andy Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 This is what I'm thinking right now: I'm thinking that once a day, the skimmer recirc pump gets turned off (on timer) and a powerhead gets turned on and is allowed to run for a few minutes. Then, the recirc pump gets turned back on. The powerhead would have to be gated back so that the flow down the neck is just a thin sheet, and the skimmer would have to be pretty level... but those criteria are easy to meet. Aside from that, I think it'd work. Any thoughts? EDIT: Oh yeah, I know I don't need two feeds from the powerhead -- I just thought it might balance teh flow of water down the neck a bit better... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H20cooled Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 Might work if you can get that flow low enough. Might post the question on RC in the DIY forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted March 27, 2007 Author Share Posted March 27, 2007 Yeah, I was thinking about posting there but wanted to get kind feedback here first Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 I don't see why it wouldn't work. Are you able to make the neck with that small space? Or are you having that made? after second look, wouldn't the water from the powerhead push the water into the inside of the riser on the skimmer, clean out that gunk, drain into the water inside the skimmer, and that gunk could get back into the tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted March 27, 2007 Author Share Posted March 27, 2007 Yeah, I can make the neck with that small a space. Regarding the junk getting back into the skimmer... I think that's just how wetnecks work. A mechanism to actually remove the goop would be pretty complex. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H20cooled Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 Have you seen the Deltec ones? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted March 27, 2007 Author Share Posted March 27, 2007 Yeah, with the brush... it is going to drop crap back into the main chamber of the skimmer, too. The only person I know of who had one had problems with the mechanism and didn't use it. It looks to me to be similar, philosophically, to a icemaker in a fridge -- it works great at first, but as time goes by it gets less and less reliable until it finally just sucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H20cooled Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 Steve Weast has one on his HUGE deltec and I know that he uses it. The thing is yes it does drop stuff back into the chamber but what happens it that stuff just gets caught into the foam and pulled right back out. Also if you look close on that design it uses the brush and a spray nozzle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted March 27, 2007 Author Share Posted March 27, 2007 Hmmmm, maybe I can hijack some of my son's NXT set and really automate the process (rock2) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefgeek84 Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 Ok, so this may sound ignorant...but I do not know much about this and I am not an expert on skimmers...now with these brushes in the neck...wont that hinder the bubbles from being created and getting to the top of the neck? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 Steve Weast has one on his HUGE deltec and I know that he uses it. The thing is yes it does drop stuff back into the chamber but what happens it that stuff just gets caught into the foam and pulled right back out. Also if you look close on that design it uses the brush and a spray nozzle. Yah, i understand thats how its supposed to work. But this gunk comes off in chunks and will undoubtably fall to the bottom of the skimmer...where the water exits. There has to be some getting back into the tank, i guess that amt is just negligable? Edit: on second thought i guess you are running the wetneck while the skimmer is still running. So i can see that the gunk would be caught up in the foam. I don't have my magnifying glass at work so i can't see the brushes in your pic (laugh) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted March 27, 2007 Author Share Posted March 27, 2007 The brushes retract upwards, they're motorized to go up-and-down as well as round-and-round EDIT: Also, I think by running the Deltec wetneck regularly you don't get such huge glops of crud... what is brushed off is easy for the skimmer to just eat normally Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldbrownies Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 Isn't the wet neck supposed to run constantly, to lube up the tube and keep gunk from forming there at all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted March 28, 2007 Author Share Posted March 28, 2007 Are they? The Deltec brush thing doesn't run all the time, but if a regular wetneck does that'd be a lot easier to make work. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 I think if it ran all the time it would be counter productive. Take your turkey baster and shoot some water into the riser tube in your skimmer while its running for a few minutes and see how it does. My assumption was that it comes on intermittently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted March 28, 2007 Author Share Posted March 28, 2007 Hmmm, guess I'll have to stick my head into the lion's mouth and hit RC (hitme) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H20cooled Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 I think the problem you will find with the wet neck only is that the water intermintantly running down the neck will not be enough to wash down the build up. I think that why most of the ones I've seen are either pressurized with a spray nozzle or a brush/ wet neck setup. I'm basing this on the fact that when I go to clean mine after a couple of days of use I have to use a brush to remove the build up and even the faucet with heavy spray does not take it all off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldbrownies Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 On RC there was a thread, I can't remember by who or where exactly, but he had put a wet neck on a DIY skimmer, it ran all the time and only put out a very tiny amount of water, just enough to keep the neck wet. with the sides wet and clear of goo the foam would rise right out, super fast too because the wet sides, even though the water is falling, greatly reduced friction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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