Room30's HP Aero Cabinet

First off props to Cavadge on another forum for his inspiration and hard work documenting an HP Aero build, and thanks to all of the others who have been putting information about HP aero out there.
And now without further ado



The basics, starting at the top left you see a whisper fan with a DIY carbon block filter, these things are quiet! Thanks to Bulénath on ICMag for posting the DIY. Here’s a better shot, just add carbon.



Top right: This is the electrical and the only place I could fit the accumulator. It’s still a rats nest but I’m not sure if Ill venture into power cord cutting just to make it pretty. The thing in the front that isn’t very well in focus is my DIY recycle timer, it’s PIC based so it can be made to do just about any interval with software but I’ll post a DIY when I get it a little more presentable. Right now it’s running at .05 seconds on/2 minutes off.




The rest of the left side is the flower chamber. It is a two bucket scrog setup. The buckets are a bucket-in-bucket design to create the root barrier.





HP Aero is usually drain to waste so behind the buckets is a condensate pump that pumps the waste water through the wall to the waste reservoir




Center Right: This is the clone and early veg section, this uses the same misters, pump and bucket design as the flower mist delivery system. The pump was ordered as a spare and rather than let it sit I put it to work driving the cloner. It probably isn’t that much different than a LP cloner. This is all tied together with a PVC frame so the entire cloner can be removed as a unit for servicing.





Bottom right: These are my nutrient (top black tote) and waste water (lower black tote) reservoirs and against the far right wall is the Flower mist delivery system.




All of these can be taken out if the cabinet while it is still running for quick tweaks they can also be completely removed to do more elaborate maintenance.



Finally, a close up of the mist delivery system. The top ball valve allows for the removal of this piece without depressurizing the accumulator. The tube below that goes to a bulkhead in the wall that is attached to the solenoid and the misters. The bottom valve is to release the pressure in the system.

I still need to add a pressure relief valve as a third line of defense against failures that would over pressurize the accumulator



And Mr. Kill-a-watt says:



That's without the condensate pump or flower light. The condensate pump runs about 50 watts and the light I'm planning on buying is about 180 watts.

Here is a list of the major parts I used in building this. I can't speak to their suitability or longevity yet.....
Description
Notes
Link
Cabinet
Prefab wardrobe closet
1000Va UPS -Triplite
Mist Delivery System
Nutrient Reservoir
Stor it all black 17 quart tote

Waste Reservoir
Stor it all black 27 quart tote

Waste Water Pump
Little Giant VCMA-15ULS Condensate Removal 1/50 HP Pump with Safety Switch

Pre-Filter
DMFit DMF0404
fixurwater On ebay

Pump
Aquatec 6800 PN 6841-2j03-B223
http://www.aquatec.com

Pump power supply
Aquatec PN TAS114-19EP
http://www.aquatec.com

Differential Pressure Switch
Aquatec PN PSW280 wanted the PSW2100 but couldn't find it
http://www.aquatec.com

Pressure Relief Valve
STAINLESS STEEL 3/4" WATER WELL PRESSURE RELIEF VALVE
ebay seller tifohhnee

Accumulator
Amtrol ST-5 THERM-X-TROL Expansion Tank, 2 Gallon (140N43) - 150 PSI
Their web site sux

John Guest fittings
Lots of these suckers……
http://www.h2odistributors.com/john-guest-fittings.asp

Watering Solenoid
1/4" SS 24V AC Solenoid Valve STAINLESS / VITON S20V
http://valves4projects.com

Pressure Reducing valve
Watts P60-M5-2C (0-125 PSI)
http://www.h2odistributors.com/p60.asp

Pressure Gauges
Surplus Center

Misters
PN22211078006 Tefen red CV mister 90 deg conical pattern
http://cloudtops.com/misting_systems_misting_nozzles/mistingnozzles.php

Ventilation & Odor Control
Fan
Panasonic WhisperCeiling 150 CFM Ventilation Fan FV15VQ5
http://www.JackpotPlumbing.com

This has been an adventure and I still need to quit over analyzing and just buy the damn light.

Accumulators can be sourced locally and usually cheaper than ordering online, I only noticed this whaen I knew what I was looking for and after I'd ordered mine. Most plumbing codes are now requiring a thermal expansion tank. If you walk into Casa DePot or any other home improvement store, go to the hot water heater section and there they will be. Locally they are cheaper than the one I ordered and that's before the shipping charges.

A few notes on sourcing parts. Don’t buy anything from freshwatersystems.com, their web site is really good and that lures you in. As far as I can tell they hardly stock anything. Both of my orders were back-ordered (but the charged my card immediately) then they shipped lower quality substitute parts six weeks later. Oh and since you’ve been so patient waiting on your stuff we’ll send it first class mail instead of Fed-Ex like you paid for. A$$holes…. Call them to complain and they say they will “take care of it”, 9 days later (first class mail AGAIN) you get more of the wrong parts…..
Most of the stuff can be found elsewhere, the 1/8 NPT female JG fittings are hard to find at a reasonable price, but it appears that Reptile basics caries a black one so if I were you I would call them to make sure it meets the specs and if it does I’d give them a shot, you certainly can’t get treated any worse.

Thanks for reading……..

Very nice r0m30...

Your setup is looking good- and you are showing me up!- lol

Funny you mention the problems with freshwatersystems- my experience was actually great with them, but my h20distributors order seems to be encountering the same issues you mentioned for the freshwater guys. I guess these jg fittings must be hard for these companies for some reason.

I was curious, I know home depot carries the expansion tanks, but are they rated to 150 psi? I'd still order mine offline if not.

Anyway, I'm subbed here and will be keeping up with your thread, I'm really impressed with your progress so far man, seriously mean this- nice job Now I gotta put my nose down and catch up...

Looks like you have pretty much all the bases covered, the only issue i see is you have a pressure limit switch listed instead of a differential pressure switch

Trichy Bastard said:

Very nice r0m30...

Your setup is looking good- and you are showing me up!- lol

Click to expand...

Thanks, it seems like I was waiting for YEARS for all the parts to get here, once they go here it seemed to come together pretty quickly. You'll probably get it together pretty quickly once all your pieces and parts are here.

Trichy Bastard said:

Funny you mention the problems with freshwatersystems- my experience was actually great with them, but my h20distributors order seems to be encountering the same issues you mentioned for the freshwater guys. I guess these jg fittings must be hard for these companies for some reason.

Click to expand...

I've done two orders with h2odistributier.com, both shipped the next day, and two with freshwatersystems .com both shipped six weeks later and both had isssues even after they shipped them. Guess it's hit or miss with all of them, we really aren't their core customer base.

Trichy Bastard said:

I was curious, I know home depot carries the expansion tanks, but are they rated to 150 psi? I'd still order mine offline if not.

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They are and have to be, all of the components of a hot water system have to be rated at 150 PSI and that's the standard setting for a hot water PRV. I was considering just using a cheapo hot water PRV when I couldn't find a stainless one.

Atomizer said:

Looks like you have pretty much all the bases covered, the only issue i see is you have a pressure limit switch listed instead of a differential pressure switch

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Well if google is my friend today -- The difference between the two switches is that a pressure limit switch just shuts off the pump when the limit is reached and a differential pressure switch starts the pump at one (low) pressure and shuts it off when the other (high) pressure is reached. Correct?

If that is the case the PSW280 has a differential pressure switch, it is a fixed range of 20PSI and only the low pressure is settable. It's not quite as flexible as some of the others I've seen used but is designed to plug right into a system with an aquatec pump, the wiring harness is plug and play and it has built in JG fittings. It seemed ideal for my system.

One weird thing, I order two, one for a spare, and avoiding freshwater I hit up ebay, the seller said it was an 80 PSI pressure switch but when it arrived it was much larger than the first, it has aquatec markings but a later manufacture date. I wonder if aquatec is updating their line and reducing their parts count or I just got the elusive PSW2100 because the seller didn't have and PSW280's on hand.

Or are you just trying to get me to use the correct term so as not confuse the already murky information out there on HP Aero?

I guess the different models cover a range of pressures, which suggests the adjustment range probably isn`t all that wide. The question that comes to mind is if the PSW280 can adjust up to100psi why would they offer a PSW2100?
The only explaination i can think of is that the maximum settings are 80psi for the PSW280 and 100psi for PSW2100 with adjustment only allowing lower pressures.

Thanks r0m. I'm not a plumber, but your explantion for 150 psi makes good sense. Perhaps the difference in models is an updated line. I noticed these pump manufacurers seem to update sometimes even just the model numbers year by year, even when the product itself remains the same. I'm not eqipped to answer any further- lol...

Weird, I thought you would be automatically subscribed to a thread you started, but I didn't get notified of any new posts.

Trichy Bastard said:

Thanks r0m. I'm not a plumber, but your explantion for 150 psi makes good sense. Perhaps the difference in models is an updated line. I noticed these pump manufacurers seem to update sometimes even just the model numbers year by year, even when the product itself remains the same. I'm not eqipped to answer any further- lol...

Click to expand...

Not sure if there are any differences, didn't you get a therm-x-trol too? Those are designed to be used as hot water expansion tanks. I didn't look to closely at the one at Casa DePot so I don't know if the threaded part was stainless or something cheaper.
New year, New model, higher price. Capitalism as it finest

Atomizer said:

I guess the different models cover a range of pressures, which suggests the adjustment range probably isn`t all that wide. The question that comes to mind is if the PSW280 can adjust up to100psi why would they offer a PSW2100?
The only explaination i can think of is that the maximum settings are 80psi for the PSW280 and 100psi for PSW2100 with adjustment only allowing lower pressures.

Click to expand...

The 280 model is adjustable from 70 to 110 PSI and comes factory preset at 80PSI the 2100 is adjustable from 90 to 150 PSI and comes factory preset at 100PSI. So yes they do cover a range of pressures. I was looking at the 2100 because it had the widest range and highest maximum pressure but settled for the 280 because it was easier to get. The literature isn't clear but I think those are startup pressures as I am running the 280 at 100-120 right now. I originally set up the system on a workbench and when I mounted it vertically, with the accumulator up in the top of the cabinet everything went askew. I'm going to let it run for a few days and then dial it in.

Yep, I got a therm-x too... Looks nice enough quality to me... It would be cool to get a model with a removable bladder- but I guess I'll find out how long they last at the pressures I intend to run. Planning on cut out at 140psi or so- only 10 lbs less than the max working pressure...

Also, in your user settings for riu- you can set it to automatically subscribe you to any thread you post in- I find that handy for most situations...

Well I have finally gotten to the point where I can actually try and grow some bud!








The light is the Haight Solid State PPF-800Rv2 that they recently released with the newer red LEDs. The clones are White Russian. I was looking for White Widow clones to start my first grow but none were available locally and the White Russian seemed like a good compromise. The clones were planted in rockwool so I rinsed, dipped and transferred them to the cloner to acclimate them to the HP Aero system.

I have started a first grow journal here, come laugh at all my newbie mistakes……

Very nice r0m, the cabinet is sagging a bit in the middle- perhaps a couple blocks of wood would stop it from worsening? But it's really awesome, good show, and I'll go over n check out your journal now.

Trichy Bastard said:

Very nice r0m, the cabinet is sagging a bit in the middle- perhaps a couple blocks of wood would stop it from worsening?

Click to expand...

Thanks.
The sag is due to my poor carpentry skillz. I cut the light barrier a little to long and by the time i discovered it I had tweeked the wall and bottom I think there are enough 1" staples in there to keep it from moving anymore.

r0m30 said:

Thanks.
The sag is due to my poor carpentry skillz. I cut the light barrier a little to long and by the time i discovered it I had tweeked the wall and bottom I think there are enough 1" staples in there to keep it from moving anymore.

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Haha, sounds good man. I just thought if it sagged much more your stuff would start tilting- but perhaps you could use that to your advantage for draining anyway . I guess we'll have to see how my carpentry/building skills are soon... Don't hold your breath- the only thing I have going for me is my perfectionism, so I might do okay- but it might take 50,000 tear down and redo's lol...

Looks nice, I like your digital? timer. I've only built simple R-C timers. Good luck!

Totalnewbie said:

Looks nice, I like your digital? timer. I've only built simple R-C timers. Good luck!

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Thanks, Yes I guess you'd call the timer digital, It's microprocessor based (PIC) and really just divides the processor clock to get second values. I've tried to document it but it's just not that accessible of a design.

between you and trichy, im hooked on the HPA...i cant wait to implement this kind of system into my next grow...i know you guys like those snap fittings but i have tons of barbed fittings already and i use em at work in other high pressure applications...you really think they will be a problem? is it because of the short cycling of pressure?

im using this messed up hybrid low pressure submersible pump system currently, theres a link below w some pics...but im really diggin on these high pressure systems...good work and thanks for posting this...someone oughtta sticky it

im so hooked i went through the post again...i have a couple more questions if you dont mind

first off, do you have a flow diagram for this? or does anyone for that matter have one for a simple HPA system? the pics are awesome but it would help to really put the whole system concept together for someone like me...and my other question is you said HPA is normally drain to waste...but is it possible to recirculate the nutes?

actually, now that i think about it, i have a shit load of more questions too..lol...are there biological advantages to the plant by using fresh nutes each spray? how do you treat the feed res? and what if the nutes in the accumulator are there for a while...does the quality of the solution degrade with time as it sits in the tank?

thanks in advance man i really appreciate your reply on this

boodadood said:

between you and trichy, im hooked on the HPA...i cant wait to implement this kind of system into my next grow...

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Welcome to the club! If you haven't already read Cavadge's thread and/or Tree Farmers thread I'd suggest that you do, lots of useful information in those two gems.

boodadood said:

i know you guys like those snap fittings but i have tons of barbed fittings already and i use em at work in other high pressure applications...you really think they will be a problem? is it because of the short cycling of pressure?

Click to expand...

If you're comfortable with that type of fitting and believe it won't leak then give it a try. If you they fail during your testing nothing really lost except the wait time for the JG's and cleaning up the mess. Do they make a 1/8NPT to barbed adapter for the misters? I used the JG fittings because they are known to work well in this type of setup.

boodadood said:

im using this messed up hybrid low pressure submersible pump system currently, theres a link below w some pics...but im really diggin on these high pressure systems...good work and thanks for posting this...someone oughtta sticky it

Click to expand...

If it's getting you some bud then it can't be all bad

boodadood said:

im so hooked i went through the post again...i have a couple more questions if you dont mind

first off, do you have a flow diagram for this? or does anyone for that matter have one for a simple HPA system? the pics are awesome but it would help to really put the whole system concept together for someone like me...

Click to expand...

I haven't ever seen one. Some kind of animated gif might be interesting but I'm not that artistic. What is it that isn't falling into place for you?

boodadood said:

my other question is you said HPA is normally drain to waste...but is it possible to recirculate the nutes?

Click to expand...

Sure, but why would you, you use a lot less nutrient in an HPA setup.

boodadood said:

actually, now that i think about it, i have a shit load of more questions too..lol...are there biological advantages to the plant by using fresh nutes each spray?

Click to expand...

The advantages of drain to waste are mostly that you feed the plants consistently they are always getting what you put in. The res is easier to maintain because you don't have the PH and PPM swings that you get when you recirculate.

boodadood said:

how do you treat the feed res?

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H2O2 or bleach are the two methods that I've read about, I'm planning on using bleach.

boodadood said:

and what if the nutes in the accumulator are there for a while...does the quality of the solution degrade with time as it sits in the tank?

Click to expand...

I forget if it was John Guest or tree farmer who said they had tested their nutes after a week in the accumulator and found no significant changes. I think it was in the Cavadge thread.

boodadood said:

thanks in advance man i really appreciate your reply on this

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Thanks for looking!