my diy deltec skimmer (lots of pics)

i forgot to add that these pumps, after 24 hrs, run 94 deg external temp. i mesured them with an infered thermometer. they are very coo running. the loudest thing on the skimmer is the air being sucked into the venturies. i have to make a silencer for them yet.
 
are you thinking about putting some sort of valve on the venturis to tune in the airflow... maybe incorporate that with the silencer, and perhaps have some room for some filter floss and carbon
 
im finding that if i leave the air un restricted i get a better head of foam. these pumps rock. you dont need to restrict them to get the smaller bubbles. i have heard that other pumps have to be restricted to get the super small bubbles. im going to leave it alone right now. my tank was running with out a skimmer for 2 weeks. i need to get the nitrates down to 0 before i start messing around with the fine tuning. its working great and i dont want to change anything right now. the little bit on noise it makes is worth what is pulling out of my tank right now.
 
merlock116 said:
might as well put some airflow meters on there too for the heck of it like the ones on barr aquatics skimmers :)
Click to expand...
i have been looking for some of them but they are not cheap. i have found them for $35 ea. and i dont want to spend that kind of change on 4 meters right now. if i could find some in the $10-$15 range then it might be worth it. just not right now.
 
this is 11 hrs after the last pic.
4411636_HRS__Small_.JPG
 
the wet neck was removed because it was not working properly. im planning on putting it back on. this will be a good test to see how well they work. if i run the skimmer for a week or so then reinstall the wet neck with out any other changes to the skimmer it will tell me how much better it works with the wet neck on.
a wetneck is a very touchy item. they have to have the right gap all the way around the top to insure the water flows over the entire tube and not down just one side of the riser tube. im messing around with the gap. its close to being done. but there is a long way to go yet.
 
GreshamH said:
Getting the right flow with a wet neck is a tough one as well.
Click to expand...
i agree. too much water and the foam colapses not enough and the riser gets dirty quickly.
 
IS that a narrower neck the tne actual deltec's of similar size would have? It looks a little "pencil-necked" to me.
Having said that, and no criticism implied, your DIY skills are certainly impressive. Have you figured out how much you have into for materials, pumps, etc?
 
DerekW said:
IS that a narrower neck the tne actual deltec's of similar size would have? It looks a little "pencil-necked" to me.
Having said that, and no criticism implied, your DIY skills are certainly impressive.
Click to expand...
the reason for the smaller riser tube is to test the difference in performance between 3" tubes and 4" tubes of different hights. this riser is 10" tall. if you look at a deltec there riser is shorter than mine. the biggest thing im concerned with is being able to ajust the skimmate to be dry or wet. there are so many skimmers that are touchy. i want this skimmer to be forgiving. this skimmer is very forgiving. if i give the valve a half a turn the water level wont rise very much. it tunes very easy. in a couple of weeks im going to try a 4"x 10" tall riser tube and see if the skimmer is as easy to tune as it is now. this is a giant test i have going. along with the wetneck, it will take a few weeks to see what the end results will be.



DerekW said:
Have you figured out how much you have into for materials, pumps, etc?
Click to expand...

with all the redesigning i have done on this skimmer i could have built 2 skimmers. its a work in progress. but it should yeld some good info for people wanting to build there own skimmer. all the do" and donts" of building one. all these skimmer companys dont tell you what dont work. you just see the end results of all there testing. this is to see the difference this item or that item will make on a skimmer.
 
spazz is very smart to have done the riser neck like that...it is much easier to adjust by reducing the riser diameter and making it higher...much less touchy. There are two types of foam rising action with skimmers. The wet skimming is when the bubbles rise in the neck by their own density and accumulation before they can pop. If a skimmer is collecting the foam at this stage, its a very wet and light skimmate. But as the bubbles rise in the chamber, then the dry skimming part comes in...where the amount of air passing up through the neck it what carries the foam up and into the collection cup. By lengthening and making this area narrower, there is a longer duration where bubbles can dry as they rise due to the updraft of air.

Making a wetneck on this is also harder than with a wider neck, but since the wet foam will rise quicker the neck wont get as dirty.

I wonder...where did you get/ how did you make those reducing cones? I need.
 
Herbert T. Kornfeld said:
it is much easier to adjust by reducing the riser diameter and making it higher...much less touchy.


Click to expand...
i love how easy it is to ajust the skimmate from wet to dry. i give the out flow valve a half turn and it goes from dry to wet, and vise versa. i think im going to stick with the 3" riser x 10" tall.


Herbert T. Kornfeld said:
Making a wetneck on this is also harder than with a wider neck, but since the wet foam will rise quicker the neck wont get as dirty.
Click to expand...
yep this is not easy, but i think i can get it to work. im running my skimmate a hare dry right now and the riser tube is nasty looking after just 24 hrs of skimming. i dont even want to think what it will look like after a week.lol hopefuly i will get the wet neck running next week.



Herbert T. Kornfeld said:

I wonder...where did you get/ how did you make those reducing cones? I need.
Click to expand...
pm sent.


this is after 48 hrs of opperation. the first 24 hrs were breaking in peroid. so this is 1 days worth of skimmate. the cup is 10" diam. 6" tall. so in 5 days the cup would fill up and shut down the skimmer.
4411648_hrs.JPG
 
Holy crap, that thing is awesome. So, are you taking orders yet ? lol. Thats a fantastic peice. I love DIY work, especially when it works properly.
 
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