Heres the new skimmer

[ynot]

Originally posted by H20ENG
Just finished a dual injected AND needlewheel driven skimmer I measured 25 SCFH air at each injector (running from Mak4) and another 14 SCFH air at the GenX 2400 needlewheel. Foams like a mad dog
No reason it wont work for a smaller tank. Look at the AquaC and CPR bak pak skimmers.

It will be here pn the 10th and I will post pics of this monster
as soon as I get it out of the box...

Thanks again Chris for all the time you have put into this baby.

[matt the fiddler]

i second the needle wheel

if some one woudl come out wiht a needle wheele for the maxijet 1200. all world conflict and various other problems would come to an end

[H20ENG]

Ryan 72s new Skimmer!



Sweet man! Looks familiar That pump should drive the crap (so to speak) out of that skimmer!

ynot,
Cant wait till you get it! The thing kind of ate my lunch, but now I have all the jigs to build more. It should serve you well
Hows your project coming anyway?

matt the fiddler,
LOL, Yeah, whirrled peas
I really think there will be many more needlewheels coming out from the major manufacturers. They are getting quite popular.

[Mislav]

Maybe it was already asked, but I don't see how this skimmer cup can be cleaned unless whole skimmer is took out of its position in sump/cabinet.
Is there any sort of keyhole flange or anything similar?

[ryan72]

the top lid comes off as does the whole collection cup. They are bolted together using flanges. You'll be able to lift the whole top off and rinse out the collection cup.

[matt the fiddler]

yea.. these needle wheels use a lot less wattage and pump.. and i have to say, do a great job a chopping stuff up.. if you are low on air.. stick an air pump in, and you are good to go...

i was mailed the wrong needle wheel for my oceanrunner [they sent the 1000 not the 2600] so i am sanding it back, and seeing if i can put it in a maxi jet i have lying around... i am only worried about the start and stop on it... since it is a little off ballance when loose.. once it gets goign though..

[H20ENG]

Dont do it , Man. It'll just eat itself. Vibration kills....

[DougSupreme]

What do you think are the flow/pressure requirements for this injector to work? I "have" a quiet one (Old style) that I would like to try to utilize until I have the opportunity to upgrade. Its output is about 1000GPH with a max head of 17' I think. Will this work? If you happen to know the "real" stats for this pump it would also be appreciated.

[matt the fiddler]

h20 thsi is testing purposes only i can't wait till maxijet makes a 1200 needle wheel

[H20ENG]

Doug,
I use 2 injectors with a mak4 pump, with 3/8" jets. For your pump, I'd use 1 injector with a 1/2" barb. You should get a good amount of foam out of it. If its not enough oomph, then go down to 3/8" jet.
As always,
Let us know how it works out!


Well, the new skimmer was recieved, so pics shortly

Chris

[H20ENG]

Heres the new Dual injected and needlewheel driven skimmer I built for a friend. Runs on a Mak4 and a Gen X 2400NW.
I actually could have made the body bigger, but its got a decent volume.
As with most of my skimmers, I try to do things a little differently, just for fun.
The riser is tombstone shaped, and is just larger than 8" tube, area-wise. The whole thing is 32" tall. Base is 14 x 14.
I wanted to try a Uniseal for the cup removal this time. (Thanks to Posideons Vortex for the tips) I had to machine the 3.5" OD cast tube on the end to 3.375" so it would slide in fairly easy and be removable by anyone with less wheaties than a gorilla.
When removed, you can reach your whole arm in the hole for cleaning. Wanted to get away from all those pesky screws.
The neck / collection cup comes off as one piece, and can be rotated to whatever postion desired to drain the skimmate.
I machined a groove in the top to hold a 1/4" O ring, and siliconed it in place with Dow 795. A Nice thick top means I only need 4 screws to hold it down.
I tested it in my 3 year old "temporary" live rock holding system in my garage. (A great skimmer test bed)
The thing was blowing mud in about 30 seconds- no lie (consider the source water, though ).
I set the needlewheel to suck the max amount of air. This means it doesnt pump a whole lot of water, but the injectors feed the skimmer anyway. I was going for air induction.
The injectors both max out my air meter at 25scfh each, and the NW sucks another 12-14 scfh.
As with most eductor type skimmers, you get a stray bubble once in awhile thats a bit too large, so its not a Bubble King making whipped cream. The needle wheel though really grinds em tiny.
Enjoy
Chris

[Poseidon's Vortex]

nice job! Good looking rig! Esp like that cup connection! ahahha

thanks for the plug!

How is that cup connection working out for you???

Do you have any kind of foam head inside the injectors, or is it just Induction with air line?

Also I think having a few "stray" larger bubbles might not be a bad thing, even if they escape the chopper, as they can aid in sometimes pushing dense foam up into the cup for collection from the riser, when the foam really builds in the chamber.

Speaking of chamber...
How bout some pics of the chamber while running, like to see how the density of the MB are from the chopper/injectors


Peace
PV

[DougSupreme]

H2O, I need a little help here. On page 3 you talked about the height of the injectors relative to the water level in the base. I have a skimmer (term used loosely) that is made of 6" PVC pipe. I have no "base". Should I try to get my injectors at the height of the water level in the skimmer (about 4' up) or does it need to be lower to help push the bubbles into the column?

[sandman12]

DIY god

[H20ENG]

PV,
Nothing more than a hose barb carefully fitted into a 1/2" adapter. A small annular space is left open to draw the air. Dirt cheap and works pretty well. I like them because you dont need as monster pump as a Beckett. Not that Becketts dont Kick A.....
I like the Uni connection, though it took some careful measuring to get right. I bought 3.5" OD, and just planned on making the opening for the Uni bigger. Ha Ha. It was still too hard to push the tube in. So I had to machine it down a bit. Probably need 3.25" tube with a tighter than recommended hole for the Uni to whip these out.
I took a pic of the skimmer immediately after opening the air valve, then another in about 2 seconds. The thing is solid white
I think its a good combination with both the injectors and the NW. The NWs a bit noisy, but that can be quieted with longer tubing or a DIY filter.

Doug,
The height (but moreso the downtube dia) kind of depends on the pump you are using. If you look at Zephs skimmers (www.barraquatic.com), he uses bigger downtubes. Top Notch stuff, BTW. IME, you need a bigger pump to get all that foam into the skimmer, if the tubes are larger. Height-wise, I put them above the waterline for both contact time, and to prevent siphoning when shut down.
If you have them lower, thinking that the pump will push the bubbles into the skimmer better, then there is more backpressure on the injector. This will decrease the amount of air the injector can draw. You dont really want them any higher than the skimmer, either. This will add resistance to the pump. So leave them at the waterline +1-2" and your golden
Clear as mud?

sandman12,
Thanks, LOL! Just playing with plastic (For years and years.....)

[DougSupreme]

I'm hoping to come into posession of a Mak4 for use on my skimmer.
Firstly, should I use two injectors?
Secondly, what size downpipe should I use?

[DJ88©]

Veeeery nice.. no clue why I haven't seen this thread till today.. Great designs..

Saw your first version and laughed..



maybe I should make a trip to Cali and do some trading.

[Poseidon's Vortex]

H20

Just go with 3.25" OD and the Regular Hole saw (4") for the uniseal. You will not have to make any adjustments to the hole or tubing that way, it works PERFECT.

Like to see a full shot of it in action, esp the reaction chamber? also maybe some pictures of the injectors too, I grasp the NW concept... just wanted to see how you made the injectors.

[H20ENG]

Darren,
I've been building square stuff for years I think you got your reactor design from me! J/K
Lots more in my gallery...

PV,
You sure about the 3.25"? That seems too loose. Though I used a flycutter to make a template for the hole. My 4" holesaw made too ugly a cut for my tastes....
The injectors are based on this concept, but I have honed them down to 1" parts and less of them:



Doug,
2 injectors with the 3/8" barbs works pretty well with a mak4. Dont put any more head on the pump than is neccesary, though.
You could run a 1/2"barb single injector or a Beckett with a mak4 real well. You could always make 2 inlet ports to the skimmer body, plug one and toy with it.

Who knew reefing was about fish and those colored rock things??

[DJ88©]

Originally posted by H20ENG
Darren,
I've been building square stuff for years I think you got your reactor design from me! J/K
Lots more in my gallery...


Who knew reefing was about fish and those colored rock things??

I will check them out..


And it always seems I am dreaming up my next adventure that doesn't involve the corals and fish. more the equipment.. Well I guess indirectly it involves the corals n fish.

oh and good job again.. great work.. I need to get done with school so I can play again..

[Poseidon's Vortex]

Well im pretty sure it works H20 I have built about 50 of them and counting

Using 1/8" wall 3.25" OD Extruded Acrylic tubing, and using a 3" Uniseal cutting the hole with a 4" HOLE saw does allow play in the seal, but makes the cup easily removable but NOT watertight. Which is fine for my needs of IN SUMP. But when the Uniseal is DRY and the Acrylic is DRY it can still be hard to pull the cup out of the Uniseal using the above materials and dimensions.. The cup has to be "walked" (tipped) out of the Uniseal to pull them apart. Once you add some water (when using in a sump) and after a bit of use, it flexes just enough to be easy to remove.

I suppose you could make this union a bit tighter by reducing the hole diameter a bit to put MORE pressure on the Uniseal which would to allow it to be almost watertight for Out of sump use, but might be too hard to remove the cup easily. Machining your tubing probably allowed you to a bit larger and have more pressure on the seal, but for my needs I like the fact its loose but holds. You get only minor seepage at times which is fine for In sump.

As far as appearance:
I use BLue Mol hole saws to cut my material. I build out of 1/4" Extruded Plastic, so maybe its not as thick as what you build out of and maybe you use cast? Each material reacts differently.

Either way using water when you cut the holes might eliminate the white BURN marks that you find in the plastic when using hole saws. I have never used water when cutting the holes, but I bet it would make for a cleaner hole.

[H20ENG]

I have a Starrett holesaw, so its a good one. All holesaws will leave some jagged edges, water or not. I just used a flycutter on some MDF, stuck it to the acrylic, then flush routed it. Babies butt smooth The tube is heavy wall cast.
This skimmer was built specifically for out of sump operation, so seepage was unacceptable. I made do with what I had, and it works great. A nice balance between leak proof, but still easily removeable.
Thx
Chris

[DougSupreme]

what size should I make the pipe from the injector to the skimmer body? should I just use the 1.25" pipe from the T or should I downsize it to 1" or 3/4"?

[Poseidon's Vortex]

any chamber shots? still waiting to see this baby in action full shot...?

[Poseidon's Vortex]

any chamber shots? still waiting to see this baby in action full shot...?