loismustskim

[jackson6745]

LOL..nope I trimmed it up a bit before I put it back in. It seems to be working the same. No weird noises or anything and no more air flow.

 

[loismustdie]

dremmel bit used to shave down the volute:

 

[loismustdie]

let it run. I didn't notice much of an air draw difference either when I did the Sedra, You saw today what my ER is doing.
chris

 

[loismustdie]

router bits. These are the tracer bits I like to use.

 

[loismustdie]

Rich, I don't know anyone who has tried this with aquabees. Only Gen-x and Sequence. I did the mod to my Sedra on my ER, but like I said, I didn't notice much difference in air draw, but I still had to open up my gate valve some and I'm getting overnight in skim what I used to get in two to 3 days. Finer bubbles? Break in time? I don't know.
chris

 

[loismustdie]

Well, I'm getting used to having the little guy around and I've got him on a better schedule, so I'm able to find some time to go back to work on the skimmer. I drilled the flanges and glued 2 of them so far. I'll be bolting the body to the base tomorrow. I should be leak-testing the skimmer within the next 3 days.

 

[loismustdie]

Oh yeah... Someone came by today and peaked my interest in building a beckett skimmer. That may be next.

 

[nyfireman3097]

looks awesome bro

 

[loismustdie]

Well, it's just about done. I'm going to let it dry overnight then I will leak-test and run the pump tomorrow. My main concern is whether or not my venturi works. But overall, it's all bolted and glued up. If you notice, there is no diffuser in the pics. I'm going to try 2 different diffusers.

 

[fritz]

Have you guys thought of trying enkamat?
http://www.colbond-geosynthetics.co...products/enkamat/productfamily/1§Enkamat.html
http://www.aquaticeco.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/product.detail/iid/4327/cid/1235

 

[loismustdie]

Fred, Enkamat is what's being used. PF 5 is the size. Thanks for clearing that up. I got used to calling it PF 5 all the time.
chris

 

[loismustdie]

The downward spiral begins

Leak test went well, but the running of the pump didn't. I had it plugged into a Kill-A Watt to tell me how many watts were being used. It went up to 327 watts and overall, the flow was just okay. Pump specs are to run at no more than 160 watts. Also, since I wanted to try a couple of different diffusers, I barely tacked in the test one. It flipped off of the base within 3 seconds of the pump being plugged in. I'm currently modifying the impeller (I'm removing the acrylic and carbon fiber rods and also removing the PF5 that I placed on the back of the impeller to reduce resistance). I'll have to make a final decision on the diffuser and really glue it in in order to get a good feel for it. If it doesn't work, I'll have to break it out and glue in a new one and deal with the imperfections.

 

[loismustdie]

Also, I got my Dialyseas today. I'll probably get this hooked up first before I get back on the skimmer. I may post a thread on the Dialyseas. Here's a pic of mine.

 

[nyfireman3097]

well well well look at that baby lol

 

[Alex]

i stumbled onto this thread and all i can say is wow.good work and good luck.

 

[cali_reef]

Chris, Can't you make a flange for the defuser attachemnt so you can remove it? Makes cleaning under it a posibility.

 

[loismustdie]

Pierce, may be possible. I've got room. I hope to get back on this next week guys.

 

[jcurry]

Why not glue a flange to the top of the diffuser tube and fasten with nylon bolts? That way you change out the design without having to cut it apart.

 

[WaterPlant]

any updates?

 

[Pedro]

Lois,

Where did you buy your Enkamat from?

If you have some extra i can buy a piece from you. I really don't want to buy a whole sheet for one ER needlewheel.

You cut the pins off on the needlewheel? This is the sedra i am talking about.