hydro...hydro...its a heap-o-pot I'll grow

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I did up a pair of salted ice blocks, sealed, and set half in half out of the water. I don't know how long they lasted. Sometime tween when I left them and came back 5 hours later. I knew it wouldnt last. First time in the room was all about seeing what I'm working against. The next idea requires tap'n the budget for more hose, and another pump.
Otherwise, the whole thing is right at room temperature -- 78°F / 26°C

One thing I dufus'd in the over all cost...(like duh even) I already had the AC/DC adapter...probably a $10-20 sort of thing.
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The reason for converting AC to DC is economy. A 500gph / 1890lph for $10 yank that can be replaced super easy by a walmart run. I doubt anytime in the next 10,000 hours of use to have any issue other than routine flushing and cleaning. Oh yeah...it is also how I'll be draining the solution when time for a water change. A cheapy diverter and a shut off valve will the do the trick. Or maybe even just a cap that can be removed. Ehh.

Hoping to have a chill'd solution tub before the weekend goes bye bye.

I smell a Friday out there somewhere. :cool:

quick note....before heading out I've looked around the place. Turns out I've gobs of AC/DC adapters. Check your chargeable stuff folks.

Getting the temperature in the solution tank cooled to an ideal range, by means of something reliable, inexpensive...with a minimum of modification and or ease of installation is near to confounding me.

I'd like a chest styled refrigerator that I could just set the solution tank into. But that is bulky and would require extensive modification to be efficient and effective.

That though led me to give the Peltier effect a try. Which had me going out, purchasing a mini-fridge...[attachment=o78725]
taking it apart...and attempting to figure an easy way to get it's cooling effect established in the tank. I'm certain it can work as the first thing I did with the mini-fridge was fill it with water, which over the course of a couple hours, it chilled the water from 77°F down to 50°F before I went ahead and turned it off. That though was less than 2 quarts of non-moving water in an insulated environment. If I can net 10-15 °F of cooling in a non-insulated environment...I'll be golden.

I'm not yet discouraged from finding a way to that to work. The mini-fridges are under $40, easy to take apart...and if I say to hell with it...I can return it back to wally world no questions ask.

Thats when I'll go ahead and fork out the extra money to get the CoolWorks ice probe. Which, as it turns out, is precisely (essentially) what I'm trying to do on my own...sans 'probe'/mini-rod though. I've fairly reluctant to fork out an extra $70 for not much more than a frig'n insulated stub of a rod. Maybe the probe itself can be ordered without the fan and diffuser. I'll contact the CoolWorks people and find out. Ehh...but if it buying a mini-fridge and the actual probe costs more than a fully assembled ice probe...yea...no sense in ordering it.

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The mini-fridge has a plate instead of a rod. And either would require the same space be taken up on the outside of the tank for the unit's heat diffuser and fan.

A nice thing about thermoelectric cooling units is that they can be oriented any which way...as long as the fan has room to breathe. Ideally, I'll have it mounted on the bottom of a side...mounting directly to the bottom would be best...but requires the tank and fans to be elevated in some sort of way so that the fans can pull air pull for the exchange of heat.

The main advantage, as I see it, of using the ice probe is that its fairly much a 'plug and play' sort of thing. About as difficult as screwing in a light bulb.

So thats where I'm at now folks.

If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions...or better...a solution I've not yet realized...please...feel free to enlighten me. :thumbsup:

You, sir, need to be an inventor.

Awww shucks ups...

If I wasn't busy trying to be a hydro grower...I'd end up devoting my efforts to a device that makes women's brainwaves more in sync with my own.

hey on that iceworks thing it has failed many a hydro grower.. to keep temps down that is.

I have a modified mini fridge setup and it only pulls the 25 gal tank down 8 degrees (from 86F to 78F) at its best.

I could be pleased with an 8 degree drop.

Aaron, have you ever put a fan in front of the mini-fridge's fan? When I did that, the one I have taken apart went from cool condensation to making frosty ice out of the condensation. Or in other words...from 47°F down to 22°F in just a couple minutes.

I'm on a path now to try having a cooler on opposite ends of the solution tank...two of them, in theory, connected by either a solid bar, or a water filled pipe ought to do the job.

Key word...'theory'.

wtf though....cheapo drop in heaters have been around for decades...am I really going to have to buy a portable a/c, tap into the line, fashion a drop in coil of copper or plastic tubing just to beat back room temperature water?

Ehh...that or wait till the weather cools off!

Seems that what I'll end up doing is going with the design as is, and end up having to supplement the amount of available O2.

Or, pH a bunch of water and make some nutrient popsicles...not!

Yeah, I'll prolly set it up tomorrow and put my beater plant to use.

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I use this less than stellar clone to recreate unfavourable conditions for sake of noting the results. I'd rather make things happen and learn from it now as opposed to not knowing wtf is happening, posting, and then hoping on a timely and accurate diagnosis from another grower.

She looks pretty good for a plant thats been in 1 oz. of water for two days. Prior to that she went 14 days without water...pulled her out of soil so I could transplant a two weeks into flowering plant into the container this one had been in.

So yeah, come tomorrow I'll get her in the tub and use the info I get from the her and apply it later when I've several plants depending on a healthy hydro environment.

Hahahaha, wow! Well, my Mom used to grow all kinds of plants by sticking a seed in water to germinate and just forgetting about it for a long time ... so, I guess that plant being alive isn't too weird. Looks better than some I've seen.