Beckett Vs Needle wheel

[Reefaholic]

Hi, Anyone knows the differences between these 2? And anyone pls advise whether which of these are better?

Kind of confused of these 2 process.

[typrobin]

a beckett uses a very strong pump to create a jet spray and bubbles...theorectically, it doesn't seem to be good, as the contact time of the tank water and bubbles is bare minimal and the bubbles created are not very fine,in fact u will see big bubbles form...but apparently,most pple who uses it will only say "its a damn good skimmer"...juz check out our boss's alvyfoamer, it really skims a hell lot of shit....

a needle wheel kind, uses the modified impeller to chop the air into very very fine bubbles, which theorectically, is the most important thing in skimmers.a good one like H&S or Deltec, only receives good comments from users...

budget-wise, i believe the beckett should be more expensive, that's y it's better, value for money....but if u are not thinking of a full SPS tank like our boss and deepblue and a few others, then a cheaper H&S would be good enuf....

if not go to the traditional venturi kind like Weipro if u are on a very tight budget....

[jd_n]

The Beckett foam generating spray head is designed for increasing the amount of air that is mixed into the water. Skimmers incorporating a Beckett-head often utilize the Beckett in a higher position than the water level and this extra distance allows for an increase in reaction time. Additionally, manufacturers have begun to tangentially inject aerated water into swirling patterns, which also increases contact time. What is most obvious with a Beckett-head is the density and consistency of the foam; it far exceeds any of the other current aeration strategies

Needle wheel-directing air into the impeller cavity of a powerhead or small pump to creates bubbles. It works by finely chopping up these air bubbles into very fine bubbles like those found in an airstone driven skimmer. These units are unique in that they have a very slow water flow, generate large amounts of foam, and are cheap to run because they use low power pumps. A concern which has arisen with these skimmers is the durability of these specialized impellors. Because these needlewheel impellors place the weight load on the periphery of the impellor (and not close to the central shaft), these impellors have higher failure rates than do normal vaned impellors.

U have to decide for urself which is the one u wanna go for

In summary;

Air driven counter-current: low water flow, good foam production (with new air stones), good bubble size, maximum contact times (with taller units), frequent maintenance and requires frequent water height adjustments (called tuning).

Venturi: good water flow, good foam production, moderate contact time, requires a powerful pump, valve tends to clog (Lifereef has a self-cleaning venturi valve).

Beckett-head skimmer: high water flow, maximum bubble production, moderate contact time (swirling patterns will increase this), requires a very powerful pump, Beckett-head requires cleaning.

Needle wheel skimmer: low to moderate water flow, good foam production, good bubble size, excellent contact time, cost-efficient, requires specialized impellor or needlewheel. The needlewheel impellors have been shown to be a weak point.

[typrobin]

wah jd_n, u copy from some where one rite???hahahahaha....

[Reefaholic]

But i thought Beckett skimmer is of older technology than the needle wheel type?? Even good skimmer like deltec use needle wheel impeller right?

Lets say we have a better budget abt $1500.00 to buy a good skimmer. then which type one we should choose. as i know needle wheel skimmer has venturi type with longer chamber?

[typrobin]

$1500??....bro, go get a dual beckette....get a DIY guru to do it for u, i think $1500 should be enough for a dual beckett....not too sure though....if not, i think boss is selling his alvyfoamer, its a good buy, juz look at his SPS tank....there's a few DIY gurus here....not too sure if i should mention names....mayb u can check with boss and ask who is the master behind the creation...

http://www.sgreefclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=13982

[typrobin]

i believe most reefers would recommend beckett....check with the SPS experts...skimmers are more important for them as SPS demands much much more than normal corals....

[Michael Young]

But i thought Beckett skimmer is of older technology than the needle wheel type?? Even good skimmer like deltec use needle wheel impeller right?

Lets say we have a better budget abt $1500.00 to buy a good skimmer. then which type one we should choose. as i know needle wheel skimmer has venturi type with longer chamber?

Why don't you check out the promotion I have on Beckett skimmers. You don't need a dual Beckett unless you have a very large tank IMO.

[weisoon]

Lets say we have a better budget abt $1500.00 to buy a good skimmer. then which type one we should choose. as i know needle wheel skimmer has venturi type with longer chamber?

There are more exotic german brands other than the deltecs. Search in the net to discover more.

Beckett more like brute force concept, needle wheel like technology concept.

Example compare the USA made cars, big and high engine capacity, not much technology, to the german made cars where technology governs.

Same for aircrafts, Boeing big strong and overpowered and comsumes lots and lots of fuel, Airbus on the other hand has technology that Boeing even never though of implementing and they are VERY fuel efficient.

[jd_n]

wah jd_n, u copy from some where one rite???hahahahaha....

Of coz....juz do a search and extracted it. Where got so free in the middle of the nite still go type a detail explaination abt the 2.

[salted fish]

Hi Guyz,

Good morning!

Anyone can tell me where to get Beckett 1408 nozzle?? Can i have the details and picture? Is this difficult to get in Singpore?

SF

[jd_n]

Hi Guyz,

Good morning!

Anyone can tell me where to get Beckett 1408 nozzle?? Can i have the details and picture? Is this difficult to get in Singpore?

SF

http://www.sgreefclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=15224

Somebody is sellin.

[blueheaven]

from what i know, it cannot be found in Singapore.

you can try to contact Anthony, I think he still has one

[salted fish]

Hi,

Anyone have the picture?? Beckett 1408 nozzle. I try to ask my try if they have in the industries.

SF

[ervine]

Energy utilisation wise the needle wheel is a lot more efficient... while becketts require powerful pumps, needle wheels can do away with much smaller ones...

In fact there are some SPS reefers out there who use multiple needlewheels over dual becketts...

Whatever it is, white cat or black cat, can catch mouse means good cat...

[untouchables]

if u take a skimmer and breakdown the components, you will end up with some standard parts. the common part is the tower and to improve efficiency, juz make it taller. taller is better as it gives more contact time.

next comes the input method, which can be direct, downward draft, spiral, etc. seems like spiral and downward draft give the max contact time compared to the direct input. imo, spiral is better if you compare the distance taken by the air bubbles.

lastly, the bubbles creation method. apart from air bubble skimmers, the others require a powerhead. they are:

a: beckette. a beckett is juz a different venturi design and the darn plastic beckett nozzle is around S$45-50. need some slight modification to get it working but frankly speaking, total cost for a beckett nozzle with mod should not exceed $100! the expensive part is the acrylic tower!

b. venturi. i dun think need to explain this...

c. spray injection. patented by aquac. dunno how actually works as have not seen its internal but since it is a patent, u cannot diy

d. needle wheel. uses venturi to create the initial air bubbles and uses a modified impeller to chop the bubbles to even smaller ones. the modified impeller is normally with lots of wheels (normal impeller generally got 3 wheels).

which is better? everyone have their opinion but among the top, it is either beckett, needle wheel or spray injection. assuming everything is same (tower size, inlet method, l/h), juz go for one that gives the most foam with the smallest bubbles. do note that the smallest bubbles may not be best since it may give lesses bubbles. what you need to do is find out how many bubbles and its average size and calculate the contact area. the one with the largest contact area is best. unfortunately, im unable to find complete figures to do the comparison.

what i hope to see is for someone to mass produce cheap huge towers and let us plug in our preferred injector. diy towers using arcylic is juz not worth it!

cheers!

[untouchables]

Energy utilisation wise the needle wheel is a lot more efficient... while becketts require powerful pumps, needle wheels can do away with much smaller ones...

In fact there are some SPS reefers out there who use multiple needlewheels over dual becketts...

Whatever it is, white cat or black cat, can catch mouse means good cat...

can catch mouse but can catch efficiently enough to reduce the mouse population, maintain it or mouse population will still grow?

going by the saying, might as well use air powered skimmer???

[islander]

one of sponsors has a good deal for beckett skimmers...

http://www.sgreefclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=15153

[Michael Young]

Hi,

Anyone have the picture?? Beckett 1408 nozzle. I try to ask my try if they have in the industries.

SF

Salted fish, I believe there is a pic of the Beckett 1408 foam nozzle posted on SRC; just do a search and you should see it.

The Beckett nozzle actually doesn't cost that much but since it has to be imported from the US, the freight cost really jacked up the price. I can get hold of lots at less than $40 per piece if any of you are interested.

I really don't see the cost effectiveness of a self-made Beckett skimmer. Add the cost of the Beckett nozzle, gate valve, acrylic, acrylic glue, time etc. and it's really quite expensive.

[untouchables]

Salted fish, I believe there is a pic of the Beckett 1408 foam nozzle posted on SRC; just do a search and you should see it.

The Beckett nozzle actually doesn't cost that much but since it has to be imported from the US, the freight cost really jacked up the price. I can get hold of lots at less than $40 per piece if any of you are interested.

I really don't see the cost effectiveness of a self-made Beckett skimmer. Add the cost of the Beckett nozzle, gate valve, acrylic, acrylic glue, time etc. and it's really quite expensive.

fully agree. thats why i think juz buy off the shelf is better. too bad i cannot afford such a skimmer

have to make do with dual weipro and trying to diy a cheap beckett, using pvc pipe for the chamber (it works!) and using an old skimmer tower (not that tall but try first lah).

if i got the money to spend, i rather juz get aquac than those diy or other skimmers since the cost is almost the same.

cheers!

[Achilles Tang]

Beckett skimmers are very highly rated to produce very thick foam. They are so good at this that in a break-in comparison test, they apparently produce skimmate within half an hour whilst the needlewheel and other skimmers took about a day or a quite few hours longer to come up with a similar ball of foam.

Euroreefs are next in line, followed by Deltecs.

Of course, its all subjective to personal perceptions, marketing materials and there are price point/power costs to consider for every individual budget/space restriction/tank needs/husbandry skills etc ...

[IanJ]

Go to Aquatechnic and see a real needle wheel skimmer in action.

Better ask them to turn on the second pump.

Cant really comment on a beckett, but the needle wheel is said to produce a very consistant bubble size.

[Cookiemunster]

can catch mouse but can catch efficiently enough to reduce the mouse population, maintain it or mouse population will still grow?

going by the saying, might as well use air powered skimmer???

Bro I think you are giving needlewheels too little credit.

Becketts use brute force method. And require very very powerful pumps which consume alot of energy ($$$) to make them effective.

Needlewheels use smaller pumps to create substantial amounts of fine bubbles.

Even if I use 2 needlewheel skimmers such as 2 HnS, it still uses less than 1/3 the wattage needed for just 1 beckett skimmer. And efficiency wise, 2 HnS is definitely more effective than 1 beckett.

Its also all about design. The whole idea is to be efficient. Otherwise if money is not an issue and electric bills isn't a concern, then by all means go for the becketts.

If you watch needlewheel skimmers, the skimmate level does not bob up and down and is very consistant. Whereas becketts will keep bobbing up and down.

If needlewheels were as large as becketts, size to size, it would beat becketts hands down. Wattage for wattage too. What I mean is to use the same size cylinder with the equivalent number of pumps running needlewheels compared to a single beckett pump wattage.

[roidan]

personally i like needlewheels slightly more than becketts too...but my next skimmer would most prob be a dual-beckett...sigh...PUB happier liao

look at this deltec needlewheel...pump wattage wise will not lose to a beckett skimmer....6 needlewheel pumps

[alvy]

totally agree..had experience with both.

Becket is brute force..lots of bubbles and lots of flow too...bubble density is the best i've seen so far, vs downdraft or needlewheel or conventional venturi. Bubble size however is not the finest..it can be finer than downdraft but definitely will not be finer than tt produce by nw. regarding stability of foam, becket loses out to nw. due to the employment of power pumps, lots of water will be mixed with the bubbles hence the reaction chamber is usually quite turbulent. NW skimmer on the other hand is very stable in foam production. the surface of the water/foam level within the riser neck is often very very still, collecting foam which rises easily.