To meshmod or not to meshmod

[nbradley88]

I had heard great things and had planned on meshmodding 2 sedra 15000 pumps ive ordered for a DIY Recirc skimmer project i have going on, but now ive read in a few places that yes the meshmods do draw more air and chop it finer but your processing less water and putting strain on the pump because of it, and as said before you may not be cleaning enough water, but thats taking into consideration that i will be using a gate valve so i dont see that being an issue as to how much water is being processed, just seeing if anyone had any input to the real difference between a meshmod and just a plain needle wheel

[Geoff]

pumps do not like to be run lean. the gate valve will need to be on the outlet and not on the inlet to the pump. restricting the inlet will cause the pump to overheat and shorten its life. this is what can happen with mesh mods. you are removing the load on the motor and causing it to spin easier than it was designed. not necessarily a good thing when it comes to motors.

G~

[firsthesitation]

Hmm. Here and I bought the stuff to do my Sedra 5000 already.... Can honestly say in my reading I never ran across anybody with problems with this mod so this is a first....

[OneDummHikk]

Before modding it, I would get a Kill-A-Watt meter. You can order one from Harbor Freight if there isn't one in your area. They aren't that expensive. About 30 dollars. They cover more than just the wattage a particular item is using. Mine will give me PF readings (Power Factor) among other things. You want to watch the power factor and wattage draw. They usually go together on modding pumps. As you mod it, test it and you will see the wattage change and the power factor change. How much change you can make depends on the pump.

I will look tonight or tomorrow and see if I can find my notes and what the threshold on the Sedra 5000 is but I think you should be alright since a lot of people are meshing them without issue. The Kill-A-Watt meter will also let you see the power difference when adding/removing layers or modifying it.