Flood Table Lower than Res???? Advice Needed!!!

M

MedHeadGRWR

Active Member
I am new to ebb and flow and am interested in doing flood tables.

My ideal setup would be a table that is as low to the ground as possible and leaving the res outside my grow room and having the fill/drain hoses run threw a small hole in the wall.

I am not too sure how I would accomplish this but have been told by a friend it is possible. The tables would be 3' x 6' and fill about 30 gallons or so.

The reason I don't want the res below the tables is that the room height is only 6' 6'' and I can't sacrifice the space.

Anyone have any good ideas?
 
pntrbl

pntrbl

Member
With only 6 ft to work with I've been wrasslin' with the same issue myself and I haven't yet figured a way to avoid having the rez below the tables. Even if you used a 2nd pump to drain and/or suck, once both pumps are off the water is gonna equalize between the two.

Right now I'm thinking about making my rez out of a rectangular 14 gal. black plastic tub I saw at OSH. (Orchard Supply and Hardware), which may be only a local SoCal chain now that I think about it. It's maybe 8" high, costs $15 or less, but being a tub it ain't got no lid. McMaster has 2 x 3 sheets of opaque PVC for less than $20 I could make into a lid tho. Shipping could be a ball buster on those because of size, but ... I dunno.

A 16" height at the stem might be doable.
 
M

MedHeadGRWR

Active Member
This is on the right track...I have a decent size table so was looking at getting a 55 gallon res. There is a guy local selling a ton of plastic 55 gallon barrels for $10 a piece and it would be so perfect if I could figure out a way to utilize that deal.

Keep the ideas flowing PLEASE.

A friend of mine mentioned something made by CAP that he said may work but I didn't get much info.????
 
ENDLSCYCLE

ENDLSCYCLE

Well-Known Member
Don't know if this has been mentioned but could you just put a timer on the pump in the res to turn on and flood the table....then...put a second pump on a second timer in your table with....IDK..put it in some pantyhose to filter it and just pump it back to the res after a ten minute soaking.....It would take a few test runs to sync up the flood and drain but it would work...hope it helps!!!
 
ENDLSCYCLE

ENDLSCYCLE

Well-Known Member
Sorry....I'm super high...I don't even know how I got to this page...just reread everything...the four other post...lol and yes...by-pass valves.......I'm a soil grower but I have an auto drip system with a drain to waste...it's like a flood/drain soil system...anyway...yes a by pass valve is a must on the line pumping to the table....it is like a ball on a spring that you can adjust the tension on...when the pressure builds up from the pump it will push the ball out of the way to pump water...when shut off..the spring returns the ball to the closed position....works great for an elevated res....hope it helps
 
M

MedHeadGRWR

Active Member
ENDLSCYCLE said:
Sorry....I'm super high...I don't even know how I got to this page...just reread everything...the four other post...lol and yes...by-pass valves.......I'm a soil grower but I have an auto drip system with a drain to waste...it's like a flood/drain soil system...anyway...yes a by pass valve is a must on the line pumping to the table....it is like a ball on a spring that you can adjust the tension on...when the pressure builds up from the pump it will push the ball out of the way to pump water...when shut off..the spring returns the ball to the closed position....works great for an elevated res....hope it helps
Click to expand...
Thanks man, +rep...now the wheels are turning.


ENDLSCYCLE said:
DIY...thats how I roll!!!
Click to expand...
Me too!
 
ENDLSCYCLE

ENDLSCYCLE

Well-Known Member
That box on the front just controls both pumps...the one in the res...and the one in that thing......the two fittings on top is your in and out....the out being hooked up to the pump sitting inside it....it is also rigged with a float valve to shut off at a preset level...you would put that thing on the floor next to your tray.....link it to your table with the fitting on the bottom of that bucket.......then when you flood that bucket it will fill your table through the tube you linked it with....then just set the float valve up to turn it off when your table is at the desired level....It's easy to make too

Edit....two digital timers and its amazing what you can do!!!!
 
Dezracer

Dezracer

Well-Known Member
Check valves are your best bet unless you want to drop the coin for that CAP unit. A check valve is the only way your going to keep the water from backfeeding through the pump once the pump shuts off. There is another solution I thought of but adding a couple check valves will be the simplest method that I know of. The other would take some time and more DIY work as it's much more complex.
 
M

MedHeadGRWR

Active Member
I'm with you both and get the concept of how it works...my main problem right now is I can't seem to find a check valve or bypass valve that makes sense. If either of you can think of specific parts (links) for the valve that would be awesome...
 
trichlone fiend

trichlone fiend

New Member
MedHeadGRWR said:
I am new to ebb and flow and am interested in doing flood tables.

My ideal setup would be a table that is as low to the ground as possible and leaving the res outside my grow room and having the fill/drain hoses run threw a small hole in the wall.

I am not too sure how I would accomplish this but have been told by a friend it is possible. The tables would be 3' x 6' and fill about 30 gallons or so.

The reason I don't want the res below the tables is that the room height is only 6' 6'' and I can't sacrifice the space.

Anyone have any good ideas?
Click to expand...
...you could always grow smaller ladies....flower straight from clones :weed:

whole room.jpgbluecheese harvest.jpgBlue cheese day 42(h).jpgtrainwreck day 57(f).jpgBlue cheese day 42(b).jpgBlue cheese day 42(e).jpgBlue cheese day 42.jpg20 Bluecheese under the Lumatek bulb.jpgtrainwreck day 57(g).jpg16 Bluecheese under the optilume bulb.jpgtrainwreck day 57(b).jpgtrainwreck day 57.jpg
 
GNOME GROWN

GNOME GROWN

Well-Known Member
what if u used a pump to flood and a pump to drain like u said,but on the drain pump,put a fitting that allows passage only 1 way,so when the drain pump shuts off it wont come back through the pump and flood ur table again..
 
ENDLSCYCLE

ENDLSCYCLE

Well-Known Member
GNOME GROWN said:
what if u used a pump to flood and a pump to drain like u said,but on the drain pump,put a fitting that allows passage only 1 way,so when the drain pump shuts off it wont come back through the pump and flood ur table again..
Click to expand...
On the line going back...just don't put it into the water....just secure it to the top of the res....it helps in aeration too!!!!!
 
reggaerican

reggaerican

Well-Known Member
MedHeadGRWR said:
Thanks. I think this is what my friend was referencing.

http://www.ezhydroshop.com/products/C.A.P-Auto-Drain-Controller.html



Anyone know much about these???
Click to expand...
yea those controllers work great when you need your res at the same level as your table... it might be your only option, that or you could get a large concrete mixing tray i believe they hold about 35 to 40 gallons of water and are only bout 1' tall, but then it would be a good idea to have a secondary up higher with a float valve cause you will run out of water fast.. here is what i did with mine cause i had vertical issues...
 
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