bmak-za Posted January 16, 2005 Share Posted January 16, 2005 Originally posted by Undertheradar bmak-za, dry fit = no glue, just pressed together. what size pump are you using? Spray bar holes were a little under 1/8th and using a minijet 606. Great design Thanks! Question: I am getting a large bubble building under the return baffle. I have the pump (Mini Jet 606) running at full capacity – did not make a difference when I restricted flow. I built the 14' to the measurements etc. on diagram displayed in this thread. Would it help the put a second baffle slightly higher up causing a 'Z' water path? Bruce Link to comment
haggus Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 Hi, I just build my nano-skimmer... I got a lot of bubble. My pump can do 80GPH Anything I need to modify... or only time will do something. Thank you, Martin Link to comment
Undertheradar Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 after a few days of running the skimmer should behave better w/ regards to microbubbles escaping. Link to comment
NCNBilly Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 Haggus, how far above the water is your injector? How big is the air inlet? When I increased the number of holes in the injector I had to increase the inlet. I ended up running a 1/4" tube through the window to get fresh O2 (too many gas appliances in my crib). Wife still hasn't found the hole (or tube) thanks to the curtains. I'm telling her it was all UTR's fault I drilled the window. =) Link to comment
RP Beesh Posted January 19, 2005 Share Posted January 19, 2005 Originally posted by RP Beesh i was wondering about the injection tube i always glue it together. what should i look for in HD? what is the plumbing call and what section. because my first UTR skimmer i use sprinker pluming and pvc end cap and glue it all together. i want to do a dry fit so can u help me out any help Link to comment
RP Beesh Posted January 20, 2005 Share Posted January 20, 2005 is pvc same as cpvc? and were in hd is it Link to comment
Undertheradar Posted January 21, 2005 Share Posted January 21, 2005 no. it should be kept in the same section, but CPVC is not white...more of an almond color. It is used for water supply lines, unlike PVC. It is also thinner (5/8" O.D. unlike PVC which is 3/4" O.D.), making it just the right size for this skimmer. Now, sorry that I have been so quiet these holidays...but I have some good news. I am no longer going after a patent. Why? Well, I have pretty much made everything public here, and even though I still filed the initial papers and can make a claim, I dont feel it is worth it. Too much money...not enough profit. The main reason to get a patent would be to prevent AquaC from taking me to court over their patent...which despite the obvious differences in design, they still might see my design as something that is close enough to theirs to come after me, esp. with the (someday soon and long overdue since last year) projected release of their nano-sized remora. As of these last few weeks, I have been testing 'alternatives', and the results of these alternatives makes me proud to say that there will not be a patent, AND, that anyone can make these skimmers for profit without the possibility of being sued. As long as the injector is made by the person in a DIY fashion, the actual skimmer body is legit. Some might argue that it is still illegal due to intent...that you are merely providing everything but the possibly illegal patent protected part, but with instructions and intent to sell the protected part anyways. Well, not any more... As it turns out, these buggers work very well as venturi/impeller-mixing skimmers as well. The same exact body, same pump, etc...but instead of an injector, an air intake into the small pump and a single large opening into the skimmer injector area....much like a CPR BakPak. The results are impressive...in fact...maybe too impressive. This means that the skimmer can be sold as a venturi/mixing skimmer and no patent laws are broken. If a person should so choose to modify it by swapping out the manifold for a DIY injector...that is their business...but as long as it is sold as a venturi model...its 'open-season'. And, FWIW, the venturi model might be the way to go anyways. Link to comment
Undertheradar Posted January 21, 2005 Share Posted January 21, 2005 Over the course of the last year, I have noticed that the back pressure might be taking its toll with the injection skimmer. I have since purchased an eheim 1048 pump...ot can handle back pressure better. But who wants to spend $60 on a pump for a $2 skimmer? Im sure many of you have seen this elsewhere, but the back pressure on the little pumps/powerheads is slowing them down. The magnetic impeller is wearing out. I put another identical pump on the injector and noticed a 100% increase in bubbles. My original pump is wearing out. Here is the product link for those who keep asking what pump I use: http://www.hagen.com/usa/aquatic/product.c...=01005840020101 So I decided to try making a venturi/mixer version. It was easier than I had anticipated. And the results... No back pressure now, so no pump wear. Much finer bubbles. And best of all, no patent. I will post pics later. Link to comment
mike88camaro Posted January 22, 2005 Share Posted January 22, 2005 UTR you are bad ass bro. my 2 small skimmers are doing a bad ass job with my 29 gal tank. I put a 1 gal milk bottle to take the gunk from the overflow tube. HOW ABOUT THAT CHILLER HUH? HEHE SUMMER IS COMING UTR. Put that smart brain of your to work for me. Thanks in advance. Link to comment
Undertheradar Posted January 22, 2005 Share Posted January 22, 2005 Ok here it goes... The skimmer stays the same, but the air inlet that lets air into the injector area should be closed. I use a hole just big enough for me to use one of those cheap green plastic air valves as you can see...depending on what you have you might have to plug it in some other way. The injection manifold gets removed and the part with the three holes gets substituted for a part you will have to make that looks like this... Link to comment
Undertheradar Posted January 22, 2005 Share Posted January 22, 2005 Then (and this took two seconds to do once I got my hands on this thing even though I couldnt figure it out in my head for the longest time...) use an airline by squeezing it in between the intake strainer/screen slots on the pump. Silicone tubing is too fexible and might close all together, but the regular clear stuff works fine. Adding a valve to this line is a good idea as 'tuning' the air tends to be very usefull down the road, and cuts down the suction noise alot. Link to comment
Undertheradar Posted January 22, 2005 Share Posted January 22, 2005 the cool thing about running the air inlet into that pump like that is that you have so much control over the air intake and water flow unlike before. Getting alot of microbubbles? Trust me, you will. Then just turn down the pump by moving that flow limiter. The water flow limiter has a slot in the middle of it that still allows air to get through even if everything else is blocked (upper right pic you can see the slot that the air line still can flow through). so if you turn the pump down too much, you end up sucking in mostly air...and alot...ad making lots o' foam. A match made in heaven. This little 60-90gph pump can turn the whole skimmer into frothy white bubbles...so watch out! I must admit, I think that this skimmer is actually more effective than the injection one(and doesnt wear the pump out as much). There are tons of bubbles and the little pump spins so fast relative to its output that the bubbles are super-fine. So there you have it...no more patent issues. Here are some pics of the skimmer...tuned down (or else the output is foam as well). Link to comment
Undertheradar Posted January 22, 2005 Share Posted January 22, 2005 Since the old injection baffle is still in place, and now sealed, it forced the bubbles to shoot straignt down like a mini downdraft skimmer. This weekend I am going to make a version with different baffles and a manifold that shoots the bubbles down an extra 5"...not that its needed, but I want to experiment. I will make it so that the bubbles are released lower in the main chamber, and with a baffle to shoot the bubbles out & up rather than down to see if I can turn it up w/o so many bubbles going into the tank. For me, it used to be no big deal, but I can get so many microbubbles in my sump&fuge that the main tank is getting them as well...Sheesh. Keep in mind that this is turned down...these pics dont do justice...as this thing can be turned so high that all the water turns white with microbubbles... Link to comment
Samc Posted January 22, 2005 Share Posted January 22, 2005 Nice UTR, now for the step-by-step! Figure you can post it on rc as well as here now?? Link to comment
Undertheradar Posted January 24, 2005 Share Posted January 24, 2005 Well, since you cant attach JPEG images directly to RC any more, I will stick to keeping it here at NR. I will be doing a step-by-step and making a new thread (possibly a sticky?) on the final design (injection and venturi) and how to make it. I am in the planning stages for that so I can slap it up all at once and be complete. Link to comment
Undertheradar Posted January 24, 2005 Share Posted January 24, 2005 heres a pic of the skimmer on almost full tilt...you can see it has bubble issues...(too many) Link to comment
Undertheradar Posted January 24, 2005 Share Posted January 24, 2005 sorry I have been rather busy building my new rig as well... Link to comment
Samc Posted January 24, 2005 Share Posted January 24, 2005 Nice comp!!! Whats it based on? I hope its Athlon 64 bit, since its cheaper and faster than comparable intel systems! How high's the overclock??? I'm planning a socket 939 pci-e system w/ a 3000+ at 2.6+. Sam Link to comment
Samc Posted January 24, 2005 Share Posted January 24, 2005 Oh, I vote for a sticky, this is like the biggest thread here.... Link to comment
SpitfireMk24 Posted January 24, 2005 Share Posted January 24, 2005 utr, in the last pic you posted. . . where does your exhaust go? it looks like its going down to the sump. . . so when you get the chance, we wanna see the step by step, as requested before, with messurements and stuff so we can build our own! Link to comment
theclearblue Posted January 25, 2005 Share Posted January 25, 2005 How about using that plugged airhole to drip kalkwasser into the reaction chamber. This should let the skimmer pull out calcium phosphate as it precipitates. People have been doing this on air injected skimmers for years. Feasible? Link to comment
doody Posted January 25, 2005 Share Posted January 25, 2005 C'mon now, someones gotta thin this thread out. In the time it takes just to read this I could've worked enough hours to buy one from some one (hint, hint). Link to comment
Undertheradar Posted January 25, 2005 Share Posted January 25, 2005 lol, a "smaller", finalized thread is in the worx. the clear blue...I like that idea with the kalk drip...very feasible. Spitfire...yes, it goes down into the sump. I dont mean for this to sound rude, but I do want to get an idea of... where did you think it went? Link to comment
doody Posted January 25, 2005 Share Posted January 25, 2005 UTR, Will you let me know when that threads ready? Link to comment
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