ok, i've been trying to figure out a cost effective way to build a
dosing pump for my additives (strontium, idodide, trace elements, etc..) wthout shelling out the hundreds of dollars for a fancy one.
so i stumbled across some plans on ozreef last night. the plans i saw worked by siphon, and looked like they would only work with one additive. so i modified quiet a bit, and here is what i came up with.
simplified version:
timer to control and airpump.
airpump feeds into a check valve, then into a 5 way gange valve
the gange valve feeds into 5 sealed jars.
the air displaces the liquid, forcing it out an exit tube, and into the sump.
i picked up some airtight food storage container jars. then will drill holes in the top (2). the holes will be fileld with rigid airline tube. a short piece and a long piece. the short piece will be for incoming air from the gange valve / air pump. the long piece will go to the bottom and will be connected to a soft hose that feeds the liquid to the sump.
the jars are airtight. so the only air that can get in will be from the hose. as this happens, the air will displace the liquid and send it out to the sump. when the pump shuts off, the liquid will stop flowing, because its pressurized and there will not be a siphon since the exit hose will be higher than the jars.
the determining factor for how much liquid will be dosed, should be a number of things. 1. how long the timer runs. 2. how long the hoses are to and from each container. 3. how much air is being fed to each container.
so, with the gange valve, i should be able to adjust how much air is fed to each, if i want more or less dosing from the individual additives. if i need more than what the dose can feed, then the pump timer will be set to run longer.
i jsut got back from picking everyhting up, and getting ready to connect it all now, and do some tests and tweaks (with plain water). i'll post photos as i go along.
overall cost was:
digital timer : 17.00
air pump: 8.00
flexible silicone hose: 2.00
rigid airline tube: 2.00
check valve: 2.50
airline T : 1.50
5 plastic jars with airtight lids: 5.00
5 way gange valve: 4.00
total cost was 42.00 bucks.
i could have gotten some of the stuff cheaper had i only bought the airline by the foot, for as much as i needed, but i prefer the flexible blue silicone stuff. i could also have purchased the containers much cheaper if they were ordered...but...gotta have it now
the airline t valve could have been skipped, had i gone with a bigger. 2 output pump. but i bought cheapo single output pump, so it has slower flow. but i wanted the t valve so i could send air in both sides of the gang valve, rather than spending all night trying to adjust each one since the air would only come in one size.
anyway, here is the original sketch. getting ready to hook it all up now, then i'll post some pics.. .IF it works
every one of them!!!
