onthefly Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 I chopped mine last night.....had an interesting time. Basically, my SCWD stopped because the revolving door cracked down the middle, binding up on the inside of the SCWD. I had to remove all the guts and repair the door. Put it back together this morning...works like a champ! I'm off the HD to get the fittings. Link to comment
Undertheradar Posted January 22, 2006 Author Share Posted January 22, 2006 Well, I got my new SCWD today. The reason I bought it is because my application needs it. I would love to have an oceansmotions in its place, but its inside the overflow, and too close to salt spray for the motor to last long. I have tried contacting the owner as well about the dimensions so I could make a waterproof shroud, but with no response. I did tinker with using a couple hydors...replacing the SCWD with a 'T' and using hydors on the outputs, but in this case, the hydors are just too late. The tank has grown into the fixed outputs that the SCWD has, and hydors at this point were disrupting too much. So I got another SCWD, but this time, armed with the knowlege of how they work and what can be done...I ported it out to the limit... I opened up the ports to over 5/8" all around (I was holding my breath and sweating the whole time). All I gotta say is 'mutha!' My Eheim 1262 must have been running at 1/2 due to the flow restriction, because now I am easily getting 2x the flow out of it just from enlarging the holes. And the switching rate hasnt changed. Link to comment
d0cdave Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Most excellent. Renewed my interest in getting a SCWD. I doubt I will crack one unless it breaks, but making more flow by simply reaming out the input and outputs makes one work for my application as well. Well done! Link to comment
onthefly Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 SCWD repair v2.0 Here's the pics of my repaired SCWD with the "slip" design that UTR mentioned on page 1. First off, my SCWD froze in the open position for both ports so it wasn't and big deal. I soaked this thing in enough vinegar to make a 55ga drum of pickles! No luck. So, I made my first cut and low and behold, my revolving door had cracked and jammed the whole mechanism. I did a supper glue/zip tie stitch to repair the crack. Here's the repair: Next, I cut the SCWD back until 1-1/2" ABS would slip inside snuggly. Also, you'll notice the notches. Finally, I cut about 1/2" off the slip side of the 1-1/2" slip X 1-1/2" FPT...to reduce the distance from the intake to the gear. Here's the starting "players": Glue the slip into the SCWD: Glue the slip x FPT fitting onto the SCWD and viola! Finally, I capped the FPT side with a 1-1/2" to 3/4" FPT reducer (for access) and here's a view down the fitting. You can see the gear right near the openning for max effect. Full credit to the man, UTR! Link to comment
impur Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 Nicely done guys. Just tested my scwd after soaking it in vinegar for a month or so. It actually works again. But i'm definately doing this mod tonight!! Thanks for the pics too. Link to comment
mushroom head Posted February 23, 2006 Share Posted February 23, 2006 Id like to see some one make a 4 way SCWD because id like to make it 4 way,but im not sure it will work. Link to comment
Haagenize Posted February 23, 2006 Share Posted February 23, 2006 you guys are too good at DIY stuff.. errr, im jealous Link to comment
onthefly Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 Mines working flawlessly!!! Link to comment
Undertheradar Posted February 24, 2006 Author Share Posted February 24, 2006 Good deal OTF...glad its working for ya. Mushroom head...once word got out that I can mod SCWDs, all my local reefer buddies have been sending me their old broken ones. I have one that I will post pics of soon (just need a little more time to finish the project, then Ill post all the pics) that you will be interested in. Yes, you can easily make the unit into a 4-way...but the flow will be so that at least 2 ports will be open at any given time...and for a second or two as the doo rotates...3 doors. This might reduce the flow too much by splitting for some people to still want...but I will show how to replace the inlets and outlets with threaded 1/2" or 3/4" adapters. Also, pics from drilling the top of the SCWD and replacing it with a threaded cleanout plug. Link to comment
GrizzleBee's Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 Hey, for all you who've cut it open, is the revolving door supposed to be in 2 halves? Because I can't tell if it cracked in half or was manufactured like that. Link to comment
Undertheradar Posted February 24, 2006 Author Share Posted February 24, 2006 one piece...not 2. Link to comment
onthefly Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 Yeah, mine spilt at the spindle and the crack migrated to the door. Link to comment
GrizzleBee's Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 I think thats what happened to mine too. I glued it back together, and its all good now Link to comment
Undertheradar Posted March 14, 2006 Author Share Posted March 14, 2006 oh, crap, I forgot about that completely! I have been busy setting up a new tank, making the nano-cube skimmer design, and making other gadgets so I forgot! On top of that, a friend is setting up his 3'x6'x14"h acrylic frag vat this week and it looks like Im going to be drafted into that as well... Ill post the pics as fast as I can. Thanks for reminding me though! Link to comment
kappa Posted March 29, 2006 Share Posted March 29, 2006 I saw this when you first posted it and thought how great it was to increase flow, however I did not feel up to a DIY at the time. Recently my scwd stopped alternating, and today I decided to fix it. Fortunately for me, my SCWD was not cracked, just inoperatable until I cleaned out the stuck debris. I ported it, but not as much as I wanted. I just didn't feel up to buying a bigger drill bit I guess. Awesome work UTR, another great DIY. I will definately check back on this thread. Link to comment
fat-tony Posted March 30, 2006 Share Posted March 30, 2006 here's what i did with his idea http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthre...110#post7071110 Link to comment
wakefreak33 Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 Onthefly, Where did you find the 1 1/2" ABS plastic you used? Link to comment
ejmeier Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 Finally, I capped the FPT side with a 1-1/2" to 3/4" FPT reducer (for access) and here's a view down the fitting. You can see the gear right near the openning for max effect. Full credit to the man, UTR! How much GPH are you able to run with this version of the mod? Does it switch any faster (or slower) because you have so much water hitting directly on the gears? I need to try this tomorrow, or soon.... Mines busted so I really have nothing to lose, but I'd like to get it done right and make sure it works for my pump. Link to comment
fat-tony Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 How much GPH are you able to run with this version of the mod? Does it switch any faster (or slower) because you have so much water hitting directly on the gears? I need to try this tomorrow, or soon.... Mines busted so I really have nothing to lose, but I'd like to get it done right and make sure it works for my pump. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthre...threadid=815716 Video clips of the opened inputs/outputs in action Link to comment
ejmeier Posted April 8, 2006 Share Posted April 8, 2006 Well, here's my mod: As you can see, I had to use about a million different reducer bushings to get from 1 1/2" to 3/4". But that turned out to be a blessing in disguise, IMO, because now it is tapered just like the real thing, and I think it is less restrictive on the flow and opens up the area around the propeller. Turns out that there were two things wrong with it. The first was that the door was slightly off-center, so when it rotated it would rub up against the side of the SCWD, and stop revolving until you shook it or blew air into it. The second problem happened after I encoutered the first problem - ie when I found my SCWD stopped working (even after a vinegar soak) I chucked it to the ground in frustration. That's when the door broke in half. So.... I superglued the door, and sanded down the insides of the SCWD body and door edges so it would rotate easier. Hopefully it works okay from now on. I only tested it in the sink, and it did fine. (BTW - I also bored out the outputs to 1/2". Thanks for the great idea, otherwise I'd be out another $30 and have another piece of junk.) Link to comment
onthefly Posted April 11, 2006 Share Posted April 11, 2006 I get the same flow out as before since I DID NOT bore out the ports. In fact the original design puts the inlet flow "closer" to the gears than the mod'd SCWD. The pic is a bit misleading Same switching frequency as before on the Mag 9 return. Oh yeah.....ABS can be founds in the plumbing aisle at HD....by all the "big" plumbing stuff. Link to comment
Undertheradar Posted August 22, 2006 Author Share Posted August 22, 2006 Alright, time to catch up on ond projects... Here are a couple SCWDs that I modded a little different. The inlets and outlets are cut off with a dremel shaping wheel, and sanded to be flat. Then I used 3/4" CPVC on the inlets and outlets, bonding them in place with PVC cement (bonds very well with ABS), and finished off with Weldon #16. Then I put the regular cleanout cap on only the top for cleaning out the revolving door... as the bottom now have excellent accessability due to the 3/4" piping. I did these for a couple buddies and they love them... they now realize how restricted their regular old SDWDs really are... Link to comment
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