I'v not posted in this thread for about 3 years.... I. got a couple more mods to bring a regular WF to a unit that circulates it own dripring water from the chilled reservoir...
My first use of the standing water column did not have a pass through for the standing water column...
The biggest drawback with the mod was that you couldn't lift your girls skirt to check out her roots, and keep your hydroton balls in place at the same time... That problem was solved, out of pocket for about $3.50...
I found the solution here......
https://www.parts-express.com/speaker-cabinet-port-tube-1-1-8-id-x-6-1-2-l-flared--260-472, it needs to be shortened about 3/4-1".... The standing water column is a perfect fit inside this tapered cone..... Now the top bucket can be pulled out and the hydroton stays in the top bucket..
Since the water column is connected directly to the reservoir, it does not recirculate the grow chamber reservoir water, but lets the water be pumped by the dripring directly from the chilled reservoir..
The site window hole is now the return line to the chilled reservoir.. gravity returns the water to the chilled reservoir... Each dripring will circulate its own water at the rate of 5-6 gal an hour..
No glue or sealant is used to keep the cone in place...
Bought the drill at HD 7.00.. By drilling the exact hole size for ridges on the cone, it will snap in place like it was made for it....
I used the same hole location that GH put in the top bucket to drill the hole bigger... A round abs patch, smaller than the hole to be drilled was contact glued over the hole on the inside of the bucket... It wouldn't take the pressure when drilling the centering hole from the outside and peeled off.. So i inverted the bucket over a 4"x 4" x12" pc of wood to support the patch while drilling from the outside....
I think this'll be the last mod, probably the most needed.. forgot about this thread or would have done it sooner....
This next grow will be a 3 waterfarm setup with a 10 gal insulated reservoir, and a 1/0 hp chiller.
Will start a separate thread in about 3 weeks as soon as the flower room's free...