Draining your Flex Acre (Part 1 of 7)

Updated

Follow the instructions in this article to empty your Tank and open it up for the six month deep clean. Read all 7 parts before you unplug anything, as your Flex Acre stays down from the moment your Drain Valve opens until the leak check in Part 7 of 7. Plan the reset for a between crops window, as every Root Chamber comes off the wall. Follow the steps in Keeping your Flex Acre Clean before you begin.

We recommend a deep clean every 6 months, or sooner if plant matter has built up inside your Flex Acre. Flex Acre Maintenance Schedule shows where the reset sits against your other tasks.

Gather Tools:

  • Garden Hose
  • Ladder

Step 1: Unplug the Pump

  1. Unplug the Primary Pump.
  2. Confirm your Light Bars are unplugged.

Unplugging both GFCI Adapters takes every Light Bar down at once, and your Light Bars stay unplugged until the leak walk in Part 7 of 7 has passed. Your pump comes back on once, in Step 4 below, to push the water out, then stays unplugged until that same leak walk.

Step 2: Remove the Top Caps and Drip Lines

  1. Set your ladder at one end of your Flex Acre.
  2. Remove all 16 Top Caps, the covers over your Drip Lines, from the tops of your Root Chambers.
  3. Lift both Drip Lines out of the Root Chambers.
  4. Set your Top Caps and both Drip Lines aside for Deep Cleaning your Drip Lines & Disc Filter (Part 3 of 7).

NOTE: Your Top Caps and Drip Lines stay off the Flex Acre until Part 7 of 7. Do not reinstall them when they come back clean and dry.

Step 3: Set Up the Drain

  1. Remove the 6 Lid Plugs from your Tank Lid, including the one drilled for pipe "A".
  2. Unclip the Water Level Tool from the Tank Lid.
  3. Attach your hose to the Drain Valve at the bottom of the vertical line, using its 3/4 in quick connect fitting.
  4. Place the other end of the hose in a sink or floor drain.
  5. Close the Main Send Valve just below your Disc Filter (called the primary valve in your Assembly Manual).
  6. Open the Drain Valve.

CAUTION: Close the Main Send Valve first and open the Drain Valve second. Do not reverse that order.

Step 4: Drain the Tank

  1. Plug the pump back in to push the water out through the hose.
  2. Remove all 16 Root Chambers from your Flex Acre while the water drains, working one side of 8 at a time.
  3. Unplug the pump the moment the hose stops moving water.

CAUTION: Unplug the pump as soon as it cannot drain any more water. Running a pump dry damages it.

Pulling your Root Chambers during the drain uses time you are standing there anyway, and roughly 80 gallons takes a while to move through one hose. Each Root Chamber carries its 8 Panels with it, so stack them somewhere clean for Washing your Panels, Root Chambers & Frame (Part 5 of 7). Your Tank never fully empties through the Drain Valve, and the last of the water comes out with a shop vac in Part 2 of 7.

Step 5: Lift Out the Pump and Tank Lid

  1. Disconnect pipe "A" from the pump.
  2. Lift the pump and its pump filter bag out of the Tank.
  3. Remove the 3 Tank Lid Supports from under your Tank Lid.
  4. Lift the Tank Lid off the Tank onto a clean surface.

Keep your 3 Tank Lid Supports together, as they go back in during Part 6 of 7. Reinstall every part exactly as it came off, so every joint seals the way it did before.

Your Tank is empty, open and ready to scrub. Well done!

Next: Cleaning & Sanitizing your Tank (Part 2 of 7)