Washdown system for skimmer

[Anonymous]

Tried that. Still has to be level as wet neck water will shoot into the skimmate column if not.

Hmm, what about making the small gap vertical? I'll have to draw a diagram tommorrow. Imagine a 1/2" tall ring inside the riser tube, just barely smaller than the skimmer's riser tube. The roof of the wetneck would make an inverted U. It would make the riser tube slightly narrower. If the water were to come shooting out in this scenario it would be directed down in a ring along the riser tube surface.

The only issue is getting a piece of acrylic tubing that exact dimension. Might not be possible.

 

[Anonymous]

Why not try what Im going? I does not have to be pressurized.... The part I think your missing is you want a coating of water on the inside of the riser tube, doesnt have to be a jet of water.....

 

[Anonymous]

Why not try what Im going? I does not have to be pressurized.... The part I think your missing is you want a coating of water on the inside of the riser tube, doesnt have to be a jet of water.....

Have you hooked up the water on yours yet? Getting it to coat the entire surface of the riser tube is easier said than done. I'm not trying to create a jet, I'm just thinking that a narrow gap will cause the water to be forced out along the entire circumference of the tube. See below...

 

[Anonymous]

Yep just got done building it. You need alot more flow than I thought. Right now with the flow I have I have about 80% coverage. Im hoping to get alot more flow up there. But as it is I have my gate valve all the way open and Im skimming like mad. Im happy with the increase in eff right now. But I do want to be able to have the whole riser coated with water.

Here are some pics

 

[Anonymous]

Ok I now have water coating the entire riser tube!!!! I took out a unnecessary 90 and all is good..... lots of skimmate.

 

[Anonymous]

Ok I now have water coating the entire riser tube!!!! I took out a unnecessary 90 and all is good..... lots of skimmate.

I think part of the difference in our sitautions is that I have a much larger riser tube diameter/circumference.

 

[Anonymous]

Can you show me what your rubber reducer looks like? Where did you get it?

 

[Anonymous]

Gresham,

This diagram works, but I replaced the O-ring with a bit of filter floss wrapped around the inner ring. It works with a pretty small amount of flow, and even if the whole rig is not level. Only issue there is I'm concerned the filter floss will get clogged. Any porous material that can be cut to wrap around a piece of 4" PVC pipe would work...any ideas?

 

[Anonymous]

Hey

I got it at Lowes. It is a rubber reducer to reduce 4" pvc to 3". It comes with two hose clamps.

I kinda like the filter floss idea...would help me too. I have some Enkmat I used for my meshwheel mods. I might give that a try. Its alot less of a detruis trap. If you need some let me know. I really wat to prove this works.

I know Im still skimming with the gate valve fully open. Its wet but it should settle down. Heck I can still skim with one of the recirc pumps shut down.

 

[Anonymous]

Hey

I got it at Lowes. It is a rubber reducer to reduce 4" pvc to 3". It comes with two hose clamps.

I kinda like the filter floss idea...would help me too. I have some Enkmat I used for my meshwheel mods. I might give that a try. Its alot less of a detruis trap. If you need some let me know. I really wat to prove this works.

I know Im still skimming with the gate valve fully open. Its wet but it should settle down. Heck I can still skim with one of the recirc pumps shut down.

Enkmat might be a little too porous, but you get the idea. I'm thinking of using Fluval sponges, just because we have them laying around and they hold up well.

 

[Anonymous]

It worked for me, I was getting complete coverage but now with 3/8 wide piece of Enkmat its alot more stable...

Now I noticed that Im not getting complete coverage at the bottom but the water does move around enough to wash over every spot about one every 2 seconds.

My skimmer cup is almost 4 inches wide at the riser tube, how big is yours? I really had to work the rubber with a heat gun to make it fit.


I just got done with my automated washdown system. I based it off the deltec. I used 1/2 CPVC for the inverted U tube and have the freshwater on a EV that is timed by a Omron counter and triggered once every 2hrs for a 50sec flush.

I know there will still be some gunk above the spray I will have to clean every once in a while and the lid but its not as critical as the riser tube.

After converting the G6 to use 2 of the Sedra 9000 to recirc and both to mesh wheel and the third to recirc with the tank that its in and using the bubble stabilizer tube......I think I have done everything I can do...? :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

Here are some more pics

 

[Anonymous]

huh, most wet necks are run 24/7 rather then being on a timer. Yours will just wash it down but will not add much in the way of increased effeciency (only on time will). The clean neck will improve it, but a continues wet neck will push it well beyond that.

How much extra skimmate is produced when the wash down is going (on your current cycle rate)?

 

[Anonymous]

No dont get confused here. My washdown system is for washing the skimmate out of the cup. My wetneck is on all the time, like it should be. I thought the pictures were clear, sorry for the confusion. I would like to do a step by step after this design proves itself. So far so good. It was a greater eff increase than the meshwheel. Heck if I put too much food in or something that has just a little protein in it, its going to go wild!


As for skimmate, I normally run with my gate vlv at 3 turns shut. Now Im at 1/4 turn from fully open. So its a big eff increase, its wetter but Im not complaining.

As for the skimmate washdown system, its great!!! The only issue I can see is the way I have the freshwater going in, it just shoots straight in, I would like some advice on may be making it a little more effective. Not all the protein particles are being flushed away.

 

[Anonymous]

Ahah I see, thanks for the clarification