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DIY Project DIY Inline heater

like the idea, how much flow are you putting through this. Will the heater create a restriction
 
Re thermostat
No used it on aquarium (I have a Ghl system), however this
www.ebay.co.uk

Digital LCD PID REX-C100 Temperature Controller +K Thermocouple+40A SSR Set U1A9 | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Digital LCD PID REX-C100 Temperature Controller +K Thermocouple+40A SSR Set U1A9 at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.
www.ebay.co.uk
Could be used, i have used these on other applications, they work well, you would need a k type thermocouple suitable for water, and a case, no electronics wizardry required, just electrical common sense
 
ScareCrow said:
I've been following along as I'll probably do something like this in the future.
I appreciate it's too late now but it just occurred to me, could you use pvc compression fittings at either end of the clear tube and then use washing machine hose tail connectors to give you the connection to your filter pipe? I'm sure I read that you were connecting to the clear pipe with silicone as solvent weld would damage it (can't find it again now), compression fittings would get round that. If I've got that correct, I think that'll be the weakest point.
Click to expand...
I guess that could work as well. All roads lead to Rome. I'm not a DIYer, so I just followed what other people have done. In this case a YouTube video by "The king of DIY". The clear tube I used is acrylic, because that's what I had lying around. I reckon it will hold, as the pressure is not that high. If it leaks, then I can take it apart and solvent weld it to the PVC tube.
ScareCrow said:
Your hose connectors are at either end are a lot like bulk head fittings with the nut doing the mechanical holding and the silicone is just acting as a gasket, according to your diagram. So unless you disconnect the unit from the filter a lot I think the silicone will work ok. If the nut becomes lose it'll probably leak. You could add a drop of superglue to the thread where the top of the nut is to help stop the nut working loose.
Click to expand...
Exactly, they're like bulk head fittings. I'll definitely add some superglue. Thanks for that!
 
fredi said:
like the idea, how much flow are you putting through this. Will the heater create a restriction
Click to expand...
According to Fluval's website, the flow rate of the 107 filter is 550 lt/hr. But, I wouldn't be surprised if the actual figure's 2/3 or even less. As you can see in the photo (post #19) the outflow hosetail is smaller (12mm) than the inflow (14mm). That will create a restriction, not the heater itself. And that was my plan, so that the water stays a bit longer in the "heating chamber". I could be wrong though, physics was not my strong suit at school.
 
fredi said:
Re thermostat
No used it on aquarium (I have a Ghl system), however this
www.ebay.co.uk

Digital LCD PID REX-C100 Temperature Controller +K Thermocouple+40A SSR Set U1A9 | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Digital LCD PID REX-C100 Temperature Controller +K Thermocouple+40A SSR Set U1A9 at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.
www.ebay.co.uk
Could be used, i have used these on other applications, they work well, you would need a k type thermocouple suitable for water, and a case, no electronics wizardry required, just electrical common sense
Click to expand...
"The item is out of stock" 😛
 
FrankR said:
"The item is out of stock" 😛
Click to expand...
Sorry
I just copied and pasted from a fairly recent purchase 😩
This is the same i think
Its a generic controller, sold by many sellers, i have purchased the same unit from different sellers in the past, i usually search for whoever is selling it for the least😂😂
Because i am tight😂😂😂👍👍
Size#2 is what you want, but would require waterproof ktype thermocouple

www.ebay.co.uk

REX-C100 PID Temperature Controller 100-240V + 40A SSR +K Thermocouple EWEXA F7 | eBay

Max.40A SSR. 1 x Max.40A SSR. Materail: Aluminium alloy. Aluminum Alloy Heat Sink. Detective temperature range: 0 to 400 Celsius. Cold-end compensation tolerance: +/-2 Celsius(can be modified by software in 0~50 Celsius).
www.ebay.co.uk
 
FrankR said:
According to Fluval's website, the flow rate of the 107 filter is 550 lt/hr. But, I wouldn't be surprised if the actual figure's 2/3 or even less. As you can see in the photo (post #19) the outflow hosetail is smaller (12mm) than the inflow (14mm). That will create a restriction, not the heater itself. And that was my plan, so that the water stays a bit longer in the "heating chamber". I could be wrong though, physics was not my strong suit at school.
Click to expand...
If it were me i would use the same size outlet as inlet
You can check whether there’s a restriction to flow by calculating the area of the inside diameter of the hosetail
Then measure the id (inside diameter) of your pipe, calculate the area, measure the outside diameter of your heater, calculate the area, subtract heater area from pipe id area, you have area for water flow, this doesn’t want to be much less that area of id of hosetail
 
fredi said:
Sorry
I just copied and pasted from a fairly recent purchase 😩
This is the same i think
Its a generic controller, sold by many sellers, i have purchased the same unit from different sellers in the past, i usually search for whoever is selling it for the least😂😂
Because i am tight😂😂😂👍👍
Size#2 is what you want, but would require waterproof ktype thermocouple

www.ebay.co.uk

REX-C100 PID Temperature Controller 100-240V + 40A SSR +K Thermocouple EWEXA F7 | eBay

Max.40A SSR. 1 x Max.40A SSR. Materail: Aluminium alloy. Aluminum Alloy Heat Sink. Detective temperature range: 0 to 400 Celsius. Cold-end compensation tolerance: +/-2 Celsius(can be modified by software in 0~50 Celsius).
www.ebay.co.uk
Click to expand...
Hey @fredi , I was joking. Hence the smiley. No need to apologise. Thanks for the link!
 
fredi said:
If it were me i would use the same size outlet as inlet
You can check whether there’s a restriction to flow by calculating the area of the inside diameter of the hosetail
Then measure the id (inside diameter) of your pipe, calculate the area, measure the outside diameter of your heater, calculate the area, subtract heater area from pipe id area, you have area for water flow, this doesn’t want to be much less that area of id of hosetail
Click to expand...
My lily pipes are 12mm, so I could either use a 12mm hosetail or a 14mm and then a reducer. I chose the first option as it made more sense to me.
 
JacksonL said:
As an ex plumber, the silicon holding the joints together makes me very nervous. Particularly the acrylic to PVC. It isn’t a matter of if that will seperate, it is a matter of when.
Click to expand...
Now you guys are making me very nervous. May I ask, based on your experience as an ex plumber, do you know how can I glue acrylic to PVC without the acrylic being stress cracked, deformed or becoming cloudy?
 
Oh my days! I gave it a twist, holding the PVC fitting with one hand and the clear tube with the other and that happened...

IMG_5225.jpg

I didn't even had to apply much force! I stand corrected.

Thank you so much guys for preventing a disaster. Back to the drawing board.

Edit:

Does anyone know where can I find one or two of these?

0121185m-reducer-socket copy.jpg
 
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FrankR said:
Now you guys are making me very nervous. May I ask, based on your experience as an ex plumber, do you know how can I glue acrylic to PVC without the acrylic being stress cracked, deformed or becoming cloudy?
Click to expand...
unfortunately not. I would look at a PVC repair coupling, or I would cut my own thread into the acrylic tube.
I have actually made my own DIY external heater from pvc, and I skipped the clear section. I use an STC 1000 t/stat to run it and didn’t bother with anything clear to see the light. My thoughts were it would just get covered in algae anyway.
I will take some pics of my set up
 
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I read on a reef forum that one can glue acrylic to PVC using solvent cement. Well, I tried it and it works.

IMG_5229.jpg

I tried removing it, but it won't budge. It didn't bond instantly though, like PVC to PVC does. Leave it at least 8 hours. Don't try to move the parts, or the bond will form "bubbles" (don't know if there's a term for that, see below)

IMG_5230.jpg

So based on your advice, and the tests I did, I can confirm that:

Silicone won't stick to PVC, but it will stick to acrylic (see post #32).
Silicone won't bond acrylic to PVC, or Tefen/Nylon to PVC.
Solvent cement won't bond Tefen/Nylon to PVC or Nylon to Nylon (yes, tried that as well).
Solvent cement (primary ingredient MEK, not THF) will bond acrylic to PVC .

...to be continued...
 
FrankR said:
Silicone won't stick to PVC, but it will stick to acrylic (see post #32).
Click to expand...
No silicone doesn't stick to acrylic. The "big tank boys" who make tanks out of epoxy coated wood with large thick sheets of acrylic as viewing window, use mechanical means (either clamps or water pressure) to hold the acrylic to to the silicone seal as silicone does not stick to acrylic. This is also why acrylic tanks are solvent welded as opposed to siliconed like glass tanks are.

You also have to be careful in choice of acrylic solvent weld cement and type of acrylic (cast or extruded ?) as some types of acrylic react with the solvent and "craze and crack" and fall apart.
 
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