Undertheradar Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 SCWDs are a neat invention, but despite their intent, they have some serious flaws. They are not 3/4" inlet and outlets, but more like 3/8". This restricts flow very much. They also have a tendency to stop working after a while and since you cant open them they are pretty much trash if this happens. Well, not for me. My SCWD broke, so I cracked it open and chopped it up. Not only was I able to fix it...but I ported the pipes out to over 1/2", and made it so it can be re-opened in the future, as well as having an adjustable switching rate due to its hot-rodded new 3/4" PVC threaded input. Its late for now, but I will post pics later on how you can upgrade a SCWD and get some great results. Also, did you know you can port it to have 4 or more outlets like an oceansmotions.com 4-way? You'll see. Link to comment
NEVER SATISFIED REFFER Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 love to see this.... Link to comment
dhoffroad Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 you can't post something like that with out pics, that's just WRONG...LOL...I don't care if it's late or not...LOL...jk yea it's actualy prety easy to "port" it out by using a dremil and just grinding away at the inlet/outlets....but I'm courious to see your other mods... Link to comment
MillerLite Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 Hey maybe you can draw out what it looks like inside one of these things. They appear pretty simple from the outside. WOuld be interested to hear what you observed when you opened the SCWD and of course, any pics of any mods that you did to it. Sounds like a good DIY project!! Link to comment
evoracer Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 YES! I love DIY mods! I have a SCWD just sitting here. Bring it on!! Link to comment
Undertheradar Posted January 18, 2006 Author Share Posted January 18, 2006 He he he...I knew that would get a response. Well, Im off to HD right now to get the finishing parts before I glue everything together. Dont worry, I took pics of everything, even the inside gearing. Im going to go get the couple parts I need to finish this mutha and post the final results as well. Oh, and a dremmel to port it? Oops, I used a dril bit...lol. At least now its almost 5/8" outlets, and 3/4" inlet. Link to comment
NEVER SATISFIED REFFER Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 GDSB.... I hope i didnt throw out my scwd!!! Link to comment
onthefly Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 *throwing boxes around garage, looking for that box of dead, but somehow "useful" reef parts* UTR - you're a DIY tease..plain and simple! Link to comment
Undertheradar Posted January 19, 2006 Author Share Posted January 19, 2006 Sorry for the delay. I have been messing with the design all day, and I have hit a wall in one respect. I was able to get the ID on the outlets up to 5/8", and the inlet is variable. Now, the problem is that the throughput flow is so much higher now that my eheim 1262 (900gph) is pushing on the 'propeller' too hard and so it wont rotate. But Ill go ahead and post as the mod works fine at about 600gph and under. Pic one: I chopped off the bottom of the SCWD with a saw. The while part in the center is the enclosed gearing that makes the unit work. I must say, that since I have opened one up, I have much more respect for the design. The internals are well made. Be careful not to cut into the white part, but saw the entire bottom off. Then sand it up some more...a good way to measure is to look at the SCWD symbol. Pic Two: Im using the screwdriver to show the system better. So the entire gearing and connection to the 'revolving door' is contained within that one small white cylinder. PIc Three: When sanding the body, pull the white cylinder to remove the bottom half and its gears. Not to worry...dont lose any gears (they stay together well and fit together easy), but then I used present ribbon to hold the other half of the gear cylinder up in the body while I sanded...allowing me to get a nice flat bottom and not sand off any gears. PIc Four: Ribbon detail 2 Link to comment
NEVER SATISFIED REFFER Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 well i found mine....guess i'll cut it with my dremel. I still cant see how u plan to mount it into pvc plumbing, if that's what u where going to do. Link to comment
Undertheradar Posted January 19, 2006 Author Share Posted January 19, 2006 Pic5: Heres the fun. I used a 1-1/2" cleanout adapter, dremelled out to fit the scwd's internals, and glued it in. It makes a perfect fit. Pic6: To go into the SCWD, I chopped up two other pipe fittings. I used a 1-3/8" hole saw to cut out the center of a 1-1/2" cleanout plug so that I would only have the threads. Then I shortened the 1" end of a 1" SLIP-3/4" MPT adapter. These two parts get PVC cemented together... Pic7: Like so. PIc8: oh, and I honed out the outlets with a 5/8" ceramic bit. Be sure when enlarging not to drill the rotating door. the best way to get it out of the way is to use a screwdriver and blow into the unit until the screwdriver can go straight through. Link to comment
Undertheradar Posted January 19, 2006 Author Share Posted January 19, 2006 What else to add? Well, I suppose fixing a SCWD. The two most obvious places where the SCWD can stop working are the pinwheel/propeller and the rotating door. The internal gearing is protected from the outside very well. When you crack open the SCWD, the door becomes very easy to clear out. Sand, sediments, etc, can slide in between the door and body, making it stop. The pinwheel rotates on the rounded end of the central gear 'pod'. This pinwheel is attached to a very small pin/shaft. On mine, the pinwheel had come lose and wasnt spinning the shaft anymore...it even fell off. A tiny tiny dap of superglue on the shaft, and pop the little pinwheel rotor back on...and mine was ready to go. Pic9: Shows the pvc glued to the end/inside of the SCWD. Then I used weldon 16 to put a seam around the cracks. Heres where the problem came in..... The trap adapter sits inside the SCWD, and this reduces the body area, meaning that the water is forced into a smaller area as it passes the propeller. This meant alot of pressure on the prop...and much over 600gph pushed it too hard to rotate anymore. PVC glue is very strong, and considering the problem, the better way would be to glue a 1-1/2" slip x 1-1/2" FPT adapter end to end on the body. Pic10: A view of the prop & gear pod. Pic11: A view of the inside of the gear pod. You can see the small central pin that connects the gears to the prop in the middle. Also, this pod does come apart, and part of the SCWD body does hold&clamp the pod in place, you will notice this, but dont worry, even without the bottom of the SCWD body clamping the bottom half of the pod in place, it holds itself together fine. Link to comment
onthefly Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 Most excellent! For clarification, the better way to do it would be a 1-1/2" slip x 1-1/2" FPT. The slip end being the side you glue into the SCWD body, and the 1-1/2" FPT is where the DIY'd fitting in pic 6 screws into? I'll be starting tonight! Link to comment
Undertheradar Posted January 19, 2006 Author Share Posted January 19, 2006 You got it OTF. Link to comment
NEVER SATISFIED REFFER Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 otf, so using the parts your talking about do I still need to use a hole saw like he was saying??? Also what type of glue is used on the pvc to abs body of the scwd??? I kind of don't like the idea of not bonding pvc together, it would be a heck of a mess to have that come apart and a 950gph pump blowing water all over the place!!! Link to comment
andykee Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 pretty cool, i always wondered what those things looked like on the inside Link to comment
Undertheradar Posted January 20, 2006 Author Share Posted January 20, 2006 The hole saw was used to make the 3/4" MPT x 1-1/2" MPT fitting. If you can find a threaded bushing like that then you dont need the fitting. And the Body is glued to the fitting first with PVC cement, then Weldon 16 Link to comment
onthefly Posted January 20, 2006 Share Posted January 20, 2006 NSR - No, and you'll still need to dremel the nothces into the fitting. Regular PVC cement will bond ABS and PVC. I think UTR uses it to assemble, then one final bead of #16 to fill the edges. Unbelivable DIY my friend!!!! To have the ability to "clean" your SCWD is awesome. Link to comment
Undertheradar Posted January 20, 2006 Author Share Posted January 20, 2006 I suppose I am leaving out a couple things...as I just havent done them yet... One can mod the SCWD further. You could tap into the front and back and glue some extra 1/2" PVC fittings to make it a 4-way. You can completely remove the outputs at their bases and replace them with PVC. You could also drill and glue a fitting to the top...maybe another 1-1/2" fitting, either for another outlet, or a large access plug to the revolving door. Personally, the next one I get that breaks I will use 1-1/2" slip x FPT so the maximum flow before the SCWD stops switching is up to its full potential. But even before the next one breaks, I will be enlarging the input and outputs so that the unit has 5/8" all around, and alot more flow going through it. Link to comment
jmt Posted January 20, 2006 Share Posted January 20, 2006 If the first one broke, why would you buy another? Link to comment
Undertheradar Posted January 20, 2006 Author Share Posted January 20, 2006 it did last for a year... Link to comment
Samoyed Posted January 20, 2006 Share Posted January 20, 2006 pretty cool, i always wondered what those things looked like on the inside same here xD!!! Link to comment
qascooter Posted January 20, 2006 Share Posted January 20, 2006 I'll be drilling out my inputs / outputs to give it more flow, thanks to this thread. Excellent job! Link to comment
Stina Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 finaly a GOOD thread... i was going depresive browsing nanoreef past few weeks, but this has refreshed all! UTR, keep up the good work! regards Link to comment
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