your thoughts on my diy kalk stirrer

[spazz]

i have been trying to come up with a new design for a kalk reactor/stirrer. the ones out on the market now have pumps that clog up or magnetic stirrers under them that have to be filled every week. i wanted an easy to fill reactor i only have to fill every 2-3 weeks. this is what i came up with. in the first pic you can see the pvc pipe along side of the main body. that is the funnel for adding liquid kalk to the reactor. there is an acrylic disk you remove and put the funnel back on the reactor(second pic) and dump in the slurry. there is 2 JG valves on the pvc pipe. the top one is the in feed from the top off tank( not built yet) and the bottom one is to drain out some of the water in the body so you can add more kalk.you can use the water you take out to make the new slurry to put in the reactor.
the out feed fitting is on top of the flange next to the drive motor box. im hoping i can add 2-4 cups of kalk at a time. the motor is a 60 rpm geared motor with lots of power. it runs on 12v. im planning on putting it on a digital timer to turn on twice a day for 2 min. the out feed will be hooked to a dosing pump and a ph controler. that way the tank gets kalk when the ph goes down. the top off will be hooked to the sump sepreately.
so the question is do you think this will work? what do you think the down falls are to this design?

 

[spazz]

i did a quick test to see if its easy to fill with out a big mess all over. i used a mrs wages plastic container and filled it with 1 pound of ball pickeling lime. then added some water out of the bottom valve on the reactor. then poured it into the funnel. it worked like a charm. all the kalk stayed to the bottom of the reactor until i started the drive motor. it stired up the entire pound of kalk with out hesitating. this design cant take alot of pressure( about 10 psi) but if i feed it from a top off tank it should be fine. here is some more pics.

 

[Timbo]

Looks good. What kind of seal did you use for the shaft? Is the seal the reason why it can't take much pressure?

 

[Beenalongtime79]

Spazz,

That's a really good idea... the deltec reactor has one of the direct drive motors and it spins quite slowly as well and just keeps things stirred up enough so that the water is saturated, and what I like about it is that it doesn't throw actually particulate material into your tank.

Peace,
John H.

 

[spazz]

Looks good. What kind of seal did you use for the shaft? Is the seal the reason why it can't take much pressure?

the shaft seal is a silicone oring sandwitched between t pieces of acrylic and has screws to tighten it up so i can get a good seal. i have to work on it some more to see it i can cut a groove for the oring to sit in. it worka the same way you have keyed flanges for a skimmer.

 

[spazz]

Spazz,

That's a really good idea... the deltec reactor has one of the direct drive motors and it spins quite slowly as well and just keeps things stirred up enough so that the water is saturated, and what I like about it is that it doesn't throw actually particulate material into your tank.

Peace,
John H.

my reactor is different than the deltec in one way. mine fills up to the top and has no air in it. theres has an exit pipe twards the top that the water flows out of. this keeps a layer of air in the reactor. they dont need a seal for there shaft that way. you cant put any type of presure to there reactors. i want to gravity feed the reactor off of a small tank that will sit next to the main display tank. this holding tank will be feed from the r/o unit using a float valve.
where this reactor will stirr 1 pound of kalk at a time i should be able to go a month with out having to refill it.

 

[Beenalongtime79]

Hey Spazz,

Thanks for that clarification... that's what I thought. With the deltec, you definitely need a solenoid to be used w/ it. I like the direct drive motor as well. I bet it's really energy efficient as well. Hehe

Peace,
John H.

 

[spazz]

Hey Spazz,

Thanks for that clarification... that's what I thought. With the deltec, you definitely need a solenoid to be used w/ it. I like the direct drive motor as well. I bet it's really energy efficient as well. Hehe

Peace,
John H.

3.5 amps at 12 volts. 60 rpm. it will be turned on for 1 min 2 times a day. this thing makes a cloud in 30 seconds so i think i will have to cut the blade smaller or drill holes in it. its too much right now. so far thats my 1 big oops. there are a couple of other things i would like to change but thay are small.

 

[orlenz]

Looks good, the only potential problem I see, that wouldn't really apply to you, since you dont use intermatic timers,
but could possibly apply to someone else making one, would be if they were to use the Intermatic digital timer, you never know when they will go out and they stay on when they go out
that would send a lot of kalk to the tank.
most any other digital timer would be fine.
nice design, now you got me thinking again

 

[Avast Marine]

I can't believe this post died after 10 responses. This is a great design. Are you still using it? Any other info you would like to share? How is the shaft sealed to the lid?

 

[Bryan]

Can you elaborate on the drive motor. What type is it, where did you obtain it e.g. Some close up pics would be great.

 

[Avast Marine]

I can't find a small dc gear motor and controller for any reasonable price. Anyone have a suggestion? I tried to PM spazz on this but, I have a feeling his mailbox is quite full today

 

[spazz]

sorry guys things have been kind of nuts lately. i dont know why......:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

the dirve motor for that kalk reacot works great but is a little noisy. i used a 60 rpm motor form this site (below) for that reactor. the seal is the big problem. if you design a reacotr this way i would change it more like the deltec style of output. that way you dont need the seal on the shaft. the output is below where the shaft goes through the top so it dont need a seal. other than that it works great. i only needed to fill the reactor once every 2 months. i put 2 cans of ball pickeling lime in there at a time and it would stir it like nothing.


http://www.surpluscenter.com

 

[Avast Marine]

Thanks Spazz, I was leaning towards the deltec style of output (gravity) as I was pretty sure I couldn't get a real good seal on the shaft. What do you think about a constant stirring at slow rpm like the deltec maybe 10rpm or so vs. a 60 rpm a couple times a day? I figured I could get a higher torque motor like this one and just let it churn away?

I do like the funnel delevery and pipe on your design. If I you were to do it again would you use the funnel or go with the deltec design completely?

BTW, I saw where you just moved zilla to Thanks for not letting it die.

 

[spazz]

i wouldnt make another kalk reacotr with out the funnel in it. its way too easy to refil the reactor. if its time consuming and tought to refil then you wont do it on time and your tank will suffer. if its a 2 min job every 2 months then its alot better. the deltec style of output fitting is really the only way to go with this style of reactor.

 

[Avast Marine]

Great, I was hoping you would say that, it just seems so simple. So just put the output on the reactor body at the same height as the JG fitting for the inlet?

I really don't know much about these motors. How's
this one look?

If it can handle the two jars of ball on start up I see no need to stir 24/7 since I only dose at night so the higher RPM is the way to go huh?

 

[spazz]

the motor i used was 12 volts. so i could adjust it really easy by regulating the voltage to the motor. 60 rpm's is really too much. but if you have alot of kalk in there then its not too much. so having an adjustable rpm for the stir bar is the best rought to go. and low voltage is always better in my mind because you cant shock the tank with 12 volts the way you can with 110 volts.

but that is just my thoughts on it. you may want to experment a little. the motors from that site are cheap so if you changed the motor twice it owuldnt be too costly.

 

[Avast Marine]

this one?

Sorry I just don't exactly know what I am looking for. Specifically in the torque rating. What in/oz or in/lb rating should be needed for this application?

 

[spazz]

a motor about this size would work. they dont have the motor i used in stock right now. it was a 12 volt 60 rpm gear motor with a red rubber cover over the motor. its alot like this one but a litle bit bigger motor.

https://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?UID=2006122018312086&item=5-1257&catname=electric

 

[Avast Marine]

:thumbsup: