Time to make the Sump!

[divebri69]

Well, I asked in an earlier thread for suggestions, experience from people who'd built their own sumps.

Now it's time to start mine.

My original wish was to build a sump 36" long, 14" wide, 16" high.
As soon as I opened a tape down by the tank I realized there was no way to fit a 36" long sump under my (already running for about 8-10 years now)
tank.

There's no way I'm taking it apart; and I have no stomach for creating a temp. brace and removing the center style, as you can see done on Melev's Reef.
So. I decided to look at a sump 30" long, 14" wide, 16" high.

I wanted the back to be black so I could limit light spilling into the room at night. Found a full sheet of 1/4" black acrylic for $10 from a production company in Brooklyn. Scratched up- but, hey it's a sump- for $10, who cares.
The front and one side will be clear so I can see what's going on.... Had to buy the clear. I got half sheet of 1/4" clear from Fame Plastics- $50, about market rate.

Since I prefer not to build a sump and find out later it won't fit....

I went dumpster diving for some large cardboard pieces, and made a model 30"long, 14"wide, 16"high

Time to run it downstairs to find out....

Will it fit?

Short answer.....

Nope

Cut the length down to 27" from 30 and tried again

Now it does.... But, brother that looks mighty tall in there....

Let's see...

Yep. Put it next to the old sump (made from a "Amiracle" wet/dry trickle).
I believe there's a reason these filters were 14" high. I think I will be revising again to make this 14" high instead of 16".

Well, that's step one.
I learned a couple of things

Good:
- make a model to see if it fit's

- true union ball valves are worth every penny. EASY to pull the pump
out of the way

Bad-
-when you want to pour the little bit of water that's left in your pump
out: don't do it over the bucket full of saltwater from the sump.
Oh yes! I dropped my Iwaki pump into the bucket of saltwater. On the
other hand, I spoke to a great guy at Iwaki named Peter, and I learned
how to take apart an Iwaki pump!

Next up will be cutting the pieces- with a totally inappropriate tool. The proper machine is a good quality table saw with a good quality fence. Unfortunately, I only own a radial arm saw. I've cut for fine work with it before and it is a great adventure!!! We'll see what happens.

'Til then-
Brian

 

[divebri69]

Time to cut 'em out and glue 'em up....

Time to cut 'em out and glue 'em up....

Last episode, I made a model to check the outside dimensions of the sump and make sure it would fit.

Now, it's time to cut some acrylic and glue it up.
So, I made some "chicken scratch notes" to remind myself how each piece would fit together and what the dimensions for each cut should be...

I mentioned before that the radial arm saw is not the optimal tool for fine work that need to be SQUARE and TRUE.... Because the motor can spin, bevel, and turn in so many directions the saw has a lot of play. So each time you switch cuts you have to 'tune the saw'...

Here I'm checking that the saw blade will run out square on a crosscut...


You also have to make sure the blade is square to the table....

Once the cuts are all done it's time to-

Glue it all up.
You'll see the glue in an applicator, some electrical tape, and a plastic container filled with shredded acrylic that I swept up from cutting the pieces.

I use the shredded acrylic for my "corner cheat". If your project leaks, you can bet it will be in the corner, at which time you'll have to come back and do this. Place some shredded acrylic in the corner and squirt it with the glue. It dissolves and runs into the gap.
Since I've had to do this on more than one occasion, I'm just gonna save some time and do it right now.


It's all glued up so.... Now I wait about 48 hours (yikes- that's two days of waiting!!) before I perform the dreaded 'water test'.

That's it for today....
Brian

 

[divebri69]

Water Test- aaand......

Water Test- aaand......

Well, I didn't want wait the full 48 hours that I'd seen recommended before doing a water test on the sump. I made it 24 hours before I got too impatient.

I was about to start filling the sump for the test when I realized I'd better get some kind of reinforcement into the basic box because the force of the water could be enough to bow the box and separate the seams. That forced me to stop and make some decisions about the size of the chambers, etc.

It took me so long to figure out how I wanted to arrange things and then cut, prep the edges and glue at least one partition panel that I ended up with a 48 hour interval before I could test the sump.
But finally....

Here's the sump with water
Aaand....
a leak.

Well. So much for my 'Mr. Smarty Pants' theory on the "corner cheat", right!?!

And brother- it took me three; yes, three tries to get this leak sealed. Yikes!
Now that corner of the sump is no longer 'pretty'. Bummer..... but, it does finally hold water.

While I was waiting between leak repair attempts (cue the Jeopardy theme), I started cutting the strainer partition that will go between the refugium section and the final return section.
I wanted that partition the same height as the first partition to act as a full height brace for the sides (though compromised in that purpose by the removal of material for the strainer slots), as well as a resting point for the upper ledge bracing that's going on later.

I cut the strainer using the radial arm saw with some clamps to limit the movement of the cutting motor both forward/backward, as well as a clamp on the vertical travel post so I could lift the blade up from each cut, slide the material over and drop the blade without having to get up and check a mark for the depth each time.
You can see, however, that I would have been better off getting up my nerve to figure out router use better.
I had to finish the end cuts by hand saw to make them even.
I really need to take the time to play with the router more often and practice making jigs and templets to use it with. Once the templets or jigs were made, it'd give a nice smooth cut.
Well, that's for another time.

Now that it's sealed and holding water, I'll finish making the rest of the partitions I want to use, an upper brace/ledge....
and see what I've forgotten to do when I take it down to try it out with the tank.

Brian

 

[Chrisq0904]

Any updates on the sump????

 

[divebri69]

Aaah!
I have the partitions in.
I drilled for the bulkhead fitting(s).
Then-
Some more small leaks!!
Got caught up with some other stuff around the house, but will get some photos and explain further as soon as I can!!
Brian