My DIY Phos-ban Reactor

[andy]

$16 Reactor:

 

 

A: 1/4" Acrylic, roughly 6x6" [$1]

• Drill a hole in each corner for the nylon bolt/wingnut
  
• Drill a hole in the center for the downdraft tube (E) and tap for hose barbs (D)
  
• If you don't have a tap, you could just drill it and have a nylon nut to match the thread of the hose barb
  
• Check the scrap acrylic bin at Tap Plastics, you can save a bundle
  

 

B: Nylon bolts x4 [$1]

C: Nylon wingnuts x4 [$1]

• You can find a good assortment of nylon hardware at Parkrose Hardware. Home Depot has a terrible selection.
  
• I used 1" long bolts, I think they were #10
  

 

D: Hose barbs x2 (1/2" threaded) [$2]

• You could use John Guest fittings, but they are pretty expensive. Normal threaded hose barbs are fine.
  
• Oh yeah, be sure to put a rubber washer or o-ring on the fitting. It'll seep if you don't
  

 

E: 3/4" Acrylic tube, 11" long [$1]

• This is the downdraft. Water is pumped into this tube and send down to the bottom of the reactor
  
• Glue it to A, centered on the middle hole. Careful to not get glue onto the threads you tapped into A
  

 

F: discs cut from filter pad

• These help keep the Phos-ban from getting all over the place
  
• One on the bottom, the other on the very top
  
• You will have to cut these out of filter pad yourself. Try to get a tight fit against the walls of K
  

 

G: 4" Acrylic disk [$2]

• TAP Plastics sells disks in a variety of sizes. Pick one that bests fits the inner diameter of K
  
• Drill a hole in the center to match the downdraft tube E
  
• Drill a bunch of small holes all over, to allow the water to rise back up through the disk
  
• Glue it to the bottom of the downdraft tube
  
• Make sure there is a gab between it and the bottom of the reactor so water can flow
  

 

H: Gasket, cut to match I [$1]

• Use rubber gasket material, and cut it to match I
  

 

I: 1/4" Acrylic, cut to match A [$1]

• This piece can be tricky
  
• Drill holes to match the nylon bolts in A
  
• You have to make a hole that matches the inner diameter of K
  
• I used a hole saw to make a smaller hole, then glued this piece to K. When it was dry, I used a router with a bearing bit to enlarge the hole to the right size
  

 

J: same as B - accidentally drew them in twice :-)

K: 3" Acrylic tube, 12" long -- extruded acrylic is fine [$5]

L: 1/4" Acrylic, cut to match A [$1]

 

It really just goes together like it looks. I use the thicker Weldon (#16?) for assembly, and then fillet the joints between the main tube and the top and bottom acrylic squares with epoxy putty (I couldn't glue a 'perfect' acrylic seam if my life depended on it (sad) ).

 

The toughest part is getting 'A' and 'I' right. I clamped them together and drilled all the bolt holes at the same time. Getting the big hole in 'I' can also be a problem if you don't have a router. You could use a Dremel or even a jigsaw but you'd have to be *really* careful and make sure the work is securely clamped.

 

Make sure you have some way to throttle in water coming in to the chamber. You want about 4" of media in the reactor, and enough water pressure to just make the surface of the media 'dance'. Too much pressure and you'll pulverize the Phos-ban. That's bad.

[powdertang05]

but why its soo much cheap to just buy one from pm for like 50 that holds alot more or even a phosban reactor for 30 i just dont get why you would want to do this but have fun.

[CCR]

Well andy I think it's ausom!!!!. A DIY when done is always cool. Ya took the time to do it, and post it. Good for you.. Maybe a fine'll Pic.

[andy]

but why its soo much cheap to just buy one from pm for like 50 that holds alot more or even a phosban reactor for 30 i just dont get why you would want to do this but have fun.

 

Because mine is better. It has a secret ingredient -- it was made with love.

[powdertang05]

andy you are hillarious! hope you had fun!

[andy]

hope you had fun!

 

And there is the *real* reason, it's just fun to build stuff. (clap)

 

Not everyone enjoys the whole DIY thing, sometimes I don't want to mess with DIY myself... I just want it to *work*... but for those who do enjoy building stuff, it's really satisfying to see your frankenreactor chugging along (rock2) Well, that and it's a great way to dump that pesky excess love.

[Reefin']

hey andy nice diy project... i agree its fun to by=uild something yourself....nice job......what is it?.......a Hookah...lol

 

on a serious note, could u turn on the wordwrap or something....its kind of a PITA(pain in the a$$) to have to scroll aacross the screen, instead of it all fitting on the screen all at once

 

Thanks

[CCR]

hey andy nice diy project... i agree its fun to by=uild something yourself....nice job......what is it?.......a Hookah...lol

 

on a serious note, could u turn on the wordwrap or something....its kind of a PITA(pain in the a$$) to have to scroll aacross the screen, instead of it all fitting on the screen all at once

 

Thanks

 

It drives me nuts to scroll. What do you have to do?????? and what ever it it. It neeeeeeeeds to be perminent.

[andy]

Yeah, sorry about the width. It's because the image is so large. I'll shrink it down.