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Forum Index : Solar : IDEAS FOR A 12V WATER DIVERTER
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| solargrower Newbie  Joined: 25/06/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 6 |
Hi there. I am in the process of setting up a large scale hydroponics set up that runs entirely off solar power (12 volt).. I have an idea i would like to experiment with but have no idea where to begin. If you can see the picture attached, I am wanting to have a water diverter hooked up electronically on a timer to determine which outlet the water comes out of. ie. timer turns on and opens outlet 1, closes outlet 2. Timer turns off and opens outlet 2, close outlet 1. Hope this makes sense.. I am completely stumped with this, so any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.  |
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| davef Guru  Joined: 14/05/2006 Location: New ZealandPosts: 499 |
I bought a GardenMate dual outlet water timer made in Australia for about 50$NZ that will do what you want. Only hitch I found was that you have to allow a small gap, ie 1 minute, between the two programs. |
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Tinker Guru Joined: 07/11/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1904 |
Why not use a valve of a garden reticulation system? You can buy those individually from Bunnings. Just plumb one into each outlet. From your description above I get that you want each outlet turned on alternately, eg. one outlet is *always* on. That can be done by a timer with changeover contacts, one is normally closed and the other open. Keep in mind that reticulation valves require a low voltage AC to power them, you need to get the correct transformer. Klaus |
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MacGyver Guru Joined: 12/05/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 1329 |
I'm a hydroponic grower and have turned to growing tomatoes aeroponically doing much the same as you are planning. I use a Rule 500 12-volt bilge pump, which has a head force of 18 feet by the way. I only 'lift' the nutrient one foot, which gives adequate pressure to drive the several spray heads. The 'spray heads' are just holes bored in a plug. The swift-traveling stream hits a small plastic target inside each 2-gallon growing station, splattering the nutrient all over the inside onto the plant's roots. The timer is a true MacGyver; it's made of a battery-operted quartz- movement clock, a neodymium magnet and a reed switch. The pump comes on for ten seconds each minute day and night. I will post pictures and a tutorial on my Web page at www.TenGreenThumbs.com when I get around to it. My tomatoes thrive growing this way. I grow strawberries too, but they're rather finicky and I still don't have all the bugs out of their system yet, so until I do, I'm keeping the details under wraps. My idea was similar to yours, in that I wanted to use a solar back-up to keep the battery charged. I'm having to over-size the PV panel since it has to hammer in enough juice to keep the battery charged sufficiently to keep things running during the night. Hope this helps you on your grow. Nothing difficult is ever easy! Perhaps better stated in the words of Morgan Freeman, "Where there is no struggle, there is no progress!" Copeville, Texas |
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| Farmer Newbie Joined: 23/02/2010 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2 |
My home mage hydro system uses battery opperated timers bought from bunnings, as one turns on the other turns off, and can do it many times a day Cheers Rob |
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Downwind Guru Joined: 09/09/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2333 |
First we need to know if this is on the delivery side or the return side of the system. If its on the delivery side than there will be a little pressure to work with and it gets easier. What is the pressure you have and what is the flow rate you need to work with. Being run off solar solonides are not the best as they are very hungry critters current wise and need a reasonable pressure to open them. You will need some good line filters as there is always particals from the growing medium floating around in a recirlating system that will cause havoc with controls. Being a commercial system you have a lot to loose with a problem and not like a pot or two of tomatoes. I have had some involvement with large scale hydroponics some years back and know just how small things can cause BIG problems. To try to do it cheap will cost you a fortune on the first hot day with a failure. When you play mother nature you MUST cover all squares or the first problem will arrive weeks out from harvest and cause root death followed by total loss of produce and income. Perhaps you can tell us more about your setup so better advice can be given. Pete. Sometimes it just works |
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| MacGyver Guru Joined: 12/05/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 1329 |
solargrower Judging from your profile, you haven't posted anything for nearly a year, so my guess is you're not going to read this. Still, on the outside chance you do, I should tell you that I switched all my hydroponic growing efforts to DWC (Deep Water Culture) and the only electric power I use is to run aerators down in the root area of each tub. The aeroponics method, though it produces very, very well when it works, has way too many problems and like Pete said, one little glitch and you're a statistic. I feed daily and each plant consume 24 ounces of water when in fruit. Currently I have all determinate tomatoes except one in fruit and three in bloom. The indeterminate plants are all 3 years old and I've pulled a few fast tricks to keep them in production. I wouldn't recommend to others to do what I have done; I did it just to see if I could and it turned out good. Three-year-old producing tomatoes take a lot of attention, by the way. I can miss watering them for one day and it's no big deal. Two days missed in a row and they're history. That's what I mean about needing a lot of attention. Best wishes with your endeavor. . . . . . Mac Nothing difficult is ever easy! Perhaps better stated in the words of Morgan Freeman, "Where there is no struggle, there is no progress!" Copeville, Texas |
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| Downwind Guru Joined: 09/09/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2333 |
It looked like you were using perlite Mac, so why dont you do a bottom feed system with your aerators in the bottom still. Then you can have a resovoir and a small float system feeding them all, at least you have some grace time between resovior top ups.(weekly ) With bottom feed you just maintain a inch of fluid in the bottom of the pots and the perlite will suck the nutrient up via osmotic pull. What sort of system do you use Mac?? I have worked with many from drain to waste, NFT, top feed recirculated, bottom feed and versions that use a bit of several systems. Also worked with many different mediums, which normally dictate what style of feed system is required as for interest gravel dont work so well with bottom feed but very well with top feed, sawdust is ok but must not be used with recirculating systems so its drain to waste only etc. Then we could get into the nutrient make up for different crops and crop stages, and controlling the PH to optimize nutrient elements. Its fun playing Mother Nature but you soon learn how good of a job she really dose when there is a hickup. I went through a commercial hydro greenhouse in Holland one trip and that was mind blowing the systems in place and the mass produce produced. There was eveything catered for from pollonation, through to filtered air and co2 level control....+++++++ very hi-tec. Pete. Sometimes it just works |
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| MacGyver Guru Joined: 12/05/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 1329 |
Downwind I've done 'em all. I took down my Web site at www.TenGreenThumbs.com just because it was too much to keep up with. As for what "systems" I currently use: I'm really into "simple" so I use DWC. I donated about a cubic yard of perlite to the local landfill, but kept back a small amount in which I have a potato planted (maybe two), three indeterminate tomatoes and a handful of zucchini squash. You're right about the bottom feeding as well as the nutrient / moisture buffer zone provided by growing in a medium like perlite. The down side is the constant moisture encourages algae to grow on the surface. I like the DWC. It's portable, simple, easy to set up and maintain, etc. I keep my 2-gallon, white, plastic grow buckets tucked inside a decorative plastic planter to discourage light contamination at the roots. I don't monitor or care much about root temperature, since the roots are not subjected to direct sunlight or heat down in those plastic planters. For tomatoes, I maintain an EC of 2.0 to 2.4 depending on whether they are vegetative, in boom or in fruit. At the tail end of a determinate grow, I strip off 3/4 of the leaves and this pumps up the fruit size. They're gonna die anyway, my thinking is why not get the most out of them before they check out? The pH stays right at 6.3 for some reason. That's fine with me; I don't need to know why. I use a Bluelab Truncheon to measure EC (built in Australia) and pH strips to test alkalinity / acidity. I force pollinate with a battery-operated electric toothbrush. I'm the world's largest bumble bee! If you'd like to see an example of my 'mater farm' go to my youtube video page and click on the one that looks like a bush and not a windmill. I created that to send to a friend in an email, but his email wouldn't support the file size, so I tossed it up on youtube. I'll grab a link and post it for you here in an edit. Edit: Here ya go: MacGyver's Acres. . . . . . Mac Nothing difficult is ever easy! Perhaps better stated in the words of Morgan Freeman, "Where there is no struggle, there is no progress!" Copeville, Texas |
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