Heres the new skimmer

[rufio173]

Originally posted by 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"?

Doug,

The larger the downpipe, the better my friend. More volume and contact time never hurts.

Peace,
John H.

[notbad]

Ok I have read all 6 pages of this. I like every skimmer here and know I can biuld one. won,t be as nice for being my first, but believe i can biuld it. Now really I only have 2 Question, how do you know what the water level is. or what hight to keep it at. or do you just turn the valve on all the way and slowly shut it off untill you get the water level just beneath the jets.

now the second Question. does the 3/8" hose barb mix the air and water or does it just mix when it hits the water.

sorry if these sound stupid but I want to make sure I get the mixing right.

[Rickster88888]

Skimmer looking good my friend.....!
Hmmm is it much more troublesome making the skimmer squarish rather than using the acrylic tube?

[rufio173]

not bad,

Most likely the hose barb itself acts similar to a beckett, which is basically a super venturi and will pull the air into the skimmer. At the rate of flow through that skimmer, I doubt Chris has intended that his skimmer be a spray injection type skimmer.

Plus, you really don't want the skimmer to be spray injection as it puts out bubbles that are too varied in size and will not give you good results since the injector itself should give you consistent sized bubbles.

Peace,
John H.

[H20ENG]

What he said
I'm sure it does mix a bit more when the air/ water mixture sprays down into the column, but the injector adds most of the air. If it were just a hose barb, like the old ETSS skimmers, then it would simply be a spray type.

"The larger the downpipe, the better my friend. More volume and contact time never hurts."

This is true to an extent.
I built a smallish skimmer once (Yes, I have built something smaller than 3' tall )that had 2" tubes. The injectors were so small (smaller pump), and the tubes so tall, that the foam barely made it to the skimmer. Trying to get something for nothing. Once I downsized the tubes, the same injectors worked fine.
If I juiced up the pump, it probably would have worked out. But I was working backwards- sizing the skimmer to a pump.
If youve got the pump for it, use bigger downtubes.

PV,
I'll see what I have. May have to wait til he gets it all running.

[H20ENG]

Rickster,
Its actually tougher, IMO to build square. You have to cut and glue 6 pieces, rather than 3 for the body. With tube, you cut the tube, glue the ends and your done. THAT is why most skimmers are round- production time.
Much more work with sheet stock. I like to heat bend the corners and glue the backs. Looks cleaner.
Really, the easiest skimmers to make, are pvc skimmers. You can get clear 4.5" OD acrylic for the risers if you want to see whats going on inside.
HTH
Chris

[Poseidon's Vortex]

speaking of clear, and seeing whats goin on... I would LIKE to see whats going on in the chamber! ahahhaha whazzzup H?

Post some pics of that puppy in full OP!

[causeofhim]

Thanks for this.

[ynot]

Sorry everyone it is going to be a while till I have this moster
that H20ENG built for me up and running. I have run into some
electrical problems and I am going to be upgrading box at the
begining of next month. So until I get that fixed I can not get
my tank up and running.

It is gonna cost me around $1000 to get the stuff fixed. The
goof who previously owned this home did some really shady
electrical work and it all most cost me my house. Now I have to
fix/replace the wiring all the way to the box.

[H20ENG]

Bummer Tony!
You may be able to do some of the work yourself and save a buck or two...
Let me know if you need help setting up.

[Kent E]

I hope this isn't too off topic but why collection cups? How about a tube to a bucket?

[H20ENG]

Its fine if its large enough. A small tube clogs quickly with gunk.

[tsalter]

Hey, I would like to try the your injector setup. I have a mak4 and want to run two injectors like the last skimmer. I see that your new injector doesn't have a tee and is tapped off the side of the housing.

Do you think a mak4 would run two of these injectors better than one beckett. I would probably set them up in a repair coupling.

Tom

[H20ENG]

Hi Tom,
With the Mak4 I get about 60 scfh of total airflow through both injectors, with 3/8 barbs.
IIRC, you can get about 40-50 through a Beckett with a Mak4.
Becketts do rock, but my injectors seem to work great too. Have not put them side by side to measure bubble size, etc.
All my skimmers pull out the funk, so its your call

[tsalter]

Cool, I'll have to mess around with them. I was having beckett issues tonight I pulled the 90 that i had feeding it and put a straight barb on and it seems to be working alot better.

I have to make a new skimmer so I will try your eductors out on it.

Thanks!

Tom

[H20ENG]

Cool, let me know if you need any help.