DIY Project My DIY Reactor

[Simon D]

Cheers James for that. I might be able to sort something out with that Wholesaler!! 😉

I was after clear pipe to have a clear section to the reactor. Unfortunately the clear PVC is very expensive! I think I may just go with the grey 2" PVC I have behind the shed! The fittings I need are only going to come to £20 if I forget about having a clear body to the reactor!

How expensive is the clear? Is this due to a minimum quantity purchase? If so, maybe this could be bought and others interested could share the initial expence? I'd have some!

 

[Ed Seeley]

Cheers James for that. I might be able to sort something out with that Wholesaler!! 😉

I was after clear pipe to have a clear section to the reactor. Unfortunately the clear PVC is very expensive! I think I may just go with the grey 2" PVC I have behind the shed! The fittings I need are only going to come to £20 if I forget about having a clear body to the reactor!

How expensive is the clear? Is this due to a minimum quantity purchase? If so, maybe this could be bought and others interested could share the initial expence? I'd have some!

Well the prices I've seen are around £80, plus VAT, for a 2" diamter 3 metre length! I reckon you want about half a metre for the reactor so you're looking at over £15 each, not factoring in postage!

Actually just looking on the site 50mm metric pipe is less than half that price - only £40 plus VAT for 5m so that might be an option if 10 of us want a reactor building??? Half a metre would only be £4 plus VAT and postage costs! That site also does the fittings we would need too.

 

[Ray]

I may also add a an Ehiem intake pips above with a 4mm brass airline valve at the top to bleed the air out.

Just an observation to those of you who have not yet used an internal reactor, you will need a bleed valve. When I clean out my pipes (which includes emptying the reactor) I can't prime my filter again until I've bled all the air out of my Aquamas reactor (red face, much cursing with head under the cabinet first time, until I figured this out 🙂 )
Also they can build up slime or diatoms over time so plan a way to open/clean out every month or two. A clear pipe is a plus here - you can see if clean required. Behold's design looks perfect to me 😀

Now, can someone tell me, would a Venturi loop reduce flow significantly?

 

[Behold]

Ed the straight in at the top surely will just allow the buildup on the filter pipe bend????

 

[Ed Seeley]

Ed the straight in at the top surely will just allow the buildup on the filter pipe bend????

The flow of the water through the 16mm filter pipe is too fast to allow the gas to collect.

What you get, if there is a build up of gas, is the water being sprayed through the gas area at the top and diffusing it away. With my old reactor (viewtopic.php?f=20&t=1331) I didn't have a bleed valve and after cleaning the filter the whole reactor would be full of air for a couple of hours but that gas would all be mixed with the water from the filter and the reactor would be full of water by the next morning. A little CO2 would build up through the day but as I turned the CO2 off a couple of hours before lights off, it would all be gone before the lights went out!

 

[Behold]

Its all togeather and in but im leaking still. doesnt matter how much PTFE tape i use im getting a minor leak from one bush....

Should i silicone it?? or aradite it in. If i araldite it its not going to part easily....... Thoughts.... It really is minor....

Thanks

PS. Im up to about 70 BPM and no signs of bubles coming out the filter outlet! wait and see what i get up to before its noticed....

 

[Ed Seeley]

Have you tried the joint without PTFE tape? Sometimes the PTFE tape can twist and cause there to be small gaps. The threaded reducer should fit without leaking without PTFE tape. I'f that doesn't work try a carefully fitted thinner wrap of PTFE tape and failing that I'd go with silicone - it's easy to remove when you need access.

Apart from the leak I'm glad it's working well so far! 😀

 

[Behold]

I started with a thin wrap. then tryed it thick and its help cure most of it but its just a little leak.... its annoying.

Also there is no flow issues for anyone wondering.

 

[jonboy8465]

it might sound stupid but are you putting the ptfe on in the right direction? or is there a small sharp edge cutting the ptfe as you screw it together?

 

[Behold]

it might sound stupid but are you putting the ptfe on in the right direction? or is there a small sharp edge cutting the ptfe as you screw it together?

Fair comment but yes its going on so its not peeling back on its self...

Well out of ease i have now siliconed the thread and then for good mesure the two opposing faces so when they touched covers a seal. done this on all the threads and then a bead as an O ring on the top cap. might be overkill but silicone under preasure is fairly strong stuff. i doubt the CO2 will have that much effect on it it would take a long time to go.

i will be fitting it again tommorow and trying it again.

 

[Ed Seeley]

I siliconed the joints on my old reactor and never had any problem with the CO2 so you should be fine mate.

 

[B4M]

I want to replace my diffuser with an external reactor so found the DIY versions by Ed and Behold very useful. I think I'll be brave (foolish??) and try the e-bay acrylic tube with PVC fittings using araldite as I'm not buying 5m of clear PVC tube.

From reading this topic the last remaining issue seems to be finding a bleed valve that doesn't leak. I've spent a few nights searching the web and it isn't easy. What I'm looking for is similar to the valve Ed found to leak or an inline valve similar to that on this Aquamas reactor, but preferably with hose barbs on each side.
Aquamas
So theres a challange for you; can you find a valve to go in a bleed line?
I've been trying to think of where such things may be used such as medical IV drips or fuel lines on RC planes but no luck.

One option is a barbed connector with a short length of tube and use a air line "G clamp" to double over and seal. Crude but at least and option.

Another is to use a hydraulic shut off valve but they're a bit big and heavy:
valve
Also these are BSPP (parallel threads) so need dowty washer to seal. I've only seen barbed hose ends with BSP (tapered) so an adapter would be needed.

Any suggestions welcome.

Thanks,

B4M

 

[JamesM]

I think Ed is having problems tracking down decent bleed valves himself, hence the reason he's not made any for anyone as of yet.

 

[B4M]

Yeah I ment to post this on the end of Ed's topic but got mixed up 😳
It flows better on his so I've added it here
Please reply to that one 😛