danlu_gt Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 I was so surprised how much DC skimmer pump cost when similar rated DC regular pump is at least half that. So, I decided to make my how conversion kit. Took me a week to order the right tools and made multiple version of impeller 3D models. I have successful made a conversion kit for Jebao DC-6000 pump (40 watt). The conversion kit includes my version of the needle wheel impeller, impeller spacer, and pump intake air venturi. Check out my video, white parts are the conversion kit. I'm thinking about selling this conversion kit. If more interest, I will make for other pump models. Video: Daniel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danlu_gt Posted September 22, 2014 Author Share Posted September 22, 2014 Conversion kit parts made from 3D printer: Needle wheel impeller Impeller spacer Intake venturi air, using the strainer that came with the pump Tools you'll need: Screw driver External retainer pliers Pump without mod: Pump with conversion kit: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefnjunkie Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 Looks great thats for sure. So have checked it out and I'd so whats the verdict? another question, is that tubing the size you find on skimmers or is the smaller airline tubing? It looks like airline tubing for a small air pump. If it was me, I'd be working on an eBay listing for it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saltwater newbie Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 I agree if it's air line it should be bigger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Z Reef Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 (scratch) Mine is a DC12000 and theclark has it now to use on his massive skimmer Nice looking prototype though, what printer did you use? Unfortunately the thread with all this got lost but my best wheel pulled 85 or 90 SCFH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 Cool to see more DIY with the jebao skimmer pumps, excellent! The DC12000 BlueZ setup for me, a monster. Too bad the thread is gone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danlu_gt Posted September 23, 2014 Author Share Posted September 23, 2014 wow.. that's a real big air intake. Ok, I'll make larger ones to see how it work. Anyone got a air flow meter I can borrow to have more scientific testing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Z Reef Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 Theclark and I both have them. They are cheap to buy too. I'd assume the 6000 should be in the 40-60 SCFH range based on similar dc models. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danlu_gt Posted September 25, 2014 Author Share Posted September 25, 2014 Ordered a Dwyer meter to start testing. Changed the intake venturi design to allow adjustable size for water inlet. Been playing with it for a while and the inlet size makes a big difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 Awesome, so restricting the intake size increases the air flow or vice versa? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danlu_gt Posted September 25, 2014 Author Share Posted September 25, 2014 Seem to pull more air with increase the size of the water intake. My Dwyer isn't here yet but just from hearing the air suction sound. Another change, increase the diameter of the impeller and seem to make a huge improvement (suction sound now 2-3x louder). Wish my Dwyer is here already. Before I just made it the same size diameter as the regular impeller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Higher Thinking Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 Looking great! 3d printing is going to advance so much stuff in this world. Or at least make things more accessible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danlu_gt Posted September 29, 2014 Author Share Posted September 29, 2014 I got my ebay Dwyer but I don't think it's calibrated correctly. When I tested it with my Reef Octopus OTA-3000 skimmer pump (65 watt), it barely moved the ball up in the Dwyer. The Dwyer I got has range from 10-100 SCFH. Anyone has a Dwyer or skimmer with known SCFH I can verify my Dwyer? When I tested my Dwyer with Jebao DC6000 (40 watt), the water intake size make a big difference. If it's too small or too big, not much air is pulled in. Seems like around 16-18mm diameter water intake is optimal for the DC6000. I'm guessing stronger pump will require slightly larger water intake size. My current Dwyer shows my skimmer impeller to pull around 15 SCFH. Ok, maybe someone can educate me on how to read the dwyer? The metal ball is fairly big. The top of the ball can it 30 SCFH mark will the bottom hit 20 SCFH. I'm using the middle of the ball the make my reading. Again, if anyone has working Dwyer that I can verify my results that would be great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danlu_gt Posted September 29, 2014 Author Share Posted September 29, 2014 Here's a pic of my adjust intake size volute. [ATTACH=CONFIG]13663[/ATTACH] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danlu_gt Posted September 29, 2014 Author Share Posted September 29, 2014 Here's my impeller design. [ATTACH=CONFIG]13664[/ATTACH] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danlu_gt Posted October 12, 2014 Author Share Posted October 12, 2014 Update on where this prj is now... Background: Initially my goal was to use the Jabeo DC 6000 for my Coralife Hang On Skimmer (older, not cone version). The original pump was too weak plus I have it sitting in my sump so water level is much lower for that pump to handle. Then I replaced it with an Reef Octopus OTP 3000 (65 watt) I have sitting around. That worked but was a bit noisy and heating up my water too much in the summer (I have a 50 gal cube). Results: My 3D printed needle wheel worked great on the Jabeo in bucket and 10gal tests but only when the output of the pump is not restricted too much. I think this is an inherit issue with any skimmer pump. As too much back pressure, skimmer pump air draw drops significantly. Unfortunately without drilling into my Coralife Hangon Skimmer, I was only getting slightly better air flow than the OTP3000. Coralife Skimmer have very small, 1/2" inlet. Prj complexity: 3 days ago, I decided why not just replace the entire pump housing like some of the newer skimmers. This way not only will the pump go inside the skimmer it's now vertical so an even bigger pump can fit in a much smaller space. Now, I would be able to feed my fish friends even more.. hehe So, I started designing the skimmer housing the fit the DC6000 (I believe it would also fit the DC9000 and DC12000, as they are just longer). Calculate the surface area for bubble to escape was simple geometry. I separately my design into 6 separately 3D printed parts (for pump housing, adjustable volute, intake screen) which parts will be screwed on and other snapped together. Ideally, I would like to make them with fewer pieces, but I don't like using supports in my printing. 3D printing needs supports for overhanging section, but supports do not break off cleanly which will require sanding to polish off. So, it's a trade off but now it can be taken apart for easy cleaning. It took about 2 days to print. The electrical connector went bad during one of my print which caused a mess to clean the injector head. However, it printed enough of the final piece for me to run some tests in a 10gal fresh water with 2 drops of dish washing soup. Here are some images: [ATTACH=CONFIG]13763[/ATTACH] There's a gap between the blue pump and the pump housing. That was a measurement error by me, will be fixed in next version. The largest white disc should have a 2" high lip so I could slide a 6" dia acrylic tube in it but my printer had an issue. I also had a 5" dia acrylic tube laying around so that works pretty well to channel the bubbles and reduce turbulence. [ATTACH=CONFIG]13764[/ATTACH] Top down view. [ATTACH=CONFIG]13765[/ATTACH] The screen snap onto the volute and can be turned to adjust the water inlet size. Stronger pumps can draw more air if water inlet size is slightly bigger, too wide open will have poor performance. Final goal: I have some 6" clear acrylic tubes from old DIY down draft skimmer back before needle wheels came out. It worked great but needed a very big pump (175 watts). I will cut out a 12"-15" section as the new skimmer body and printed an adapter so I can put screw on the Coralife skimmer collection cup and neck. If everything works well, I will make DIY skimmer pump upgrade kits avaliable to drop into existing skimmer as long as the base is 6" dia or larger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danlu_gt Posted October 12, 2014 Author Share Posted October 12, 2014 Test on fresh water with 2 drops of dish washing soap: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pledosophy Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 That is absolutely amazing. Nice work. To think all this so you could feed the fish friends more! Your my kind of guy. Thanks for keeping us updated on the progress. This has been fun to follow. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 Awesome man, love it! Did you get the whole thing put together and into operation? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danlu_gt Posted October 13, 2014 Author Share Posted October 13, 2014 I printed another base unit, added water outlet with slot for gate valve control but forgot to make a hole for the pump's electrical wire. Here's a video of the new base with skimmer body. I'll need to design the neck to attached existing collection cup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danlu_gt Posted October 16, 2014 Author Share Posted October 16, 2014 Finished a 8+hrs print for the new base. Now with built in gate valve for both water inlet and outlet. http://youtu.be/XTolX9H0_H4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danlu_gt Posted October 19, 2014 Author Share Posted October 19, 2014 I've over specs the pump since I only have 6" dia acrylic tube for skimmer body. With Jabeo DC6000 at lowest setting, it still pulls in too much water/air mixture that lots of micro bubbles escape. Was thinking I would be able to overfeed my fish with larger pump.. haha Will have to order new pump, maybe a DC3000 or DC2000 then print impellers for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 What a beast of a pump LOL. Well there are allot of skimmers out there that could use the 6000, hopefully you can unload some of the fruits of your design on others. I have enjoyed getting to know you a little through the posts and look forward to your next version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danlu_gt Posted October 29, 2014 Author Share Posted October 29, 2014 PM me if you're interested in custom made needle wheel and volute. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted October 29, 2014 Share Posted October 29, 2014 Thanks danlu, I would love to reduce the footprint of my plumbing on the DC12000 skimmer pump. A custom volute that has adjustable flow like you build would sure do the job! Pump intake is 1 1/2", air intake is 1/2". Threaded on pump side, slip on the other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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