my diy 4500 gph! eheim pump - Page 3

kentrob11 · #51 09/05/2006, 08:44 PM

Very cool Scott! I wonder if this same idea could be applied to a 1260 for huge tanks such as Steve Weast's...I imagine one in each of the 4 corners in a 6x8x3 tank would be perfect!

kentrob11 · #52 09/05/2006, 08:48 PM

Also, do you think something like this could be put on a wavemaker device to power them on and off regularly? I'd bet the Eheim would take the abuse for years......

spazz · #53 09/05/2006, 10:01 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by kentrob11
Also, do you think something like this could be put on a wavemaker device to power them on and off regularly? I'd bet the Eheim would take the abuse for years......

i have a 1260 on the bench right now in the process of being modified. but there is problems there. the impeller is a lot different than the 1250 is. the 1260 is one molded piece where the 1250 is 2 pieces. that makes the 1250 a lot easier to modify. I wouldn't put these on a wave timer because they don't run the right direction every time. they need some sort of stopper in them to do that. and it needs to be a soft stopper too. I shattered the carbon fiber tube and one of the ears on the end of the impeller trying to stop it and get it to run in the right direction. there is a lot of torque there. but a good way to run these would be on a swirl stine. if you had 4 of these with oscillators on them rotating 80 deg back and forth with 2 running at 2 rpm and 2 at 1 rpm then there would be a lot of random flow in the tank. its just getting a swirl stine strong enough to handle this big of a pump. there is a lot of thrust behind that pump.

dgasmd · #54 09/05/2006, 10:09 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by spazz
there is a lot of torque there. but a good way to run these would be on a swirl stine.

What is a swirl stine????

spazz · #55 09/05/2006, 10:17 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by dgasmd
What is a swirl stine????

its a home made box that rotates the power head back and forth 80-90 deg every 1-2 mins. if you had a couple of those and a couple of the eheim 1250 in your tank then you would have random crashing flow all over the tank. they look like a sea swirl but have a shaft that ocillates back and forth instead of a pipe with water flowing through it. you can build one for $50-$75. im working on 2 of them for these 3 1250 eheims. but i ruined one of the motors already. the torque of the eheim caused too much binding in the linkage and it stripped the gears inside the motor.

humboldt reefer · #56 09/06/2006, 06:45 PM

Spazz have you tried bracing the swirl steins shaft from above and below where the linkage connects? It should help with the shaft deflecting and causing friction. If thats not enough you could try some bearings. I know with just a maxi mod on my swirl steins the shaft deflects enough to make it squeak and jump around. I had to lube them with vegetable oil which helped a lot.

spazz · #57 09/06/2006, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by humboldt reefer
Spazz have you tried bracing the swirl steins shaft from above and below where the linkage connects? It should help with the shaft deflecting and causing friction. If thats not enough you could try some bearings. I know with just a maxi mod on my swirl steins the shaft deflects enough to make it squeak and jump around. I had to lube them with vegetable oil which helped a lot.

yep i used 1" cast acrylic rod forthe shaft and used a top and bottom mounting system. it still had so much bind in the shaft that the motor stripped out. i have a new motor comming and plan to try some different mounts. im goingto use some hobby berrings to mount the main shaft to. the resto f the unit is over built. so the give point is the motors. there not heavy duty enough. i got ahold of autotrol who makes the motors and they siad it would cost $45 for 1 heavy duty motor. unless i wanted to order 10,000 of them. then they could sell them for $8 ea. go figure.

humboldt reefer · #58 09/06/2006, 07:17 PM

Well that sucks. What motor were you using? This is the one I used on mine. https://www.surpluscenter.com/item.a...tname=electric
Before I had the linkage right on mine I bound it up a couple of times but I lucked out and didnt strip anything. The motor just came to a stop and reversed directions.

spazz · #59 09/06/2006, 07:22 PM

i found one if these used from an old sea swirl that broke. go figure. now the motor broke. lol i have some 2 rpm motors comming. dont know what kind yet.

http://www.autotrol.com/specsheets/html/M150.asp