Stoneys nano-cube tip of the week

[stoney waters]

I thought I would start this tread to help nano-cubers solve some of the smaller problems they might encounter with their cubes. The solutions are simple and don't need a masters in engineering to accomplish. The results make owning and maintaining a nano-cube more enjoyable and hassle free. Anyone with their own ideas and solutions please chime in. Enlighten us.

 

 

Tip #1

 

Here is one that every cube owner can relate to. The knockouts in the back of the hood for routing power wires, and those good for nothing rubber grommets. The grommets never seem to stay in place and the hood would come down and pinch the wires. Even with the grommets removed I always had to make sure the cord had not shifted before I shut the hood. And there are only two knockouts. JBJ must have thought it was a good idea to put the heater in chamber 1 because they didn't put a knockout over chamber 2. Anyway the knockouts are to small and to few.

 

 

My solution was to cut new notches in the back of the hood exactly where I wanted them. I'm sure most cube owners have done this or are capable of it. A dremmel or a hack saw work the best. My main concern was keeping the cords from sliding over and getting pinched. After trying several different wire clips and cable ties, I finally came across one that has worked for me since the beginning.

 

 

These clips will not come detached once they are applied, and they are water resistant.

 

 

The cable tie must be cut to remove the cord, but these are much more heavy duty then any of the quick release clips I tried.

[DiverDownBrian]

nice idea ... i might have to try this one tomorrow

[CtotheD]

cool tip. i wish i would have found this a while ago. the other day i shut the lid on my heater wire and like messed my hood up. it doesn't shut right anymore. it is crooked.

[stoney waters]

Yea; I did that to my first heater also. It messed up the cord so bad that there was bare wires showing. It prompted me to come up with a permanent fix. Since then I have had no problems.

[embryoguy]

great idea thanks, where did you buy that? home depo?

[stoney waters]

I bought them at Lowes but I bet they sell them at Home Depot. I also saw them at Ace Hardware.

[shao-lin nano]

That's a great idea....keep these tips coming! The back of my nanocube looks like I spilled a bowl of noodles with all the wires and tubes going every which way.

[stoney waters]

Here is one for all you Mini-jet users that could prove helpful.

 

It seems that the adjusting valve impedes the flow to the intake and that removing it will increase the flow of the pump. To do this simply remove the impeller cover, snap out the valve and replace the cover.

 

 

 

 

I performed a quick test in the kitchen sink using a MJ 606 and a five gallon jug. At about a 6" head the Mini-jet pumped 2.1 gallons per minute or 126 gph with the valve in place. With the valve removed it pumped 2.4 gallons per minute or 144 gph. That's a pretty substantial increase considering the whole procedure only takes about a minute.

[embryoguy]

stoney awesome awesome

 

thank you

[Echo]

Wow, you nailed the solution to those pinched wires. That was driving me crazy, so thank you for a great diy. Off to Osh!

[stoney waters]

Here is a helpful tip for all Nano-Cubers that are using a surface skimmer.

 

I have a surface skimmer mod and got tiered of lifting the hood to check the water level in the rear compartments. It is hard to see back there with the lights off and I was always in trouble for lifting the hood with the lights on when my family was in the room. I wanted to find a way to check the water level in the rear compartments without lifting the hood. Here is what I came up with.

 

 

 

 

I took a ruler an a razor blade and sliced off a 1/2" strip of the black mask from the side of the tank. This way I can see the water level with just a quick glance. I made two reference marks for high and low levels. The lower mark is just above the point where the pump would begin to suck air. The top mark is just below the level where the water spills into the third chamber. I run an air driven protein skimmer in chamber 2 so if it was any higher it would throw off its set water line. Now with one simple glance I can tell how much top off water I need to add.

 

Of course, this mod would only be helpful to those who are using some type of surface skimming because evaporative drop only occurs in the rear chambers.