Euro-Reef DIY clone.

[grreefer]

12.95
Where are you getting the 8" dia. acrylic from?

 

[Rendos]

U.S.Plastic
8" diameter cast acrylic

 

[grreefer]

OUCH, 37.10 a foot.

 

[grreefer]

Ever try a modified funnel for the tappered top?

 

[IMPERATORFAN]

I'll buy the 6 foot for $55.38, cut it in half and sell you a 3 foot pc. for half ($27.69) plus UPS ground to you. I get a good discount through where I work so it should only be around 5.00 give or take. Let me know if interested, if you are give me your zip code and I can tell you the amount for shipping. We can do PayPal to protect us from each other.

Thanks for the offer, but my "throwing in the towel" included buying an ER. I'll look you up if I ever figure out a way to squeeze a second skimmer in the sump.

 

[ejamsrhere]

is 1/8" thick enough?

 

[Rendos]

The EuroReef skimmers I have had are not any thicker than 1/8" wall. I have owned a CS8-1, ES8-1,CS8-4,CS6-2+, and ES5-2. They were all built out of this thickness.

I am going to try something this weekend on the neck. I am going to glue the neck (4" acrylic tube) to a flat piece and then heat the flat piece and pull up on the tube...hopefully this will make a slanted neck. Then I can trim the excess material off and glue it to the skimmer body. If it doesn't work....oh, well...back to the drawing board.

 

[ejamsrhere]

I was thinking about doing the exact same thing.

I'm worried that if it was heated up the piece the neck would also become flexable and warp. Do you have a heat gun already to use? Thats the other problem - Heating the acrylic evenly and preventing bubbles might be really hard.

 

[grreefer]

I am going to try something this weekend on the neck. I am going to glue the neck (4" acrylic tube) to a flat piece and then heat the flat piece and pull up on the tube...hopefully this will make a slanted neck. Then I can trim the excess material off and glue it to the skimmer body. If it doesn't work....oh, well...back to the drawing board.

Would that just be for practice, and then are you going to try it with an 8" pc.? I would think it would work better if there were no flat "obstructions" until the foam reaches the top/lid.

 

[olemos]

the best way is putting it in a oven, you got to keep a eye on it but it will heat up evenly

 

[grreefer]

Exactly. The ER skimmers just have a riser pipe that lets water out, but when it comes out, it makes quite a bit of splash. The T/elbow allow water to be released closer to the water surface to prevent splash and salt spray.

Also it looks like there is an adjustable section between the 1 1/2" pvc that goes UP and the elbow could you please explain? Is that to adjust how high the water goes in the reaction chamber? Is that some kind of o-ring?

 

[ejamsrhere]

I don't think you really could put the entire thing in the oven since then you really heat up the neck riser as well.

 

[Rendos]

ejamsrhere - I am not sure what the best way to do this is, but you have to start somewhere. I am going to glue only the neck and a flat piece together...heat with a heat gun, and just see what happens...if it fails miserably then I will try a different method.

grreefer - the water outlet has an o-ring to keep the inner pipe from falling back into the outer pipe. This is to adjust the water level inside the skimmer for a wetter or drier skimmate.

 

[SHOmuchFUN]

I'd be interested to see how this method works pikey... Be sure to take a picture. For better or for worse

 

[grreefer]

grreefer - the water outlet has an o-ring to keep the inner pipe from falling back into the outer pipe. This is to adjust the water level inside the skimmer for a wetter or drier skimmate.

Sorry for being a pain in the *** but how do you keep that slip fit from leaking? Or do you even care if it leaks?

 

[SHOmuchFUN]

It won't matter much... I curse the Euro-reef riser tube design every time I try to fiddle with my skimmer. Should've been a gate valve in the first place... I'd prefer Pikey's method over Euro-reef's personally.

 

[Rendos]

These are in-sump skimmers so if they leak a little around the output of the skimmer...I personally don't care. I am working on a way to route a groove in the smaller tube so the o-ring sits in the groove making a tighter fit and maybe eliminating leaks.

 

[grreefer]

Did you ever try to just order the tapered pc. from euroreef as a "replacement part" and using it on your DIY? Most places have parts/price lists included with their new products.

 

[grreefer]

I looked at the GEO's and it appears as if they do have a very slight taper but noting like the ER.

 

[Rendos]

I don't want to order replacement parts from ER because:

1) they would charge a fortune if they even sold them at all
2) that would take away from the DIY part of the skimmer
3) I would learn nothing by doing this (I have a need (or desire) to learn how to do things on my own

I can't tell from looking at the pictures on Geo's website if his have a taper or not. It may just be the angle the pictures were taken from.