Octopus Skimmer Mods

[coreno16]

Well. I did the Gutter Guard mod to my impeller a few weeks ago. I ended up adding a layer to the front and back of the stock impeller and all i can say is WOW AIR. I've done most mods including dremeling the output out the pump, boring out the 90 on the pump output, I enlarged the clear pipe part of the venturi, and now gutter guard. I ended up taking it out yesterday and cutting the gg down alittle because I'm still getting so much air that I have to have the riser pipe all the way down. I still need to find a replacement impeller rod instead of the carbon fiber rod i have been using which is too small and is making the pump noisy. But man do I love this skimmer!!!!

 

[impur]

I recently added the black silencer to my airline. Before it was just wide open and the skimmer was sucking so much air every few minutes it would sound like the airline squeezed together from the suction.

I'm getting about 1/4 of the cup full of dark skimmate, the first time i've had a skimmer pull skimmate this dark and nasty. I have a very light bioload on my 75gal and the small patches of cyano i had are going away now

 

[Roland Jacques]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9322565#post9322565 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by coreno16
Well. I did the Gutter Guard mod to my impeller a few weeks ago. I ended up adding a layer to the front and back of the stock impeller and all i can say is WOW AIR. I've done most mods including dremeling the output out the pump, boring out the 90 on the pump output, I enlarged the clear pipe part of the venturi, and now gutter guard. I ended up taking it out yesterday and cutting the gg down alittle because I'm still getting so much air that I have to have the riser pipe all the way down. I still need to find a replacement impeller rod instead of the carbon fiber rod i have been using which is too small and is making the pump noisy. But man do I love this skimmer!!!!

Thats the way im going to mod the one i have coming in this week. Im going to test this mod this week and get some numbers compared to mesh mod.

 

[fighton03]

impur,
Thanks for the mesh mod pics. Did the two layer mod without altering the stock impeller. Looks good so far. Had to drop the water level a bit. Looking forward to seeing how it settles in. Any way to monitor whether the mesh is dragging or rubbing enough to cause problems with the pump?

 

[ibmgeek]

Rob from marinesolutions inc sent me an email that they will send me a new impeller to replace the paddlewheel impeller i had gotten. Im going to mod it when i receive it. Good service from marinesolutions.

 

[DevilBoy]

Has anyone with the octopus skimmers tried drilling the collection cup and put a fitting in for the skimmate to drain into a collection container

 

[tonyf]

Some more pictures of modding the impellar with a single layer of Enkamat ...

Firstly, the stock NW impellar from a OTP3000 pump ... note 3 layers of needle wheels

Break out the middle layer of spokes using needle-nose pliers

Trim the needles off the bottom layer of spokes so that sliding in the Enkamat is easier

Roughly cut Enkamat to size, slit down to middle point and cut a hole for the hub of the impellar, then slide it in between the layers of spokes

Fix the Enkamat in place with a cable tie or two and trim around the outside

Viola! ready to reinstall to the pump.

 

[socalnative]

Lots of good. info here.

 

[GuySmilie]

tagging along...

 

[Roland Jacques]

tonyf
good idea. Hows it work?

 

[klasiksb]

Back this train up!! Tonyf, why does your OTP-3000 NW have 3 NW's on it? Mine only has 2.

Could the 3 over the 2 be a increase in performance in itself?

 

[SeaView]

I only have only 2 on mine as well. Is this a newer impeller or older?

 

[DevilBoy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9328607#post9328607 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DevilBoy
Has anyone with the octopus skimmers tried drilling the collection cup and put a fitting in for the skimmate to drain into a collection container

anyone do this yet?

 

[Roland Jacques]

I tested three needle wheels on one impeller. Buy them self the results were not very good. I got my extra wheels form the extra impellers i ordered.

Yes drains have been put on the cups both from the side and from the bottom.

 

[SeaView]

I broke the clear plastic nipple where the airhose attaches to the venturi. RIght now I have rigid airhose crazyglued to what was left of it but it is not performing as well as before.

Any suggestions for fixing this - and or improvements while I need to replace anyway?

Thanks

 

[klasiksb]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9330931#post9330931 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Roland Jacques
I tested three needle wheels on one impeller. Buy them self the results were not very good. I got my extra wheels form the extra impellers i ordered.

Yes drains have been put on the cups both from the side and from the bottom.

A single NW on the impeller didn't perform well or all 3 at the same time didn't perform well?

 

[Kurt03]

mine only had 2 rows also.
Now it has one with mesh on top....

 

[Roland Jacques]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9339845#post9339845 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by klasiksb
A single NW on the impeller didn't perform well or all 3 at the same time didn't perform well?

all 3 needle wheels at the same time did not perform as well as mesh or GG

 

[impur]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9339723#post9339723 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SeaView
I broke the clear plastic nipple where the airhose attaches to the venturi. RIght now I have rigid airhose crazyglued to what was left of it but it is not performing as well as before.

Any suggestions for fixing this - and or improvements while I need to replace anyway?

Thanks

Drill it out and push a piece of flexible airline tubing thru it.

 

[klasiksb]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9340865#post9340865 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Roland Jacques
all 3 needle wheels at the same time did not perform as well as mesh or GG

Did the 3 perform better than the 2?