My Beast DIY Skimmer!!!

[aquawolf]

That looks good Jnicho.

Let me ask you this now, can you mesh mod the impeller for any skimmer pump or only certain ones?

[OneDummHikk]

Just about any pump that you can get the impeller out of and are willing to do what it takes to be able to attach the mesh to it. When doing one, it isn't necessary, but it is a good idea to test the pump with a kill-a-watt meter before and after the mod. If it isn't a pump that someone else has mod'ded before, it would be a good idea to make sure you could get a replacement impeller just in case the mesh mod was more detrimental than beneficial.

What kind of pump are you thinking about trying to mod?

[aquawolf]

Thanks Randy.

I was thinking about an MJ1200, a RIO 1700, and possibly the King Sun pumps that came with the Octopus Dual HOT Skimmer.

I have plenty of parts for the MJ1200 and RIO 1700.

[OneDummHikk]

To be honest, trying to mesh mod a MJ (Any of them) isn't really worth the effort unless you can build a custom housing for the impeller. Even then, it will take a custom shaft for it. If you look at the impeller in an MJ1200, it is only 1/4" tall. If you look at the housing, there is 3/8" there to work with. Means there is an 1/8" gap around the impeller to prevent rubbing. If you cut the blades down to 1/8", that only leaves you 1/8", possibly 3/16", to put mesh in it. By the time you split the mesh down to get it 1/8" thick, it is going to want to fall apart. Then you would have to glue it to the impeller. You definitely couldn't use zip ties. I think you would see better results simply by drilling 1/8" holes in the impeller centered on the impeller and a lot less headaches.

The reason you would have to have a custom impeller shaft if you tried to make a larger volute for the MJ is because of the shaft wobbling in the pump. If it doesn't support the end of the shaft, it wobbles and if you made the volute (the outlet cap) longer to allow for more mesh, you would need a longer shaft in it to support it.

The Rio 1700 I would have to either find mine or you post pics of the impeller that is in it and the volute that is on it along with dimensions. Same for the King Sun pump.

[OneDummHikk]

Originally Posted by Jnicho

Doesn't look like I ever followed up...I assume you have answered these questions already.

Mostly I did. I have to change mine to use a 3" neck instead of a 2" and going to try a slower pump. I think the reason the air bubbles come back out of the drain is the pump is running too fast and the neck prevents the air from being able to escape fast enough so it simply sucks them out of the drain.

[Jnicho]

Ya mine shoots a lot of bubbles out the drain too...but they don't get far enough in the sump to cause any trouble.

[Jnicho]

I think Randy pretty well said it all...but you can mesh mod just about anything...smaller pumps are gonna be a challenge though...and things like MJ's that have small paddle wheel impellers are tough. I think the type I showed where the impeller is a flat disk with "fins" are probably the easiest to do.

[aquawolf]

Thanks guys. I will take a look at the impeller's on those other pumps.

[OneDummHikk]

The Rio 1700 impeller is going to have the same issue as the maxijet impeller. Its a paddle wheel design and isn't going to be friendly to being mesh modded.
http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewIt...ct~TA4529.html

I couldn't find anything on a King Sun pump.

If you have an extra impeller, trim the paddle wheels down to 1/16" tall. Then glue a flat piece of thin plastic on it (something the thickness of a 2 liter drink bottle), then attach the mesh to that. Instead of using the stiff mesh, look in the grocery section for a green scrub pad. You can also get them in the paint department at Walmart. They are about 1/8" thick and don't have the hole size that the normal mesh has on it.

Probably the best thing to try to use for the plastic plate is the bottom of a ziploc container. Hard plastic, flat, and simply find one to cut up.

[aquawolf]

Thanks for the tips Randy. I don't know if I am going to be that brave with them or not, but I am going to give the RIO some serious thought. I need to clean the King Suns so I will get a good look at them probably this weekend.

[OneDummHikk]

Originally Posted by OneDummHikk

Mostly I did. I have to change mine to use a 3" neck instead of a 2" and going to try a slower pump. I think the reason the air bubbles come back out of the drain is the pump is running too fast and the neck prevents the air from being able to escape fast enough so it simply sucks them out of the drain.

I did some more testing with mine and the neck diameter isn't the issue. The pump is simply too much for the skimmer. I removed the top of it completely and it still pulled air bubbles back through the drain. It is either too much water flow or a bad placement of the drain. The pump I am using came off of a Coralife SS125 and the dimensions are smaller than what I have now so I have to do some research to figure it out.

[aquawolf]

Good luck with getting the proper size pump thing sorted out. Is it possible to put a gate valve near the pump side to throttle it down some?

[OneDummHikk]

Originally Posted by aquawolf

Good luck with getting the proper size pump thing sorted out. Is it possible to put a gate valve near the pump side to throttle it down some?

Its possible. That may end up being what I have to do for now, if for nothing else than testing to see if that solves the issue or not. Just not sure how well the valve would do with the air part of it. Whether it would cause problems of its own or not.

[aquawolf]

I am not sure either, it just seems like a bunch of people have theirs throttled back with gate valves so I figured it might be worth a shot for you.

[paintballe48]

im going to make something just like this can you please recomend me a good pump to use? that mesh is an awsome mod also