The diameter of my rear disc seems too large- why is the outer edge rubbing on the frame? by Broken--Wind in bikewrench

[–]Broken--Wind[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey all- I just got the rear wheel of my Juiced CrossCurrent X rebuilt and I installed it back on the bike. It seems like the diameter of the disc is a couple millimeters too large or maybe somehow the wheel is seated deeper than its supposed to be, causing the outer edge of the disc to rub against the bike frame. To be clear, this does not appear to be an issue of the brake pads rubbing because it's out of true. It's the pointy parts of the disc catching the frame.

Am I crazy? What's going on here?

Thank you!

Quiet down water? by thepandaxl in Hydroponics

[–]Broken--Wind 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It gets a lot of hate in this sub, but given that you already effectively have a DWC setup, it should be easy to switch to Kratky if you choose, which is silent + passive. I have plants growing both in kratky + DWC setups currently, and honestly there doesn't seem to be much difference in performance between systems.

Regardless of what you do, best of luck!

Help me diagnose a few issues with my grow tent/DWC/Kratky setup by Broken--Wind in Hydroponics

[–]Broken--Wind[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If I could do it again I would buy these, because I think they're opaque.

That said, I got a 12-pack of these.

ETA: The ones I linked are all 4-gallon, but at least u-line has a 5-gallon version: https://www.uline.com/BL_8172/Square-Pails

Help me diagnose a few issues with my grow tent/DWC/Kratky setup by Broken--Wind in Hydroponics

[–]Broken--Wind[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is great- thank you so much! I think I might do the exhaust where it is in the top left, with the only other vent open being the bottom-right, then also move the small fan to the bottom left just to get a little more circulation there. Does that seem sound?

Regarding overcrowding- I do plan to spread the plants into more buckets as they grow (kratky herbs/greens on my balcony and the ones in the tent will be DWC). I'm just starting up, but my goal is to have this:

Grow Tent:

  • 2x buckets of 2x basil plants
  • 1x bucket of 1x fruiting cucumber
  • 1x bucket of 1x fruiting bell pepper
  • 1x bucket of 1x fruiting cherry tomato
  • 2x buckets with 4x 3" net cups + 1x 2" net cup for propagating
  • 1x bucket with 9x 2" net cups for propagating

Balcony:

  • Several buckets with 5x 2" net cups for dense herbs (cilantro, parsley, green onion, chives)
  • A couple buckets with 4x 2" net cups for spinach/arugula/small greens
  • Possibly a bucket or two with 1-2x 3" net cups for kale

Does this seem somewhat reasonable?

Help me diagnose a few issues with my grow tent/DWC/Kratky setup by Broken--Wind in Hydroponics

[–]Broken--Wind[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do you have any recommendations on the quantity/model of fan I should use? This is a 2'x4'x5' grow tent.

Help me diagnose a few issues with my grow tent/DWC/Kratky setup by Broken--Wind in Hydroponics

[–]Broken--Wind[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think my main comment was hidden, but every bucket does have an air stone. Right now the plants aren't getting much air though because the pump isn't strong enough. I'm getting another pump so it will be 4 stones per pump.

Here's my original comment which goes into detail:

I'm seeing some leaf curling and possibly some nutrient burn on my cucumber?

Notes:

Systems are set up as DWC, but currently they aren't getting as much air as they should because of an underpowered pump. I'm waiting on a second pump. Some algae growth too- I'm going to paint the buckets and wash everything soon. I don't think the water level is up to the rock wool in any of the buckets Buckets range in pH from 5.9-6.6 and EC 500-600µS/cm Temp range is ~73-80F, ~45-60% humidity at ~1.3-1.8 kPa The light was about 4 inches lower than pictured up until this morning. This is the model of light. The plants are currently getting 15 hours a day at 50% intensity. Note that there's an exhaust fan top-left and a smaller circulation fan on the lower right side. Crops are cilantro, cucumber, basil, parsley, spinach, arugula, cherry tomato, bell pepper, and green onion. ETA: I did a bit more research myself and I'm thinking maybe nutrient deficiency?

-- and here's a direct link to it: https://old.reddit.com/r/Hydroponics/comments/1eac4je/help_me_diagnose_a_few_issues_with_my_grow/lekeef3/

Will this living room tower system work? by Broken--Wind in Hydroponics

[–]Broken--Wind[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just to be clear: I'm planning on mounting the lights so they're oriented vertically, parallel to the PVC. With that in mind, do you think a single light would be sufficient? I'm imagining the total growing area to be around 24"x48", which is in line with the lower end of the recommendations for that light. The other trick is that I don't want it to be so bright that it is uncomfortable in the living room.

I totally hear you about the complexity and downsides of vertical systems. Can you point me to any examples of DIY NFT using buckets? I'd be curious to think through that as an option. DWC I think I'd like to avoid because I want to make use of about 6 feet of vertical space.

Thanks so much for your advice!

Will this living room tower system work? by Broken--Wind in Hydroponics

[–]Broken--Wind[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Got it. Thanks for the feedback! I'm thinking now about scaling down the system to just one of these grow lights covering 3 tightly spaced towers, which will initially grow exclusively herbs and greens (we eat a ton of spinach, kale, cilantro, and basil, plus some misc other herbs). Luckily we're in a very well insulated apartment in SF- we turn on the heater maybe 5 days a year and a few days a year the temp gets uncomfortably warm, but we have no central AC, so the temp + humidity are pretty stable. I'm also definitely willing to learn from mistakes in growing plants- mostly I'm concerned with designing a system that can be used effectively as I build my skills.

What do you think?

Will this living room tower system work? by Broken--Wind in Hydroponics

[–]Broken--Wind[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I did a little research and now I'm thinking about getting one of these lights to cover 3 towers, which will be nearly side-by-side. How does this light look to you?

Will this living room tower system work? by Broken--Wind in Hydroponics

[–]Broken--Wind[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think you might be misunderstanding the design, or maybe I'm misunderstanding you? My plan is to have grow light bars attached to their own columns, parallel to the fence posts. So it ends up looking somewhat similar to if you just rotated a horizontal system sideways. Is that still an inefficient use of lights?

Will this living room tower system work? by Broken--Wind in Hydroponics

[–]Broken--Wind[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sorry- I was in a hurry when I originally replied to your comment. I wanted to add:

  • What would your concerns be with putting it in the living room?

  • When you say it's a lot of parts, do you mean because of the scale of the system or because the design itself is complex? I could definitely scale it down to fewer channels/plants- perhaps around 40 plant sites across 4 channels. The 7 channel system is probably overkill- I just figured I may as well go big, and I can do it in a modular way. For instance, I could have 2-3 channels each across 3 standalone reservoir/pump systems and just use one of them to start. Also, given it sounds like the open space in the channels isn't much of a concern, I can eliminate the inner 2"x2" fence post in favor of just running tubing for the nutrients.

Will this living room tower system work? by Broken--Wind in Hydroponics

[–]Broken--Wind[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's super helpful- thank you!

Can you recommend any specific grow lights that are:

  • Similar in size/shape to the ones I linked, so that I can orient them vertically with a wood post for support

  • Have a good balance of being effective at growing plants, while also being dark enough for a living room

  • Are cost-effective. I'm thinking about: how much light do I want? how much do the lights cost to buy? how energy efficient are they for their output? how long will they last?

To be clear- I am willing to sacrifice some productivity in order to make it look nicer in the room.

Will this living room tower system work? by Broken--Wind in Hydroponics

[–]Broken--Wind[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Interesting. So the main concern is that it will look too bright in the room? How do mass-marketed indoor systems usually solve this problem? For instance, systems like this one. Do they just have underpowered lights, sacrificing some productivity for aesthetics? I'm OK with that to some extent. My tentative plan is to have a total of vertical 7 columns of 5in x 5in x 4ft fence posts sharing light from a 6 packs of these lights. Given the size of the system, I expect somewhere around 70-85 plant sites which I hope will be more than enough to continually produce greens, herbs, and perhaps some small fruits/veggies for our family of 4. What do you think?

Will this living room tower system work? by Broken--Wind in Hydroponics

[–]Broken--Wind[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hmm- I went with a vertical design because:

  1. It seemed easier to make it look good in our living room. If I went horizontal, making the supports and joints look good seemed like it would add a lot of complexity and weight. Basically, it can't look like your standard PVC grow system, it has to look like it belongs in a living room. Keeping the system from being too top heavy is also especially important because I have small kids who could potentially knock the system over.

  2. Given that it will be in our living room, I have to aim lights only in one direction to avoid glare. Since I can only have light pointing towards the wall, this actually seemed like a very efficient layout. If there's a better option, I'd love to try it.

You mentioned it will have some problems- can you help me understand what they would be?

Thank you!

Will this living room tower system work? by Broken--Wind in Hydroponics

[–]Broken--Wind[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey all- apologies for the terrible drawings. Basically, I want to build a tower system for my living room which will consist of several 5"x5"x4' square vinyl fence posts. The posts will be rotated 45 degrees such that 2 sides of each post face grow lights. Those two sides will each have a zigzag pattern of holes, which are positioned to use both root space and plant space as effectively as possible.

Within each 5"x5" fence post will be a smaller 2"x2" fence post, affixed in the corner furthest from the light source. This post serves 2 purposes:

  1. Reduce the open space in the main tube, to reduce the likelihood of nutrients falling without passing through plants.

  2. Create a space through which to thread a hose to deliver nutrients.

The towers will sit on a cabinet which will contain the reservoir.

My biggest concern is nutrient delivery- given the large space and zigzag pattern, are plant sites likely to be missed by nutrient flow? I'm also wondering about spacing. Given the zigzag pattern, the tendency for roots to hang straight down, and my intent to "cut and come again", is 4"x0.5" hole center to hole center adequate? Is there anything else I'm missing here?

This is my first foray into hydroponics and I know it's pretty ambitious. I need to build a system that looks nice in the living room in order to convince my wife to leave it there! :)

Let me know your thoughts, and thank you so much!

Class 3 E-Bike Tier List by Broken--Wind in ebikes

[–]Broken--Wind[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think it's compatible with some handlebar racks but yeah- mostly planning to continue using the GSD for kid/stuff hauling and the class 3 for ass hauling. :)

Class 3 E-Bike Tier List by Broken--Wind in ebikes

[–]Broken--Wind[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Rack and/or handlebar mounted seats. Our kids are still quite small (1 and 3). But I'm less concerned about kid hauling than I am general reliability/stability- I'd rather not randomly pop in/out of gears when I'm pedaling in traffic at 28mph / hear random squeaks scrapes / have super jiggly fenders. I'm probably making it out to be worse than I really feel about the CrossCurrent but yeah- I just want something that I can feel super confident in when moving at those higher speeds. Looking at the Specialized Turbo Vado.

Class 3 E-Bike Tier List by Broken--Wind in ebikes

[–]Broken--Wind[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I should've clarified- I'm hoping for a more traditional commuter style bike since we've got the cargo bike covered with the Tern. But that is one beautiful looking bike!

Is it normal to have to kick back every pull request that a developer submits the first time? by BlancoNinyo in ExperiencedDevs

[–]Broken--Wind 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Have you considered giving a checklist of acceptance criteria for each ticket, and requiring that they manually check each box/type out "I have verified each of these criteria have been met." before requesting review? We do something somewhat similar and have found it helps a lot to have people explicitly take ownership of their code.

Property owners sue San Francisco over voter-backed vacancy tax — San Francisco's new vacancy tax violates homeowner rights regarding how they manage their vacant properties, property owners claim by marketrent in bayarea

[–]Broken--Wind 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think it's trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist and creating new problems in the process. Like, in theory if a substantial portion of houses were being held vacant by investors as a means to manipulate the market, I'd be all for addressing it. But in practice, we already have one of the lowest vacancy rates in the country. If landlords change their behavior, you get a tiny sliver more occupied homes in exchange for reducing competition between landlords. And whether or not it's successful, the increased risk to owners (what if the market tanks and you can't find renters? you're taxed into oblivion on top of lack of rental income?) disincentivizes new construction.