Earthbox AWS advice

[hangman]

Hello all,

Noobe container farmer here,

Just received My new AWS from earthbox, the instructions say that the pressure regulator should as high or higher than the sensor on the 'tainers.

Has anyone here tried piping the water up to an elevated deck( about 4 feet higher than the water supply)?

My setup is as follows:

2 earthboxes and 5 homebrew 5 gal. SWC's all about 50 feet from the hose bib.



Thanks to all the info I have found here,
it looks like I just might succeed in growing Me some maters.

[rnewste]

hangman,

Not sure why they make this recommendation. Perhaps it has something to do with an anti-siphon condition of water in the line back-flowing into your main line.

My pressure regulator is at ground level, with my AWS systems (33 in all) at 2 feet to 4 feet above the pressure regulator. Not had any problem with this setup in 3 years like it is.

Maybe others have a view on why the EB folks make this statement.

Raybo

[rtsouth]

Ray, also a noobie. Just installed my AWS and have a couple of questions since I have no experience and don't know what to really expect. The water comes in the form of a drip out of the body. Sorta or expected it to go down the tube. The water continues to run, even after the boxes have begun draining and have drained for some time. I followed your instructions with the adjusted length and replacing the tubing etc. Any thoughts?
Another noobie question: After applying MaxiCrop, a couple of days later there seemed to be a brown snuff laying on top of the mix near the roots where the MaxiCrop was administered. Is this common?

[rnewste]

rt,

The EarthBox AWS is one of the most ingenious inventions I've seen in quite a while. This system with no moving parts nor electronics, operates on one of Bernoulli's Principles relating to pressure inside a bell increasing as the surrounding water level outside the bell rises up. This process trips a pneumatic diaphragm to open and close water flow into the filler tube as the outside water level rises and falls.

The Patent is held by a Company in Wisconsin, as I recall. In any event, the water "trickles" through a secondary opening (not to be confused with the pressure sensor tube) and fills up the container. The on / off accuracy is uncanny - - about 1/8 of an inch sensitivity.

I am unclear about your statement of the water running out the overflow hole, if I understand you correctly. If this is indeed happening, something in the height adjustment is wrong. With an AWS, water should NEVER run out of the overflow hole. The length of the Sensor Tube should be such that the AWS valve shuts off before the water level in the reservoir reaches the overflow hole. Please clarify your statement. Again, verify that you cut the filler tube down to 16 inches, and that you lengthened the clear sensor tube to 13 inches with a new 1/4 inch ID tube section.

I have no experience with Maxi-crop, so can't give you any insight there.

Raybo

[hangman]

Raybo,

Thanks for Your answer to My question.

I will be hooking this up on the weekend, I'm sure that all will go well

Thanks again...

...Ted

[hangman]

Well if anyone is interested, the AWS from EB works woo hoo!!

No problems at all rising up to the deck level.

Now no worries about My 'tainers drying out while I'm at work, (it does get really hot here this time of year.

[rnewste]

hangman,

Good Job!!

If you have any concern about back wash, you can always install an anti-siphon valve near your original water source.

Raybo

[hangman]

Thanks Raybo.

for reference I do have a anti siphon valve on the hose bib. as per local building code,

regards. a new devotee of AWS

[rnewste]

hangman,

With 33 of these AWS units as of today, I can honestly say that the average cost of $6.50 per plant in the dual EarthTainers was absolutely the BEST garden investment I have ever made. The countless hours it has saved me (and will save me watering in the coming years) is almost priceless!

Raybo

[rtsouth]

Raybo, I must have done something wrong with the measurement of the siphon bell location relative to the drain hole. I tried to follow your instructions and directions to a 'T', but something didn't work out right. I'll go back during the winter and check and correct as needed, but for now I'm just going to follow your additional advice of installing a timer in line to only allow for 30 mins. in the AM and 30 mins. in the PM. This is more than enough water, but I don't want to run out. I'm getting excellent growth and very healthy stems and vines, so I won't do anything to mess that up. Not getting much fruit set on the tomatoes just yet, but they've only been in since May 1, and I've never followed my "garden" so closely as I am this year. Getting good production on the cuccumbers and good fruit set on the squash, but I'm thinking I may be watching the pot too much on the tomatoes just yet. Another week to 10 days and I may be fine. I'm going to clip the low leafs and stems tomorrow. Some are showing to be less healthy than the ones not down near the poly covering. Don't know if it's because of the heat or something else, but I'm going to clip them anyway. There are no blooms on them and they just don't look right. Figure to get them out of the way and not leave opportunity for disease to creep in. Again, I want to thank you for all of us newbies to container growing for your tireless and unfailing willingness to share both your expertise and suggestions. Without your time and effort, which you obviously give from your heart, some of us would just be dreaming of growing vegetables in this way. Because of your kindness in freely sharing things that you have learned and ideas that you have developed over time, some of us are able to realize much more success in home gardening than we would otherwise normally achieve. For this you deserve much more than a THANK YOU. But for now, that will have to do. I'm going to try tomorrow to get some photos to send along of my first experience. I need to go back and find your suggestions about how to size them etc., but maybe the limited success that I've had so far will encourage someone else to buy some 'tainers and get started.
Thanks again,
rtsouth

[Irv Wiseguy]

I added AWS to my boxes this year. I used standard drip tubing and barbs found at Home ★★★★★; 1/2" main line and 1/4" feed line to the AWS valve. At first it seemed to be working well, but today I noticed leaking around some of the AWS inlet connections. I know Earthbox uses 1/8" tubing there but the DIG 1/4" tubing seemed to fit it just fine. I guess it's a bit too big.

I'm thinking of tearing the current system out and replacing it with the tubing that came with the Earthbox AWS. I just don't know if the tubing that came with the system is long enough. The tubing that came with the AWS looks like an oddball size. I couldn't find anything that looked the same at H.D.

Irv

[rnewste]

rt,

A simple measurement for you. How far is the bottom of the bell from the bottom of the container (You can pull it out of the filler tube and hold it along side of the container to approximate this distance to ground.) The bottom of the bell should be in a range from 2 inches to 3 inches from the ground. If it is much higher than this, it will not shut off before water begins running out of the overflow hole, which is about 3-5/8 inches from ground. Let me know what that measurement is and we can solve your problem instantly without wasting another drop of water out of the overflow hole.

Irv,

Yep, I have seen the same thing. Some of the 1/4" Home ★★★★★ tube pops off under pressure. This tubing is a shiny black rubbery material. I found another roll of 1/4" tubing at ACE, which is a duller black, and not as "rubbery" (scientific term, I know). This hangs on to the AWS barb for me. You could always use a 1/16 inch wire rope clip to lightly secure it on to the barb. Yes, the 1/16 " fits over mine perfectly, which I have done on one at the head end which occasionally popped off prior to securing it with the clip.

Raybo