What material use for mesh mod skimmer ?

[christyf5]

Ok here we go,

list of supplies (I think it was about $50-60 altogether, with the gate valve being the bulk of the cost).

1-1/2" gate valve
1-1/2" tee
1-1/2" elbow
a length of 1-1/2" PVC pipe
two 1-1/2" thread x slip connectors (if you've purchased a threaded gate valve)

Ok so basically for me it was trial and error for the first length coming out of the bottom of the skimmer (there is a ER supplied elbow there). I think it ended up being about 3-4" total. I wanted the gate valve to be out of the water but it ended up being sort of half in the water due to the height of the whole aparatus.

I didn't PVC glue any of these parts, mostly because I hate gluing anything permanently (what if I could harvest some of these parts for later? ) and quite frankly, its all in the sump so who cares if something leaks? Anyway, I ended up using really short pieces of PVC to join the slipxslip pieces and then the last length of pipe that releases water into the sump can be any length as long as it is under the water. This does two things: 1. less noise and splash 2. less bubbles created in the sump

This photo should help:

[robert J]

Thank you SSSOOOOOO MUCH ... Your picture is so helpful to me, it is more than a thousand words. This is the best Christmas gift for my wife from you. Thanks Christyf5

[christyf5]

You're totally welcome, I'm glad I could help. I'm also glad you asked about this because I was totally wrong

Turns out I only put 2 layers of mesh on and apparently I worked up the courage to cut the pins off. Quite frankly though, that was only after Tony did his and I don't think it made any difference. Plus its a huge pain in the arse to get the impeller out of the pump now as there is nothing to grab onto to haul it out (the shaft comes out on its own ) Anyway, if you are going to cut the pins off leave a couple on there to grab with pliers. In hindsight I think I probably would have just left them all on but either way I guess.

here are some more pics:





Like I said before, this mod has been going strong for a good couple of years now (or darned close to it). The mesh as of today is showing no signs of degradation or "injury". There was quite a bit of gack (detritus) in the pump so again, glad you asked about this as it gives me a kick in the arse to keep up on my maintenance

[Chin_Lee]

Robert
I have some enkamet I can give you sometime on tues to friday. call me and I'll drop some off.

[robert J]

Chin
You are always very generous to us . Thanks Chin . I am home on Friday this week, can you come by and bring it for me. PM you my phone number.

[robert J]

Thanks again for your pictures Christyf5. I was reading somewhere and it said you need 4 layers to get the same level of the pins have been cut off ... so actually you only need 2 layers. That is even better for me

[jasond]

Thanks for the pics Christy! I am not sure that is going to fit in my sump, the gate valve looks quite a bit bigger than the original, I will have to see.

I am looking forward to this!

[whatcaneyedo]

Someone has Enkamat for sale on the site here:

http://canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=45509

[robert J]

Chin Lee is going to give me the enkamat but I will buy some more for future use. Thanks for your thought and the link.