Dart threadwheel skimmer build
- Thread starter smjtkj
- Start date
hahnmeister
In Memoriam
Wait a sec. In looking at pics of the threadwheels that ATI uses...
You can see that the disk is almost as large in diameter as the pre-chamber, but that it is also just a solid disk of that material held to the impeller shaft with a arbor setup... no backer or plastic disk. I could totally see this as being the reason for less flow in the dart. Can you remove the plastic disk and make some sort of threaded arbor system to mount a pad of this mesh disk on? Then you could make the pad thicker too in the direction behind the plastic disk for more centrifugal force. This would allow incoming water/air to completely saturate or even flow behind the threadwheel... in effect, this would make the backside of the threadwheel an active part of the pump once again because it could draw air/water from somewhere... through the mesh!
Or, an alternative might be to drill holes in the disk close to the center... like ventilation holes in alloy rims to cool the brakes. If the holes were done at an angle to make the holes into a sort of 'fan' or prop that would draw water and air through the disk as it spun, then the backside of the disk would be an available mixing surface. Heck, now that I mention it, drill that disk full of large holes... leaving just enough material to keep structural soundness... but I bet if you made that disk into swiss cheese, and kept the mesh on the backside... you would see significant gains. Just try to keep the edges of the holes with a pitched angle on the edge (by drilling the holes at an angle) so that the impeller also acts like a propeller, drawing in that much more water for the backside to be able to participate and possibly double your effective meshwheel throughput.
You can see that the disk is almost as large in diameter as the pre-chamber, but that it is also just a solid disk of that material held to the impeller shaft with a arbor setup... no backer or plastic disk. I could totally see this as being the reason for less flow in the dart. Can you remove the plastic disk and make some sort of threaded arbor system to mount a pad of this mesh disk on? Then you could make the pad thicker too in the direction behind the plastic disk for more centrifugal force. This would allow incoming water/air to completely saturate or even flow behind the threadwheel... in effect, this would make the backside of the threadwheel an active part of the pump once again because it could draw air/water from somewhere... through the mesh!
Or, an alternative might be to drill holes in the disk close to the center... like ventilation holes in alloy rims to cool the brakes. If the holes were done at an angle to make the holes into a sort of 'fan' or prop that would draw water and air through the disk as it spun, then the backside of the disk would be an available mixing surface. Heck, now that I mention it, drill that disk full of large holes... leaving just enough material to keep structural soundness... but I bet if you made that disk into swiss cheese, and kept the mesh on the backside... you would see significant gains. Just try to keep the edges of the holes with a pitched angle on the edge (by drilling the holes at an angle) so that the impeller also acts like a propeller, drawing in that much more water for the backside to be able to participate and possibly double your effective meshwheel throughput.
The reason I was not just giving up on the mesh behind the impeller is because when spazz made the clear cover for the tiny
might he observed that the vast majority of the water and bubbles just swirled round and round in the volute. They just spun around colliding into each other for a while before escaping to the output. That was my reasoning for wanting to try.
might he observed that the vast majority of the water and bubbles just swirled round and round in the volute. They just spun around colliding into each other for a while before escaping to the output. That was my reasoning for wanting to try.
click on the link you will see the original impeller the material not thin.
http://www.coralreef.fi/kuvat/ATI_BM/
http://www.coralreef.fi/kuvat/ATI_BM/
hahnmeister
In Memoriam
Yes, and if you drill the disk, you allow the water to pass through the disk, and with the right angle on the holes edges, it would in fact push some water behind the disk, and the mesh behind the disk would be allowed to draw water/air from the front half of the disk.
yes it's more thick and the sample on the way
( 1/2" 1" 1/4" )it's the same material we use now the mesh but more hevy . when i will get it i will test if it's good then i will get 3 feet from this and i will send you 1 feet.
i made contact with company here in the state before i order the mesh they can make the same things as it look like and glued already to the disk but they want $70 for piece to the small impeller
so i decide first to try it alone. the other material will be more thick so it will be easy to make hole in the inside (the center area) this case we can make some big hole on the disk as you see in the picture and as hahnmeister said to , more then that the strip can push inside the material when we will be able to catch from the closest layer neer to disk and i think it will reduce more noise from the pump and spin better . there is other material to but i don't want to start with till i try this one because this is like the original one.
the material not so expensive and for small impeller you can change it every 3 month without to clean it more easy. in my impeller it's take 5 minute to put new one.
the way it's skim it's realy bubble machine like they call to the ati bubble master
and it's worth the expenses.
jnarowe
New member
I am told by a local skimmer builder (who favors beckets BTW) that if I bleed off some air my bubbles would get finer and more consistent. When I tried my DIY anti-needle wheel impeller in a Sequence 4200 it cavitated horribly at air volumes sufficient enough to fill the chamber with bubbles. When I lowered the air volume I got extremely fine bubbles, but not enough. I am using an Alita 100 in a 50g skimmer.
I think with the added surface area of the aquatic eco stones, I may get increased bubble density. I am definitely going to try it. The Alita pump draws just 120W and does a great job for me.
jnarowe
New member
Why thank you! :lol: I am really just trying to fix something that ain't broke, but I believe as my reef grows, so will my bio-load and I want to be able to supercharge my skimmer. I am told that at some point Sequence will put out a NW that will fit my pump, so I may try that too.
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