Friday, November 12, 2010

Circular drain pipe for DIY vertical hydroponic systems California









The bottom trays, the gutters, drain troughs are the MOST difficult part of building a DIY vertical hydroponic systems. I spent literally two years trying to invent a solution to
the circular drain troughs
.
I built square shaped systems, octagons, hexagons... finally spent hundreds of $ and countless days learning to bend 4"PVC pipes. Got quite good at it, eventually. And then one night making my way home pissed drunk, stumbled into
a construction site, and there it was! Hundreds of those pipes, already bent, with exactly 2' bend radius! DIYers paradise. Almost thought i was hallucinating for a while.

I'll tell you the secret:
you dont have to buy them from me, or from a hydroponic store, although I do know a place that deals them cheap retail.
They are called DB2 pipes. Come in grey PVC plastic and are quite hard to find, anywhere other than massive construction sites
not because they are not available, but rather thanks to particular mental imaging skills of most people working the counters of
construction material suppliers. I tried many times to convince guys in electrical supply and pipe stores, that such things do exist becasue I not only have seen them, but even "borrowed" a few here and there for the lack of other options. I drew them images of that
evasive part in the air with my hands, tried my best at verbal descriptions, until finally an old italian construction man got it and was able to produce them for me.

What you are looking for is called 4" DB2 Pipe 90 degree bend (or sweep) with 2 foot bend radius (translates into 4 foot diameter). Electrical supply stores should have them. Probably any construction supply store will be able to get them for you as long as you manage to convince them that such thing DOES in fact exist, which may at times, require borrowing belief inspiring techniques from the history of the great Spanish inquisition (bring pliers and blow torches).
These bends also come in 3 foot (36") bend radius, which is what I use for the AK-427 system. The sweeps come in quarter circle
shape. What I do is I glue end caps from home depot ($2,95 each) on the ends of each one and then (this is where it gets a bit tricky)
I cut each piece in half longitudinally, thus creating two quarter-circular troughs with half-end-cap at the end of each one.

NOTTA BENE:

GLUE End Caps FIRST!!! Then cut the pipe along its length. Otherwise it will be a hell trying to get the caps to stick to pipe. When pipe is cut it no longer maintains consistent precise diameter and getting it to form tight glued bond with end cap may require all 27.5 fingers exactly, which you probably dont have.

Tapping fittings into them is a no brainer. All in all you need only two quarter circle DB2 sweeps to complete the entire drain circle (each one, when
in half makes two) The entire cost: $25 per system. Three years it took slow me to figure this out.
As for the other parts, they are all $3 - $15 plastic Tee and L fittings from Home Depot
hydroponic store:) So there really is nothing at all in my systems that you cant just buy in Home Depot.
The PVC made vertical hydroponic systems I build from 2" white PVC
pipe, the one for central vacuum systems. The pipes come in 10 foot lengths and sell for $6,75 in Home Depot in Ontario and $2,95 in Quebec, while it is manufactured in Mississauga, Ontario... Go figure... Fitting for these you will find usually in ventilation section of HD or right next to the 2" vacuum pipe. Ls are $1,99 and Tees are $2,95. Attached is the photo of the central cross bar and components.
Email me if you have any questions.

PLEASE DO SHARE COMMENTS AND YOUR PROJECTS, LINKS, IDEAS.
Would also love to see photos of your projects. Lets put our experinces together and learn to build the best most efficient and cheap vertical hydroponic systems!

4 comments:

Dave said...

Nice - as a DIY guy I understand your pain. I think those are used for electrical conduit and the electrical dept is not a place most of us would look for piping! Its like that for a lot of things. Chances are good the electrical dept. also has everything you need to construct HID lights. You need to learn the lingo and study lighting catalogs until you know every component and don't sound "suspicious" when you call. The big lights are called "High Bay" lamps because they are used way up high in warehouses. The replacement ballasts for these is all you need, just make your cords and sockets from the same supply store, or pick up the small items at Home Depot. There is no need to spend $400 on a single light system (or 1200 for 3) when you can build it for less than $100. Don't forget the shipping on those ballasts, they are heavy - which is why you should buy them locally anyway instead of paying for the fuel to bring one from across the country. Have fun with it! :)

GreenVertical said...

Thanks Dave! This is a great piece of advice on the lights. Do you know if it possible to assemble a digital ballast from the components available at a store as well? That would be a great way to save lots of $$$.

Unknown said...

This blog is nice. K.P.MONDAL & SONS was initially engaged in manufacturing pipe & fittings. After about twenty years of manufacturing INDUSTRIAL VALVE was taken up under a diversification plan. Circular & Square type Sluice Gatesl.

aeroman said...

Hi.im also thinking like that.u dont need a lot of money to buy or build aero n hydro ponics system.i want to open a company with this stuff.and this systems they roooock.terra can hide from this.example:terra dry yeild is cca: 50g!!hydro and aero cca:150g.2x more and a litlle bit faster.u know in slovenia people dont have money for this supeeer cool amazing adorable simple and fun systems.terra is also good but when u tray this system only one time...u always want only hydro or aero.so i want to tell u man thank u very much,u did a big step for illegal hehe.people must know everything about this systems.this is the new era of growing.and just like u say:we dont need 2000-3000e for one vertical ecosystem,cuz with 60% less money u can also grow the same way and same product.your system also dont need 45min to build ,u make it in 15or 20min.so 2000E LESS MONEY AND 25MIN LESS BUILDING TIME FOR SAME SYSTEM .ONLY DIFFERENT IS MARK AND MAYBE CONSTRUCTION A LITTLEBIT.U CAN DO IT THE SAME PRODUCT(LOOK,SMELL,BLA BLABLA BLA AND MOST IMPORTANT THE SAME QUANTITY.so people get ready be smart and try this.and u mr.greenvertical a.k.a kingvertical ;) good job.u gave to people completely new way of making 2xmore money for 2x less money hehehe.i dont know if u are only one who have this cheaper systems,but i looking on internet about 3 years to found some cheaper systems,and i didnt find nothing.and because of this,i must tell u one more time: excellent job.im so fucking exited.really thank you,also for guide how to build on my own this unbelievable non-earth machine hehe.be good and til next time when i will need some advice....i wish you good sales ;) and sorry for my english i dont know so good..well done maestro!I have to smoke one immediately and make a toast for this :) cheers puf puf ...