ATI Threadwheel

[acontia]

hi all

this has got to be the easiers aspirator type of impeller to diy.

wonder how well this baby would perform compared to the original ATI's Threadwheel or eheim fleecewheel.

this is an eheim 1260 impeller mod to use this method of bubble chopping.

hope to test out ASAP when theres time to spare.

[big_ben102000]

bro give us a review man... btw where u get the wire mash from ?

[Tigger]

looking forward to yr review

[acidjazz]

Very interesting.

[ervine]

becareful in the long run those "fibres" might start to come loose and break apart under all that turning... but would be interesting to know the effects...

[dr evil]

steel wire mash? looks like it can rust?

[jervismun]

From what I heard, ATI also widen the outlet of the Eheim (by scraping off some plastic from the inside) to avoid bubbles bottle-necking within the pump. Can't wait to see your result

Bro, suggest you check if ATI Threadwheel is patented worldwide... be careful if you ever think of going commercial with this baby.

[Lester]

any updates???

[acontia]

to all

i have not tried the wheels yet but will do so when time is available.

this material is not made of metal, it's a synthetic fibre, a type of plastic. this type of mat is very strong and not so easy to give way, it's use in the construction industry.

as long as it's for personal use and not sold as my own product, it'll be alright to use.

[acontia]

to those who wish to know the name of this product, u need to do some homework.

u can find the name in sprung/delbeek vol3 under alternative plenum construction material.

this material is also inert and i've beed using this in my tank's plenum construction for years.

the only problem with this type of wheels, would be maintenance issue. it's going to be a real PITA to clean.

to learn more about cleanning of this wheel, u will need to check with rasta dudes on how they keep their hair clean.

[acontia]

i'm soo excited that i had to post without the pics. pics will come later.

this wheel is just amazing, it produces really fine bubbles without cavitating even with the air wide open. looking at the design it's not surprising to know. it took the shortest time to produce foam in the riser

in fact with more air going in, the less turbulant it becomes. theres just no bubbles returning into the sump.

i think, of all the NW i've tried to copy, this has got to be the best. no wonder this ATI skimmer was even believed to be better then BK by some of the users that have compared them. (i've read this somewhere from forums)

WA SALUTE SIA!!.

[acidjazz]

Good job there. . . which skimmer will u incorporate your DIY needle wheel pump with?

[acontia]

finally have the time to post some pics.

this is how the unit was setup, same like all the other test i've done, their on the same body and same settings.

this is how it starts foaming mins later.

this is a closer look.

this is another view.

here's the bubbles view from the down flow inner pipe within the body. this down pipe is to slow down the flow of the bubbles and also to increase the contact time. (well at least it's how i hope it'll do). something like those AM shortys and Multi SL. u can also see that there isn't much bubbles returning back from the return pipes.

this unit does reduce water flow, perhaps not much of paddles for moving water. it's also very gentle and has low turbulance which is good for bubble formation at the riser. what it lacks is made up for the qualityof the bubbles it can produce. also with the reduce flow, i believe the power drawn would be very much lower then the Eheim's ratings. to make full use of this type of wheel, it would be better to have it running on a much bigger pump and on wider body and also short but wider riser necks.

this is how my personal feelings and my thoughts about this type of NW. (i'm just thinking out load)

i'm no expert in skimmer and will never be and this just my own test or 2 cents. if anyone think it's rubbish, let be it. anyway i'm not tryin to proof anything.

[acidjazz]

bro, i am just curious which pump did u incorporate the needle with?

Is that a Reef Octopus skimmer?

cheers!

thanks for sharing btw.

[acontia]

oh..

i broke the return pipe while adjusting the unit and so had to unhook for repairs. also i decided to change the riser's diameter, and so i cut the old riser out and added a slightly larger riser to 50mm from 40mm. will get unit to run when the glue drys tommorrow. perhaps can get a better idea of it's potential in a few days of running time. for now the pump is running with the wheels and without the body in a container of sea water. i hope to see if theres any damage or wear on the impeller after 24hrs.

[acontia]

acidJ

it's a DIY skimmer bodyi made some time back. it's my crash test dummy. LOL

the unit runs on an Eheim 1260. which i think is a damn good pump to play around with. Eheim's can take beating like no other pumps i know of. it's just so durable.

[acontia]

i've thought of incorporating this diffuer i made into the skimmer like the ATI's but seems like it can perform without any problems or issues. or perhaps i'm too slack to cut up the crash test dummy.

[acontia]

an update from my test.

i've checked the pump and wheel for wear or damage this morning but found none. hope it can hold for the next 2 days.

hooked up the skimmer this morning for another round of test. this time i found that with a wider riser neck it took slightly longer to start forming stable foam, but it did and the foam looks more thick compared to yesterdays test. i throw in a whole frozen kunning (yellow tail) to help the skimmer perform cuz there's nothing in the water to skim. i've also shorten the distance from the pump to the skimmer body, to help reduce the drag on the pump. (hope it makes sense) water level in the sump has been raised to see if there's gain/lost in performance. the height of the sump water does make a difference in the air to water ratio for all insump skimmers. the deeper the pump seats in the sump the less air would be drawn into the pump and vice versa. can't explain why but it does. those that use Mutli SL can try it out, shorten the hose to barb's of the skimmer and u'll see the difference but of cuz do not raise until pump is too near to the water level or it may start ###### air in through the intakes instead of the venturi.

OK....now this are all my own personal observation so pls don't start bombing me.

will post pics and updates again.

cheers

[nakazoru]

Really dun know what to say...

Tried to modify the needlewheel the last time but fail... In the end wasted close to hundred bucks on parts... Guess still dun know much abt fine bubble forming....

I salute... More pix...

[jervismun]

You are the man bro!!! Please do update us... now you really made me so so excited... DIY can be so much fun

[acontia]

thanx for all the encouragement guys.

it's fun doing test like this, no pressure from others or bosses.

it's my plessure to post the results.

just for the records, i'm not saying my DIY wheel is better then the real thing or better then other types of NW, it's just to show all those that really want to give it a try......i would SAY.....DO IT!!! skimmers are just simple devices, it's just how u put them together.

pics update

this is the new wider 50mm diameter riser

this would be the new setup with shorter distance from pump to skimmer.

skimmer without flow. this is how it looks like within the body.

[acontia]

when checked the skimmer this morning, this is what i found.

kunning juice anyone??

here's the close up of the delicious/tasty looking kunning soda pop.

.

this would be all... for now, will update when more time.

[jervismun]

The water in your red tub is way too clean bro... you know what will be a nice way to test it out... fill it up with NSW. See how much the skimmer can extract out within 2 days

Then throw in 20 pieces of Chromis and feed them Henry's Mix lor

[jacobus]

bro ... how much did making the threadwheel cost ?

[acontia]

jervis

the sump is only about 20L.

if i do that, i'll be arrested for using radio active substance. it's going to be toxic leh.

jokes aside, the skimmer is still skimming like mad with that whole kunning i throw in, so i'll just let it decompose in there and perhaps do a test on the water parameters to see how bad the water has become. the water is a little cloudy, but not that bad considering that theres no other form of filteration.

jacobus

the mat i use came in a whole roll perhaps 10ft, they don't sell them lose dude.

running test like this is not cheap due to parts u buy to distroy and mod. some of the parts i have are left overs from other stuff i made or tested so can't give u any break down. my DIY Eheim nw impellers are all changeble i don't glue them dead, so just make a new NW and put it on.

her are some of those i've tried replicating.

cheers