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Post by pitcherfreak on Jul 5, 2007 1:41:35 GMT
;D Love burning stuff. Pity it tends to get away on me occasionaly. It was a bit embarrassing ringing my parents and asking them to help me bucket water to my burning hedge last year LOL. My pump will probably only be used to water plants ratef than drive misters but I'll have to check at the local hort outlet and see what they have to say.
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matti
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Post by matti on Jul 5, 2007 11:56:36 GMT
Bugger the hort outlet, go to plumbing shop like I did, hort stuff costs way to much. I like burning stuff too, I burnt a fence down a couple of years ago, I have a photo somewere. I went back to the plumbing shop today, they do a free water testing ;D ;D. I also bought another $200 worth of fittings,sch 80 pre threaded pvc pipe (rated to 690 PSI, jesus tap dancing christ ) pipe, filter ect. I have done the figures of cost so far and it has cost me $1,800 - 900. Still lots of things to do. grrr. Edit, 7/7/07. I fixed the water today and added a pipe line along the side of the GH and a filter along with a tap, it still needs solonoids and float valves installed yet but when the tap is open the water gushes out like a b****. Got a new job to, better paying one. ;D
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matti
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Post by matti on Jul 9, 2007 8:51:45 GMT
Ok, here we go again, these are last weekends I have done more since then, some repeats. Overall Stabiliser cable (if you can see it, 1 of 4) This is the water trough were my water for my automatic misting system comes from, you can see a black line going under the roofing sheet. Shows the line from the trough to the pumpshed, then it goes to the pump and then out to the greenhouse line that goes to the misting system, a tap and a float valve. Controller,solonoid,wiring and other plumbing things. Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Abit closer, you can see the pumpshed in the background there, I have a few nepenthes growing in there. See were I torched the ground? ;D Gives you an idea of the size compaired to an old abondened farm house full of white ants. Now for the non Greenhouse photos. Nepenthes bicalcarata (red x orange) from Exotica plants back in June 2003. Giant Black boys .......... Grass trees then.... and me for scale I'm 6'3, if you can guess how old they are you will win a prize!. ;D
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matti
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Post by matti on Jul 15, 2007 7:28:39 GMT
OK, time for another update. Over last weekend and this weekend I have dug a trench along one of the side walls of the GH and laid my water pipe (32mil/1 1/4" O/D) then hooked it up to a filter, my solenoid and properly installed my tap. I also installed my 20mm O/D PVC pipe along the top of the greenhouse, the PVC is were the water will run through for the misting system, it was not an easy task standing on a ladder 3 meters above the ground with two jars of PVC cement and primer, a drill, a rivet gun and the other bits and pieces but it is done, tho it took two days. Hooked up the controller box to the solenoid and then I turned the pump on until it got up to pressure then it switched itself off, then I activated the controller box which in turn activated the solenoid and let water through the misting system, then the pump come as the pressure dropped in the pipe, it come on until the controller box shut off the solenoid then it built up pressure in the line again and shut itself off again (Hurray!!, it works!!). I noticed that when the solenoid turned off it was quite violent and shaked the whole GH frame, so to fix that I might have to weld two steel pickets together and bury them really deep in the ground and attach the frame to that to stop the whole thing shaking when the solenoid turns off. And on a bright side my Drosera macranthas are about to flower and I start my new job tomorrow (9 hour days followed by 4 hours of TAFE) Now, who was the clown that said I should hire a plumber? ;D Matti @ foot still shaking from being on the ladder all weekend.
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agar
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Post by agar on Jul 18, 2007 6:55:30 GMT
New, so excuse any first time missteps... Nearly finished one of Farmtek's modified cold frames s/a what jm82792's had suggested. and am moving CP's into it as my old 6'x10' GH continues to deteriorate;-( New GH is 12'x20', as large as local city Reg's allow for my site. Sports a 4" thick 3' tall x10' wide evaporative pad cooler system, with ~2800CFM exhaust fan. Initial tests, show I probably need a bit more airflow (currently supplementing with std. box fan) Just couldn't afford 4-10k$ for a fancy glass/polycarbonate panel structure (Gave away an additional 6'x8' GH I had which was extruded aluminum/polycarbonate paneled, one from Harbor Freight that cost me only $300! - If you need a small GH look no further;-),so I opted for this. Yea, only 4 year GH film, but who's to know where you'll be in 4 years... New GH has been a challenge to put up mostly on my own, but the film and U-channel went in pretty slick and fast with the help of a friend. May seem and look cheap, but, will sure save a lot of the plants from the heat, low humidity, and winds, which have beat most of my pitcher plants to near death already. So Far, So good, and on a hot summer day, it's nice to sit in front of the evaporative cooler;-)...
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matti
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Post by matti on Jul 18, 2007 8:13:32 GMT
Nice Evap!, is your housing galvanised steel or aluminium? how much dose it cool your GH down?
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agar
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Post by agar on Jul 18, 2007 15:45:23 GMT
I believe it's galvanized. Catalog say's it's "Gatorshield" structural steel tubing, so it's coated with something. Because of the adobe clay ground we have that turns to concrete during the summer, I wasn't sure how I was going to drive in the ground posts, but found a 1" dia. ship wood auger at the hardware store to drill 1.5 ft deep pilot holes that did the trick;-) Glacier-cor Evap cooler system is from "http://www.greenhousemegastore.com/Home.asp"So far, the evap system seems to lower daytime temps only a degree or three below outside temp's, but increases the humidity by over 10%. Doesn't sound like much, but the added humidity is critical on hot days. Temps roll off quickly, and humidity shoots up when the sun starts to set behind the house. There's lots of heat generated by all the sunlight entering the greenhouse, even with shadecloth which seems to radiate it's heat into the GH. I've since removed some of the shade cloth and brushed on a coating of Vari-shade. I'm sure I can lower temps even further with a combination of additional shading and exhaust fans, but for now the setup's working well. The 4'x 4' flood tray I got at a local hydroponics store makes it much easier to keep the plants watered. Plants that are in it represent perhaps 1/6 or so of my collection, which remain out in the old delapidated 6' x 10'greenhouse and on the back porch. I've got a second tray to put in once I get the rest of the crushed rock base down. Photos don't show the 75-90 GPD R.O. unit that generates all the water I need (so far;-).
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Post by Michael Catalani on Jul 18, 2007 16:53:26 GMT
Thats a monster of a evaporative cooler. If you are only getting a few degrees drop, then you are probably way under-fanned.
If you have any other vents in the greenhouse besides the one behind the cooler, then they should be closed when the fan is on. I didnt see any in the photos, but if you do, just make sure they close when the exhaust fan turns on. Otherwise, it will mainly pull air through these vent openings, and pull less through the swamp cooler.
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agar
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Post by agar on Jul 18, 2007 17:40:46 GMT
Right - I need more airflow through the pads. The film at the cooler end of the GH still needs to be properly sealed off, but most of the air leakage has been around the door frame. I tried 2 different types of weatherstripping, but neither worked out that well. As a matter of fact, the garage door stripping I put on last caused a problem where I had trouble opening the door at times, and I eventually pulled on it too hard and basically destroyed the flimsy 2-piece door;-(
Currently I have an excess piece of GH film clamped to, and hanging suspended from the upper door, weighted with a piece of 2x4. I plan on rebuilding a new door this weekend.
Another alternative, is to block off a portion of the cooler pad area, forcing more airflow through the open portion. That's kind what I'm doing with the supplemenal box fan thats pulling additional air in behind it.
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Post by Michael Catalani on Jul 18, 2007 19:05:06 GMT
As a matter of fact, the garage door stripping I put on last caused a problem where I had trouble opening the door at times, and I eventually pulled on it too hard and basically destroyed the flimsy 2-piece door;-( Yea, you won't want a flimsy door, especially with a properly sized exhaust fan. I have an aluminum and polycarb door. The exhaust fan has the power on low speed to rapidly slam shut the door if its open. It can also take a little muscle to open the door if the fan is going. It will constantly apply pressure to a door, and one that is flimsy will probably be bent out of shape in no time. You get the right sized fan in there, and you can live in your greenhouse in the summertime. That cooler will do the trick. I wish I had gotten the 6 foot tall version for my house.
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agar
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Post by agar on Jul 18, 2007 20:06:31 GMT
Debating how best to build a new one. I sorta wish I could make a sliding one like I had on the '6x8' GH from Harbor Freight. "http://ww2.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=47712"I suppose I could get another 20" exhaust fan to help balance and give me more airflow through the pads, but I'd have to build in another frame for it, and I'm not crazy about using more electricity. Also, I should have positioned the fan up as high as possible to help exhaust as much of the warmer air from the top of the GH as possible. The biggest thing that worries me, is what will happen if we experience a power outage on a hot day - I try not to think about it;-/ My VFT growlist;-) "http://www.connerscarnivores.com/dconner_growlist.html"
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Post by sadsoul on Jul 18, 2007 22:58:45 GMT
for humidity use a fogger in a five gallon bucket in the center of your greenhouse or you can use coolmist humiditifiers, sorry for my inglesh . you can even grow oyster mushrooms logs there too. God Bless to all............///////////
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Post by sadsoul on Jul 18, 2007 23:09:28 GMT
Matti , now that the pics upload a fogger will give you a 100% humidity with some duct fans and duct hose or tubes and with the hydro i'll grow some medicine and some logs of oyster all around the greenhouse for cover, beautyful greenhouse all around nice work and love to nature !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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matti
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Post by matti on Jul 19, 2007 9:04:49 GMT
Agar, is your Evap cooler closed off with a vent when its not working or is it exposed to the air.
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agar
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Post by agar on Jul 19, 2007 14:51:38 GMT
Currently, it stays open, and the shutter fan vents are propped open. During the winter, I'll have to determine if it's better to leave open or close off. The nice thing about the setup is that the cooler is inside the frame, and to close it off, all I have to do is attach an excess piece of GH film using the spring "wiggle wire" in the u-channel slots around the opening.
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