been on the lookout for a chiller. I have found a office cooler I can DIY a chiller from. But, I also found a wholesale chiller through a friend. I didn’t ask the $ but if I need it then I need it. I do anticipate needing one.
When I change out the reservoir I’ll not fill it up as full as I did this last time. I filled it to 50 gallons for absolutely no reason at all!
Here’s to hoping to seeing some dramatic improvements!
,
WHAB
Maybe it wasn’t far enough into water or accidently pulled just short of water. I have found it needs to be held under and gently moved around a little.
Next two reads 
