$7 wave box

[jbird69]

Okay

Your gonna need a good sense of humor.

I am playing with an idea of replicating a surge of water similar to a small breaking wave.

The idea is older than dirt and the materials I used are cheaper than dirt. I epoxyd marbles in the bottom of the tray for counterweight. The entire unit consists of 2 drywall joint compound trays and two vinyl screws and wingnuts and a length of tubing...the unit is screwed to the inside of the canopy.

I glued peices of sponge here and there to make its operation as silent as I could.

I doubt Im going to use it in my DT just because it makes me a little nervous, even tho theres not a lot that could go wrong.

Things that can go wrong...

1. The tray jams and doesnt tip
2. The tray jams and doesnt return upright
3. the splash it creates explodes your light

Answers to above problems.

1. the water will just slowly pour out the front edge since its already tilted that way...no real problem there.

2. water just runs out of the tray into the tank...no problem at all.

3. I'm working on this one. I am experimenting with a lid on the tray to slow the speed the water pours out.

Right now I am feeding it with a 1/4" line fed into my sump return so the fill rate is really slow...like 3-4 minutes between dumps. The dual purpose of this is the line also acts as a siphon break for my sump pump.

I probably wont use this thing because I doubt I can get it dead silent. Any unusual noise will get the attention of my wife and when she sees this contraption, it'll be like "Oh, H*^@# NO!!"

I though Id post it for ideas and critique. It might be great on a frag tank in a basement or something.

Jay

 

[rastarainy]

thats a great idea! i have to find a yellow box like that in order to do it though. good start!

 

[logiktest]

Any unusual noise will get the attention of my wife and when she sees this contraption, it'll be like "Oh, H*^@# NO!!"

:lol:

This is a great DIY. The tray is the perfect length to use on an 18" wide tank. I'm awarding you 500 points!

Is there a way to have more water in the "dump tray" before it dumps, or slow the speed in which the dump tray dumps? This may help with the noise. Offset the screws or rearrange the ballast(marbles) perhaps?

jbird69 500 points.

 

[oldsaltman]

Did some one say noise?:rolleye1:
And all this time I been tring to make mine quite.:lol:

 

[jbird69]

logik

I am sure all that you suggested is possible. This was my first attempt so I just put the axel below the equator of the tray. However, if I would have been thinking I would have realized the tray is tapered, so the top half hold more volumn than the bottom. DOH! I could have put the axel higher and tipped the tray forward (like I have it) and it would fill much higher before tipping.

I think with some kind of baffel in the tray, you could turn the "dump" into a spill. But you want to have enough volumn so the spill penetrates deep into the tank.

Then the trick is having the right amount of counter weight so the thing doesnt slam back when its empty, but rather tips up smoothly, youd eliminate a lot of noise if this can be accomplished and probably have a pretty slick system.

Jay

 

[freddy4130]

Or you could get a midget. Stick him in the canopy and tell him to "quietly fill up this little bucket and dump it back into the tank."

 

[logiktest]

Jay,

Your absolutely right. It may take some time to find the equilibrium. After watching the video a few more times, I'm thinking the high pitch noise my move to a lower pitch if more water is dumping into the tank at once. I'm also wondering if the tray is hitting the water surface?

I'm looking at a tray right now... The metal pulled right out of it, no problem... It's a great size, and shape... wish it wasn't full of mud.

 

[jbird69]

After a few trials and error, this was the most effective design I could come up with for the mounting tray. It cut quite easily with a utility knife

 

[danferd2002]

How did you mount the red tray to the tank?

 

[~sp0ok~]

lol that is crazy..nice diy

good job

 

[jbird69]

danferd

I just screwed it right to the inside of the canopy. I took it out, I want to mod it some more when I have time. If I can get it to do whats been discussed here I will post the results.

Jay

 

[jbird69]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14118319#post14118319 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by freddy4130
Or you could get a midget. Stick him in the canopy and tell him to "quietly fill up this little bucket and dump it back into the tank."

This is a marvelous idea, however I believe a midget would burn to a crisp in my canopy....plus Id probably forget to feed him and he'd end up fishing in my tank

 

[ihavtats29]

lets see a vid of this contraption

 

[bradbmbj]

So, you have stooped down to the level of stealing your kids marbles for your tank. Awesome idea

 

[ihavtats29]

sorry i didnt see the posted vid it show as a pic and not a vid

 

[reiko1078]

you need to build this thing out of bamboo and put it next to the koy pond. very creative

 

[shamwow]

dude thats dope...i wish i had a canopy so that i could try this out haha

 

[insane]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14120078#post14120078 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ihavtats29
sorry i didnt see the posted vid it show as a pic and not a vid

Doosen whatsen I'sn didden. Click on the pic that looks like a piece of film or just clickety clackety click here!

Your friend & mine,
Insane

 

[insane]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14121063#post14121063 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reiko1078
you need to build this thing out of bamboo and put it next to the koy pond. very creative

The sell those pre-made... A small one here.

A medium size one here.

And the bigger one over here.

Lowes usually sells one too.

You bet I am,
insane

 

[shikhyung]

Instead of bamboo, make it out of 3" PVC, will create lots of wave.