Need help w/ DIY HOB skimmer - Page 14

dzeadow · #**326** 12/28/2007, 03:16 PM

The bubbles on the return side are a few micros, but a lot of pass through from the reaction side. I have a picture where you can see it just purging bubbles back through. The piece I'm screwing on there is one of the fittings that came w/ the pump and it doesn't have any o-rings or anything on it so I'm sure if i add something it'll calm it down.

Added 2 more gallons of water and am going to let it run, but just that much more depth brought the air draw from 17 to 12-13.. Now that I can get it to the depth that it will ultimately be at, I'll probably play w/ the bigger air line to see if it helps at all.

oh yeah, and no start up problems either.. kicks right on!

happyface888 · #**327** 12/28/2007, 03:34 PM

Thats a relief to hear, if you had problems to start it up that be a PITA, everytime if you were to shut it off. So theres only a few micros returning? Now that I think about it, if you stuck with the 12 you had before that means its going to drop like crazy. I didn't even expect the scfh to drop that much but luckly it still looks pretty good.

dzeadow · #**328** 12/28/2007, 03:39 PM

I think it'll perform pretty good overall. The micros will really drop when I put the T on the outlet of the QO... it's just got too much force right now and the only micros that are escaping are because the pump is pushing so much that when the flow hits the opposite wall, they bouce all around and the ones that go down have enough velocity to go around the baffle. The T should reduce the amount of force it has.

happyface888 · #**329** 12/28/2007, 03:48 PM

Any idea when your other parts are coming? And did you get all your plumbing parts set? Lets hope the T reduces the return micros if not your going to have to come up with another idea.

dzeadow · #**330** 12/28/2007, 03:53 PM

I have no idea when the rest of the stuff is coming. You know the good ol' USPS and their great tracking said that on the 26th it left Denver (the tubes), and I don't have any idea bout the uni-seals, they never sent any tracking info. I'm hoping everything gets here today or tomorrow so I have time to work on it.

happyface888 · #**331** 12/28/2007, 04:02 PM

I hear ya. Go work on a logo The dzeadow Extreme Mod v.2.0

dzeadow · #**332** 12/28/2007, 04:03 PM

You don't like the Ghettotastic Recirc?

happyface888 · #**333** 12/28/2007, 04:16 PM

Man I wished they send you all the parts right now so you can start a new thread on the build. Which is what I want

. Kinda sitting here and wondering how that thing is. But its worth the wait

dzeadow · #**334** 12/28/2007, 04:19 PM

happyface888 · #**335** 12/28/2007, 04:26 PM

Man that looks sweet, I'll have to order one when they are for sale

. BTW where will you put the feeder pumps tube? Will it be like the drawing which is like the octo's or will you make it go on the side instead?

dzeadow · #**336** 12/28/2007, 04:32 PM

It'll go in like the octo's/bakpaks and point down. I don't think the resun will have too much power to be of concern w/ force.. I'm not sure how far down I should take the pipe inside the reaction chamber though. When the recirc's on, there's about a 1-2" difference in water level from the reaction chamber to the return, with the return being lower, so I think I'll end up putting the return outlet about 1" higher than the inlet and then put a gate valve on it just in case I can't get the cup low enough in the chamber. I think I'll do the silicone mod on the cup too, just to make sure there's no bubbles escaping the sides.

happyface888 · #**337** 12/28/2007, 04:36 PM

I see, I thought before you didn't dig the gate valve because it was too huge.

dzeadow · #**338** 12/28/2007, 04:40 PM

It is, and I don't know if it's completely necessary for this application since I'll have an adjustable cup.. I'm still throwing that idea around in my head. I can always add it later if I leave enough exposed pvc pipe on the outside.

dzeadow · #**339** 12/28/2007, 06:51 PM

Well.. the good ol USPS has not delivered any products today..yeah. Shipped on 12/19, still nothing as far as tubes go. I guess I could get all the sides and stuff cut so it'll be ready to go if and when I get the stuff some time in 2008

dzeadow · #**340** 12/28/2007, 07:11 PM

So I figured out why I was hemoraging air/water onto the return side... looks like I got a little over zealous in dremeling out the outlet part of the QO and actually went through the casing in a couple of places. I'm trying silicone first to see if it will hold, if not I'll use my countertop glue which is basically like a weld-on 40, so it'll get rock hard and fill gaps, IF I need to, I'm going to try the silicone first.

luke33 · #**341** 12/28/2007, 11:51 PM

Looks good man, and you should get around 2-5scfh more after the skimmer breaks in. 12-15scfh in a hot in nothing to be ashamed of. I like it.

dzeadow · #**342** 12/28/2007, 11:57 PM

I'm just glad my starting point wasn't 10-12 dropping to 7.. starting at 17 makes me feel better. It totally milks out that reaction side just w/ the recirc pump, I don't know if i even need the Resun to introduce any air at all. But I still have to put another 1/2-1 gallon of water in it to truly test how white it gets. I'm letting the silicone cure out until tomorrow before I test w/ the bigger airline, maybe I'll get a few scfh back w/ the bigger line? it should be easier w/ a larger diameter to pull air to a greater depth right? Anyway, I did get the 7scfh from the Resun, I'm sure you're proud of me for that one too

... so I'd like to use that as the feed pump, so in essence I'd be putting roughly 20scfh into the reaction chamber.

luke33 · #**343** 12/29/2007, 12:50 AM

Yep, it'll be cool to see and a larger air line doesn't always mean more air, but most of the time. Anything above 1/4 to 5/16" venturi's are overkill imo as a 1/4" id tube can pull over 100scfh.

dzeadow · #**344** 12/29/2007, 09:05 AM

That's good to know. I'll just be going from .170 ID to .25 ID. I would think it would make a little difference at depth. both ID's pulled around the same at 0 head in the bucket.

dzeadow · #**345** 12/29/2007, 10:28 AM

Well, the silicone seems to be holding so far. I'm going to let the pump run today for a few hours to make sure. Also, the larger ID airline gave me back 2-3 scfh, so after it's all said and done, I'll probably be in the 13scfh range.

It's hard to say if I'll have microbubble problems or not, because I don't have the right water level in there yet nor do I have the feed pump pushing water down the column. But right now I do have a few micros coming around the baffle, but they're about 1/4 of what the Octo's were when i first kicked that thing on.

Now I'm wondering if uni-seals were the right route to go. Would bulkheads have been a better option? Using them w/ the tube part sticking out? I'm not sure once I get the uni-seals in on the return side w/ a pipe that I'll be able to get the pump in and out since I think I'll have to have a little bit of pipe showing on the inside. I guess I'll have to just test it when i get them.

dzeadow · #**346** 12/29/2007, 10:42 AM

Luke, JCT wrote this in another thread, I actually might be getting a little better than I think I'm getting:

Quote:

Get the RMB series at least...if you can afford the RMC get that. I like the SSV option. The RMA's are too restrictive from the small size of their plumbing and can give low readings. For your needs I would get one that goes to 100 SCFH. I have the MBB 52D SSV...the 53D would be the one with the 100 SCFH reading.

I have the RMA7, so maybe I'm getting a couple more scfh than it's showing.

JCTewks · #**347** 12/29/2007, 12:44 PM

It's possible...the short scale meters tend to be less accurate overall due to their small size and restrictive plumbing. For your needs if you're going to get a new meter get the RMB 52D SSV...I've found that the dual scale makes it much easier to think and talk in both SCFH and LPM

dzeadow · #**348** 12/29/2007, 12:51 PM

I bet! Also, does the fact that for some pumps that will only read below 10scfh, make it harder to use the 5-50 since it'll be harder to make a reading at lower levels? Other than the fact that I can't read 1-2 scfh discernably.

JCTewks · #**349** 12/29/2007, 02:04 PM

Yes, the meters are most accurate in the mid to upper ranges of their scale. If most pumps you'd be using draw 20 scfh, you don't want a 10-100scfh meter.

dzeadow · #**350** 12/29/2007, 03:40 PM

Ok, I got my stuff in. the 4" tube looks HUGE compared to the skimmer... are the bubbles really going to climb that thing? I guess they'd have to eventually. I just don't know if these two pumps will make enough air to do a 4" or if I should go w/ the 3"... any opinions? I've PM'ed Luke to see what he has to say as well.