Pete's 280 log

[chrismunn]

you should get marc to mention WIAGAC on reefcast. for all of us who have threads where nobody wants to interact :lol: if someone posts WIAGAC in thier own thread then anybody reading should give a :thumbsup: so we know whos lurking.
we all know how popular PBITAWA is

i had a long thread with tons of pics and all, but there were only like 3 people who actually posted comments :lol:

 

[psteeleb]

yeah - I'm convinced Marc has world wide influence in maters of reefkeeping and other hobby junk lingo, acronyms etc

 

[psteeleb]

Now back to the build

I have a long list of things I want to get done before the end of June, in support of closing in the fish rooms. A long over due project, I must give credit to my wife for having the patience she has demonstrated with me over the past year and a half. We have family coming over then and I would like to be able to use the dinning room without all of the stuff hanging around half done

My goal today is installing the RO/DI unit and automating my top off reservoir.

Does anyone have experience with an automating timer of sorts that can be used to back flush the filter on startup or every so often. I think I saw one listed with one of the RC sponsors, but was looking for some first hand experience with them. Thanks.

First selecting the location â€"œ after looking at every sink and outside potential spot I ended up deciding to mount this in the water heater closet. I thought seriously of using a clamp on pipe piercing unit but wanted this to be removable later on. So I decided to plumb in a tee and small valve downstream of my hot water supply to one of the heaters.

Here are a couple initial progression pictures (more later):

The tie in made

Getting it level (I love lasers levels)

and - Mounted; ready to start running the tubing; and its a hot day in Texas, climbing around in the attic should be a good way to loose some weight today (keeping it positive)

 

[psteeleb]

I got all the tubing pulled through the attic and hooked up on the RO/DI end. I still need to install my float switches and a solenoid valve. With the need for power, I decided to start working on my electrical. So, I built a panel mounted two light control bars and my RK2 to it. One of the light bars will be controlled from the RK2 and will shut down all the sump workings when in feed mode. My electrical schematic has more details.

the silver stuff below the panel is the start of a DIY insulated duct that will direct the hot air from the chiller out of the stand. I also have a fan on the bottom, that will be replaced with a couple of the smaller PC case fans like I have on my lights. The chiller duct will probably get covered with some nice black extruded aluminum. An I'll finish the end with another black panel with the fans below.

 

[psteeleb]

for the curious minds

for the curious minds

if you are wondering what the rest of the end of the tank is going to look like:

I'll basically have three modular panels, you see one of them in the picture above. The next panel down will be two pieces of painted plywood with a piece of black painted extruded aluminum in between the two pieces acting as a vent for the chiller. the bottom panel will house three case fans; I haven't decided if I'll use large holes or just a large rectangular cut out, also covered with painted black extruded aluminum

here is a picture with the cut plywood in place

here is some extruded aluminum - available at HD for about $7.50 for a 7' by 2' sheet. There's bound to be other uses for this stuff.

and here is a piece of the extruded aluminum after I painted it

 

[chrismunn]

whats up with yor chiller? is it home made?

 

[psteeleb]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12608337#post12608337 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chrismunn
whats up with yor chiller? is it home made?

not really - I bought it used with the tank. The previous owner had it inside the stand and must have tossed the cover. As it turns out it was not working, so I had the compressor and tubing all replaced, recharged etc. I also reworked the plumbing some to better fit my tank set up. But the main mount and condenser coils are still original

 

[chrismunn]

i see.

modular panels? panels that you will be able to remove? on with the dj strips and rk2, one to cover the chiller, and one for the chiler vent?

 

[psteeleb]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12608389#post12608389 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chrismunn
i see.

modular panels? panels that you will be able to remove? on with the dj strips and rk2, one to cover the chiller, and one for the chiller vent?

yes - modular so I can remove them if I need to take out the pump, chiller, or, sump etc. As this end is the only access to get to actually pull them. I'm also planning in the future to add a stand on to this end of the tank for a frag tank. I'll then just pop these panels off and mount them to the end of the new stand.

the middle panel is the chiller cover and vent - here is a better picture with the painted extruded aluminum in place (sort of)
Also, I may just the space on the left to mount my new wave controller (light chase controller, that is)

and here is the lower panel with the fans placed. I'll have to cut out a rectangle as I don't have a large enough hole saw. The rectangle will also get covered with the extruded aluminum. I may also work that fan control xfmr into the module (still in planning phase)

 

[psteeleb]

ELECTRICAL UPDATE (finally)

ELECTRICAL UPDATE (finally)

I'm not sure if I'll get the lower fan panel today, but I got the chiller cover/vent installed and pulled out all of my old wiring (extension cords etc). I have the main wiring for the pumps (closed loop, main and skimmer) done and working on the ancillary plug in units for the ATO’s, heaters and ORP/PH controller.

Here is a picture of the wires I pulled out
And, one of the middle panel

 

[ReefEnabler]

must be nice to get rid of all those tumbleweeds!!!!

 

[chrismunn]

that control panel is lookin' pretty sharp there pete. good luck with all your wires. i hate wires!

 

[jackson5]

looks great.

 

[jdckbr]

great idea I hadnt even considered installing my rodi unit in the water heater closet ...

 

[Hop]

Looks good. Is there enough room to change filters on the RO unit? It looks tight in there...

Love the looks of the panel!

 

[psteeleb]

thanks guys - I'm really glad to get that mess of electrical wires up and out of the way. I'm felling my age trying to contort my body getting up under the stand to mount boxes wires etc., but I made some good progress getting most of it done.

Hop - I considered the removal, it's going to be hard to get a wrench on the canisters but if I have to the whole unit just slips off as it's mounted with the key type slots, a simple lift and it's off. For something I plan on only needed to do once a year I can live with the restricted access as I just didn't like my other options around my house. I cranked it up today to manually fill the top off unit and it worked great. I was a little concerned with pressure drop with the 70' of tubing but I got good flow.

here are a couple pictures:

this one shows the auto top off power and the heater power. The heaters are dual controlled (RK2 and internal). The ATO is on a switch that is also controlled by the RK2 so when in maintenance or feed mode the rocker panel is off. I have one of the rocker panels hooked up to the RK2 as a skimmer, so when in feed mode everything on this panel will be off.

I think I'll add some splash guards to those plugs - just in case.
Also the heater controllers (only one of 2=two installed) and the ATO boxes are Velcro mounted, easy to remove just in case.

This picture shows some of the wire routing up and over my closed loop pump.

 

[psteeleb]

and a picture with every thing hooked back up. With the skimmer and reactors back in place - it gets crowded in there fast.

I still have some wire managaement to do, my fan panel, and the RO/DI solenoids, then I can call this part done.

 

[Hop]

Looks good! The reactor set up looks pretty slick.

 

[psteeleb]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12614126#post12614126 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Hop
Looks good! The reactor set up looks pretty slick.

thanks - the thing I like about the setup is it is super easy to chage the media out. The reactors are snugly fit up under the hard pipe with a short piece of tubing. Just shut the valve off and tip the reactor out from the bottom and it's off ready for changing the media. I like quick and easy

 

[psteeleb]

and now for a picture only a true reefer will appreciate

see Marc - I do clean my skimmer once and a while :lol: