Wet Neck MR3

Saboral

Saboral

New member
I am trying to install a wet neck mod into my MR3, this is due to the problem of gunk building up in the neck. I have been running into this problem much to frequently for my liking considering the 15 minute minimum it takes to break down the skimmer to clean it. I love the product and have gotten great results, I would like to try a wet neck though. I have three ideas to accomplish this neck cleaning:

1) Make a thin acrylic "bowl" around the riser input into the collection cup. Then use airline tubing and valves to create a couple of inputs around this bowl for water that can then flow back over the top of the tube. This bowl would be covered by a small ring to allow skimmate to flow over the wet neck area into the cup.

2) Use a cone inside of the neck mounted to a disc with a routed hole in the center that would essentially go from th 4" diameter neck to a 3" hole at the top. Then mount a water input at the top of the disc to fill the cavity between the cone and top disc. This would then trickle from the sides of the cone down the sides of the neck. This seems like the best design to use as a test case for this skimmer since it is easily removable

3) Design a squeegee similar to this idea for the whole length of the riser tube. http://glassbox-design.com/2008/wet-necks-are-old-news/

My only concern is how well the skimmer will be able to create a standing bubble column with the low flow of water around the neck which leads me to believe the squeegee to be the better idea.
 
That squeegee design doesn't really clean out the gunk. It just builds up on the edge of the squeegee where it will eventually need cleaned. It might pop the bubbles too.

I've often thought of using a pop up sprinkler head mounted upside down from my lid. I swould simply connect it to a pressure pump and it pops-up (down really) and sprays off the gunk. Pump could be on a timer.

It wouldn't be as effective as the wet neck because when it cleans it would destroy the bubbles, but it wouldn't do anything that manual cleaning wouldn't do.

Jason
 
Reason being the whole riser neck is over 6" long and its tight at the top of my skimmer I need a system to keep efficency up in between cleanings.
 
Mine sounds like your #1 design. Not up and running yet, and the cap that covers the water reservoir isn't installed. Should be fairly easy design to retrofit on your existing cup.
IMG_0117.jpg
 
I like that design a lot, I am wondering though where you got that slip fitting and the nut to hold it in place.
 
Precision is pretty important, and I didn't want to tackle that headache with my limited tools. I had Bob at Reefmania build it for me. The rest of the skimmer is DIY though! I was wondering what kind of fitting that is too. Need to ask him.

lakee911, You buy the CNC and your cup is on me! :)
 
Has anyone here had experience with these wet necks? Do they make a good skimmate despite the opposing water current? I want to do this, but I want to make sure I don't f up a perfectly good skimmer in order to test something that doesn't work.
 
I would call it a liquid bearing rather than "opposing current". A properly tuned WN will only have a trickle of water flowing down the neck - just enough to create an even sheet. I've seen skimmers with wetnecks described as "foam cannons" because this layer of water allows foam to move up the neck with much less resistance. I've also been advised that the neck might be made a but longer to compensate for this and allow for drier skimmate production. No one would bother if they didn't work well. :)

Of course that doesn't guarantee yours will work perfectly, but worth a try IMO. You could always attach the reservoir portion with silicone rather than solvent in case you decide to remove it.
 
Yeah, I definately like the idea, I just need to find some 4.5" diameter acrylic tube on the cheap, I don't want to pay $50 for a 3' piece that I am going to use roughly 4" of.
 
Here is the wet neck that is on my skimmer. I happen to have pics of it when it was being created. I have never hooked it up, but now I wanna see what kind of Foam Cannon I really have. Spazz designed this wet neck, I cannot take credit obviously. The top of the fluid chamber has numerous small holes around the inner diameter of the neck, allowing water to trickle down the neck.

Spazz_44116full_pic_of_skimmer8.jpg


Spazz_44116full_pic_of_skimmer7.jpg



Lord knows I need wet neck capabilities:

IMG_0036-2.jpg
 
If you were talking to me, I have the fittings in there, ready to hook up to a pump. I guess the dirty picture doesn't allow them to be seen. I am thinking I will try an MJ1200 necked down to accept RO tubing.

I was thinking I would put the wet neck on a timer and use sump water. Is this correct??
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13731264#post13731264 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Mr James
If you were talking to me, I have the fittings in there, ready to hook up to a pump. I guess the dirty picture doesn't allow them to be seen. I am thinking I will try an MJ1200 necked down to accept RO tubing.

I was thinking I would put the wet neck on a timer and use sump water. Is this correct??
Click to expand...

No a wetneck is meant to run 24/7. Throttle your flow down as low as you can go while still getting a smooth, even sheet around the inside of the neck. I will run mine from an RO line off of my return pump line w/ a JG valve to regulate flow
 
I see. From what I understand of the previous user, it disturbs the foam head. maybe that happens from model to model, I don't know.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13739291#post13739291 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Mr James
I see. From what I understand of the previous user, it disturbs the foam head. maybe that happens from model to model, I don't know.
Click to expand...

In theory, a properly designed/tuned wetneck should not disturb the foam head. Maybe he was running too much flow through it? Hard to judge scale from you pics, but your neck does look pretty narrow which could have an affect also. Look forward to hearing your results!
 
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