Roidan's Quattro Skimmer

[roidan]

nice nice black screws....

no more hard-to-twist biege ones

Whoa! I feel good, I knew that I would,

I feel good, I knew that I would

So good, so good, 'cause I got you

thanks to another DIY guru for this

Maybe can call this my Guru-fied Quattro Skimmer since it's the work of a few gurus

[thc]

Really great pic of equipment you have there........The master is really good.. even the flange are welded to the 10' tube.....

[roidan]

thanks thc....

the main guru-in-charge is a design genius....

other gurus chip in with supplying unusual parts/accessories to this skimmer

very honoured to have their help in this project

[roidan]

untouchables...

this is the answer to part of your question the other time

if it's really good..u will see them as common feature on skimmers made by others in due time

[thc]

Have seen some of his work, this is the best by far..........Have a question for you.....Haven't you consider using the red dragon pump???....They are super efficient and i believe they can perform as well as the iwakis.......

[roidan]

considered...but the price? hehehe

below is my personal study on the 2 pumps published earlier in my tank thread.

the RD12m3 vs the Iwaki 100RT-2

can definitely see the difference between pressure rated and non pressurated pumps.....for low running cost, RD12m3 wins hands down with 115W whereas the Iwaki 100RT-2 is in the region of 240W-300W++

any point after *2.5m worth* of head the iwaki takes over....and the 12m3 flow rate drops off further

thus for those with a simple direct vertical return from sump to tank, the red dragon is great as we seldom hit 2.5m distance from base of sump to entry point in tank...

but for those that plumbs through elbows, Tees, valves and distances.....it is very easy to pass the 2.5m worth of head loss...in that case...the iwaki doesn't disappoint with it's gradual drop in flow rate despite facing resistance

A beckett injector is a very considerable restriction to freeflow and with the fact that my skimmer is very tall....red dragons would fail miserably for my application. Unless it's their pressure-rated white-line range of pumps which would mean more expensive cost again

[thc]

Wow, the iwakis are real good stuff......Stays almost consistent thru out the performance curve .....Thanks for the info....Seems like i'll have to relook into the pump choice...

[roidan]

which is why they are pressure-rated pumps.....i realised many people happily buy pumps looking at the plain flow rate. But you must know that this flow is only at ZERO head. Once the flow undergoes resistance in the form of height, pipe, fluid type.....the flow rate drops alot for NON-pressure-rated pumps

taking a look at the cost price and running cost will give u an idea of how long it takes

if mx100 runs at 300+W, it will take about 22.2months or agar 2 years before it proves more expensive than the RD12m3...before 22.2 months.....12m3 is more expensive...

if mx100 runs at 250W, it will take more than 3 years before it becomes more expensive....

of coz all these numbers will vary with prices which are sensitive to market conditions and bargaining...and for my personal interpretation only....

so please do not take my findings as a conclusive report

and another factor i was pondering over was the longevity of the pumps. People have used iwakis for 8-10 years without going through pump failure...but the red dragons are new and do not have such mileage record yet. So it was green light for iwakis in this project

[Achilles Tang]

I OFFICIALLY CLOWN YOU AS THE MASTER OF ALL CRAZY NUTS!!!

Now the battle of Middle Earth will take place... between the two towers of light and darkness!!!

[roidan]

hahaha....

glad you are back....

can finally see from blueprint last time to physical shape taking place hor...

i always see reefcentral with huge home skimmers....

let me do us singaporeans proud by showing them we have huge home skimmers too

Anyway, this is a one and only project, no duplicates will be seen around unless *u know i know* happens

this project is to showcase what singaporean DIY gurus can do....not what singaporean DIY gurus can sell

[Achilles Tang]

Yeah.... good to be back! Never seen so much preaching in such threads before!!

Truly an educational talk you conducted. Hope it cuts through the hearts of those who are conscienceless.

The 'guru' in charge still has my deepest respect and regard.... he reminds me of the long bearded kungfu master from Kill Bill Vol 2...! Fierce & skillful, own time own target, but hopefully he won't end up being betrayed like in the movie... grrr...

The armies of Mount Doom, led by Harry the Hairless, are marching now against the Tower of Quad Light, protected by the Mutt in the Cup....

[roidan]

yeah man....

must let people know that money cannot earn finish one....

no point compromising on one's principle and integrity just to get that bit of money.

if truly help reefers save money by selling at cost, then maybe it's a good deed.

but nowadays very hard to mark the line...alot of grey zones.

if they wanna make money, make sure they contribute to the forum by being a sponsor. Here is where they find their customers and here should be where they contribute back to the running costs of the forum

okok..enough educational talk....

2nd test-firing on sunday tentatively......

will be back with pics

[bwilly]

can't wait to see your pic..

[roidan]

can't wait to see your pic..

sunday night sunday night...

a few more days to go....

[gaga]

but the point being, how will the master gain from releasing the idea?? nothing....

i'm not saying that the master is money-minded or want fame, just that he really has nothing to gain from releasing them. ..only those pple who sell them will gain...

I am pinpointing this a @ anyone but i reckon it all boils down to individual, The DIY section of this forum is open for all to share their ideas and imparting of knowledge . If nobody wants to share anything, then may i know what is the general purpose of this forum? Is it to boast around in SRC that someone has DIYed himself the ultimate skimming machine? or someone has just got the biggest skimmer in town?

[roidan]

well, there are many agendas running around.

some use this as advertisement for their DIY products....using it as a free route selling products via the non-sponsor route...openly they are not saying that they are selling, but alot of underground monkey business going on.

some use this to share what they want to share with others in here...

some use this to let those DIYers without a conscience know that, whatever they can copy...the ones with real brains are always a few steps ahead.

and of coz...many other agendas....

and of coz on the other hand, one gets true compliments, skepticism, sarcasm, or even sour grapes comments for watever matter he or she posts in the forum.

if everyone was so homogenous, it would be a much simpler world to live in isn't it?

[typrobin]

well, there are many agendas running around.

some use this as advertisement for their DIY products....using it as a free route selling products via the non-sponsor route...openly they are not saying that they are selling, but alot of underground monkey business going on.

some use this to share what they want to share with others in here...

some use this to let those DIYers without a conscience know that, whatever they can copy...the ones with real brains are always a few steps ahead.

and of coz...many other agendas....

and of coz on the other hand, one gets true compliments, skepticism, sarcasm, or even sour grapes comments for watever matter he or she posts in the forum.

if everyone was so homogenous, it would be a much simpler world to live in isn't it?

roidan, very chim leh...reading your thread is almost like listening to a debate...

anyway, nice design to the downpipe holder...but wat if one day u decide to downgrade (i mean use lesser power) and wish to remove that compartment. i thnk with this design, u need to remove them together which mean tat it will be rather cumbersome...

i design my holder to hold the pipe to the lower compartment...so that even if vinoth wants to remove the centre compartment, he still can do it with less hassle...

just my opinion...

[roidan]

yeah.....i can mate the injector right down to the base unit's pipe to make it to a smaller unit. But seriously i dun foresee myself running the short version of it, so will be mounting it as per the tall design

[roidan]

anyway now mounting and removing the flanges are so easy.....

goodbye sore thumb and fingers...

[roidan]

[roidan]

[roidan]

done

[typrobin]

anyway now mounting and removing the flanges are so easy.....

goodbye sore thumb and fingers...

nice thumbscrews, matching colour some more...still sourcing them...

can't seem to find them in the few major shops that supply screws, like pan sun, yong seng...all dun have..

[roidan]

after the main skimmer is done,

will be embarking on mini-projects on this skimmer's maintenance as to maintain a tall skimmer is no joke....

a skimmer's efficiency will decrease when the foam chamber or inner neck of the collection cup is covered with dirt and scum.

The objective is to prevent the build-up of these dirt and scum and thus delaying the need for frequent removal and cleaning of the skimmer collection cup.

examples of commercially available units are like the Deltec Self-cleaning head for their large multi-needlewheel skimmers

[Achilles Tang]

Aha!! Katting!! I've also looked into that...