Questions about kalk reactors

[trido]

I built a DIY reactor with 4" acrylic and a maxijet 600. After about three weeks the impellers on the maxi jet were completely gone. I set up a timer to mix the kalk for five minutes every four hours. The only thing i can figure would eat them is the semi solidified kalk sitting in the impeller chamber during start up. I changed my design to incorporate a maxi jet 900 up higher in the plumbing but I am already getting the same chatter the 600 had.

So my questions are:

How long should I expect a kalk pump to last?

Do you leave your pump on continuously?

How much pickling lime would you put into a 4"x18" chamber? Maybe Im using too much kalk.

Do you think my design is flawed (that badly) in the pics below? And should I build a new one with the spare parts I have?

 

[trido]

Bump......Anyone?

 

[Anonymous]

Don't know. Do you have any left over "pipe" you would care to sell?

 

[Anonymous]

I have a Precision marine Kalk reactor similar to your design. I only changed the impeller once in 1.5 years.

The directions say to dilute the kalk powder before adding it to the reactor. Basically mixing one cup of kalk powder in water then add that to the reactor. It says not to add dry kalk to the reactor. My guess it will hurt the pump similar to what you are experiencing.

HTH.

 

[trido]

Rob, do you run your pump 24-7 or have it on a timer? Thanks for the directions. I bet that will help.

 

[trido]

Don't know. Do you have any left over "pipe" you would care to sell?

Sorry Wazzel. I already promised the spare parts to Jumpincactus. I built a new and improved model yesterday and will sell him the old one after I tweak it a little bit to make it worthy of selling. I bought all of my acrylic from TAP Plastics and the rest from Lowes. Tap sells the tubing (online) by the foot if you need.

 

[Anonymous]

Timer comes on for 15 minutes 4 times a day.

 

[Anonymous]

Inside your reactor I would put an elbow to make the flow more tornado like rather that having it shoot into the other wall. I would also angle it slightly down. Other than that I think your design is fine, and is prolly fine without my suggestion.

People report that Kalk reactors are very hard on pumps.

I run my DIY kalk reactor with a zoomed powersweep. Its been in there for about a year. Before that I went through a couple other pumps I had laying around. My design is simpler than yours - my pump is inside the reactor hanging by the cord. Mine comes on once a day for 15 minutes because I am dealing with an alk issue. Before that it was on 2 or 3 times a day.

I put anywhere from a 1/4 cup to a full cup of kalk in the reactor at a time and put more in when it needs it.

Hmmm. My mixing pump is in a more standard orientation - perhaps that allows any kalk to fall off the impeller when not mixing giving it a longer life than yours. Does that make sense?

 

[Anonymous]

Mine comes on once a day for 15 minutes because I am dealing with an alk issue. Before that it was on 2 or 3 times a day.

Why is that? Constant mixing making the Alk to high?

 

[ChrisRD]

I've always run my kalk reactor pump on a digital timer. I generally only run it for one minute several times throughout the day (the digital appliance timers allow on/off times down to one minute).

Also, some folks have reported impeller issues when using Ms. Wages and other off-the-shelf pickling limes. They claim to have less of an issue with hobby grade kalk mixes. I've always used ESV kalk and I've never had to replace an impeller. Not sure if there is a correlation there (IMO it's more likely the minimal "on" time that saves the impellers).

Also, in the pic it looks like you've got that thing really loaded up. :wink:
I generally put about 4 cups at a time in a 4" X 36" reactor.

HTH

 

[Anonymous]

Mine comes on once a day for 15 minutes because I am dealing with an alk issue. Before that it was on 2 or 3 times a day.

Why is that? Constant mixing making the Alk to high?

Something is, so both the kalk and the Ca reactor get dialed way way down.

 

[trido]

Thank you all.
So I think the new and improved model will do the trick. (fingers crossed)
I oriented the pump so that gravity will pull any kalk powder away from the impeller housing during idle times. I put the elbow on the return lower in the chamber in hopes to not get a dead pocket of kalk in the bottom corner. I put the feed tube lower to the bottom to help prevent the dead pocket in that corner (opposite of the pump return). Also I pre mixed the pickling lime in RO water before adding it to the chamber and only used two cups of it.

On another note. I made a digital timer from a light switch and outlet in a blue box. I didnt realize that this timer can keeps the digital face plate working by running a low voltage current through the product. In most cases a light bulb. In my case a power head rated at 8.5 watts. When I pulled the power head apart I felt it vibrating from an electical current running through it even when it wasnt running. Im sure this isnt good for any motor. I am leaving to look into appliance timers when Im done hear.

 

[Anonymous]

you could always use a magnetic stirrer

 

[Anonymous]

you could always use a magnetic stirrer

I'm trying to price these now. I found some that have an ABS housing.

 

[bleedingthought]

What does a magnetic stirrer consist of?

 

[Anonymous]

The are used in labs to stir chems. It is a housing with a magnet that spins in the container is a magnetic bar.

 

[trido]

I looked real quick last night and found a couple magnetic stirrers for as low as $80. Have you found anything less expensive Wazzel?