New Sump Design

[Peppie]

Talked to Mike today up at OBD.
He has been very busy at the store and still had time to totally design a NEW Sump System.

I gotta say.. This is one sweet looking functional filtration tool!!!

Looking forward to seeing it on the self in the next couple of months.

 

[Derbird]

No pictures or drawings. I must not have happened

 

[BEAU_RN]

OBD has some sweet custom sump layouts!!!

 

[mojoreef]

Yea trying to put the finishing touches on it, should be ready to build this week.

It has a built in reservoir on the lefts for ATO, then a couple of other reservoirs in the back of that for calcium and alkalinity, dual sock tray, reactor row, skimmer chamber, a couple of media trays, and then the output chamber for the return pump. The unit will have a white acrylic top with clear lids to reduce evaporation and will have all the plumbing in place for the ato, dosing pump, and return pump. On another note all the skimmers (we will now have 10", 8" and 6") have been redesigned with a folding bubble tray and holder (so you can remove it) and a new twist lock for removing the cup. Also if you look at the base of the skimmer we built in a kind of key lock so the skimmer doesnt twist when you twist the cup. . On the reactor side we redesigned them also, they all now have twist lock lids (instead of the push inn seal) and new stands for them to sit on. The model in the picture would be the standard one and then someone who wants a refugium instead we can altar that to. As always these sumps can be modified to fit any cabinet or size.


hope you like it.


Mike

 

[mfinn]

On another note all the skimmers (we will now have 10", 8" and 6") have been redesigned with a folding bubble tray and holder (so you can remove it) and a new twist lock for removing the cup. Also if you look at the base of the skimmer we built in a kind of key lock so the skimmer doesnt twist when you twist the cup. .


hope you like it.


Mike

Is there a possiblity of retrofitting the previous skimmer design with the new improvements?

 

[mojoreef]

I believe I could with most of them Martin. Can you shoot me a call when you get a moment, I wanted to ask you a couple of questions on your issue.

425-466-9854

Mike

 

[mfinn]

and a new twist lock for removing the cup. Also if you look at the base of the skimmer we built in a kind of key lock so the skimmer doesnt twist when you twist the cup. .




Mike

I forgot to ask about that.
Have a picture of the new design?

 

[Peppie]

I'm thinking you should build a 5' model for R&D purpose. I would be willing to give you all the data collected on evaporation rates, with and without lids.
Did I mention that my stand is about 5'-6''

Looks good bud!

I didnt think a picture would be posted until the unit was built. SURPRISE !!!!

 

[mojoreef]

LOL Dave anything for you brother!

So a made a few final changes and now it goes into production.

 

[glweek]

wow that looks awesome!

 

[Ichthys]

Mike, I am going to ask the obvious difficult question. I have always been a fan of your skimmer design since first seeing them at the Bob Moore. I am happy with my OBD skimmer, it performs well, and I am very happy to see you have taken some of my feedback into account in your new design with the twist resistant base to make for easier cup removal. So here goes....

The entire skimmer industry is constantly evolving and has always been a compromise between the science of fractionation, the cost of fabrication, and the available materials, (ie the new DC controllable pumps that many skimmers are going to). When there is a design feature that becomes standard in the industry, the hobbyist believes that that design feature is necessary. ie everyone is doing it so it must be the right thing to do. Now that being said, there are not many skimmers out there using air stones anymore, yet you have provided a sound and reasonable argument as to why your design with the new non clogging air stones is superior, and I am a fan of that. However... and here comes my question finally.... the inclusion of the cone design, or at the very least a cone neck to focus, concentrate, and direct the skimmate as it rises seems to be the preferred method yielding best results. Your new skimmer design does away with the cone neck in favor of a straight tube with no focusing transition. It would appear to this under-educated hobbyist that this is being done simply to achieve an easier and more cost effective build process as I know it is difficult and time consuming to fabricate those cone necks. It would seem you lose a little in skimming efficiency in this trade-off. If this is the case, I understand, you have many challenges in re-birthing OBD and getting product on the shelves in a timely manner is important. However, I wanted to afford you the opportunity to explain the change, and if there is sound reasoning behind the switch that does not detract from performance, if there is a reason other than cost and time savings in the build process, I would enjoy learning about it.

Thanks for your time and contributions to the furtherment of the hobby,
Ichthys.
PS I considered posting this in the OBD skimmer thread, but this thread is where your new skimmer design showed up first.

 

[mfinn]

Damn, where's the like button?

 

[Skimmy]

opcorn:

yeah mike... answer the question!! LOL

And actually I can hear him talking in my head now.. " what the hell do you want a stupid cone for? are you trying to stop traffic?"
I'm going to guess that mike will suggest that the cone shape takes too much volume away from the reaction chamber.
Which leads me to my question, What about a reaction chamber that is the exact same volume, but merely cone shaped? Or even just a cone transition?
So that it would be a slightly larger than the cylinder shaped body, but identical volume. And while I personally like cone skimmers better, I do feel that it is more important to have the reaction chamber matched to the air and water volume. If you do this with your skimmer design, then it doesn't matter too much if it's a cone or not.

 

[Ichthys]

Actually, looking at his old vs new design, taking the cone neck away and replacing it with a flat top actually reduces overall skimmer volume as there is now a flat piece of acrylic at the top of the cylinder where there used to be a cone... it doesn't look like the height of the cylinder has changed any, just lost the cone transition in favor of a flat top.

 

[ksed]

If you want to have a full cone skimmer from (top to bottom) with the same volume as a cylinder skimmer , the cone would have a much larger foot print. On the other hand if you have a cone transition you would not loose as much. Personally I believe all you need is a cone transition for the benefits of a cone, if there is any benefits to begin with. JMO.

 

[Peppie]

IMO,
If you set both style skimmers side by side on the same system, cleaning the same dirty water, adjusted as close as possible to the same air/water mix, ect, ect.
You would be hard pressed to see a difference in the skim mate produced by either unit.

The cost of the cone does not justify the performance. IMO

 

[Ichthys]

after reading the entire thread over at RC and the way that discussion devolved into absurdity, I am removing my reference to it and retract my questions.

 

[BEAU_RN]

Man, this sump design totally simplifies my future upgrade plans from a 40B to either a 125 or 180 gallon reef. It's nice to see the layouts and you definitely can't go wrong with custom acrylic sumps from OBD!

 

[Scooterman]

Mike you should go into business and sell these LOL

LOL Dave anything for you brother!

So a made a few final changes and now it goes into production.