Diy Skimmer

[DonW]

I decided to go ahead and do another diy skimmer. Should be pretty drawn out due to lack of time and finishing touches. The body will be 8" and the neck 4". The pump will most likely be the H&S Eheim needle wheel, same as the Deltec.
First thing will be to reinvent a easy neck flange. I dont want any keyhole or twist locks just a simple push fit. Here is the first idea, a lip seal.

Don

 

[les]

Don,
I use a CNC mill for my flanges.

 

[DonW]

Don,
I use a CNC mill for my flanges.

Its not the making of the flange I'm avoiding. I can do just about anything with a router that a cnc will do. Its the day to day removal for cleaning and orings I dont want to deal with.

Don

 

[wanareef]

Don

Looks promising - what type of material are you using?

this was my last skimmer that I made for a club member

 

[Krish]

Best of luck McGuyver on yet another project!(LOL) I know it will come out just fine

 

[DonW]

Best of luck McGuyver on yet another project!(LOL) I know it will come out just fine

If all else fails I'll do another one like this. I tossed the jig so I'd have to build another first.

 

[DonW]

Since I posted this last night, Ive received 117 emails asking me to do a twistlock flange.
I'm going to go ahead and give in and try another one if I have enough acrylic for the jig in my attic. I'm sure the rest of the parts are in my junk drawer.
There are two types of twist lock flanges, open and closed. Deltec uses the open on their skimmers and the closed on their reactors. The one posted above is the open. Both are built exactly the same way except for the sealing surface. One seals before the lock ramps and the other seals after. Either type uses 3 pieces of acrylic not four like the typicle diy flange. If you look very closely at the deltec you can see the lamination on the open flange. You need 2 pieces of 3/8 or thicker and 1 piece of 1/4. You can use all thick stuff but that makes a chunky looking flange.

For a 4" neck flange jig you need:
4-1979 Chevy 1/2 ton suburban rear brake backing plate springs and locks. These are cheap from most auto parts stores.
4- Marbles, swipe these from your kids. Most regular auto repair shops have 1/2 ball bearings rolling around somewhere near the press.
1 7/16-14 x 1 1/4 bolt. There is a bit of trial and error here but the smaller the flange the less number of threads per inch you need. On my 12" 3/8-16 was perfect.
1 7/16-14 tap
1 3/8 drill bit
1 7/16 drill bit

More later
Don

 

[DonW]

The parts for the ramping jig.

 

[rivdog]

Don, would love to see your original idea. Something fresh. Could it be a bayonet style(ie: 2 orings on an insertable 2 piece riser?) Anyways, your thoughts on this style removable neck? Seems to me there is no simpler. Why are they not more popular. I'm a fan, and hope for a reply soon

 

[DonW]

Don, would love to see your original idea. Something fresh. Could it be a bayonet style(ie: 2 orings on an insertable 2 piece riser?) Anyways, your thoughts on this style removable neck? Seems to me there is no simpler. Why are they not more popular. I'm a fan, and hope for a reply soon

I guess the only draw back would be no locking mechanism. I guess you could knock the cup off by accident. If you look at the origonal picture, thats a piece of 4" tube. It measures 3.97" and the seal is a rear main seal for a 93 chev s10 truck with a 2.2L. The crank just happens to be 3.97"

Don

 

[rivdog]

So would the seal insert into the neck? or would it be mounted on a flange, and the cup tube inserted into it? What im talking about looks like this, it looks much easier than any easy off that ive seen http://www.aquariumliquidators.com/AV2ProteinSkimmer.htm

 

[DonW]

So would the seal insert into the neck? or would it be mounted on a flange, and the cup tube inserted into it? What im talking about looks like this, it looks much easier than any easy off that ive seen http://www.aquariumliquidators.com/AV2ProteinSkimmer.htm

That would be just be to darn simple. If you used a 1/4 thick neck you can easily cut oring grooves.

Don

 

[rivdog]

Soooooo, why not do that, im kinda new and have been wondering why this design isnt popular. USP sells 1/4" increments in tube

 

[DonW]

Soooooo, why not do that, im kinda new and have been wondering why this design isnt popular. USP sells 1/4" increments in tube

I'm doing the twist lock because I had many request. I personally would not use that design. I dont see the seals lasting to long and this going to be a external skimmer.

Don

 

[rivdog]

Fire away

 

[Tiny Giants]

Don,
I am here to see how your jig is made. I am still fighting with mine. When I made mine, I had trouble getting the ramp to go under the flange to create the lock. There was so little "ramp" that I am having trouble getting the o-ring to compress. Now I am ramping both halves.
I am betting that your method is more elegant than the kludge of a jig I built.

Dale

 

[DonW]

Now I am ramping both halves.

Dale

Dale,

You really should be ramping both halves anyways. This puts the pressure in the center of the wings. Otherwise you just have the one edge.

Don

 

[Tiny Giants]

I started another set with the reciever ramped, and it has multiplied my amount of compression and spread out the force as you mentioned. I just need to try it put in the o-ring groove and test it again. Maybe this weekend.

As a side not I tried my hand at flame polish of the parts. They have little stress fractures in them now. I am betting that being extruded did not help. That and applying to much heat....

Thanks Don for the help.

Dale

 

[Little B]

That sounds really cool, but I am confused on the ramping part. Could you please post pics of your jig in action? I think I have the basic idea down but as far as machining the ramps Im lost there

 

[btuck]

Hey Don anymore on this jig....