6" RandyStacyE Style Skimmer ... Ghettofied

[coyoteseven]

Welcome to...
CoyoteSeven's Ghettofied RandyStacyE Style EuroReef CS135/RS135 Clone Skimmer Thread!!!

Here's the story, folks...

I presently have an old Tunze 230/2 skimmer I use on my 90g, while it's a wonderful skimmer, it's just not big enough for my system. After checking out RandyStacyE's DIY 6" EuroReef CS135/RS135 Clone, I decided to give it a try.

Randy's plans are great, but since I don't have access to a lot of power tools (my collection consists of a Dremel, 7" circular saw, palm sander and a cordless drill), I've decided to give it a try using manual tools and other items readily available to the power tool deficient such as myself. Also, because I'm an inpatient/cheap bugger, I will be using makeshift tools, supplies and parts I have lying around/scavenged/inexpensive and can easily be found/bought at the local Home Depot/Lowe's/Hardware/Plumbing store today and not have to wait for Fed-UPS to deliver and/or break 7-10 days from now.

[coyoteseven]

Now, first things first... my workbench:



Yes, it looks like a POSrustbucket, because it IS a POSrustbucket. Can you get more ghetto than that?
It's a 1989 Chevy S10 that gets me from point A to point B, still runs like the day I bought it and the bed/tailgate make the perfect working area.

Here are the tools I'll be using:



I'm sure most of you can identify the tools pictured, but just in case...

Hole saws, cordless drill, rubber head mallet, caulking gun with tube of 100% silicone caulk (no preservatives added), hacksaw, cheapo miter box/saw, 3/4"x2 1/2" and 1"x2 1/2" galvanized pipe nipples (makeshift pipe threaders). Not pictured are a tape measure, Dremel tool, sandpaper, masking tape, marking pen and an ice cold Foster's.

[coyoteseven]

Now the list of materials, costs and place purchased:

1ea. --- 6"x10' Sch40 PVC --- $19.38 --- Lowe's
1ea. --- 2"x3" PVC Quad Drain --- $7.74 --- Lowe's
1ea. --- 2"x5' Sch40 PVC Pipe --- FREE --- Construction Site Scrap
1ea. --- 1"x5' Sch26 PVC Pipe --- FREE --- Construction Site Scrap
1ea. --- 2"x12" Acrylic Tube --- FREE --- Salvaged from old Jebo Skimmer
1ea. --- 2" Sch40 PVC Union --- $8.38 --- Home Depot
1ea. --- 1" Sch40 PVC Repair Coupling --- $4.29 --- Home Depot
1ea. --- 1" Sch40 PVC SLIPxMPT Elbow --- $0.63 --- Home Depot
1ea. --- 1" Sch40 PVC SLIPxFPT Elbow --- $0.63 --- Home Depot
1ea. --- 3/4" Sch80 PVC TUBExMPT Long Sweep Elbow (Electrical Conduit) --- $3.24 --- Home Depot
1ea. --- 6" Rubber Endcap --- $__.__ --- Local Plumbing Supplier (don't have yet, closed on Sunday)

OK, since I got a late start today, that's it for now. But stay tuned DIY fans, there'll be more to follow in the next few days.

[lakee911]

RandyStacyE's skimmer is all the rage these days. Good luck w/ yours!

[coyoteseven]

Thanks Lakee!



What I was able to get done today...

Measure and cut the 6" PVC. Since I don't have a table saw to help me out and I wanted a nice, clean level cut. I took the measuring tape and from the factory cut end (which was square and level), went down 12" and made a mark. I went around the circumference of the pipe and repeated the process approximately every 1 "



I then took a roll of masking tape and joined all the marks to give me a cut line.



Then using the hacksaw, cut through the pipe a little at a time while rolling the pipe to keep from running off the line. Cuts and burrs were smoothed/removed by a light sanding with 60 grit sandpaper.



I also modified the 2" union as shown by this borrowed picture from Randy's site (hosted on my Photobucket account so as not to kill Randy's bandwidth).





Next I glued the drain to the 6" pipe and after about 3 hours to set, ran a small bead of 100% silicone under the lip of the cone (there's about 1/16"-1/8" gap between the drain's flange and the pipe). I'm aware that silicone doesn't adhere too well to PVC, after laying in the bead, I took a wet finger and pushed the silicone deeper into the crevice to act as a gasket and not as structural bonding... though it probably might add a little strength in the area.



With modified union in place...

[coyoteseven]

A question for the DIY skimmer gurus.

Where is the best spot to locate the input to the skimmer body?

a. Low (1/3 up) from base
b. Center of body
c. High (2/3 up) from base

BTW, my main input pump will be a Rio+ 2500 with a veturi on the intake... Yeah, I know about Rio's reputation, but remember this is a ghetto version and besides, I got the thing for only $5, brand new in box and unused at a yard sale.

YEAH BABY!!! We be ghetto!

[lakee911]

I don't know if it matters or not. I had mine 2/3 the way up--which I think most go with. Probably the lower you go the less turbulence at the top, but greater chance of short circuiting the flow and going right to the effluent. RandyStacyE will chime in, I'm sure.

The way your cutting that pipe is the way to go. I used a tablesaw at first. Without a jig it's really tough to keep straight. I did your method there the second time.

Are you going to grind out some of the drain fitting to smooth it out and open it up?

[RandyStacyE]

I think lakee911 is right.

I've only made one recirc skimmer, but I look at it this way ... everyone seems to do it differently. This is the Euro-Reef RC250


This is the Octopus:


Both ways seem to make sense ... the ER appears to bring water in high yet aim it down and to the right. Its recirc pump seems to shoot water in also down to the right. I would imagine there could be a 'rotation effect' doing it this way.

The octopus just seems to shoot water straight in about 1/6th the way down from the base of the cone. The recirc pump just has a T.

Coyoteseven I'm sure your cone will be just fine with the silicone. Actually that makes it more versatile. In the future, with a little work, you can pull it off and throw it on a different reaction chamber if you want.

I placed my recirc pump as low as I could because of the limited space I had to work with. I have a funky little sump under my 38 gal.

[coyoteseven]

Thanks for the input Lakee and the pics, Randy.

I had a little mishap this morning, I dropped my body/cone assembly on the carpet and it popped apart. I got to looking and discovered that both my PVC glue and Silicone did not cure. Both were old that I had lying around and made more of a mess.

I'm going to clean/scrape/sand the areas later (gotta go to work in a couple of hours, so I can't do it now) and stop by WallyWorld tonight and pick up a new tube of silicone.

I'm going to try your suggestion Randy and use straight silicone (no glue) for the cone attachment. My theory (and fervent prayer ) is it should hold, since there won't be any real pressure at the joint and it should hopefully seal any small openings left from cleaning. I'm not too concerned about this being super watertight since it will be in the sump, so I can live with small pinhole leaks at the various joints.

BTW, if I can get this thing working as a standard skimmer and it does well, I may modify it further and add recirculation with one of the MJ900s I have lying around.

[RandyStacyE]

Sounds like a plan to me.

You might get better adhesion if you use some coarse sand paper to roughen the exterior of the PVC pipe (just around the top). This still wouldn't give you a 'super glue like hold', but it couldn't hurt. Maybe roughen the inner lip of the drain fitting too.

This silicone might need to be done in stages. One initial bead (clean the interior of the seam) ... let it dry . Then after it has dried (a day or longer) you can do another bead of silicone.

That's just why I don't like silicone. There are better materials out there that will cure through their entire volume in a very short time, but all you need to do is give it some time and it will work.

PVC glue alone should work too, but the thing about PVC glue is that it will not dry at any thickness. You always have to wipe away all excess glue from a joint like this. That's why I bit the bullet and found some Weldon #16 Git-Er-Done

I would be tempted to just glue it and if that isn't waterproof, then use some caulk.

Either way it will work out ... it might just take longer.

If you would inevitably like to make this a recirc skimmer that is fed from your overflow or a small pump then that could complicate things just a little. If you have a Rio 2500 pump sucking water out of your sump and shooting into the skimmer … I would plan a way to be able to use the same hole in the reaction chamber if you switch it to a recirc pump. Otherwise you may have to cut a new reaction chamber or plug the hole somehow.

[crázy clowntang]

Hey coyote, why not use a mitre saw to cut the 6´´ pvc? The way you are doing it, I guess is ok but the cut might not be as straight as it would br with a mitre saw. Well anyways i can´t say much I haven´t started building my skimmer yet but i will someday. Looking good so far. Keep us updated.

[crázy clowntang]

BTW, lakee you are right, Randys skimmer is like the Beatles taking over the world. Hail Randy GURU of DIY skimmers lol

[coyoteseven]

Randy, like you suggested, I figured after I clean off the old mess I would lay a small bead of silicone around the top rim of the 6" and press the cone down to get a bond... then after that cures, I'll lay another bead in the gap between the cone's lip and the pipe body. But that's the last thing I'm going to do, I should have read your site better, it will be a lot easier to get the internal plumbing in place with both ends of the tube open.

I was actually thinking of adding a recirculation pump to the original set up to add more fizz and turbulence to what the Rio will be throwing in.

Originally posted by crázy clowntang
Hey coyote, why not use a mitre saw to cut the 6" pvc? The way you are doing it, I guess is ok but the cut might not be as straight as it would be with a mitre saw.

My manual miter box/backsaw can only handle materials 3" thick or smaller. It really wasn't that hard to cut and stay straight with the hacksaw once I got my tape guideline in place... took about 10 minutes and I was going slow to be careful. The cut actually came out pretty smooth and only required a light touching up with the sandpaper... and that was mainly to remove the burrs and flashings.

[coyoteseven]

BTW, forgot to mention, I picked up a couple of 6" rubber endcaps this morning from a local plumbing supplier at $8.54ea.

[musty baby]

I think an 89 S10 would probably be better described as "white trash" than ghetto. Just my opinion. Another opinion - I loved my 87 Jimmy.

[coyoteseven]

Going to try to get the input/output plumbing on the main body done in the morning, though it's probably going to be this weekend before I can get started again.

Already figured I'm going to need a new sump to setup this bugger... my old one's present configuration won't do it. Oh well, I needed a bigger one any way.

Updates forthcoming...

[Tigger240]

just some input, if you wrap a sheet of straight paper, it is straight isnt it?? around the circumference of the pipe that you are going to cut and make sure the overlapping pieces are percisly inline with eachother, then using the paper as a guide draw a line around the pipe it will be 100 percent straight. you may need some 11x17 for a 6" pipe tho, too late for pie r squared.

[coyoteseven]

Originally posted by Tigger240
just some input, if you wrap a sheet of straight paper, it is straight isnt it?? around the circumference of the pipe that you are going to cut and make sure the overlapping pieces are percisly inline with eachother, then using the paper as a guide draw a line around the pipe it will be 100 percent straight. you may need some 11x17 for a 6" pipe tho, too late for pie r squared.

I should have remembered that from my 8th grade shop class.

They say the memory is the first thing to go... ... ...

[lakee911]

I forgot about that trick too.. Doh! Oh well... next time

Pies aren't square, they're round!

[crázy clowntang]

[QUOTE]Tigger240 just some input, if you wrap a sheet of straight paper, it is straight isnt it?? around the circumference of the pipe that you are going to cut and make sure the overlapping pieces are percisly inline with eachother, then using the paper as a guide draw a line around the pipe it will be 100 percent straight. you may need some 11x17 for a 6" pipe tho, too late for pie r squared.


Sorry if I screw this up but I am trying to put up a quote and then a message

[coyoteseven]

Originally posted by crázy clowntang
Sorry if I screw this up but I am trying to put up a quote and then a message

Just use the quote link ( ) at the top right of the post you want to quote, it will do all the work for you... then just type your message underneath and it will look like this one does.

[crázy clowntang]

Originally posted by coyoteseven
Just use the quote link ( ) at the top right of the post you want to quote, it will do all the work for you... then just type your message underneath and it will look like this one does.

Thanks coyote, I learn something new at RC everyday

[coyoteseven]

You're welcome Crazy.

BTW, I'm going to get started working on the skimmer again in the morning... hope to have it finished by this weekend, Monday at the latest.

[Tigger240]

you guys learned that in shop class? man i got jipped big time!!

lakee

[RandyStacyE]

How is the skimmer coming allong?