DIY Red Dragon Pumps, gathering ideas.
- Thread starter hahnmeister
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hahnmeister
In Memoriam
All the Lagunas except for maybe the 600/900 are that way. Im just not sure about those two, but they may be as well. All the current Lagunas use tangential outputs though, so they have to be uni-directional.
hahnmeister
In Memoriam
Yes, but as to how good... it isnt 'perfect'... lets put it that way. Its kind of like the thermal sensing on a good T5 ballast... it can help, but it cant compensate too much. Still, these pumps as threadwheels end up with very good power factors in comparison to others.
Just thought I would add this... looks like the sweed's (?) are on to the same thing...
http://www.saltvattensguiden.se/forumet/showthread.php?t=7497
Either that, or one of them found this page!
Im diggin' some of the DIY's they have done. I wanted to make a solid acrylic volute... sorta like this... but out of one 6"x5"x2.5" acrylic block... but similar...
![url]](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2F%5Burl%5Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv477%2FHeinz_Germany%2FWittJPG.jpg%5B%2Furl%5D&hash=ba8e84f957b41dd23d2957e55fdfc783)
Just thought I would add this... looks like the sweed's (?) are on to the same thing...
http://www.saltvattensguiden.se/forumet/showthread.php?t=7497
Either that, or one of them found this page!
Im diggin' some of the DIY's they have done. I wanted to make a solid acrylic volute... sorta like this... but out of one 6"x5"x2.5" acrylic block... but similar...
"We're sorry" :mad2:
Man what is with RCs server these days? You write a big long reply and "were sorry" its canned. Aarrgh.
Short version:
So I was thinkingthat if you made a larger volute, took a large disc and only put a "ring" of mesh around the outside, that the motor wouldnt load up and youd get a great shearing action due to the tip speed of the mesh.
What say you?
Man what is with RCs server these days? You write a big long reply and "were sorry" its canned. Aarrgh.
Short version:
So I was thinkingthat if you made a larger volute, took a large disc and only put a "ring" of mesh around the outside, that the motor wouldnt load up and youd get a great shearing action due to the tip speed of the mesh.
What say you?
That's saved me from rewritting a few books myself :lol:
hahnmeister
In Memoriam
Nice, really nice...
Can you give the exact inside diameter and thickness of your volute? You are still using 1.5" in and out, right?
hahnmeister
In Memoriam
Actually, those numbers sound just like the new ATB pumps... the Laguna 2400 with a larger volute than the Red Dragon will be pulling 4000lph of air (and only about 8000lph of water)... so only a 2:1 water/air ratio for less than 90 watts (still some tweaking going on). Then the next one down is something like just under 70 watts with 2200lph output or something...
hahnmeister
In Memoriam
Cool Loc01,
Yeah, thats pretty nice. I see your volute diameter is the same as stock there almost (3.5" ID), just deeper. The way to get even more is to make the inlet/outlet pipes 1.5" ID, and then make the volute diameter not only thicker, but larger diameter. The stock 2400 is about 3.375" diameter. Making it 4" or 4.25" diameter will increase the air intake even more. This is similar to what you have done already by increasing the thickness, but increasing thickness alone lowers the pressure handling of these pumps even more than normal because it leaves a larger gap between the inlet pipe and the impeller. For this reason, some pumps that do this have the inlet pipe project into the volute a little bit closer to the impeller. The part to be careful about with this is that too much and you end up reducing the water flow. Still, the #1 thing I have found to increasing airhandling capacity with a needlewheel pump has been to increase the volute volume in any dimension possible... its just that diameter vs. thickness can result in two different things. Then to increase the flow, use larger inlet/outlets. The 2400 for instance, needs a 1" ID venturi to operate at its best... thats a huge venturi. If a fish got into your sump with a venturi that large, it would be blended instantly, and its pieces skimmed into the collection cup never to be found.
Been experimenting more with mesh materials recently. Matala and enkamat flatback to name a few.
Yeah, thats pretty nice. I see your volute diameter is the same as stock there almost (3.5" ID), just deeper. The way to get even more is to make the inlet/outlet pipes 1.5" ID, and then make the volute diameter not only thicker, but larger diameter. The stock 2400 is about 3.375" diameter. Making it 4" or 4.25" diameter will increase the air intake even more. This is similar to what you have done already by increasing the thickness, but increasing thickness alone lowers the pressure handling of these pumps even more than normal because it leaves a larger gap between the inlet pipe and the impeller. For this reason, some pumps that do this have the inlet pipe project into the volute a little bit closer to the impeller. The part to be careful about with this is that too much and you end up reducing the water flow. Still, the #1 thing I have found to increasing airhandling capacity with a needlewheel pump has been to increase the volute volume in any dimension possible... its just that diameter vs. thickness can result in two different things. Then to increase the flow, use larger inlet/outlets. The 2400 for instance, needs a 1" ID venturi to operate at its best... thats a huge venturi. If a fish got into your sump with a venturi that large, it would be blended instantly, and its pieces skimmed into the collection cup never to be found.
Been experimenting more with mesh materials recently. Matala and enkamat flatback to name a few.
hahnmeister
In Memoriam
Yes, flatback is also an enka product.
hahnmeister
In Memoriam
Can you tell me the VA?
hahnmeister
In Memoriam
69/142 = power factor/PF. PF helps determine efficiency, as in, how much heat the pump will be throwing off. 0.48 is on the low side, but not the worst. It just means the pump will be putting about 63 watts of heat directly into the water.
BeanAnimal
Premium Member
That is not what the PF really means. Just because the PF is farther from unity does not mean that the "wasted" energy is being consumed as heat in your pump. That wasted energy is part of a complex interaction between your device and the power company.
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