Dart threadwheel skimmer build
- Thread starter smjtkj
- Start date
spazz
New member
this has been thought of but not tried becausethe motor is still a medium duty motoy to begin with. there is an extruded heat sink called a cool collar that is used for oil filters on cars. its the same size as these motors. in my mind this is only a patch for the problem not the cure. under that heat sink is still a medium duty motor incstead of a heavy duty motor. bill wann has burnt 2 of these ao smith motors up already. big ugly is still running every day on energys tank with zero heat issues. that motor is able to handle the higher ambient air temps of fish rooms. i have never had the thermal over load switch trip on the baldor motor.
chrisd1009
Lurker
I'm in the process of my skimmer build. I've got a question though. Why not use the Sequence impeller with some PF5 stuffed in the center and maybe held in place with a piece of rod? By doing this, all air and water passes the center of the impeller. The PF 5 should have no problems chopping up the air. You also won't have to shave down the inside of the volute. I hope this makes sense and I apoligize if it is a stupd question.
It's too late for me. I already hacked the crap out of my impeller and volute. What I did to prevent the PF5 from spreading apart while spinning was try to contain it with in some carbon fiber rod. I was originally going to make a needle wheel, until I saw this thread.
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It's too late for me. I already hacked the crap out of my impeller and volute. What I did to prevent the PF5 from spreading apart while spinning was try to contain it with in some carbon fiber rod. I was originally going to make a needle wheel, until I saw this thread.
chrisd1009
Lurker
here's a better look at the acrylic piece my needle wheel was going on.
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chrisd1009
Lurker
and here's the roughing that I did so far with the body, nothing is glued yet. The base is tall because I plan to stand the pump up like an aquabee. I know it's also too tall to fit in my stand, it will be in my basement with my sump. Spazz, does the twist fit and cone look familiar?
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Covey
New member
chrisd Fauna Marin new Ultra Skim skimmer has a boxed in needlewheel kinda like what you where talking about.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=979398
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=979398
RandyStacyE
New member
That is one impressive looking NW! I just know that you didn’t make it and not try it yet. How’s it runnin?
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8618352#post8618352 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chrisd1009
I'm in the process of my skimmer build. I've got a question though. Why not use the Sequence impeller with some PF5 stuffed in the center and maybe held in place with a piece of rod? By doing this, all air and water passes the center of the impeller. The PF 5 should have no problems chopping up the air. You also won't have to shave down the inside of the volute. I hope this makes sense and I apoligize if it is a stupd question.
It's too late for me. I already hacked the crap out of my impeller and volute. What I did to prevent the PF5 from spreading apart while spinning was try to contain it with in some carbon fiber rod. I was originally going to make a needle wheel, until I saw this thread.
[/IMG]
chrisd1009
Lurker
Randy... of course I ran it. It's got some flow, I can tell you that. All I did though was make sure it can push water. I did not inject any air. I've still got some volute/PF5 trimming to do since I was able to hear it rubbing on the inside.
smjtkj: thank you. I figured there was a good answer. It just seemed too easy.
Covey: that what I was thinking... once again, beaten to the punch.
smjtkj: thank you. I figured there was a good answer. It just seemed too easy.
Covey: that what I was thinking... once again, beaten to the punch.
spazz
New member
this is going to be an interesting cross between needle wheel and thread wheel. cant wait to see what the air production is on this. what makes this wheel so uneque is its a hibreed of both designs. so it may be able ot be feed with an air pump. but that body might not be big enough to handle it. :eek1:
good design though.
good design though.
chrisd1009
Lurker
Spazz... that's the last thing I wanted to hear. It was originally 3 feet tall, but i cut it down a foot to be more reasonable. Well, I guess we'll find out. Or are you saying that 12 inches in diameter isn't enough? Either way, I'm hoping I'll be able to reduce the throttle a little bit to slow the flow and possibly the wattage.
chris
chrisd1009
Lurker
Any air pump you would recommend? I'm looking for lowest possible wattage. If I can use air, I won't bother with a venturi. I Was originally against the idea of the pump, but I decided what I can do is build a remote collection cup with float valved to shut off air if it gets too full. Comments?
chrisd1009
Lurker
Mike, ,I went 12 inches down to 6 inches. The body is 25"long. The cone is 3 inches high and the piece of neck I added after the twist lock is only 2 inches. None of this is glued, so I can make the neck longer. Do you think I need to? Also, if you saw on my roughing pic, there will be a diffuser on the bottom to help me a little bit with the turbulence. I'll look into the Alita. If the 40 will be too much, how about the 30? Thanks for your input.
You should go about 10-12 inches on the riser to give the foam head some time to stabilize and be able to skim dry if you choose to. To bad you cut the body. The 3 foot was about right for an air pump supercharged style. You can definitely get away without using an air pump at that height. The dart can pull quite a bit of air with the mesh wheel. My 14 in diameter is 24 in long, and I pull more than enough air with the dart on it's own.
chrisd1009
Lurker
Yeah, but I thought you seemed to feel your venturi may be part of the problem with the wattage draw. I may have misread though.
I know... I cut it. A buddy of mine swore up and down that the 3 foot body would actually make it worse. I may make the neck 6 to 8 inches. You are clearly better at this than me, but 10 to 12 sounds a little high. I also hate to hijack this thread, if you'd like, we can continue this in PM.
chris
I know... I cut it. A buddy of mine swore up and down that the 3 foot body would actually make it worse. I may make the neck 6 to 8 inches. You are clearly better at this than me, but 10 to 12 sounds a little high. I also hate to hijack this thread, if you'd like, we can continue this in PM.
chris
Not a problem with the thread. You are definitly going to want to go taller than 8 inches. I went 8 in. and I can't raise my water level to the height I would like. It's your skimmer, but I would go 10 at least. And your body is smaller than mine, so the dart will be even more an issue for the water height. The wattage could be better on my skimmer, but is certainly not an issue. The dart is running to factory specs at 160w. Adding an air pump will drop the darts wattage down, but you have to consider that the AL 40 is drawing 48-50 watts. You will be higher on watts with the 2 together and not benifitting from the air pump because your skimmer body won't handle the air that the pump puts out.
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