beckett skimmer questions

cwboomer · #1 05/24/2004, 03:28 PM

1. Is a beckett 1048 a form of an eductor?
2. are their other better/worse spray injectors out there?
3. why are most beckett skimmers built with a really long tube after the injector...why not a short tube and a tall skimmer riser? why not a side injecting beckett?
4. where does one obtain those slick "quick clean" flanges that are used on myreefcreation and other skimmers.

Help is appreciated.

Dan

trueblood · #2 05/24/2004, 08:20 PM

Hey
The beckett is a head that mixes air and water. Enductor are used to gain more flow. I have never used an enductor on a skimmer.

You can also make a spray injection out of a piece of PVC pipe.

The reason for the long tube is just to get more contact time.
Side injection is possible but due to the design of the beckett it is better to use verticaly.

Not sure where to get the quick release flanges, maybe someone will chime in.

I have the plans for the skimmer pictured. It is a spray injection skimmer, simple to make. Check out my homepage on the DIY pages and you can see some other examples too.

cwboomer · #3 05/29/2004, 02:33 PM

Anyone know about the quick release injectors?

dgasmd · #4 05/29/2004, 04:37 PM

The flanges you speak of are made by most people or bought from places like myreefcreations.

The reason for the long tube after the becket is because if you put it at the very bottom and the water level in the skimmer is higher than the becket piece, then the pump must use a lot of pressure to get through the becket head and also to overcome the colum of water that is much higher. Also, it aids in increasing the contact time. That is minor mute point with becket skimmers since they provide so much air that longer contact times are not a necessity. That was more of a old days kind of thing when the air driven skimmers were mostly used.

The reason for not having a gigantic riser tube is that it is completely unnecessary. You really don't need any more than 12". You could if you wanted to dry out the living chit out of the skimmate, but it really won't aid in more junk extraction. Some argue and say that the wetter skimmate actally does get more junk out.

smoothmove · #5 05/29/2004, 08:42 PM

the becketts don't work well with back pressure. If there is back press, the beckeet will not suck the air to mix.

I used to swear by venturi's- mazzei, but I converted to becketts. You get a much faster flow, no pressure and a lot of foam.

I converted a lifereef flanged skimmer into a beckett.

THey just work better..

cwboomer · #6 06/01/2004, 02:23 PM

anyone know of any deliterious effects to planktonic life with a beckett? or maybe because of the pump used to drive it?

medican · #7 06/01/2004, 04:02 PM

try this...........

http://barraquatic.com/

read through the DIY stuff too

Richard

AcroSteve · #8 08/27/2004, 09:50 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by dgasmd
The reason for not having a gigantic riser tube is that it is completely unnecessary. You really don't need any more than 12". You could if you wanted to dry out the living chit out of the skimmate, but it really won't aid in more junk extraction. Some argue and say that the wetter skimmate actally does get more junk out.

Is the riser tube the smaller diameter tube leading to the skimmate cup?

If so, what is the larger lower section called? Having this lower section larger and taller is where the benifit of increased contact time is gained, right?

The reason I am asking is, I am currently building a skimmer using a section of 8" pvc water pipe and am trying to decide on the length of the upper and lower sections. I am pretty sure the lower section will be 20"-24".

My skimmate cup(and therefore, the "riser tube") has an inner diameter of about 3". And I prefer a wetter skimmate.

polcat_4u · #9 08/27/2004, 10:28 AM

Not an expert here but there are a couple of different styles of beckett skimmers. One has the downdraft (beckett) tube outside of the riser going into the skimmer base. In this case the downdraft tube could be shorter, but if you go much lower than the operating water level in the skimmer the becket chamber will fill up with water and limit the air mix. Also if you turn off the skimmer to clean the collection cup you could get an overflow through the beckett chamber.

The othe style has the beckett mounted at, or near, the top of the collection cup with the downdraft tube inside the riser. This is probably a better design but requires more flanges and a near perfect beckett chamber. I've built both, the first style is easier for a first DIY, the second style seems better engineered IMO.