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Old 08-05-2015, 04:18 AM
GpsFrontier GpsFrontier is offline
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Location: Lake Havasu AZ.
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Hello Stan, I don't know where you'll be able to find a (automatic) timer that will be able to turn on and off water flow from a faucet. That is withough't essentially using a sprinkler system controller and inline water line relays. Even so, most sprinkler control systems wont have more than 2 on/off cycles per day. But if you do find a timer that just screws onto a faucet or hose, and that can automatically turn on and off the water supply as many times per day as needed, let me know. I have been looking for a device like that for quite a while, and I have two applications I would like to use it for. One is for a high pressure aeroponic system, and the other is similar to a patio misting system used to cool down your back yard patio, but used on crops to cool down the air around the crops, as well as raise humidity levels around the plants.

Anyhow, I don't know if your interested or not, but I made some quick drawings of how I would use coils to cool the nutrient solution. It uses the cold water from a home made swamp cooler. I call it a reverse swamp cooler, because the point isn't to cool the air, but just to use the by-product of a swamp cooler, the cold water in the swamp cooler's reservoir.

Basically you would either build your own swamp cooler, or modify a small one you already had so it had a larger reservoir (like a 20-32 gallon trash can as the reservoir). The water coming from the swamp cooler will be around 64 degrees Ferinheight. You use a small pump to pump your nutrient solution through the coils, and submerge the coils in the 64 degree water. You can run it 24/7 withough't wasting any water.

The only water used in the reverse swamp cooler system design (besides what's needed to fill the swamp cooler's reservoir) is what evaporates when the swamp cooler is running. You can easily use a regular timer so the swamp cooler doesn't need to run all the time. But if you want to get even more efficient and automated, I'm working on a system that will turn on and off the swamp cooler based on the swamp cooler's reservoir temperature. Essentially it will use a basic household thermostat with a remote sensor to turn on and off the swamp cooler based on your settings like it does with your air conditioner.

Anyhow I attached the drawings I made of the reverse swamp cooler system design. While there are a thousand ways to build your own swamp cooler, my design uses 4 inch ADS tuning for the body, and either a inline duct fan, or other high velocity fan to pull the air through the tubing and across the swamp cooler cooling pads inside the tubing.

Their are a lot of ways to configure it. But the design is always the same.

1. Swamp cooler cooling pads are inserted inside the 4 inch ADS tubing. I would use the straw like Aspen pads. Their the cheapest, but they also absorb and hold water best ensuring the whole pad is soaked and the complete surface area is wet.

2. Water lines are installed above the cooling pads so the water drips down the pads soaking them.

3. A inline duct fan (or other high velocity fan) that pulls fresh air through the tubing and across the swamp cooler cooling pads. It's important that the fan is on the exhaust side so it pulls/sucks air through the system, rather than on the air inlet side trying to push air through the system. The tubing is 4 inches, but a 6 inch inline duct fan would probably cost the same or maybe even a little less. Though a small 9 inch high velocity fan would probably be even cheaper. If the fan is larger than the tubing, you may need to use a ducting coupler to connect it to the 4 inch ADS tubing.

4. There is a water trap at the bottom as a air lock. Just like your sink has a water trap to make sure sewer gasses don't fill the house. The swamp cooler water trap makes sure that no air comes up through the overflow back to the swamp cooler reservoir. That way all the air flows through the tubing and across the cooling pads as intended.

P.S.
The reverse swamp cooler design in yellow is just one configuration. The other one shows the same basic design, but with a couple extra tubing parts can easily be configured to pull air in from both tubes rather than just the one. That reduces drag on the fan, as well as cuts the air velocity/speed across the cooling pads in half. Thus making it more efficient. With some more tubing parts, you could easily configure it to have 4 air inlet and cooling pad tubes, and the same one fan pulling the air through it.

Also you don't need the cooling pad tubes to be long, 1-2 feet should be fine. The standard thickness for a swamp cooler cooling pad ranges from 3/4 inch to as thick as 8 inches for the real expensive master cool pads. So 1-2 feet thick should be more than enough. Just cut it into strips the right length and roll it up and slide it in the tubes. However don't pack it in so tight that it blocks too much air from coming through it.
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Last edited by GpsFrontier; 08-05-2015 at 04:30 AM.
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