A DIY self cleaning head

Fudge · #1 05/21/2007, 12:33 PM

Hey all,

Just wanted to share a couple pics of the Squeege head i made for the skimmer.

The original head i made was here,

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...&pagenumber=11

I find myself constantly trying to improve it, so heres some pics of the new one.
I still need tweak this one aswell....thats the downside of DIY i guess...sometimes you go backwards.

Bearing inset,

The guts,

Motor mount and case,

Assemling the whole case,

The squeege is just modified refill windshield replacement blades...but im playing with brushes aswell.

As soon as i can keep my hands off it and let a little sludge build up to show you how it takes it off, ill post a little vid.

Marc.

Ewan · #2 05/21/2007, 04:26 PM

Awesome!! Very innovative and well-constructed.

How is the seal to the motor housing? Is there a chance for moisture to accumulate there?

Nice work!

-E.

AcroSteve · #3 05/21/2007, 06:35 PM

What did you use for a motor?

Fudge · #4 05/21/2007, 07:21 PM

Thanks Ewan,

Steve, i used this one.

Fudge · #5 05/22/2007, 10:51 PM

Sorry Ewan, i didnt answer your question.

The seal is just a rubber flap that covers the bearing on the inside of the cup, i wasnt sure myself at first, but looks like itll be fine.

I was having trouble with the squeege removing all the water on the first pass, and the rubber heated up too much and got sticky...hanging up the head.

So i tried brushes, but the first ones i tried were too rigid, the second set i had to use a finer brush, aswell as using longer bristles. This made the head a little bigger than i wished.
But it seems to work the best so far out of all the ones ive tried.

Here`s another little (crappy) vid i did with the camera.
(sorry, i was playin with it too much to wait for sludge..lol.)

jnarowe · #6 06/26/2007, 03:28 PM

very nice. I really want to build one of these. DO you have more detailed parts list/instructions written up?

Pbrown3701 · #7 06/26/2007, 03:56 PM

is the brush wiping the outside of the riser tube (the part inside the collection chamber)? I thought the point of a self cleaning head was to wipe the inside of the riser tube where gunk collects and impedes skimming efficiency?

jnarowe · #8 06/26/2007, 04:01 PM

I thought the same thing but if you go back and look, it is actually cleaning bothe the inside and outside at the same time. Very cool because you can see through it then.

Bebo77 · #9 06/26/2007, 04:01 PM

lol.. love that.. saves yourself $1000 to....

jnarowe · #10 06/26/2007, 05:03 PM

I think this one is better than the Deltec one.

shouldabenacowboy · #11 06/26/2007, 05:14 PM

That is pretty cool. Nice video by the way

SBC

Fudge · #12 06/27/2007, 09:05 AM

Thanks guys,

Yes there is a brush on each side of the neck, as of more recently but no vid yet there is also one attached that cleans the inside of the upper tube that is mounted to the lid.

If i had a CNC i would have ran an arm over to clean the inside of the external part of the cup aswell, but it was too hard to make everything so exact by hand.

I have to say it works excellent, it takes about 3 passes to make sure its clean, it lets me just flick a switch instead of takin that beast apart all the time.

Ill update on the weekend Janrowe, and give you a parts list if you wish...but i really dont have #`s on anything other than what is shown...but i could confirm sizes.

Marc.

jnarowe · #13 06/27/2007, 09:34 AM

any info. would be greatly appreciated.

Siffy · #14 06/27/2007, 02:18 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Fudge
If i had a CNC i would have ran an arm over to clean the inside of the external part of the cup aswell, but it was too hard to make everything so exact by hand.

What about a hinged arm that uses a spring to push it out gently? It could give you a few fractions of an inch in tolerances.

Fudge · #15 06/27/2007, 08:12 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Siffy
What about a hinged arm that uses a spring to push it out gently? It could give you a few fractions of an inch in tolerances.

I was just thinkin that brushes would be just fine to use on the outer portion of the cup, they are let have a better tolerance than the squeege`s did.

I didnt try it after i had gone to brushes, thanks for makin more work for me Siffy !

Marc.

jnarowe · #16 06/27/2007, 09:13 PM

I would think brushes would get all gunked up and not work as well as a squeegie...am I missing something?

Andrew · #17 06/27/2007, 10:34 PM

Wow. That's a really cool DIY. This has to be the first DIY cleaning head I've seen.

hahnmeister · #18 06/27/2007, 10:52 PM

Second Ive seen. There was one here a couple years back... But this one is by far the nicest. I love the squeegee over the brush.

Im trying to do similar with my collection cup by making a washdown system in the cup with a wetneck... but I know it wont be as effective as this.

jnarowe · #19 06/28/2007, 07:48 AM

what happens to the gunk that get squeegied off? Does it fall into the water column?

TacoKing · #20 06/28/2007, 09:16 AM

That's actually my one concern with the self cleaning head. How often do you plan on running it? If you let it go too long with out runnig I'm guessing there will be a lot of gunk dropping back into the skimmer. I can't see that helping efficiency at all. What about bubble production? Are the bubbles breaking when they hit the arm inside of the skimmer? If so, that's gunk you're loosing back to the water column. Over all, I think it's a great idea. I'm as lazy as the next guy, heck even lazier, but I can't see this actually helping performance that much.

-Rob

Pbrown3701 · #21 06/28/2007, 09:46 AM

nice sig hahn

Fudge · #22 06/28/2007, 06:13 PM

Hey all,

Yes it would fall back into the water column....but the whole idea behind this is now there should be no reason you let it get that dirty.

I will be set it to come one twice a day, on the controller.

Yes, the squeege`s were better at removing the gunk in the first pass.
Problem there was it was too good, it would remove all the water aswell, and the second pass was like leaving your windshield wipers on when it`s not raining.

The brushes actually work really well, they just need a few extra rounds to complete the job...and thats only if i let it go for more than one day.

Tacoking,

The skimmer neck diameter is 8" , and the portion of the brushes in the neck are like 1" square so there is very little impeding bubble production, its benifits far outweigh any drawbacks.
In fact, when i have left it for the end of the day the foam builds higher rather than spilling over the edge...so when i kick it on it actually cuts all the foam off just above the neck as it cleans.

If i turn it on once a day, i get 3.5 litres of nog, if i dont i can watch it drop from there, this tells me it has greatly enhanced skimming by using it regularly.

I will be trying some new heads for it soon, possibly a squeege type again, but with longer wipers so the tolerance is more forgiving after the first pass.

Marc.

jnarowe · #23 06/28/2007, 10:26 PM

so cool.

eznet2u · #24 06/28/2007, 11:13 PM

Now all you have to do is figure out how to make one that does corners, put and algae scrubber on it, and mount it over the tank.

This is so neat...Keep the pictures coming....

Siffy · #25 06/29/2007, 12:06 PM

That's why you have rotating cylinder tanks and setup a magfloat on a piece of all thread that reverses directions when the magfloat bottoms or tops out. Mitch at Fishy Business in Bowling Green, KY has a (I think) 440 gallon cylinder tank set up like that. Wish I had taken some pics of the setup when I was there. The glass is spotless 24/7.