DIY Rotating Return Thingy

[ReefVan]

Alright guys and gals,

A few coffees on a Saturday morning and...

Here are some pics, took an hour to throw this together.

Pipe with ports and 4 o-ring grooves
http://pages.infinit.net/lambertv/images/DSC00472.JPG

Pipe with end cap
http://pages.infinit.net/lambertv/images/DSC00473.JPG

Pipe in Tee
http://pages.infinit.net/lambertv/images/DSC00474.JPG

Pipe with retainer ring
http://pages.infinit.net/lambertv/images/DSC00475.JPG

Pipe fully assembled
http://pages.infinit.net/lambertv/images/DSC00476.JPG

Run with this, see what you can do with it and get back to us...

As you can see all you need is some o-rings and silicone grease.

Add an adapter to the cap and attach your own DIY motor thingy and away you go, instant DIY rotating return device.

Could probably even gang then to a manifold and have 2 or 3 going together side by side with the same motor...

Go to go... I can hear the "Sea-Swirl" police now...

[BCOrchidGuy]

Interesting....

[ReefVan]

I figure this circumvents that b.s I keep getting from RC...

It's posted here now so play with it and enjoy.

[ReefVan]

I see that you guys (and gals) are gonna make me work to get this thing going.

First, the inner pipe rotates, it's not fixed. The outer pipe does not exist.

Second, the water enters thru a tee ftg and enters sequentially exposed inlet ports on the inner pipe. (This one's for the patent lawyers) It does not enter thru a ftg at the top of the pipe.

Third this inner rotating pipe has 4 o-rings, not 3.

Fourth, the 90 degree outlet elbow is attached to a moving inner pipe, not the outer pipe.

So far, so good, that'll keep the Sea-Swirl police at bay for now... :P

[Canadian Man]

Good work Van!
This is an intresting project. Your a smart cookie!

[BCOrchidGuy]

I like it too, I've been trying to figure out how I could incorporate it into some PVC I already have in the tank so I can get water flow side to side then front to back...

[SuperFudge]

Reefvan,

I had made a similar one of these a couple years ago....It will still run well but long term it did have some problems.

With too small a motor it has a hard time turning the whole arm evenly,with decent seals it becomes "sticky" so it turns in short quik bursts if you know what i mean.

The other problems i had with it, were after the seals wore in abit it water slowly leaked through them.
It isnt bad in itself as the water just drips back into the tank, it just ended up being a big algal mess with intense lighting on that area.

Another problem is the mounting of the motor and armature to the peice,(mine was mounted to the underside of my canopy) if where the armature is connected to the pvc is not exactly inline with the base (where it pivots on) the whole thing turns unevenly...this was hard on the motor too, i finally was able to correct it but if i paid myself a wage for doing so, i could have bought the real thing several times over ;).

Finally, No seal will be truly a seal if turning.....thus flow is always limited to prevent leakage, I was able to run a mag 2 but with some small leaks...so that was the units limit.

[ReefVan]

:D Fudge,

Gotta check that profile, not getting e-mail notices!

Yep, like anything else there are limitations. I've had good luck with mine so far. Part of it is that you need a real good silicone grease for the o-rings, don't be stingy.

As far as any unit leaking, yeah, that's gonna happen in the long run.

I've got Sea-Swirls that friends give me for repair and overhaul and I fix them, they leak after a while too, especially when rust from that damned metal clip at the inside top of the Sea-Swirl starts to rust.

My own units I build almost completely out of plastic, so no corrosion. As far as algae goes I cover my unit so that's ruled out.

The motors hold up well, you can't put a cheapie motor in and you have to give it a decent flywhell and crank lever length so as not to overload the motor.

I noticed the shaft would jump if I used vaseline as a lubricant, that's because it's water soluble and washes away gradually over time. Silicone grease does not.

And as a last note, don't put the unit too close to those MH lights, the heat builds up inside the unit and overheats the motor as well as turns your grease to oil...

Van

[SuperFudge]

Thanks Van,

What kind of flow max have you been able to put thru yours ?

And do you put some kind of relay or something to keep the sweep at 180 degrees instead of 360 ?

This was another problem of mine...360 is just fine,but since the unit was mounted to the edge of my tank there had to be a splash gaurd so the water didnt spill over the edge when it was pointing at the glass right where it was mounted.

Id love to build another, but i would like it to handle atleast 1000gph comfortably next time with a strong and quiet motor....wondering if its just better to buy one.

Thanks,

[ReefVan]

:D Fudge,

Everything you need to know is on the AquaGate thread farther down the DIY listing. :wink: The last reply links to my home page...

This unit is capable of 1100 gph and addresses the problems you mentioned. Happy Diy'in...

Van