Reef-Rat Update

[ReefVan]

Blast from the past!

Blast from the past!

Hey! Glad to see my old reefing buddies are still alive and kicking.

Was reviewing the old Reef-Rat thread and noticed a lot of pics were missing.

Wondering if perhaps this thread should be brought back to life or start a new one from scratch. Any DIY device that's still running after almost 14 years, with absolutely no maintenance, can't be all that bad.

Figured perhaps most folks are operating on a budget and that some free DIY could help.

 

[Tinkanator2000]

Hey! Glad to see my old reefing buddies are still alive and kicking.

Was reviewing the old Reef-Rat thread and noticed a lot of pics were missing.

Wondering if perhaps this thread should be brought back to life or start a new one from scratch. Any DIY device that's still running after almost 14 years, with absolutely no maintenance, can't be all that bad.

Figured perhaps most folks are operating on a budget and that some free DIY could help.

DO IT! I just happened across this thread and was bummed to not be able to follow along with your process.

Great work BTW

 

[ReefVan]

For a start, try to get a 24vac motor from a manufacturer such as Hansen Corp. One rpm should be good and the 24vac power supply can be obtained at almost any surplus electrical supply store. If I remember right they're called PMAC Syncron. The box with the part number is behind the dirt bikes stored away for the winter...lol.

The advantage to using a 24vac motor, is it's low voltage and will not cause any major catastrophe if ever the unit would get submerged or doused.

Also you won't get any voltage leaks into your tank due to bad grounding. My understanding is, that anything under 30vac, does not require UL/CSA testing due to it's inherent low voltage properties. Especially when the motor only pulls a few watts.

Anything up to 1.0 amp is probably more than enough for your application. Any of you electrical engineers can chime in any time to correct me.

 

[ReefVan]

The enclosure is made by Serpac, p/n 173-BK, but any old plastic electronics enclosure should work. It just has to be resistant to salt creepage.

 

[Tinkanator2000]

Subscribed

Thanks again ReefVan

 

[ReefVan]

PVC piping fitting were fabricated by Spears. It was the only company I found who made it in black. This made it pretty fancy looking as well as didn't look to "cruddy" after a few years... lol.

Whether you make it 1" or 1.5" is up to you. I'll specify in a later post the sizes you'll need.

Please be advised that this is a GPL type project with no patents and that I do not build and sell these. This is pure DIY.

 

[ReefVan]

After looking through this thread I noticed a lot of requests to build these for people. It just clutters the technical info.

Please be advised that this is a GPL type project with no patents and that I do not build and sell these. This is pure DIY.

In order to simplify things and stick to straight DIY, I've decided to start a new thread, so folks jumping in after a few pages don't start asking how much do they cost to buy.

 

[ReefVan]

DIY Reef-Rat 2016

DIY Reef-Rat 2016

Name of new thread is DIY Reef-Rat 2016.