crappy mag float fix

[polyppetey]

I got boored this weekend and decided I needed to fix something.

 

I have at work 1/2 inch square neodyneum magnets (n-50 rated)and thought they would work great inside of a big mag float.

 

I decided to saw one in half and take a peek as to what was inside. I cut it along the line. (first pic)

Inside I saw 2 smaller round 1/8 inch thick magnets which werent nearly strong enough to scrape all that pesky algae. I removed them by chiseling away the bracing holding them in place. Then I used a piece of glass as a level surface and sanded the plastic to the base of the float leaving a little bit of plastic remaining inside where the 4 "ears" are. You will need those to re-glue the top piece on. (see pic2)

then I jb- welded the magnets in place. In the picture I only have 1 in as it is impossible to do them both due to the magnets strength. Later I jb welded in the second one.

 

After this I sanded the top piece I cut off to just about where the sides start to curve into the top. You need the extra meat on the bottom piece to assure a good glue joint. There is a metal bar in there too between the magnets which I though was important. I measured it to fit into the center of the top piece where it would normally go. Since at this point I had a clearance issue I decided to heat the bar hot and press it into the plastic to melt it in. (see pic 3) You can also see where the other magnet was a reference mark indicating its size.

The bar needs to rest on top of the magnets and by heating it to sink into the plastic I could get a nice contact fit and additional clearance.

Pic 4 is a view from the top. The plastic got a bit distorted because I heated it up too much. (don't heat the magneats as it will kill their strength)

 

I then glued it all together Since I sanded it really flat, it does not leak, and the unit will still float. Each magnet has a 9 lb. pull so make sure it does not fly across your tank if it comes off, remove it with a stick or something then re-attatch it carefully) I don't think it could break glass but you never know and don't blame me for that one if you do.

 

The last picture is the assembled inside piece in camparison to a small magfloat.

I was able to reduce the height from 1-1/8 inch thick to a little over 1/2 inch and increase the strength of the unit by at least 100 times.

 

You can buy the neodyneum magnets on e-bay too, they even have ones that are rectangular and will fit exactly inside which would eliminate all the chiseling and stuff,but you have to buy 10 or so and they are pricey. They are thinner as well so I guess you could get the float down to under 1/2 inch.

 

I will do the same thing to my mini float as well but I want to figure a way to slide a razor blade in it so I can use it as a scraper for corraline.

 

Well I thought I would share this with the world, peace.

 

P.s. you can also buy the nimble online here as well, but I found that out after all my crafting.

Go figure.

[chrisstankevitz]

Looks great. Is it strong enough to scratch an acrylic tank?

[polyppetey]

I don't believe it is possible to scratch an acrylic tank with a mag float regardless of the strength. It i my belief that most scratches occur when there is something caught between the float halves, like a grain of sand for example, even a bit of corraline is capable of scratching. You can never be too careful with that kind of stuff.

[Lingwendil]

I may have to do this too, my magnet's that crappy brown one from petsmart, barely even dents my 2.5's little diatom outbreaks.

[clifford513]

Great mod!

[NanoCube-boy]

Nice mod dude. Thumbs up...

[polyppetey]

A quick report, i kicks ass though it will not get the thick corraline it cleans everything else off pretty effectively even the corners of my nano, it won't pop off like before when you turn the corner.

I am going to use my old mini mag float to make a razorblade/scraper with a couple more magnets. I will post some pics when I get around to that.

[NanoCube-boy]

nice