TheClark Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 Why A Peristaltic Pump? This is covered in great detail on the internet. In summary: ○ More reliable consistent flow Read more about the official MasterFlex Calcium Reactor thread here. They are spendy, 200-400 dollars. And they are awesome. (hint, if you can spare the reef $$, stop reading this and go get one!) http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2368618 For me personally? I needed to babysit some SPS. I knew that my CR flow would dip and sometimes clog. Rather than risk someone else's coral I decided to step up the game a little. Check out my flow before and after: BEFORE AFTER: Why A DIY Peristaltic Pump? The primary reason is simply to save money. By saving money, you might be able to have a spare on hand. For me, I try to have 2 of anything critical because reef stores are not open 24/7 and Amazon cannot ship fast enough to save your coral if things go wrong. Building One - Parts Pump and Motor - $30 The pump and motor itself. Search ebay for 'large peristaltic' and you will find this one: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1312.R1.TR4.TRC0.A0.H0.XLarge+peri.TRS1&_nkw=large+peristaltic&_sacat=0 Pumps come and go. It is nice to have one with: § At least two rollers (anti siphon) § Stainless steel bearings (not a plastic, noisy pump) This setup requires a brushed DC 12v motor so that it can be PWM controlled. A better setup would be a stepper motor based motor and controller. Future? Motor Speed Controller - $11 You want a PWM speed controller. This controls the speed so the flow can be dialed in. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DVGGWC0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Note: There are tons of cool options here. Web controlled, LED speed display etc. I did find though that certain PWMs cause the motor to overheat so you may need to experiment if deviating from this one. Power Supply - $6.50 12volt 2 amp power supply with a wiring adapter. Here is one on amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Adapter-Switching-100-240V-Connector-Security/dp/B06XPF9NPL/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1507776121&sr=8-14&keywords=12V+2A+Power+Supply It is better to find one that is UL Listed. Once you are past the power supply though, everything is low voltage. The wiring adapter is key (the green thing in the pic). It makes taking power from the adapter simple, just turning a couple of screws. Wire - Free to $16 If you have any kind of wire laying around that is 16 gauge or bigger, feel free to repurpose it. Some wiring connectors such as 2 spade connectors can be soldered onto the back of the motor or possibly crimp Building One - Assembly Wiring The wiring is very basic and covered with the PWM controller documentation. Basically the power goes from the power adapter, to the PWM controller, to the motor. Everything is labelled, it is super easy. The hardest part is attaching the wires to the motor. You can use a variety of methods, but a crimp on spade connector can work. Be sure to use the right gauge wire. I used 16 gauge because I had some from other projects. It's nice to use 2 different colors, pick one such as red for positive, black for ground and be consistent. Boxing There are allot of options. Mine is stuffed into a double gang electrical box ($2). I just drilled some holes and routed wires. Here is the inside For more details etc check out this thread: The results are detailed in another thread: Special Considerations: Tubing wears out and fails, you need to place the pump in a location such that if this happens, water will drain into the tank instead of onto the floor! Ideally monitor the flow with the APEX flow monitoring kit 1/4" adapter. That way when the tubing goes you can quickly replace it. Sound! This is a pretty quiet pump, but it is not as quiet as an MJ sitting underwater in the sump. So keep that in mind... Super Important: Don't turn down the pump so low that it does not run smoothly. That will overheat the motor as it is basically starting up from stopped several times per second. The pump should run smooth with no visible lurching... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Z Reef Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 Oh snap! Glad you did this! I had this pump saved in my eBay favs for future experiments. looking at the pump head...any chance you think 2 could be linked together for a stenner style dual head auto water change pump? You don't have any pics of the head removed? As you were mentioning, changing to a stepper would be cool too, would be interested to see the input shaft/pump head interface. keep on DIYing Jeremy! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bicyclebill Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 Awesome!!!!! I'm building one! Thanks Jeramy!!!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertareef Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 Nice writeup Jeremy! Thanks for putting this together. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted October 12, 2017 Author Share Posted October 12, 2017 9 hours ago, Blue Z Reef said: Oh snap! Glad you did this! I had this pump saved in my eBay favs for future experiments. looking at the pump head...any chance you think 2 could be linked together for a stenner style dual head auto water change pump? You don't have any pics of the head removed? As you were mentioning, changing to a stepper would be cool too, would be interested to see the input shaft/pump head interface. keep on DIYing Jeremy! That would be amazing! If you could track down the parts, I bet you could stack the heads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted October 12, 2017 Author Share Posted October 12, 2017 9 hours ago, Bicyclebill said: Awesome!!!!! I'm building one! Thanks Jeramy!!!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Right on Bill! I gotta say the SPS are liking this steady flow. Stuff I am babysitting is already growing new tips... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Exodus Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 Hey Jeremy looking at this project you picked up I see a potentiometer in which I assume adjusts the speed of the motor? whats the range of mL per Minute on that? I'm thinking on my new build of tacking on a peristaltic pump to use for when I drip acclimate, was looking at the Milwaukee one but having a variable speed might prove more efficient. Nice work by the way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted October 12, 2017 Author Share Posted October 12, 2017 28 minutes ago, Exodus said: Hey Jeremy looking at this project you picked up I see a potentiometer in which I assume adjusts the speed of the motor? whats the range of mL per Minute on that? I'm thinking on my new build of tacking on a peristaltic pump to use for when I drip acclimate, was looking at the Milwaukee one but having a variable speed might prove more efficient. Nice work by the way! Hi Exodus, I used a PWM controller. It has a potentiometer, but that varies the PWM frequency rather than directly interfacing with the motor. They work well on brushed DC motors if you don't turn them down too far. Sounds like a cool drip acclimate project, just be sure to get a much smaller peristaltic head. One of those 10 dollar ones should work great and they have a much lower flow. This one won't go much lower than 80 mls / minute I don't think without burning up the motor. Post back if you get her hooked up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted October 13, 2017 Author Share Posted October 13, 2017 Alk has been rock steady, I do believe this is making a difference. 9/25 - 164 9/26 - 162 9/29 - 168 10/4 - 166 10/5 - 164 10/12 - 166 Some of the deviations are just me dialing in the reactor PH for the new coral influx from Steve. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted October 26, 2017 Author Share Posted October 26, 2017 Update: Had my first peristaltic tubing rupture. Totally normal for persistaltic pumps, but I did not expect this only 15 days in. Replacement tubing took about 15 minutes to install, back up and running. Will report back how long this tubing lasts. In the mean time, I am going to find some masterflex tubing. It is reportedly much thicker and will last longer. On a high note: APEX alerted me flow had dropped. Pump was mounted over sump, so the drips went back into the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertareef Posted October 26, 2017 Share Posted October 26, 2017 23 minutes ago, TheClark said: Update: Had my first peristaltic tubing rupture. Totally normal for persistaltic pumps, but I did not expect this only 15 days in. Replacement tubing took about 15 minutes to install, back up and running. Will report back how long this tubing lasts. In the mean time, I am going to find some masterflex tubing. It is reportedly much thicker and will last longer. On a high note: APEX alerted me flow had dropped. Pump was mounted over sump, so the drips went back into the tank. Thanks for the update! This has always been the one drawback that concerns me with any peristaltic pump setup having used them for many years in a research setting. Glad you had the monitoring in place and the physical arrangement to mitigate the fallout! Keep us posted on the master flex tubing - still interested in experimenting but I don't (currently) have flow monitoring capacity so need something more reliable than 15 days! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted October 26, 2017 Author Share Posted October 26, 2017 28 minutes ago, albertareef said: Thanks for the update! This has always been the one drawback that concerns me with any peristaltic pump setup having used them for many years in a research setting. Glad you had the monitoring in place and the physical arrangement to mitigate the fallout! Keep us posted on the master flex tubing - still interested in experimenting but I don't (currently) have flow monitoring capacity so need something more reliable than 15 days! Yes, this is super disappointing. After going through the pump head and thinking about it, I am not sure that this motor could handle the thicker tubing at a lower flow without burning up. Might be back to the drawing board! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted October 26, 2017 Author Share Posted October 26, 2017 Looks like LS17 is the correct master flex tubing for this pump (3/8 od). I found a chunk of tygon 3/8s od for 20 bucks. Should be allot tougher than the silicone tubing that came with the pump. Will post back... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertareef Posted October 26, 2017 Share Posted October 26, 2017 18 minutes ago, TheClark said: Looks like LS17 is the correct master flex tubing for this pump (3/8 od). I found a chunk of tygon 3/8s od for 20 bucks. Should be allot tougher than the silicone tubing that came with the pump. Will post back... Should be interesting. I would worry that the tygon may start to compress/distort and not maintain even flow but will be will be curious to see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted October 26, 2017 Author Share Posted October 26, 2017 33 minutes ago, albertareef said: Should be interesting. I would worry that the tygon may start to compress/distort and not maintain even flow but will be will be curious to see. I'll be all over that metric with the flow meter! Its gotta be better than my previous MJ based flow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted October 26, 2017 Author Share Posted October 26, 2017 The flow was epic-ly stable before the tubing burst... So I am holding out hope that using better tubing like a masterflex will give more than a 15 day run time! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted November 3, 2017 Author Share Posted November 3, 2017 I am calling this experiment a bust! I had another motor burn up in the middle of the night. No CR flow for several hours. The peristlatic pump itself is great, the motor is junk... So I am gonna go on the hunt for a better motor and repeat this experiment down the road. For now I am back to my noisy plastic peristaltic, which ironically has been rock solid but quite loud! 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertareef Posted November 3, 2017 Share Posted November 3, 2017 2 hours ago, TheClark said: I am calling this experiment a bust! I had another motor burn up in the middle of the night. No CR flow for several hours. The peristlatic pump itself is great, the motor is junk... So I am gonna go on the hunt for a better motor and repeat this experiment down the road. For now I am back to my noisy plastic peristaltic, which ironically has been rock solid but quite loud! Bummer Jeremy. Guess I will have to live with my siphon feed for a while longer. Was working fine 'til my CO2 unexpectedly ran out... can't really blame that on flow control though. Keep us posted if you find a good alternative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted November 3, 2017 Author Share Posted November 3, 2017 Just now, albertareef said: Bummer Jeremy. Guess I will have to live with my siphon feed for a while longer. Was working fine 'til my CO2 unexpectedly ran out... can't really blame that on flow control though. Keep us posted if you find a good alternative. Thanks! I am going to mess with a stepper motor, wifi controller, and better tubing for the next prototype. Will post back! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted December 17, 2017 Author Share Posted December 17, 2017 The dream is still alive! I swapped out pumps six weeks ago and it has been going strong! The only downside is noise. These things make some noise, but they are rock solid. This pump uses Tygon tubing. I also use these pumps for topoff and ATO from the garage. Those ones have been in service for at least a couple of years with not tubing breaks. Speaking of the garage, since this pump is noisy, I moved the pump to the garage. I just ran tubing all the way to the garage and back (about 30' horizontal, 8' vertical). It pumps with 0 issue and now the noise is in a better place. The calcium reactor was not moved, it is still right under the tank. Kind of a nice bonus of peristaltic. So, this is basically the exact build as described at the beginning of this thread, but use this pump instead: Ebay 29 bucks, https://www.ebay.com/i/161666772861?chn=ps Or amazon, with prime, 33 bucks https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DER02OE/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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