TheClark Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 Pretty cool! No comparison to the auto cleaner but still pretty darn nice. Check it out Basically a squegee glued onto the lid of the skimmer, a quick manual turn and your skimmer neck is clean. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spilo Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 Sweet.. found my next project thanks lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 Thanks for sharing Jeremy! Great idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bicyclebill Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 Awesome! I'm doing that tomorrow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted October 14, 2014 Author Share Posted October 14, 2014 Cannot wait to see the pics! I love the innovation in this hobby... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scubasteve Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 Pretty cool.. headin to the ole dollar store tomorrow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoobtoSalt Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 Seems so simple. Why didn't we think of this before. (scratch) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefnjunkie Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 Great addition to the skimmer for sure! Adding the neck skimmer is one of the best additions I ever did Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catfish2 Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 This might be a silly question, but does knocking down the foam head and scraping potentially think skimmate back down the neck affect the efficiency of the skimmer? I'm assuming the skimmer would just push it all back out eventually. Right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefnjunkie Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 This might be a silly question' date=' but does knocking down the foam head and scraping potentially think skimmate back down the neck affect the efficiency of the skimmer? I'm assuming the skimmer would just push it all back out eventually. Right?[/quote'] its the build up around the neck that reduces the skimmers efficiency which is why cleaning it daily (or in my case 3x a day) keeps the skimmer at peak efficiency. I've been able to quite using GFO and I'm sure the neck cleaner is why. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninjabeaver Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 great idea, I hate cleaning the neck..looks like this makes it much easier than unscrewing the collection cup, and unhooking the drain line and cleaning manually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catfish2 Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 its the build up around the neck that reduces the skimmers efficiency which is why cleaning it daily (or in my case 3x a day) keeps the skimmer at peak efficiency. I've been able to quite using GFO and I'm sure the neck cleaner is why. Awesome, thanks for the reply! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C0lin Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 So, my skimmer has a rubber o-ring at the top of the neck. It's always how I've had it. Is that not supposed to be there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted October 15, 2014 Author Share Posted October 15, 2014 So' date=' my skimmer has a rubber o-ring at the top of the neck. It's always how I've had it. Is that not supposed to be there?[/quote'] Pics? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted October 16, 2014 Author Share Posted October 16, 2014 ReefnJunkie convinced me... built an auto version of this for about 20 bucks with eBay motor, 12v power supply and three squegees. Going for the ultimate clean neck will squuegee the inside and outside of neck, and the cup itself. Waiting on Amazon for the squeegees Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted October 17, 2014 Author Share Posted October 17, 2014 It works!! Check out the gunk on the squeegee! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted October 17, 2014 Author Share Posted October 17, 2014 Now to add two more squeegees, silicone up the stainless steel and hookup the timer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bombertech Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 What did you end up using for a seal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted October 17, 2014 Author Share Posted October 17, 2014 What did you end up using for a seal? Ahh, this skimmer had an old fashioned 'wet neck'. So it had this fitting through the lid, that was designed to spray water and spin around. It didn't work well or really at all. But.. the bones were good. I attached the motor to the wetneck shaft, and the squeegees to the pvc pipes that sprayed water. I would imagine for the DIY manual cleaner, a person could put a piece of 1/2" CPVC through the lid and mount the squeegee to that if gluing to the lid like the video is not an option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bombertech Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Interesting... been wanting to fab up a neck cleaner for a while! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted October 17, 2014 Author Share Posted October 17, 2014 Interesting... been wanting to fab up a neck cleaner for a while! Me too buddy, the 1 dollar neck cleaner pushed me over the edge along with this phosphate battle from hell... Pretty rough looking but should do the job. Its all hooked up, time to clean up the project mess... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Z Reef Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 J ReefnJunkie convinced me... built an auto version of this for about 20 bucks with eBay motor, 12v power supply and three squegees. Going for the ultimate clean neck will squuegee the inside and outside of neck, and the cup itself. Waiting on Amazon for the squeegees Haha nice, I bought a few of those motors thinking of fabbing one up. I have a Swabbie already though so I lost interest lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted October 17, 2014 Author Share Posted October 17, 2014 Well here it is, the pre-alpha v0.1 neck cleaner! The wet neck isn't quite square, but it should do the job. Motor is 12v. Mounted on standoffs made of 3/8"s pex. Reused wetneck to mount squeegees. Cut squeegees with miter saw to make them fit inside the neck. Back to the cleanup Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Z Reef Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Woah that's moving fast! Didn't the gearbox reduce it? I think the one I got is only like 5 or 10 rpm. The Swabbie is super slow. Not saying it won't still work, just slower. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted October 17, 2014 Author Share Posted October 17, 2014 It is geared down down to 10 RPM. Seems to do a good job but time will tell! Too much fun not to try Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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