Tiny Might skimmer rockin'

S

smjtkj

Premium Member
Well I finally have the new skimmer running. The beautiful thing
is the wattage this skimmer is using! It is using 79 watts and 20 watts for the air pump. The air pump is pushing tons of air into the skimmer. It is rated at 1.7 @ 2.1 psi. I am bleeding out some gut I am nit sure of the amount as I don't have a airflow meter. The skimmer has been running since 430 pm today. The pics were taken at 745 pm. Here's some pics!
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Thanks shadowfax! I used a 12 inch stainless steel bowl and thermoformed it. I used my outdoor grill to heat it up and cooled it down with water to keep the shape.
Mike
 
Hailea V- 60. I tried my Alita AL 60 on it but it was way too much for the job. This pump is just right!
 
My hat is off to you smjtkj. I'm going to rip this off with very few modifications for my 190. I can't wait to see what this thing is doing after it breaks in. What were you skimming with before this one?
 
I had a kick butt 6 foot air stone skimmer that I also built. It has been skimming for a few months and doing great. I just had to try this needlewheel out on the tiny might! It seemed like the perfect pump to replace the dart for smaller setups. That is when I decided to tell spazz about the tiny might and get him to make the needlewheel. I am just shocked at the amount of air it can take without cavitating. I did some pretty extensive modding if the impeller housing to allow for more air space. Boy did this do the trick!
 
Very sweet. Did you get the problem with the wheel stripping out sorted? What are the dimentions of your skimmer body? What are the dimentions of the diffusor? Size and number of holes? I've got 4' of 12" and some more acrylic coming to build a skimmer and was going to use a dart but might use one of these instead.
Thanks Ryan
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7847240#post7847240 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by smjtkj
I had a kick butt 6 foot air stone skimmer that I also built. It has been skimming for a few months and doing great. I just had to try this needlewheel out on the tiny might! It seemed like the perfect pump to replace the dart for smaller setups. That is when I decided to tell spazz about the tiny might and get him to make the needlewheel. I am just shocked at the amount of air it can take without cavitating. I did some pretty extensive modding if the impeller housing to allow for more air space. Boy did this do the trick!
Click to expand...

seeing you did a port and flow job to the pump i need to know where on the housing you relieved the plastic from? could you send me some pics of the housing and votive so I can compare them with mine? I still need to work on mine a little more so I can get the air flow increased to it.
this is looking good! keep coming with the updates on this bad boy.
here is a good cheap air meter for ya to get.
http://www.dwyer-inst.com/htdocs/flow/SeriesMMPrice.cfm#CRA
they work pretty good when using an air pump. but not as well when sucking the air into the skimmer. i love the numbers your getting with that. bad boy. im wondering if a new end piece can be made and if we could get more air into this pump. i guess its back to the shop to find out.:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
Humbolt Reefer, Yes the stripping problem is resolved. I actually used Bill Wann's suggestion of a Helicoil. It worked great. I also just received a wheel from Spazz that i have to drill and tap and glue pins in. The one I repaired ran outside on the patio for 3 days and ran without issue. So I think it will be fine. The main body is 36 inches of 12 inch tubing, the cone top is another 6 inches in height. The riser tube is 5 1/2 inch diam and 8 inches tall. The cup is 10 inch diam and 6 in tall. The bubble chamber is made of 10 inch tube also. It too is 6 inches tall. This diffusor plate was done by spazz on the CNC and there are a ton of small holes all coned on the inside. I forget what the size of the holes is right now.
 
Thanks for the compliments guys! This has been a fun but long project. I am so happy to have this thing running, and so is my wife!
Scott, I used a dremel and enlarged the intake to about 1 1/4 in and the output as much as I could without going through the plastic. Doing the output made a good difference with the turbulence in the diffusor chamber. There is less pressure coming out of the pump. I then ate out the the inside of the cover all around the hole. I probably took out 1/4 inch or so of depth. I will take some pics when I have time to drain the skimmmer. I didn't put ball valves on the pump because I wanted to keep the pump as close as possible to the body. I am not sure if we can get more air in it or not. There is a whole lot in there now. I just adjusted it to the point that it wouldn't collapse the foam head. The tiny might could have taken more, in fact it did. i had probable 90% of the air pump capacity going to the pump without cavitating. Then the air would overcome the head of foam. It was the foam head that called it quits, not the Tiny might!
Mike
 
well i think the new needle wheel might do a little better with the forced air injection. it will reduce drag on the motor and run cooler. how hot is the motor housing getting? mine is running about 100-110 deg right now. it just depends on the amount of air i let into it. i have to relieve the housing on mine yet and make a new needle wheel to fit that design. but im also thinking of making a new outer housing for mine so i can see inside the pump and see what is going on inside the pump housing.
are you planning on using carbon fiber rods on the new wheel? i did on mine and they work great. i just super glued mine in. i used .070 rod.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7850335#post7850335 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kentrob11
How much air were you pushing with the tiny might you did spazz?
Click to expand...

.75 scfm but i didnt relieve the housing at all. and i also didnt force air inject the pump either. its just using 2 venturis to suck the air in. in the future i plan to relieve the housing and put a new front cover made out of acrylic so i can see how things are reacting inside the pump. then i plan to supercharge it.
i learned my lesson when i did the dart pump modification. i didnt take that one one step at a time i just went hog wild and didnt get enough data. that caused me to have a few blunders on the way. i couldnt learn from my small mistakes. so the tiny might is being put together slower so i can get more information about it. this is why i sent smjtkj a couple of wheels. i needed to see how he put his together and learn form him. it will improve the total output of the pump in the end.

just an FYI ....im still looking for another person who wants to try the same thing as smjtkj did here. i will supply the needle wheels for free. i just ask you to give all the information on your skimmer here so others can learn and add there ideas and experiences to the mix. in the end we may be able to come up with the ideal diy pump/skimmer. i do ask that the skimmer be some what like what he has here. not a pvc skimmer or 5 gallon pale skimmer. we need something that can have pics take of it and show what is going on inside the skimmer.
 
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