Intake mod...save lives!

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I am making one just like yours Tom. It is going to work great. More holes to drill. I accidently put my hand in front of my intake and I thought it was going to pull my fingernails off. Pump is an Ampmaster 7500.

Les

Have you gotten this done yet? Lets see some pix when you get it done.
 
Nope. Not done yet. I have been reconfiguring the sump and looking into a pump leak. I am not sure if it was the O ring seal or the fact that I found the pump housing cracked. I took the pump apart last night and couldn't see any internal cracks, just on the outside around some of the strengthening ribs and mounting posts. I may try to inject some super glue or maybe some epoxy on all the cracks and at least get it replumbed into the system to see what it is going to do. Worst case is to send it to Dolphin and have them install a new wet end on it. That way they guarantee it.

I am still having lots of trouble with the cloudiness of the water from the sand so am going to try to run it through some fiberfill floss and hopefully get it cleared up. Might start that tonight.

That is neat finding people here with ties to Kokomo.

Reefdaddy == I have a couple of acres in AZ in northern Mohave County just about 8 or 10 miles south of Lake Mead close to Gregg's Hideout Road. Thought about retiring there in a few years but it now looks like it may be Virginia since there is a grandchild on the way.

Les
 
Great thread! I'm going to have to get on the band wagon and make this screen also. I lost a swallowtail and an anemone to the intakes on my CL. I have pictures of it if anyone wants to see. It's quite grusome so i'll wait for a reponse. I'll make the screen next sunday. Todays the chiller plumbing day.
 
I just lost all 5 fish in my tank due to a cucumber getting sucked into my intake. Is there any way I could get someone to send me the dimensions for these? Better yet anyone want to build me two...I'll drill the holes :D:D
 
Reefdaddy == I have a couple of acres in AZ in northern Mohave County just about 8 or 10 miles south of Lake Mead close to Gregg's Hideout Road. Thought about retiring there in a few years but it now looks like it may be Virginia since there is a grandchild on the way.

Les


I pass there alot going to Vegas. Lots better weather here then VA. Just have the Kids mail order the Grand kid so you can see em. LOL,
 
Here are pics of the strainer I made. It is 14" long to cover both inputs to the pump. I don't have enough water in the tank yet to try it out but it should work just fine.

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1/4" holes. Lots of them.

Do you think they are too big??

What size did you use? I just went through the thread and didn't find a mention of hole size anywhere.

I can always make another. It wasn't hard to do..
 
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Hi all,

Commercially made versions of this idea are available. I have seen them at SDC for wholesale to fish stores and I have seen them installed in hot tubs. It may be worth a look at your local pool store or online places. They aren't as big, but may be worth experimenting with.

HTH

Adam
 
1/4" holes. Lots of them.

Do you think they are too big??

What size did you use? I just went through the thread and didn't find a mention of hole size anywhere.

I can always make another. It wasn't hard to do..

If I remember right I used 1/8" will have to check though. Mine has been working great, I even had a lettuce nudi on mine without any problems sucking him in.
 
I found another function for these also. Because of the low water level in the tank I was having trouble with vortexes forming and introducing air into the intakes. When I put the screen in place it broke up the water flow enough to eliminate the vortex action and my CL went totally silent except for the motor hum.
 
Hi all,

Good point about this being the DIY forum, but for me DIY is either a way to save money or to build something I couldn't otherwise get. If I could buy this thing for $10 instead of spending $8 on acrylic and a couple of hours in the shop, I would spend the $10

Now for some real DIY thinking... If you want to be sure you are adequately diffusing the suction on the intake, you can calculate the cross sectional area of the bulkhead and compare it to the area of the holes.

For example, a 1" bulkhead has about 0.78 in^2 of cross sectional area (pi*r^2 or 3.14 x .5 x .5) An 1/8" hole has about .05 in^2 of area, so you would need about 16 of them to equal a 1" bulkhead. I personally would like to see that suction diffused over about four times the cross sectional area to be safe, and I would want the holes to be far enough apart so that no animal would easily be able to cover more than about a third of the holes.

Hope this helps with design!

Adam
 
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