Jump to content

High End DIY Peristaltic - Masterflex Alternative?


TheClark

Recommended Posts

9 hours ago, pdxmonkeyboy said:

looks sweet! When you are done you can put it next to your boxes of salt and 5 gallons of kalk. lol

 

 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

 

 

 

Noooooo!  This baby is going live.  I sure prefer peristaltic on the Calcium Reactor!

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, albertareef said:

Looking forward to seeing this in action!  Might even convert me to a peristaltic for my CA reactor if it can be done at a reasonable price 😄

Everything about this project I really like!  They claim it can be built for around 100 bucks, we shall see...  That is a steal though compared to a new masterflex.  Is it as good as masterflex?  Maybe not quite, but so much better than most other DIY reef peristaltic pumps out there.  It's in a class of it's own.

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • TheClark changed the title to High End DIY Peristaltic - Masterflex Alternative?

It's not hard to imagine building a dual peristaltic automatic water changer with this platform.  Granted they are not on the same shaft, but being stepper motors they might as well be.  Gotta try that too...

I can see allot of things with the electronics that would be nice to do differently.  Use a nano instead of uno, use oled instead of LCD, simplify wiring with a nano shield etc...

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The code builds!  The code runs!

Good sign, just had to grab a few well documented libraries. 

However, still missing key hardware.  I have no encoder, and the wrong stepper driver, but was able to simulate it by blinking the LED and hardcoding the motor pulse.

Good progress for one evening.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, pdxmonkeyboy said:

couldn't you put them on the same shaft? I know some of those dual pumps just stack heads... but the heads are EXPENSIVE plus the flow rate has to be pretty massive.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
 

You sure could, just get a stepper with a longer shaft or a coupling.   it is intriguing thinking about all the possibilities!

Another interesting idea would be a flow meter on it, so it can shut off if the peristaltic tubing breaks, maybe beep or something (APEX could also monitor and alert, but this is more standalone)....

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Update while waiting on parts.

I have been running for a couple of days.  Stepper motor gets pretty hot at 2.0 amps / 12v.

Did some googling, sounds like it is perfectly normal.  Also, apparently they have a 10 year rated life at 8 hours per day.  So I should expect at least a few years out of it running 24x7 at less than full speed.

In the pic you can see it is about 127FDFD78C52-8BE8-4EC5-8FAA-D52EA5A246B5.JPG

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...