Tiny Might skimmer rockin'
- Thread starter smjtkj
- Start date
RandyStacyE
New member
ChemE - I see what you mean, but doesn’t water volume through an inlet venturi in a way determine how much air the venturi/pump draws? Unless of course you’re injecting the air. I assume that ATI bubblemaster impellers do work, but I always wondered how.
kentrob11 â€"œ “That's why I'd love to see a needle wheel with twice as many ultra thin needle size pinsâ€Â.
I just bought an impeller for a GX-2400 to put a 3M bristle disk. I though I could just modify the bristle disk a bit if it doesn’t work that well right off the bat (un-modified). I thought I’d use it as the recirc pump and feed the skimmer with different pump. Once it's done I'll post the thread.
kentrob11 â€"œ “That's why I'd love to see a needle wheel with twice as many ultra thin needle size pinsâ€Â.
I just bought an impeller for a GX-2400 to put a 3M bristle disk. I though I could just modify the bristle disk a bit if it doesn’t work that well right off the bat (un-modified). I thought I’d use it as the recirc pump and feed the skimmer with different pump. Once it's done I'll post the thread.
ChemE
New member
Yeah, my bad, I should have been more clear. I've already decided that injecting air is the way to go and my post assumes that everybody else has too which certainly is not the case. You are of course absolutely correct; aspirating needlewheels rely on pressure gradients to aspirate air through the venturi and these gradients typically increase with increasing flow.
That ATI impeller is made for forced air injection though. Who knows, maybe whats best is to get the air in and finely chopped with an OR 3700 then dice the crap out of it with another pump spinning that ATI impeller (or an improvement on it). I keep waiting for someone to feed one NW with another because I'd love to know if you can get even finer bubbles.
Well Spazz, the new wheel definitely allows me to add more air. Well that and the fact that I relieved the housing more. But I am stumped on the wattage draw. Not really stumped, I added a bunch more pins from what I was running before. The wattage is still about 74-75 watts. But I am noticing that with the pump wide open and no air injected it runs about 98 watts. I don't understand how your pump can be running at lower wattage wide open with the same wheel and smalller pins on mine. That is what stumped me.
chadfarmer
Premium Member
ok i am going to build one it looks like
how about needle wheel that has a few pins toward the center and a ton of pins on the out side (they will have more distance traveled)
how about needle wheel that has a few pins toward the center and a ton of pins on the out side (they will have more distance traveled)
spazz
New member
there could be a few things to cause this.
1. the increased size of the housing causes more water to be sucked into the housing and therefor has a higher water to air ratio than mine. you have to remember every time you change one thing you have to change the wheel to match it. I think we need smaller pins again. we need to look into pins that are .050 or .040 and have them spaced the way the current ones are. also I have noticed that if there is any rough surface areas on the back of the needle wheel that the wattage is higher.
2. when you designed your air intake fitting is it designed to be a Venturi or just a fitting in the side of the intake pipe. if there is no slip stream affect then it wont draw as much air on its own. therefor the pump has to run harder when your nit injecting air to it.
3. you might want to check the seal again. it still might be too tight. I like to set the seal this way. turn the wheel down until it just touches the 2 pieces of the seal together and them give it another 1/4 turn on the wheel. that will preload the ring in the seal just a little bit. then use the super glue gel on the top of the wheel to make the cap and lock the wheel in place.
the ability of the pump to handle more air is not surprising. you relieved more of the housing and have a little bit better wheel to use. but the wattage draw should be down a little more. we will have to work on that one yet. but the increase in air to the skimmer is a big plus.
spazz
New member
yes that is true but you also have to have the horse power to turn that which leads to higher wattage draws on the motor. right now we are dealing with heat issues that need to be lower. its not too bad but could be better. you should be able to hold your hand on the motor and keep it there with out and discomfort. thats about 100-105 deg. the pumps are running about 110-115 deg right now so we need to get a heat sink of some sortto put over the motors. this will help us to run a little higher wattage and still run cool. the current wattage is under 100 watts with the air pump running. so thats not the concern. but if we cant maintain those numbers then were sunk. this pump was designed to be in a spa. they want heat transfer if they can get it. we dont. so if someone can find us some extruded heat sinks to fit the motor housing it would be great. i dont have time right now to research it. also there is some sort of grease or stuff you smear on the back of the heat sinks to improve heat transfer. im not sure what it is but i know one of you guys knows what im looking for.
the motor is about 3.5" in diam and 5" long.
Well first off I plated with the air intake again from the pump and it is running at 72 watts now with a pretty stable head of foam.
A little update on production. I cleaned the cup out 7 am today. 230 pm today the cup looks like this. When I built my 6 foot
air stone skimmer I was getting about a gallon of dark skimmate every 4-5 days. Then after a few months I was only getting an inch or so a week in the cup (9 in diameter). So the tank is pretty well stripped of nutrients already. I only wipe the fron glass 1 time a week to keep the corraine at bay. There is no algae at all on the glass or anywhere else in the tank.
A little update on production. I cleaned the cup out 7 am today. 230 pm today the cup looks like this. When I built my 6 foot
air stone skimmer I was getting about a gallon of dark skimmate every 4-5 days. Then after a few months I was only getting an inch or so a week in the cup (9 in diameter). So the tank is pretty well stripped of nutrients already. I only wipe the fron glass 1 time a week to keep the corraine at bay. There is no algae at all on the glass or anywhere else in the tank.
ChemE
New member
That is the great thing about the DIY forum; there are enough of us with diverse enough backgrounds/skill sets that we've pretty much got everything covered.
The most popular (by a country mile) thermal grease is Acrtic Silver 5
http://www.arcticsilver.com/as5.htm
The best prices for it live here.
onetrickpony
Premium Member
Just a thought
Why couldn’t you cast an epoxy and carbon fiber disk and plate?
With 0.020†solid carbon rods for pins
Or .019" Rectangular Carbon Rod for pins
Threaded carbon fiber nut cast into the disk
It would be lighter and stronger easier to spin
Ken
http://www.deltronix.net/cgi/acp_display.exe
http://www.deltronix.net/cgi/acp_display.exe
http://dragonplate.com/ecart/categories.asp?cID=3
Why couldn’t you cast an epoxy and carbon fiber disk and plate?
With 0.020†solid carbon rods for pins
Or .019" Rectangular Carbon Rod for pins
Threaded carbon fiber nut cast into the disk
It would be lighter and stronger easier to spin
Ken
http://www.deltronix.net/cgi/acp_display.exe
http://www.deltronix.net/cgi/acp_display.exe
http://dragonplate.com/ecart/categories.asp?cID=3
spazz
New member
the cost to have a mold made is very high. i looked into having a mold made for the dart pumps once. its about $1500 forthe mold and $350 set up with a 1000 piece minimum. what would i ever do with 1000 needle wheels. ha ha ha ha ha
i only need a few wheels to play with. but if a mold was made i think glass reinforced nylon would be the best. its the same stuff they make the pump housings out of and the tiny might impellers from. i really wish the companythat makes the tiny might would answer my questions. i would like them to start making the needle wheels for there pumps. but they are taking no interest in it. there a spa and pool pump maker. not an aquarium pump maker. is what they told me.
ChemE
New member
Ask and ye shall receive...
http://www.tuniq.com.tw/Cooler Info/Tower-120.htm
This is pretty much the gold standard of air-based computer processor cooling solutions right now.
The black boxy looking thing in the middle of the cooling fins is a 120mm PC fan. When spinning at 1,000 rpm it is basically silent and still moves a monster amount of heat.
ChemE
New member
Speaking of which, is Reeflo ever going to get on the ball and make needlewheels for the Dart and Snapper? They could capture a segment of the market that no one else is poised to tap and the ground is already plenty fertile since there are a few thousand of us watching this thread and others. ARE YOU READING THIS REEFLO???
spazz
New member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7884816#post7884816 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ChemE
Ask and ye shall receive...
http://www.tuniq.com.tw/Cooler Info/Tower-120.htm
This is pretty much the gold standard of air-based computer processor cooling solutions right now.
The black boxy looking thing in the middle of the cooling fins is a 120mm PC fan. When spinning at 1,000 rpm it is basically silent and still moves a monster amount of heat.
i dont even want to know the price tag on tat bad boy! it looks very expensive. and its huge! but its design is cool. i think it would work.
