Meshwheel Mod

So I did my first mesh wheel mod yesterday (I know we have the CR event for this on Feb 20th - I didn't want to practice at the event...I wanted to have one under my belt) and I have been amazed at the difference it's made.  I bet I've pulled 5 to 7 times more skimmate today than I was getting with the stock pinwheel.  Amazing.  There are a couple of things that I would do differently.  One in particular, it's recommended to leave a few pins intact to help hold the mesh material.  I left ones that were all the way on the outside.  Next time, I would leave pins more toward the middle of the disc instead.  All in all, it was very successful.  I took a few pics along the way that I'll post when I get a few mins in the next couple of days.
So how many others have done this mod and how many have left your pinwheels intact?
--AJ

 

I got it from vikubz, a user here on GIRS. I know you can buy it from a number of online sites, but I have no idea where to buy it locally...sorry!

--AJ

 

Send him a PM...I believe he had more. You don't need much. I think I used about 8 square inches. If you use two layers, you could do 18 single pump skimmers with a square foot. Two, two inch circular discs of the material and a couple of zip ties and that's it for supplies.   I'm going to be keeping the stuff that I have for the Feb 20th skimmer meeting.

--AJ

 

Come on up to CR on the 20th and you can see it first hand...  That will be better than pics.
--AJ

 

I did some searching on this on RC tonight and I didn't come up with anything about the smaller pumps burning up after this mod.  Not to say that it doesn't happen, just that I wasn't able to find anything. I did read about it on a Reeflo Dart, but not on the smaller pumps. This pump is a DP-560.  I would like to read more about that so if either of you can point me in the direction for articles on this, that would be very helpful.

In the mean time, here's the pics of the process. I'm still adjusting the skimmer, but I'm pulling out significantly more skimmate. I hope that this performance stays like this long term...time will tell.

Impeller removed from pump


Impeller with shaft and spacer removed


Cutting the pins


Only 4 pins left - these help hold the mat material in place


Mat attached to disc - in this case, there were four holes already in the disc that I used for the zip ties .  I did a little more trimming on the mat material to make sure that there were no loose ends or pieces that stuck a lot higher than the rest of the mat.  This is two layers of mat.  Some people use three layers.  Also note that the zip tie is not very tight.  I didn't notice that until after the fact.  I'll try to make the next one a bit tighter without buckling the wheel.


About 5 hours of skimmate production - I know it's wet, I'm still adjusting the skimmer.  The morning after the mod, even after moving the water level down considerably, I found the top of the collection cup moved off to the side.  The bubbles literally lifted the top and moved it.  I continue to move the water level down more and more.  Today, I came home to an overflowing collection cup again.  I emptied it out and this pic shows the skimmate from around 6 PM to 11 PM.  I wish I had a gate valve mod to make adjusting the water level more precise and easier...maybe my next mod :-D


--AJ

 

If you're ordering an impeller, let me know...I need to order a replacement ceramic shaft for one of my Sedra 9000s that goes on my ASM G5...I took it apart and the shaft was broken. I must have broken it taking it apart because we saw it working when we picked it up. At least it's only a $10 part.

 

Sorry, never bought one so I don't know.

--AJ