Where to get suitable bioball to mod impeller?

[ervine]

Hi guys,

I've been trying to hunt down a bioball to use to mod my Maxijet 1200 impeller but everyone that I've come by has been unsuitable, either too soft or not the right type of bioball...

Any ideas where can I get a suitable one??

Thanks,

Ervine

[ervine]

Nothing?

[huiwen]

You did not see this thread before ? he is the guru of diy.

http://www.arofanatics.com/members/nitro/i...erwithpinwheel/

cheer,

[ervine]

Dog hair brush huh... okay will consider...

[ervine]

Shucks... tried finding bioball at another LFS today and AGAIN cannot find a suitable one...

Even went to petstores looking for the dog brush.. also cannot find.. ARGH!!!!

[nicky30092002]

Shucks... tried finding bioball at another LFS today and AGAIN cannot find a suitable one...

Even went to petstores looking for the dog brush.. also cannot find.. ARGH!!!!

y not juz ask/pay bro THC to do for U .. imo he did a beri good job.

[ervine]

y not juz ask/pay bro THC to do for U .. imo he did a beri good job.

Haha.. that defeats the purpose of DIYing.. i like making things myself.. it's sort of a hobby for me..

[typrobin]

dun get the dog hair brush....go to a pasar malam and get the kind of comb tat pple use to wash their hair....i'll be buying it later (to mod impeller, not wash hair)....will post a pic tonight...

i think the dog hair brush is very ex...the pasar malam one is only $0.50....

[ervine]

hm... okay I go check it out later see if can find anything suitable or not...

[ervine]

Hm... still couldn't find the brush.. found one but it's base was curved, so not suitable...

Anyway, I bought something else, those plastic brush that we use to wash clothes with... Damn cheap, $1 for 2... U guys think this will work??

What I'm afraid is that there the bristles are too close together and might result in a lack of water flow... but if that's so I can simply snip them off...

How is it feasible? Don't wanna chop the fans of my MJ impeller only to find that this won't work...

[ervine]

Here's the back view... the plastic backing about 1mm thick.. should be just nice to mod... just the bristles are a bit worrying...

[ervine]

hey it works like a charm!!! In fact I can push a lot more air in than before without it starting to rattle insanely...

Will post pics soon.. Digicam cable not with me...

[weisoon]

ervine

There are better ways to making a needle wheel, example using PVC, which will give you stiff 'needles'. Very cheap also, maybe just $2-$3 only just that will take some time to make it.

[ervine]

i don't get how u use pvc to make the needles leh... doesn't matter lah.. whatever works...

actually the bristles of the brush are quite stiff when they are so short... so no worries... in fact the original MJ impeller fins are soft too!

[Ancelot]

sorry people, i really do not understand how this needle impeller suppose to work.. for example if we fix a needle impeller to our pumps, shouldnt it be just chopping up the water? if its chopping up the water then where does the tiny bubbles come from? my skimmer is a venturi skimmer. The air inlet for the skimmer is on the skimmer not the pump itself.. so i was thinking how does your impeller suppose to improve the size of the bubbles when the air inlet is on the skimmer and not the pump? isnt that modifying the impeller is just mainly to chop up the water? so whats the difference???

if anyone can explain this, also provide pics for me to see...hopefully i understand!!! thanks~

[ervine]

Well basically for starters, most venturi driven skimmers get their bubbles solely from the venturi, which is often placed AFTER the impeller...

In this case, the venturi is placed BEFORE the impeller... so when the bubbles hit the impeller it chops them up even more than what any venturi can do...

In the case of a needlewheel impeller, it's "spikes" or protrusions work differently from a typical impeller which is meant to push water, this is meant to chop up air bubbles...

Maybe this pic might help you see how the needlewheel can chop up water... it's my DIY needlewheel impeller.. not very nice but it gets the job done

[Ancelot]

so the needlewheel impeller basically pushes the water faster through the venturi in which this means by chopping up the air bubbles la?

so do you supply the air bubbles before the venturi or after the venturi? can sms me this is my hp 98571283 want to talk to you about it.. thanks..

am i right to say that??

if right then i go diy myself one.. not quite happy with my macro.. lolx..

[ervine]

before.. that's the whole point... so bubbles enter via venturi then further get chopped up by impeller...

and water goes slower not faster... slower because the needle wheel is not as effective in moving water...

check out the first few pics in my other thread here http://www.sgreefclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=14736

[alanseah]

i don't get how u use pvc to make the needles leh... doesn't matter lah.. whatever works...

actually the bristles of the brush are quite stiff when they are so short... so no worries... in fact the original MJ impeller fins are soft too!

oic..

so this is how u do it...

me been also wondering how u do it..

u need to cut it short..

ok now my turn to go try it...

me also trying to search for the animal bush but cant find it also..

[Ancelot]

then i dont think my pump can do it unless i supply it with a control valve and an air pump cos my PH air inlet is a default one.. somehow pushing water out of it.. crazy manz!

[ah^siao]

hey bro ervine mind showing a pic of the bubbles aft being chop out by your impeller????

[ervine]

hey bro ervine mind showing a pic of the bubbles aft being chop out by your impeller????

Here's the view of my tank... width is 1.5ft so the modded MJ can still push enough water across this length and more...

[ervine]

Here's a closer look at the bubble spray... note that I've managed to open the air intake all the way without the pump getting excessively noisy... something I could never do with the original impeller

[ervine]

Last pic is a close up shot showing how fine the bubbles are... IMO they are pretty darn fine...

[onghm]

Thanks for sharing.

An eye opener on what can be done to a powerhead