Removing the Pinwheel from Sicce Pump
- Thread starter ai-reefer
- Start date
So, a guy who has so much experience with Sicce pumps that he doesn't know how to take the cover off, the same day does this "test" with the water level half way up into the cup is now the authority over people who have used these pumps for years? I'm quite impressed. Glad it works well for you.
If you want "proof" of these tests here on RC, you are more than welcome to do the searching to find them.
If you want "proof" of these tests here on RC, you are more than welcome to do the searching to find them.
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ai-reefer
New member
If i had a lot of experience with them, i would know how to take the cover off. Yes, i had the water level high because i wanted to see what it would do.
I'm not the authority on any of this stuff, i never claimed to be one. I don't know how or why you got the impression for that idea.
In my experience however short or long, i have found that putting a mesh on a Pinwheel is more effective than using the Pinwheel by itself.
You contradicted me by saying that you have seen or know that this is not true. When i asked you for evidence, you stated that i'm pretending to be an expert on the subject.
You cannot prove something is true by simply making a vague statement. You have not discussed your experience with this pinwheel and with the mesh mod, which i would've accepted as proof that you are right.
now i'm hungry lol
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What is your measurement of more effective? You haven't tested air draw. You haven't run it either way long enough to have any actual skimming comparisons. Is the skimmer even broken in yet? A water level that far into the neck is far from optimal, but if you think that is the way the skimmer should run, please go ahead and run it that way.
I posted that others have tested this and saw reduced performance and you scoffed with
"Yea that's what i thought. No proof."
Which is basically calling me a liar. There have been tests. You dont need to believe me.
Maybe the PPW w mesh does work well. You would need to do some testing comparing air and water throughput numbers, and actual skimming comparisons. Here is another hint that you can take or leave. You are striving for a water level where the top of the cylinder meets the taper (or lower). You want very tiny dense bubbles in the taper and dense foam up the neck.
Good luck with the skimmer. I hope it works out well for you.
I posted that others have tested this and saw reduced performance and you scoffed with
"Yea that's what i thought. No proof."
Which is basically calling me a liar. There have been tests. You dont need to believe me.
Maybe the PPW w mesh does work well. You would need to do some testing comparing air and water throughput numbers, and actual skimming comparisons. Here is another hint that you can take or leave. You are striving for a water level where the top of the cylinder meets the taper (or lower). You want very tiny dense bubbles in the taper and dense foam up the neck.
Good luck with the skimmer. I hope it works out well for you.
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ai-reefer
New member
My respose wasn't for that statement. When i asked you where you saw it. Your answered "on reef central" and thats exactly the type of respose i expected from you. so like i thought, you had nothing to show.
I could've been more diplomatic but i didnt realize you were so sensitive.
Read the previous post about the water level in the neck.
ai-reefer ... I dont want to get into an argument and there is no reason any of this should have turned into one. But SJM is right. There have been air numbers posted on the forums with every possible combination of wheels and mesh types and layers of mesh and meshing different wheel types, and even with scrub pad material and gutter guard. The numbers are scattered all over the place in different threads and they go back a long, long time. If you arent interested in all of it then dont worry about it. But the numbers are there.
The thing is that the onus isnt on SJM to search for all the relevant threads, then search through them so he can prove something to you when he was trying to help you. If you are interested in it then do the searching and you can find it and much much more.
If you are only interested in getting good performance from your own skimmer, then dont worrt about it. But if you are looking for the best performance from your skimmer that you can possibly get, it takes more experimenting than meshing the pinwheel one or two times and then assuming that you have maximized the performance to its utmost potential. That was my point throughout this thread and it was only intended to help you.
And as I said earlier, I have also experimented with meshing pinwheel and it didnt come close to the results when meshing the disc.
Its your skimmer, and as long as you are happy with how its performing with whatever you do to it, then thats all that matters. But there is information and numbers all over the forum buried in dozens and dozens of threads. In other words, there is "proof". I dont think the onus is on anyone but you to find it if you are interested.
But I dont understand why you would basically insinuate that SJM is lying to you about it when he has no vested interest in YOUR skimmer and clearly isnt here to do anything but try and lend a hand to help you. Thats all my intent was and thats obviously all the SJM was trying to do as well.
ai-reefer
New member
I agree with you for the most part. If SJM said that he experimented with methods and they don't work, i would've accepted that without any doubt. But he said that he has seen it somewhere, which doesnt tell me anything.
In any case, this is what i was seeing. When i just had the PPW in the pump and the PPW with mesh, i made sure that the water level was the same, all the way down and fully open. I marked the water level, then above the water level, there is a thin layer of bubbles initially. That top layer of bubbles was much thinker with mesh. Maybe this means nothing, i don't know. Once it starts breaking in, its hard to measure the thickness of this, even when it was fully open. I prepared a flat impeller with just 3 layers of mesh which im going to try today and see what happens.
Thanks for your input.
THE ROOK
New member
You really need to just let the skimmer break-in with a regular pinwheel. I understand the urge to "tweak" with it but it will just fustrate you in the long run. I feel mine is just starting to brake-in fully @ almost 2 months.
Also to easily understand your future changes, a air meter is very helpful. They are not expensive. I bought mine new from ebay for about $20.00. It's a Dwyer RMB-52. A killawatt meter also helps as some mesh jobs can cause a large jump in watts used by the pump. Basically it's working too hard.
Also to easily understand your future changes, a air meter is very helpful. They are not expensive. I bought mine new from ebay for about $20.00. It's a Dwyer RMB-52. A killawatt meter also helps as some mesh jobs can cause a large jump in watts used by the pump. Basically it's working too hard.
This will be my last post on this thread.
I said I saw it "Here on Reef Central", not "somewhere". Why are you misquoting me?
Again, good luck with the skimmer. I hope it works out well for you.
I said I saw it "Here on Reef Central", not "somewhere". Why are you misquoting me?
If you choose not to believe it, that is your choice. You certainly dont have to believe me or anyone else about anything.
As pointed out, its buried in many threads over a long time and I'm not going to go through the time and effort to dig up the posts to provide "proof" for you since my word is obviously suspect. My intent was to help you, not to get into an argument.
Again, good luck with the skimmer. I hope it works out well for you.
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ai-reefer
New member
Sorry for misquoting you, i meant somewhere on reef central.
I didn't wanna look through those threads either, that why i said you had no proof, i figured you'd look it up, lol but that didnt work
Either way, i tried it with just the mesh, which mixed results. The mesh alone is pretty hard to balance. To have too much air can be a bad thing especially for a small skimmer like mine.
So for now i left it with the PPW with superlight mesh on there. I think thats the key and thats where lot of people might have been missing the point. The mesh on there is just one piece and its very trimmed. I belive this works the best from what i have observed so far. Having more than one piece makes it work like crap and throws it off balance.
I'm gona just leave it here and see what happens in the next few days. Me doing all these trial and errors is stopping the break in process.
