Began work on a Monster PVC Calcium Reactor Lots of pics!

Bubble counter is done

Bubble counter is done

I made the bubble counter out of scrap 3/4" and 1/2" PVC plate and a length of 1 1/2" clear PVC pipe. I think it came out quite nice. The top is removable, although I'm not sure if that will be necessary. Thought it would be a good idea just in case.

The bottom and top of the bottom part of the counter. I recessed a 1" hole to support a 1/2" bolt head and then drilled a 1/2" hole the rest of the way for the bolt. The bubble counter can at any of the 12 bolts around the top flange.

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The gasket. Just a piece of scrap 1/8" neoprene.
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The top piece. The center fitting is the CO2 inlet and the other fitting is the outlet.
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Here it is with the counter body attached.
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And here is it assembled.
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And this is it bolted to the reactor.
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I should have the pump, o-rings, Uniseals and other stuff by next week sometime. There is not much I can do until then.
 
I just ordered 5' of 6" clear PVC from Savko. I am going to replace the bottom 3' of the body with the clear. This will be far cheaper and easier than trying to add a window.

I'm still waiting on the rest of the stuff. :( Hopefully I'll have this finished by sometime next week.
 
Wow -

That thing is a monster! 3/4 inch PVC plate, sheesh!

Nice job so far, lets see what you have now!

Jamie
 
I stopped work on the reactor due to plumbing problems and the choice of white PVC for the body. After drilling the holes for the Uniseals, I noticed that the 2" plumbing would protrude too far into the body and make maintenance difficult or impossible. Then there's the necessary window. Go, I hate trying to make a window on a tube.

So, I bought a 2' x 4' sheet of 3/4" PVC and 4' of real Sch. 40 clear 6" PVC pipe for the body. I've been putting off the construction while I wait for some CNC'd aluminum templates (money issues). The thought just occurred to me (I'm slow at times...) that I need to templates should I ever decide to build these for sell. However, this will be a prototype and I'll be using it. I don't need CNC accuracy for this unit. *slapping self on forehead!*

I'm going to work on it this week. It will still be awhile before I get it finished (again, money issues). It will be powered by a Uno Marlin instead of the Dart and that pump is not cheap!

I'm not going to use Uniseals. Instead, I have come up with an ingenious way to flatten the tube where I will install bulkheads.

I'll probably start a new thread since the design has changed so much.
 
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