The "Hitchhiker's Guide" to the Maxi-Stream mod

[Chrismo]

Now that I think of it, I bet it did take longer to do the photo's than make the Maxi-whiffle.


I've since remade that one, (that was a prototype). This one is much cleaner. I printed off a template onto paper, glued that to the ball, and cut out the holes more exactly, this time with an exacto blade.

Now I just need to paint it black. Or dip it in some concrete mix.

Chris

 

[hmott]

I like that concrete idea!

 

[REEFKEEPA]

I was completely unaware that CA could bond Acrylic.
Is this true D ?

 

[guzz64]

How is the longevity overall after this mod? Does motor life seem to be shortened?

 

[dhnguyen]

Mine have been running since July of last year and still running strong. I don't think it affects the motors all that much other than normal wear and tear.

I have heard of people having their mods running for over a year and all's still fine.


D.

 

[zapata41]

dh, couple of problems here.

first off, i have a single dumas 1.75 running on my 1200. everything is centered good and the shroud is not restricting water intake any. the pumps runs fine for a few mintues then will kinda stall out and start bouncing the prop in and out and the it will hit the stopper and start up like normal. it does all this in a few secodns and makes all kinds of racket. now i have a dual 1.75 dumas prop 1200 that is runnign the same shroud as the single prop one and works fine, never does that bouncing thing. the dual prop versions' shroud is about 3/8" longer though. the dual version does make a little more noise than the single and is starting to get a little wobble to it, but runs 24/7 with no stallin out issue.

any suggestions on this.

also i think i figured out the timer issue. i went and bought a intermatic timer, the kind that has 24 on/off tabs so the pump turns on for 30min then off for 30 min...... seems to work good soo far, only it makes that horrible racket after it has been on for a few mintues.

Tim

 

[dhnguyen]

any pics of this single 1.75" mod? Could be that you don't have enough water inlet slots or holes.

 

[zapata41]

ok i have pics and a video now. video is large at 36mb. it is the lowest quality setting that my digi cam would go down to and is only a minute and a half long. pics will be up shortly

Tim

 

[dhnguyen]

ok Tim you shouldn't tease us like that telling us there are pictures and a movie and not post a link :lol:

 

[zapata41]

darn photobucket is still uploading them. i dont edit or resize my pics prior to uploading, just let photobucket resize them so it takes a lot longer. but, for equipment pcs and what not i dont like to take the time ti do it all up with photoshop.

i did notice that the flow fomr the dual dumas prop maxi is dropped a lot since yesterday, and it is wobbling quite well.

Tim

 

[dhnguyen]

Hmmm... Sshouldn't be wobbling at all. Have you checked the coupling on the rigid tubing and the magnet to see if there's play on that? What did you use for that?



D.

 

[zapata41]

ok well here are some pics. pretty self explanitory except for a few of the shroud. the coupling is just the rigid airling tubing and then the flexible sirline tubing.

ok well here are the pics, the vid is almost uploaded

the dualie

here is the shroud. 2" sch80 pipe with a few pieces of 1 1/2 abs with the test cap on it glued on the inside

Tim

 

[zapata41]

and the vid

 

[dhnguyen]

Sweet flow going on there in that vid Tim. Some of those Chromis looked like they were struggling against the current :lol:


How far is your propeller from the cross brace on the problematic single mod?

 

[zapata41]

well at first it was about 1/4" away then i changed it to be about 1/8" away. the two maxi are very similar, one has two props and one doesnt.

Tim

 

[zapata41]

oh yeah, the zips ties were left on to make sure the CA dried all the way, maybe next water change i will take them off.

gonna go and order up another pair of these things, then this tank will really be rockin' for maxi 1200 streamers and my pair of penductors

Tim

 

[smjtkj]

D.
I have the same problem as zapata. This is the 900. I used the great planes prop. All is centered, the prop starts bouncing around making all kinds of racket. When it is running the thing is tremendous. I don't think it is a lack of slots.
Mike

 

[duhfactor]

Anyone given this a shot? I wondered if the size of the center shaft (.098"?) was sturdy enough to hold two 1.75 props on a 1200, so I tried something a little different. I increased the size of the center shaft to .125" carbon fiber rod, and then used a hollow carbon fiber bearing which has a .126" ID, with a larger OD. I simply replaced the rigid airline tubing with a slightly larger carbon fiber tube. I still used flexible airline tubing for the coupler to the magnet. It looks like this;

Damon

 

[duhfactor]

I quickly made a trial housing simply with a reducer and 2" black ABS. I glued in a 1.5" black ABS pipe inside the reducer, cut the whole thing to size, then added a 1.5" pipe plug. I made quick slots just for messing around, I'll make it look pretty on the next housing. (Yes, this pump has been used a long time...)

Then, with the prop in;

Damon

 

[duhfactor]

Holding the axle centered, this thing spins like a bugger.....out of water.....But it did have a little trouble in the water starting. I knew why the minute I was drilling out the prop. It had a stainless (I think) collar, with a set screw, and it was very difficult to drill that out, and keep the bits centered (even with starting small, increasing by 1/64" in bit size). The result was a slightly off center hole in the prop. The other problem, was drilling out the center bushing of the magnet to accept the larger carbon fiber rod. I know I can get it perfectly centered (Must take the time to build an easy jig), but was just expiramenting with a tired 1200. So the magnet, and the prop were a little off center. The props are actually larger than 1.75, but the local hobby shop I frequent only had the metal bushing props. I think one without the bushing would be much easier to handle....The carbon rod inside of carbon turns very easily, and smoothly, with no slop. I think this will work very well if the magnet and prop were drilled better. Any thoughts????

Damon