My cheap wavemaker

I would say very beginner level! All you have to do is heat the leads and take the old capacitor out. Then put the new capacitor in and melt some solder in the holes and clip the long ends off. 2 minute job and easily doable for the most novice with a soldering iron!
 
km133688, u dont have to type "tag" if you want to subscribe to a thread. There is a little button down at the bottom where you can "quick reply", that says "subscribe to this thread." That way you dont send an email out to everyone for no reason. :)
 
This is awesome....The only problem is my fat little fingers and little capacitors don't mix well.:p

DIY is so cool!!!:D
 
I cant see how some power heads and a current switching power strip could even begin to compare to a tunze wavebox.

No matter what you do with those powerheads it will NEVER move the entire volume of the tank... You will still end up with dead zones and spots where detrius collects because of it.

I have had a Tunze wavebox on my 100 reef tank for a year this december and I am here to tell you that the health of my corals are litterally living testament to the value of good water flow.

I almost didnt post this because I dont want to be a downer... You have a cool idea but after spending all that cash on powerheads and a timmer strip you might as well spend a little extra and get the real deal instead of somthing that kinda works.
 
Just in case you need a reality check.... not everyone is cool enough to be able to afford a TUNZE wave box. :) You are kidding yourself to think that i would rather spend 500 bucks on the wavebox instead of 100 on this easy DIY.
 
A little more for a wave box????

Lets see With 4 maxijet 1200's and the Chavuet controller you might have $125-$150 tops!

A wavebox is over $500! So you're talking almost $400 more for the wavebox than the other method here. And as you can see the title of the thread is CHEAP WAVEMAKER. Not, "won't be able to feed the kids for 3 months Wavemaker!!!"


I think this is a great idea! I just wish you could put the seios on a wavemaker then I would be set
 
Your making an apples and oranges comparison. 4x the price!! It's like comparing a Honda to a Rolls.

I agree that the wavebox is awesome and have a wavebox on my big tank but it's impractical on a smaller tank and its big $$ even on a larger tank. This is a great cheap solution!
 
>> I'm down with the Seio's on a wave maker????? Somebody figure that out!

OK.. correct me if I'm wrong, but the issue with Seio's on a wavemaker is that you can't just turn them on/off...

I also believe (tho I don't have a Seio to confirm) that the speed of a Seio pump is dependant upon the 60hz cycle of it's A/C power...

Soo.. if someone were to find a cheap way of changing the cycle frequency of the power to the Seio (say sliding from 60 to 10 and back up to 60 over a couple second period) .. you could turn a Seio into a wavemaker...

Anyone know of such a controller out there that can be had on the cheap?

Dan
 
Great idea.... I'm a dj and use stuff like this all the time. I did think of doing this but I though it would would switch too fast. Great mod.:thumbsup:
 
cbicop, I figured someone was going to chime in about "Hey, get a Tunze". Well, truth be told, I'd rather run a closed loop than a Tunze, but for the time being, we can afford maxijets and the big Seio 2600 and yes, that does get all of our water moving. If the title was something like "Cheap Alternative to a Tunze Wavebox" then yes, your point would be valid, however, it says "My Cheap Wavemaker" therefore, your point has absolutely no relavence to this thread. Not everyone has that much money to put into one piece of equipment - I know I dont.

As for this trick, next paycheck, I'm going to have to give it a shot. Especially with the mod, it seems like things would work out awesomely. Might be good combined with those MaxiJet Streams that someome modded as well? I'm planning on making two fo them (one each for a two 30gal frag tanks) and probably put it on this wavemaker and see how it goes. I actually think I might end up with too much flow, but in that case, I'll just switch to the closed loop and use the two powerheads in my green spotted puffers tank - goodness knows she loves the flow.

I realy like the repurposing that people have been able to come up with.
 
cbicop said:
I cant see how some power heads and a current switching power strip could even begin to compare to a tunze wavebox.

No matter what you do with those powerheads it will NEVER move the entire volume of the tank... You will still end up with dead zones and spots where detrius collects because of it.

I have had a Tunze wavebox on my 100 reef tank for a year this december and I am here to tell you that the health of my corals are litterally living testament to the value of good water flow.

I almost didnt post this because I dont want to be a downer... You have a cool idea but after spending all that cash on powerheads and a timmer strip you might as well spend a little extra and get the real deal instead of somthing that kinda works.
Click to expand...

God bless ya for keeping these companies in business :lol:
 
That cap mod can be modded even further. That capacitor is probably part of an RC (resistor capacitor) circuit. If the resistor that is paired with that capacitor is found, it can be replaced with a potentiometer (variable resistor) so that you can change it by just turning a knob.
 
Gonna pick one of these bad boys up soon, already have the ph's might as well make them work. Thanks for this lil solution.
 
cduran02 said:
That cap mod can be modded even further. That capacitor is probably part of an RC (resistor capacitor) circuit. If the resistor that is paired with that capacitor is found, it can be replaced with a potentiometer (variable resistor) so that you can change it by just turning a knob.
Click to expand...

It is part of a bigger circuit that is what the large knob on the front does. allows you to vary the timing in between switiching. It's just the pot in the RC timer circuit you suggest above!
 
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