Amerature/Professional Chemist and or DIY'ers Please help my mental mind block!!!

[blueskyolympia]

Thank you all ahead of time for any input what so ever positive or negative!

I am on a quest to push my cannabis growing capacity's to the edge with semi modern science but I am stuck!

I built the cycle timer close as I could to 50 seconds on and 60 off with a Walmart timer and some superglue and a file... I would prefer being able to dial it down to 20 on 50 off or any other combos but I gotta work with limited funds. =P which makes it that much more fun when you succeed!!

Got the 1053 GPH pump from my local hydro store... a bit over priced I found out later....

Fabricated the PVC piping and sprinkler heads to fit inside my container of choice.

Which turned out to be a 55 gallon BRUTE food safe garbage can with lid.

Fitted the lid with neoprene collars and fired it up in the shower of course to my dismay I realized the lid is far from water tight!

 

I have been stuck on the water tight gasket issue now for over a month probably 2.

Finally today I came across some interesting info about mixing 100% silicone with talcum powder till it is the consistency of play dough then forming my gasket from that. But before I blow another 8 dollar tube of silicone I figured it would be smart to ask this wonderful community for input... maybe someone else has already tackled this problem in a manner I have yet to find?

 

the attached pictures are of the can, pvc sprinkler set up(yes there lawn sprinklers meant to throw water in a 14 foot radius) figure these wont clog anytime soon with heavy metals =P and the lid which I wanna seal to the base...

 

Thanks again for reading this and I really would appreciate any input.

 

Positive/Negative humor... at this point I wanna throw the hole thing away but I am to invested... they don't give brand new food safe garbage cans away where I live =P

 

P.S. the only reason I will not stop this quest is I have run the cycle timer in Aero-Rails I made myself in the past and the roots outgrew the rails and clogged up the water flow as well as busted out the end caps... I know its not TRUE AEROPONICS by definition unless its HIGH pressure and sprayed to the .5 micron level-.30.... or possibly ATOMIZED to that point of small mist particle but these 50/60 actualy produces outa this world results ontop and below it will make the lightest small hairy white roots ya ever seen.....

[Dust]

sorry man i've been reading it again and again to try and figure exactly where it was letting water pass but i'm not sure i figured it right ^^

 

What happens exactly when you turned it on?

[zub0]

best solution maybe to get a smaller pump or lower the pressure somehow 4k liters an hour (1 gallon i think is about 4,5 l)might be bit much for a small container like that

[blueskyolympia]

I am trying to seal the lid of the garbage can to the garbage can itself with some sorta gasket that is easy to open so I can check ph and ppms n the like....

[zub0]

ahh u  want a seal around it i see i would probebly just buy one that looks like it can do the job 

[Reaf]

Hi bud 

I have had this problem of yours in my head all day and this is what i would try to solve it.

Your Problem is 2 fold , your first problem is to create a soft seal between the can and lid then your next problem is to apply enough even pressure around the whole seal.

 

First of :

Lets create our own custom made O ring for your size bin , one wonderful thing is silicone does not stick to vinyl once dried. 

What you will need is a tube of silicone and a length of vinyl pipe with an inside diameter to match the thickness O ring you want. Vinyl pipe is easy to find , that clear plastic pipe you get at aquarium/pet shops are vynil.

Measure the length of pipe needed , it must be the same length are you need for your bin or a bit longer 

Fill the pipe with silicone and let dry

Once dry either use compressed air to blow out the silicone or cut away the pipe

You will now be left with a length of dried silicone or , a length of O ring

Now put a bead of silicone around your bin and stick the length of O ring all around the lip of your bin

Now you should have a nice O ring seal on your bin

 

I hope i am making myself understood

 

Second problem , Keeping pressure on the seal

This is simple , i would buy some velcro and glue it to the bin and use that to keep a tight seal on the O ring.

 

Hope this helps or you can follow my train of thought

Cheers

Reaf

 

PS below is a pic of vinyl pipe

[blueskyolympia]

Thank zub0 but even with a smaller pump the water would spill through as is.... The 1053gph dont really even make these heads spray hard pressure wise....

Also zub0 if I had the cash for a gasket this size from the open market I mite as well pick up a whole different container =P I'd love to run this build in a 55 gallon water barrel...

Talk about root room woot woot!!

Thank you Reaf for the very detailed response!  My only question would have to be what about air bubbles... if I wanna make a gasket diameter a bit larger than the nozzel on the silicone tube I envision it not filling the tube at such a constant rate as would happen with a small aquarium air line... I supposed an aquarium air hose sized gasket mite solve this leak issue.... My thinking is all theory not practice so any chance u have done this before successfully?

 

Which ultimately brings me back to trying to make a Sugru like product on my own via talcum powder mixed with latex and possibly naptha.... to create a toxic playdoh like goo that would be rolled into the tube like form Reaf previously mentioned but by hand instead of by mold.....

[Reaf]

I have used it before with success. Have a look at this site

http://www.instructables.com/id/Homemade-silicone-O-rings-and-tubing/

I hear what you are saying about bubbles but for me they have never been a problem.

Cheers

Reaf

[oldemarine]

Aloha, Put a garbage bag over the lid & inset into the root zone area, then trim to size. Bag it and no gasket will be required.

[blueskyolympia]

Thanks again Reaf!

I feel like a kid on Christmas eve... been almost 24 hours since I set this thing rolling.

I wound up using the silicone for another project and just decided to wing it with the rest of the tube on this seal idea you mentioned!

I only had a short piece of pipe and it mite be a bit too big lol... but the theory seems to have worked out even better than I could have dreamed of.

if anyone plans on doing this themselves please take head to not make the tube too long.... once u get about 2 feet in the pressure is enfough to crumple the calk gun trigger and or hurt your hand or shoot the tube off and make a mess!! =P

 

onto the pictures.

 

also any clue how long I should let this set? will it take longer to cure inside the tube?

 

Thanks again for all the help folks!

[nicc1976]

You could try melting plastic it sticks you could attach some straps rubber ones or string you could have 4 buttons stuck to the top and then attach the string from the bucket to the lid over the buttons not sure if this helps Im just getting into diy

[zub0]

oh the gasket i was thinking of would be a rubber one made for sealing windows and doors not very expesive can't imagine it costing more then a tube of silicone hehe 

 

hehe ok i was afik that once u seal ur bin ur polythen would blow out from pressure but if it's just squirting out shold be fine

 

seems ur on ur way to solving it  

[blueskyolympia]

argh road block 1 is the fact I made it with such a large diameter tube that it is still liquid inside the center.... also I used a dirty tube so its not pealing out effortlessly it is kinda sticking...