Technical illustrations - visuve/SykeroLabs3 GitHub Wiki

The image and the list below describe how Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) is applied in Sykerolabs3. At point three the custom made stuff begins.

1. NFT tank
   • The make and model is Nutriculture GT424
   • It holds about 45 liters of nutrient water
   • The upper tray for the plants is at a slight angle so that the nutrient can flow back to the reservoir below
   • NOTE: These have been purchased something like 10 years ago so the manufacturer has changed.
2. Rain water reservoir
   • The make and model is Orthex SmartStore Collect
   • Holds about 76 liters of rain water mixed with nutrients
     • The EC is kept around 2.2 during fruiting phase
3. Terminal block
   • This connects the brains, pumps, water level sensors, solenoid valves and TDS / EC sensors
4. Water level sensor
   • This is based on buoyancy: when the sensor is not floating the water level is detected as low
5. Solenoid valve
   • When the water level is detected low, the valve opens and the water can flow from the rain water reservoir thanks to gravity
6. Nutrient pump
   • This runs every 20 minutes to water the plants on the tray
   • Yes, I know a true NFT should run all the time...
7. The brains
   • The relay board with Raspberry Pi attached
   • This controls the automation, records temperature, fan speed etc. See the code for more details
8. The fans
   • These are controlled stepless with PWM and turned off with a relay when not needed
9. TDS / EC sensors
   • These measure how much nutrients are dissolved in the water
   • For now, there is no mechanism to automatically add/drop/flow nutrients into the water

NOTE: there are two NFT pools so there are two sensors, valves, pumps and terminal blocks.