In Wall - going for it! - seeking your ideas/feedback/advice

[class clown]

Today was a busy work day (yes I do have a real job besides reefing:lol, so didn't get as much done as I was hoping. However, I did glue my first plumbing parts together (the one's that go in the wall) and mudded half of it up so that Scott and I can finish hanging the rest of the tin tomorrow and complete the ventalation.

don't worry, I'll sand it tomorrow so it doens't look so bumpy

 

[Scooterman]

Looking good Ben, considering I think the plumbing is fairly neat, hard to get any better & still get maximum flow. I was watching wild kingdom about octopuses off a volcanic shelf & man the waters were shifting directions in seconds, so fast I couldn't see how we could duplicate that but at least you have a good grip on it with this design.
One last note, the MBV, I had continuous issues with the Teflon seats that sealed the ball, I'll have to post pictures because of how mangled they were last time it was squeaking so much, I removed them & eliminated all friction on the ball, super quite now & seems to be working better than ever, I know you won't need to worry about being that quite but they were actually breaking the ball so this should eliminate that, I see no need to totally have the ball sealed when switching, not like we're mixing chemicals, water seem to take to the least path of resistance, flow doesn't seem to be affected at all, hope it last this time LOL!
Ok regardless your project is looking great, nice progress!

 

[trido]

Dont forget to stuff some insulation into those stud bays!!
Not only will it help with heating it will help with noise issues.

 

[Snowboarda42]

4 Days from today, You'll have yourself a sexy lighting rack made by me!

I hope your fish don't miss the lighting for a while...

BTW, I like ham on my grilled cheese...

 

[class clown]

Scott came over today and helped me finish of the ventalation - it not only works great, but it's functional too. Thanks again Scott for helping me out, coming out multiple times, and for letting me borrow the various sizes of hole saws - you're a life saver!

And to show you how much I appreciate you, here's a candid camera shot (sorry, I know you hate pics, but I couldn't resist)

And here's the final product....

 

[Jan]

It looks impressive, but I'm not really sure what I'm looking at. Could you "walk us through it?"

 

[jesshimom]

The final product doesn't look very impressive. Oh maybe we are looking at the unimpressive side. (Looking at the tank back with covering. )

 

[Scooterman]

Looks like a by-pass over the interstate
Nice work Scott, all I have to say Ben is you got lucky to get great help, I have a feeling Scott may want some Frags later

 

[class clown]

Great help indeed Scooty!
Jan/colleen -you guys are funny. yep it's the backside Colleeen what you're looking at here at the sideways U shape metal pipe is a little creativity that Scott and i came up with so my wife and I can continue to have air ciruclation in two rooms upstairs. You see, when we initially cut into the wall, we found two big ole' ventalation pipes smack dab in the middle of where the tank was supposed to go:shock::shock::shock:. Instead of just cutting these off all together and capping them which would leave us no heat or air cirulation in our upstairs guest bathroom and bedroom, we brought the pipes out of the wall both above and below the tank and rerouted them to the side of the tank:idea:. I think it looks awesome and it's functional! Scott did an excellent job. It kinda has an industrial feel to it which I like. Of course, when i peel of the protectant coat of paper on the outside of the tank, I think you'll appreciate it more, but that's probably not for another couple of weeks.

I'm borrowing my neighbors metal saw and hope to make some progress on the light rack today -we'll at least making the initial cuts that is.

Duane is also coming over and we're going to measure out the electrical and put together a parts list. should be fun!

 

[Scooterman]

If you add a sub panel, I'd install all AFCI breakers! ARC Faults will trip in the event of two wires shorting, arcing thus really beneficial in preventing a fire, the cost of a small sub panel with these breakers is worth it. From there you can dedicate which circuits you want GFCI's try & get all pumps, heaters, anything that goes in water on these. In some cases lighting has had issues with GFCI's for some reason, I really haven't seen the situation to try & figure out why but have a few guesses, regardless, you may need some power not on the GFCI's. I guess you'll have all this insured, If so they may require the GFCI's on everything, also Electrical codes require it anywhere near water, Insurance would be worth having on this much of an investment.
Few more thoughts!

 

[Snowboarda42]

Great help indeed Scooty!
...I'm borrowing my neighbors metal saw and hope to make some progress on the light rack today -we'll at least making the initial cuts that is.

I expect to be impressed with this rack!

 

[danno14]

Since you are doing electrical, may I suggest you put in a gentran for the generator at the same time? It would cost considerably less now than as a later add-on.....

 

[danno14]

Admired the ductwork..... a good "tim man" is worth their weight!

 

[spongebob lover]

dood your behind looks good and i think your rack is gonna look pretty awesome .
I can't wait to see more updates

 

[class clown]

good advice on the electrical guys.. Duane (Trido) is coming over today and we hope to make some good progress on it. I'd love to have one of those auto generator switches b/c it's a pain not to have one. I hope I can find one for a decent price though.

Scooty - I also like the idea of a seperate circuit breaker box - we'll see where today takes us.

Gabs- your a goof and I love ya for it.

Elliot - Here's a couple shots of my progress on the light rack so far. I'm trying to figure out a sleek way to provide better support to the bar that the luminarcs will be suspended from - if you have any ideas, let me know...

metal band saw work..

side view (right now, now welds, just tape )

top view..

 

[szidls]

Hey Ben, The rack is taking shape. You can add a couple short gussets on each end of the rack. Just miter some more tubing @ 45 deg to go from the purpendicular to the frame base. You could also do this in the center of the top tube down to the bottom frame. Sorry my puter drawing is terrible but hope you get the idea.
Scott

 

[Jan]

dood your behind looks good and i think your rack is gonna look pretty awesome .

Gaby--watch your language! Ben is a married man and besides, this is a family forum! :lol:

 

[spongebob lover]

Gaby--watch your language! Ben is a married man and besides, this is a family forum!

now what did i say?? i was just trying to complement Ben about the back/behind of the tank and well the rack is gonna be awesome, now that you got a dirty mind ....well that's just not my fault :lol: .

 

[class clown]

Made some good progress on electrical yesterday and we'll finish her up today - we used peanut breakers in the existing box so we didn't have to use a seperate box which'll give it a cleaner look.

I researched the gentran's and boy they are expensive (~ $300)- anyone know where I can get a good price on one?

I'll share some more photos once we get her finished up later today, but here's the plan...

3 double boxes underneath the stand.
1 double box above the stand for the lights
1 double box over by the sump.
6 GFCI's
4 20Amp circuit breakers
4 regular outlets

Shot of Duane doing his thang..

Long metal conduit run to the box...

 

[CarlaW]

Gettin close!!!