Official: Masterflex Calcium Reactor Setup Thread

JB NY said:
I thought it might be a brushed drive too, the unit would be in a dedicated sump room, which is pretty noisy in itself, so I have no need for a silent pump. But other than that, is the brushed drive prone to failure more than a brushless, or any other reason to get a brushless other than noise?
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Technically the brushed units require maintenance of the brushes which I believe includes replacement of them. If the pump is discontinued then it may be an issue to source them. But, wait for one of the more experienced guys to back me up on this. I've really only been using these pumps for a few months and researching them for only a bit longer. If the price is right I wouldn't be too concerned. And, as long as the head supports ls17 and maybe 18 tubing you should be good to go.
 
So... I'm looking to pick up a CP pump for my CaRX... After looking on eBay for the past two hours and trying to cross reference stuff, I'm even more confused than ever...

Anyone got a lead on a brushless pump/head/controller that would suit a 180 gallon system?
 
naterealbig said:
Hi everyone, this is a bit off topic, but may come in handy for others with a Cole Parmer pump. I have 2 contacts on the back of my pump for a switch, that when closed/open will start/stop the pump, without having to actually remove power from the controller (using my apex).



Does anyone have a link for a "plug in" relay that I can control from my Apex, that can open and close the designated circuit to turn the pump on and off?



Thanks!
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I've been thinking the same thing. It would be nice.

Unfortunately apex has a wonky, not really well thought out, gpio implementation. (It's actually gpi, they left out the o.) so there is no output available.

Over on the Neptune forums I believe I saw some people using the 0-10v outputs to to drive low voltage relays or arduinos to convert it.
(Technically I guess 0-10v would be considered the outputs but most gpio implementations are setup for 8 in, 8 out.)

For now I'm just planning on plugging it into an EB outlet.

Does anyone know if the masterflex will run ok on a triac output?
 
One thing that bugs me about McMaster is that it's often hard to find out exactly what you are getting.

I just stuck with us plastic.
 
slief said:
I've not see such a thing. Have mine plugged into an EB4 along with my Co2 regulator and CaRX circulation pump.
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Thanks for the reply Scott.

zachts said:
not sure why you would really need this but you'd have to DIY something with a relay either operated off a spare VDM port or a controlled outlet. I guess it could be nice if you don't have the CP located where it would be able to be plugged into an EB8.


For maintenance one could just wire a simple switch on, if unplugging the pump is a hassle.......
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The CP pump will be used with a Kalkwasser reactor until I can afford a calcium reactor (looking @ the MRC line). The pump would turn on and off several times a day, and I figured if the OEM put a set of contacts to remotely turn on and off the pump, then I should use them :)

The pump will be mounted on the side of my aquarium, right next to an EB8. The proximity isn't the issue, and I can easily put together a DIY job from a basic 120V relay. I just wanted something that looked nice.


Jlentz said:
I've been thinking the same thing. It would be nice.

Unfortunately apex has a wonky, not really well thought out, gpio implementation. (It's actually gpi, they left out the o.) so there is no output available.

Over on the Neptune forums I believe I saw some people using the 0-10v outputs to to drive low voltage relays or arduinos to convert it.
(Technically I guess 0-10v would be considered the outputs but most gpio implementations are setup for 8 in, 8 out.)

For now I'm just planning on plugging it into an EB outlet.

Does anyone know if the masterflex will run ok on a triac output?
Click to expand...

For now I'm plugging it into an EB8 as well. As often as it will be turned on and off however, I thought it may have some effect on the pumps life span.

....I'll keep looking......
 
naterealbig said:
As often as it will be turned on and off however, I thought it may have some effect on the pumps life span.

.
Click to expand...


Yep. It would definitely be better for it. All the power on/off is worse than using the gpio.

Inrush current is what kills power supplies. The gpio is essentially the same thing as pressing the stop button. The unit would stay powered up and ready to go.

It's really a shame Neptune ignores the functionality of the output part of gpio. (I've actually got a list of things I don't like about them but I wouldn't want to go without it).
 
That seems like a very small amount of flow. 8-10ml? Have you tried running at 40ml and raising the ph in the reactor?
 
I've been running at 8 mL/min on this setup for several months.
Reactor pH at 6.5. I'd prefer to get it to 6.4 but that's okay. It has maintained my parameters with this cadence at 8.7dKH 460pm Ca 1300Mg.

My only guess, eventhough the pump ran well in the sink, is that the impeller has failed. maybe it has expanded and is running lower than it should.

So after a few days of running at 500 mL/min to purge air, then as soon as I lower effluent to my normal drip rate of 8 mL/min I got the air again... so today I left the house at 30 mL/min to see if this normalizes. beyond this - my guess again is impeller

I run my other reactor also at 8 mL/min with a pH of 6.35 and it maintains my QT system with good stability.
 
gdemos said:
I've been running at 8 mL/min on this setup for several months.
Reactor pH at 6.5. I'd prefer to get it to 6.4 but that's okay. It has maintained my parameters with this cadence at 8.7dKH 460pm Ca 1300Mg.

My only guess, eventhough the pump ran well in the sink, is that the impeller has failed. maybe it has expanded and is running lower than it should.

So after a few days of running at 500 mL/min to purge air, then as soon as I lower effluent to my normal drip rate of 8 mL/min I got the air again... so today I left the house at 30 mL/min to see if this normalizes. beyond this - my guess again is impeller

I run my other reactor also at 8 mL/min with a pH of 6.35 and it maintains my QT system with good stability.
Click to expand...

You probably have an air leak for it to suck that much air that quick. Since it's not leaking and you are pulling thru the reactor creating a slight vacuum, the culprit is probably on the intake side of the reactor or the pump. you could also try pushing thru the reactor at high rpm which may pressurize it enough to identify the leak.

If the recirc pumps on the two reactors can be interchanged you could swap them and see if the problem moves to the other reactor to rule out the pump as the issue.
 
Ok. I rotated the lines. So my intake (feed) side of the pump (front as you look at the side profile of the head) switched to the back. So now pushing water through reactor as opposed to pulling out... Ran at max rpm. No leaks detected.

I'm going to give it some time today running at traditional low rpm and see if the air creeps back. It could be that I didn't give it enough time (even though I ran it at 500 mL rate for 15 hours +) to really purge all the air. Even with full media the reactor holds almost 10gal of water I think.
 
Got mine setup last night.

2015-09-22%2019.05.46.jpg
 
My 7524-60 is making some clicking noise when running and I think the sound is coming out of the easy load head unit, is that normal? The click is in rhythm along with speed adjustment. do you think lubing the rollers would make any difference?
 
Try resetting the tubing in the rollers. I had that clicking, I just opened and closed the lever a few times and it went away.
 
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