DIY Kalk Dripper

[YakovSmirnoff]

That's a great mod. I have a question though.

Is Valve #1 necessary? Couldn't you control all the pressure with just one valve at the exit points (#2)?

[mgchan]

No. Valve #1 controls the amount of air going into the bottle. Too much air pressure going back into the pump can ruin it plus alot of pressure in the bottle causes the Kalk to come shooting out like a super soaker! Also valve #2 leaks if there's too much pressure coming from the bottle.

I also found if you get valve #1 close to your settings, you really don't need valve #2. So, your answer might be correct but in reverse.

It's definitely a cheaper solution than using a peristaltic pump. With a three-way or four-way gang valve (#1) you can add additional bottles.

[Pisces from SA]

I was under the impression you could not let the kalk mixture be exposed to air? If it was there was some form of negative chemical reaction that occured leaving the Kalk mix useless.

Am I correct or is this something I have mis-interpruted?

[mgchan]

You are correct, if you mix it with an airstone then you're adding carbon dioxide and oxygen.

In this case we're adding a steady positive air pressure to the air space above the mixture which forces the mixture up through the tube. I may be wrong but I don't believe the air pressure is strong enough to introduce additional carbon dioxide and oxygen into the Kalk mix. That's why you adjust valve #1 to get close to the drip rate.

[mgchan]

Originally posted by YakovSmirnoff
Okay.. replaced the airlines with new and also extended the bottom of the exit tube to about 4 inches. It will empty the entire contents to the very bottom

Still have a little issue though. Are any of the able to get a consistent drip rate? I'm trying to time out the drip to maintain my water level. But as the level of the water drops, the drip rate keeps slowing down until it only drips once every 20 seconds or so.

I'm guessing it's some kind of physics thing with water pressure and all.. is this inevitable? Is it not possible to get a consistent drip rate for the entire contents of the bottle?

I wanted to point out that the addition of the air pump produces consistant drip rates.

[Snarkys]

is there something better to use than airline valves for the drip ?

one guy said this worked

Keep the drip line out of the water and clean it's tip regularly. If you can install the glass part of a dropper at the end of the line it will help to ease the adjustments.

anyone tried this ?

[tankslave]

you could put a screw clamp on the airline, or just get a dosing (peristaltic) pump and put it on a timer to dose at night, thus offsetting the daily pH fluctuations....

[Snarkys]

installed a new water valve i got a hydroponics shop and put the eye dropper at the end of the hose and this works much much better.

ill post pics later