Watering wand / pump combo

jonnynobody

Well-Known Member
I like your setup. I ordered a 1/3 HP pump on amazon with a 1 year warranty for $54.99. I got a 36" melnor watering wand from home depot for $12 and a 25' hose to run the wand that I had in the basement. I also ordered a remote outlet switch for $15 so I can turn on / off the power to the pump when I start / stop watering. I figure that'll maximize the life of the pump. Building pressure with no relief was my concern. I seriously hate hauling buckets of water. I want to do everything I can to make sure it runs for a long time :)

I was about to spend $90 on the wayne waterbug, but I got a pump with more power and better reviews with the same warranty for $55 through mighty pump. Why spend another $40 for less performance and the same warranty? I couldn't justify the added expense, and went with the mighty pump. My pump arrives tomorrow, and I'll be firing that bad boy up as soon as I get home from work. I may even get a backup to keep on standby.
 

Renfro

Well-Known Member
If your storage tote is elevated wouldnt gravity take care of the flow?
Maybe if its two stories above the point of use. But then hose restriction comes into play so a 2 inch pipe would be in order to get it down to the hose.
 

jonnynobody

Well-Known Member
Maybe if its two stories above the point of use. But then hose restriction comes into play so a 2 inch pipe would be in order to get it down to the hose.
All in the whole kit will cost me:
$54.99 Pump
$13 Wand
$15 remote on / off switch
For a total of $82.99.
I had an extra hose sitting in the basement, so the hose was free.
$83.00 to be done with hauling buckets is a deal. If I didn't have a hose I would include another $20.00 in my costs for a quality hose, so $103 if a hose had to be purchased. I plan to use the pump and wand for my flower room and veg room. I'll flush the line with clean water after each use. I feel like I just landed on the moon man :)

BTW, I noticed there are no tutorials on this on youtube or anywhere online that I could find for that matter. I was really shocked.
I'll post pics when I have the kit all complete and put together tomorrow. I'm just waiting for the pump and remote switch to arrive.
 

Peenuts

Active Member
Yes. It's just a key chain remote with on / off. The pump plugs into the switch. $14.99 on amazon. Some guys just turn the switch on and off on the water wand, but the pump is still running. The on / off switch solves that problem quite nicely.
Yes! Thank you.. Looking everywhere for a solution because I'm trying to do this very thing. Don't want to let your pump build up pressure and get blue balls.
 

evn_420

Active Member
Great post surprised i couldnt find any others on the topic, but you jonny got it figured out so i copied you :D this was my purchases came to 220$ canadian dollars




 
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Hydrowannabe

Well-Known Member
Yes. It's just a key chain remote with on / off. The pump plugs into the switch. $14.99 on amazon. Some guys just turn the switch on and off on the water wand, but the pump is still running. The on / off switch solves that problem quite nicely.
I completely forgot where I heard about the remote switch I bought a few weeks ago. It was here too lol. This, unintentionally, happened to be a good sales pitch. You should get some commission money.
 

jonnynobody

Well-Known Member
I completely forgot where I heard about the remote switch I bought a few weeks ago. It was here too lol. This, unintentionally, happened to be a good sales pitch. You should get some commission money.
Just like evn_420 mentioned, I couldn't find anything anywhere on the web on instructions to assemble a watering wand with a pump. It was kinda baffling considering how many people are growing dope these days. One thing I have been doing is flushing the line and pump with a couple gallons of hot water after each water cycle to keep the pump and hose from accumulating damaging salts. It's a little annoying extra step I take, but I want my equipment to last. I also run an organic seaweed supplement that runs through the hose, and I don't want any funky "growth" tainting my juice. At one point I was just leaving the pump inside the reservoir. I ultimately decided against this and place the pump in a bucket when not in use. I just don't know what kind of interaction bubbling fertilizer water may have with the pump and finish on the pump, and I don't want to take any chances. To each their own though :)
 

Hydrowannabe

Well-Known Member
Just like evn_420 mentioned, I couldn't find anything anywhere on the web on instructions to assemble a watering wand with a pump. It was kinda baffling considering how many people are growing dope these days. One thing I have been doing is flushing the line and pump with a couple gallons of hot water after each water cycle to keep the pump and hose from accumulating damaging salts. It's a little annoying extra step I take, but I want my equipment to last. I also run an organic seaweed supplement that runs through the hose, and I don't want any funky "growth" tainting my juice. At one point I was just leaving the pump inside the reservoir. I ultimately decided against this and place the pump in a bucket when not in use. I just don't know what kind of interaction bubbling fertilizer water may have with the pump and finish on the pump, and I don't want to take any chances. To each their own though :)
That's a good habit to form...cleaning all the rez equipment routinely. I used to do that after every other rez change... That would be every two weeks. I run a "sterile" rez and cant really speak to how you should be doing things when using seaweed and stuff. But imo, I think taking your pump in and out is unnecessary. You should just be able to leave it in there, but to each their own. Theres a lot more than one would think when it comes to operating a rez lol. Seems like it should be straight forward, but as with anything in this hobby, there are lots of different ways. P.s. when I was building my rez, i also ran into the same issue of a lack of info on the subject. I kinda learned as I put it together and I'm still upgrading it to this day every now and then like adding that remote to turn the pump on and off. I used to just use the nozzle but I like the remote accessory. Happy growing
 

downhill21

Well-Known Member
I also found an adjustable pressure relief valve I could install with a Y adapter at the pump. It could be adjusted down to say 40PSI which would open the valve, but for $60 that's just overkill especially when the pump I'm protecting is only $100. Remote shut off seems like the cheapest and most effective way to address this issue.

I'm surprised this isn't discussed more frequently here. Hand watering and hauling 5 gallon buckets is an absolute bitch. Eventually everybody has to take the step to a water wand and pump if you're doing a lot of watering. Doing it by hand is simply too labor intensive and time consuming to be a long term solution.
Just addressing the same thing in my garden. Yesterday, I was contorted under the scrog screen, with a bucket of nute-water, & I managed to submerge my co2 sensor as it hung just under the canopy. I have 30 gallon dirt pots with around 14” of clearance. And I’m fuckin’ old. I use a 32 gallon Hefty. Near as I can figure, a similar water transfer pump & remote (pump power) switch is my best approach.
 
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