The DIY cube project

[Corriander]

See - I was wondering when you were going to pop in to this thread!

I am glad to hear you guys are working it out. Say 'Hi' back to Apple for me!

The move is actually going to be pretty easy. I ended up negotiating a paid transfer to Seattle so all I have to do is set a date for them to show up and pack everything, put it on a truck and drive it to my new home. The only things I plan on moving myself are the tank being built in this thread and my machine shop. Likely, I will rent a storage facility half way there so I can move the shop there over a weekend then later bring it the rest of the way once we have settled in. I might just hit you up to take a roundtrip, 20-hour blast to Oregon and back.

Sam - This is a 100% booby-fed monster. Granted, he has been gobbling down anything we put on his highchair for the last three months . . . peaches and nectarines in particular are funny to watch him with. He will demolish either down to the pit in about 5 minutes. Now if I could just get him to stop chewing on shoes . . .

 

[Corriander]

Fun with metal!!

Fun with metal!!

Today I bolted out of the office a little early so I could get some of the metal work done.

After sketching out all the cut and fold lines, I took a shear to the aluminum.

I also broke out the jig saw and cut the hole the light will shine through.

Using a 30" break, I bent the form. I still have to rivet the joints, cut holes for the pair of 92mm fans, and trim the open side so the light will fit in once I attach the heatsinks . . . but you get the idea.

The shroud will sit better once it is riviet together and then to the base plate.


The heatsinks FINALLY arrived today too. Not bad for $2.50 a piece!

Tomorrow I will pick up some thermal epoxy to attach a couple of them to the reflector and the fans.

 

[Corriander]

Fill day is getting closer!!!

The inner stand is done. I found some 1" square tube that was scrapped and was so heavy I thought it was bar when I first picked it up. Since it was free, it replaced the angle I was going to use for the uprights in the stand. I lost 2" of space on both the x and y plane of the lower shelf, but you could support a car on the stand now.

A lot of the plumbing is in place ready to be cemented. I am testing a configuration that puts the pumps behind the stand. My main concern is durability since I am using a lot of threaded connections and don't want an accidental rotation to start a leak. Likely, once I settle on a design, I will incorporate some acrylic stays the plumbing will pass through limiting accidental rotation of 90degree bends.

I hope to get the sheet aluminum formed this evening that makes up the rest fo the light box. Once in place I will be mounting the ballasts and fans so I can start wiring.

The sump still needs considerable work. I have decided to incorporate a removable media chamber through which all the water from the main tank flows through but not the refugium water. Basically, it translates in to some more acrylic and an afternoon with a router.

I will get some pictures up as soon as I remeber to take them.

 

[Corriander]

This weekend I was able to get a good bit done but, again, I did not take pictures. Æ'¼

A lot of my work focused on the sump, which is now close to completion. The sump has three chambers in it ¡V the return where a filter sock hangs (3gal), the pump chamber (8gal) and a refugium (13.5gal).

I wanted to incorporate some sort of removable media chamber between the return area and pump chamber but I was trying to avoid cutting/mounting too many small acrylic pieces. The solution I used was 2¡¨ PVC threaded/slip elbows. By cutting off majority of the slip side of a 2¡¨ threaded/slip adapter, I was able to mount two of these through the wall between the two chambers with the slip portion of the elbow pointed up in the pump chamber. A 6¡¨ long piece of 2¡¨ PVC tube slips in to each one (internal cap drilled and glued to the bottom, external cap drilled and fitted loosely on top) so I can swap them out as needed. Course media (activated carbon, phosguard, ect) can be placed directly in to the pipe and capped. Fine media (purigen, cuprisorb, ect) can go in to media bags placed inside the pipe. Since each ¡¥chamber¡¦ costs about $1 to make, I can pre-manufacture different varieties for emergency use, utilizing whatever pairing best suits the issue.

Since all my tools for acrylic work were out, I also made the header tank for top-off water. It holds about 2 gallons with the inlet attached to a 35gpd RO/DI unit (solenoid controlled) and the outlet feeding a kalk-reactor. The tank is going in a space in the light box so I can gravity feed the kalk-reactor.

The light box itself is getting closer to completion. The fans and ballasts are all in place with some of the wiring done. I added a four-outlet gang box next to the ballasts that the power runs through. Each outlet is wired to a different light (MH, T5, LED and one always on) so I maintain some flexibility with any accessories I want paired to a particular photoperiod.

The power center below the tank is also under construction. All told, it will house 14 outlets ¡V 8 on the AC JR DC8 controller, 3 general power outlets, 1 outlet for the fuge light (which is wired for a pass through up to the light box), and two switched outlets for the main and fuge pumps. The face plate to the power center will have a mount for the AC JR, the switches for the two pumps, the solenoid controls (on/off, indicator LED¡¦s and a momentary override switch), a 12amp breaker and a primary on/off switch that shuts the whole tank down.

Hopefully pictures will follow in the next few days.