My wave maker

[Bill Wann]

I figured I would post a pic of my wave maker . Its pretty simple and works great . The best thing is its cheap to run and make no bubbles or noise and move one hell of alot of water . This is th esmall one on my holding tank all it is a peice os 8 inch pve pipe with a 2 inch electric ball valve . At the top of th etank is a float switch . when the water rises to th eswitch it closes which activates a holding realy that opens the valve for a certin amout of time which lets tha water out .
The only draw back is th eexpense of th evalve , Mine was 300 buck , but well worth it , I have a 40 gallon version on my main tank with a 3 inch valve .

 

[anthworks]

Cool. I wish I could DIY like some of the people on this site. Its a surge Correct?

 

[Ibwrasstaman]

Very cool idea!
As the punch line to the little Johnny joke goes..."I like the way you think!"
Would you mind describing how it works in more detail please?
How do you get things started?
Do you set the float at the level of your tank to start with?
How or when do you refill the 8" pvc?
Thanks for sharing.
Wrassta

 

[wetWolger]

thats sweet.....any chance you can post a video of of the tank when the surge happens? How offten does it surge?

p.s. if you need server space to host the video just pm me....you can email me the video and i will post it

 

[Bill Wann]

I can try posting a video but I have never done that before.
The float switch is in th etop of th epve tube . The red line is the water coming in ,The small 1 inch pvc is a safety overflow .
The water fills the tube and hits the float switch which activates the relay.. You adjust the fequency of the waves by how long it takes to fill the tube . Mine is about every 2 minuts . This wont work an asmall system with a real small sump , when the tube fills the sump might go empty .I will try and post a wiring diagram .
Bill

 

[Bill Wann]

Hers a diagram , sorry for the bad picture amd not that good at this .

 

[AcroSteve]

For those setting one of these up, you should time it so the valve shuts before all the water runs out.

This will eliminate the bubbles. As long as the outlet is below the water line in the tank, no air can get in.

Right, Bill?

 

[Bill Wann]

Your right ,as long as you adjust the trim pot to the right time you wont get any bubbles .

 

[Tunjee]

Why the delay on make relay? When the sensor says ok I"m full of water now drain it out, your delay will tell it to hold off for the set amount of time before opening of the valve begins. I"m just trying to understand it I think it's really cool!

 

[Bill Wann]

My bad ,its a delay on break .

 

[Tunjee]

Ahh ha! I see now, makes sense to keep the valve open after the float switch has been made and then broken again otherwise you'd never get all the water out of the tube. I have a similiar delay on break relay but it's only two wire. I use it to keep the sump's pump off for a set amount of time while the tank is fed. Your relay seems more complicated and smarter where did you find it?

 

[agarza]

It's a super cool idea, please share more, will love to see your wave maker on the other tank, as well as a video of them working if you don't mind.

 

[honey]

Re: My wave maker

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6753234#post6753234 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Bill Wann
The only draw back is th eexpense of th evalve , Mine was 300 buck

What brand and model is it, and were could one order it from?
Does it make a lot of noise? I mean the valve when it's on, not the surge itself.
Thanks!

Hon

 

[Chaotic Reefer4u]

very nice...

 

[Justjoe]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6764068#post6764068 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Bill Wann
My bad ,its a delay on break .

Bill,
Speaking for myself that has no clue about the electronic end of things, how and where do I get the control unit you describe, or the parts/ pieces to make one? I have a 300 CSD with a 3" pipe that dumps every 5 minutes in 55 seconds and I would like to eliminate the bubbles.
Thanks.
Joe

 

[AcroSteve]

I would imagine this type of relay would work. Bill's looks to be solid state, which is basically the same thing with no moving parts. Plus, he has onother relay in there for something.

I got several of them on ebay. The one pictured will do from .3 minutes(18 seconds) to 30 minutes. They sell different models, so you need to make sure the time range is within the cycle time of your system.

Other than ebay, McMaster.com, Newarkinone.com or digikey.com would be a few retail suppliers.

I use mine on my return pump to protect against high/low water levels.

Note: I have a seperate 24vdc power supply for safety around the cheap float switches and salt water. Be sure your voltage is what you need.

 

[Bill Wann]

Joe
I got all my parts from mcmaster . The second clear relay you see is used to apply power to close the ball valve . When I origonaly set this up I used a 3 inch pneumatic gate valve , the force was so strong when it opened the gush of water literly blew the fish out the top of the tank and trashed a bunch of corals . so now I use 2 inch electirc valves .
If you are having trouble finding the parts I could make on for you , no big deal . What valve do you want to use ?If you have compresed air I would go with a air powered valve , they open alot faster . Ive seen your tank in person and would say a few three or 4 inch valves would get things moving nice . A 4 inch valve mounted on a 150 gallon poly tank would work so nice on your system .

Bill

 

[alien9168]

Cool.
I saw something simmilar to this diy at the national aquarium in baltimore.
They have a surge device on one of there coral displays.

It creats alot of really good motion.
Nice work man!

-alien

 

[Sanjay]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7097767#post7097767 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Bill Wann
Joe
I got all my parts from mcmaster . The second clear relay you see is used to apply power to close the ball valve . When I origonaly set this up I used a 3 inch pneumatic gate valve , the force was so strong when it opened the gush of water literly blew the fish out the top of the tank and trashed a bunch of corals . so now I use 2 inch electirc valves .
If you are having trouble finding the parts I could make on for you , no big deal . What valve do you want to use ?If you have compresed air I would go with a air powered valve , they open alot faster . Ive seen your tank in person and would say a few three or 4 inch valves would get things moving nice . A 4 inch valve mounted on a 150 gallon poly tank would work so nice on your system .

Bill

Bill,

Now you have me thinking abou this too. The headroom is too tight for me to this with a lot of water... but I think even a small amount of water (say 10G) at a rapid outflow may work for a 500G tank.

sanjay.

 

[Bill Wann]

The trick I found was to use small diameter pvc pipe for the tank . I made one ont of 8 inch od pipe and 2 feet tall and it works great on my friends 450 gallon tank.