metal vs. plastic
 

I need a gate valve for my protien skimmer and I can't find a plastic one. Will using a metal valve really be a bad idea? :question:

Yes.

www.oceanaquatics.com has gate valves cheap.

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you can find a plastic valve at any plumbing whole saler, like Westburne here in Vancouver

Go to a place across from silverdollar casino called western pump you will find plastic ones there.

Go to a place across from silverdollar casino called western pump you will find plastic ones there.

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Thanks everyone, I'll go and check it out. Hopefully I will find all of the plumbing I need for my new skimmer. :biggrin:

They don't have gate valves suitable for skimmer adjustments. You won't be able to make fine enough adjustments since they're shutoff type valves (i.e., two positions, open or closed).

The place you want is Western International Plastics, they have PVC gate valves.

Do a search, their address was listed recently. I'll see if I can find it..

http://www.canreef.com/phpBB2/viewto...ional+plastics

Look at Buk_A_neer's post approximately four posts in. He even gives directions! What service. :mrgreen:

what size you looking for?

Steve

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The output from the skimmer is 1.5 inches but I think I'd like to reduce the size to 1.25 inches to save money. Will that work or will that retrict the flow too much? The skimmer uses a Mag 18 which has a 3/4 output, and the injector reduces that to a 1/2 inch. Chin Lee says that I should stick with 3/4 inch hose right up to the injector, but I was thinking of changing the injector input to 3/4 inch. Any advise would be welcome as this is my first becket skimmer. :biggrin:

Thanks for the info about retailers. I was at Rona last night and found that some very key parts were not available. I'll check out bothe places.

go with a plastic gate valve if you can find one a plastic ball valve if you can't.

Steve

I don't think there's any real harm in reducing to 1-1/4" but I don't think you'll save anything significant. I'll bet the difference in cost to be no more than a couple dollars. 1-1/2" might be easier to find.

I run my PM-1 beckett off a mag18 with 1" hose. I actually recommend you don't step down the tube diameter for the pump to injector line as it is surprising how restrictive it can be.

The flow through a tube increases four-fold when you just double the diameter. I.e., a 1" tube can carry 4x the flow of a 1/2" tube. And so on.

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Is the input of the injector on yours 1 inch? Mine is only half inch. Do you think I should change the bits to increas it to at least 3/4 inch?

also if you are stuck finding one, I know where I can get a 1 1/4 for 2.00. don't know how much shipping would be but check out the prices there and let me know. I think I am going to go buy a bunch of them ranging from 1/2" to 1 1/4" so let me know.

Steve

On my current injector housing the input is 1". I think my previous injector housing had a 3/4" input but I used a 3/4" to 1" hose barb adaptor so I could still use the 1" hose.

If it's easy to swap the bits over to make it 3/4" or even 1" then I would probably do so. If you want to experiment and leave it as-is and try it, I would guess that although the smaller input would be somewhat restrictive, it would be not as restrictive as having the smaller diameter hose down all the way to the pump.

$2 Stircrazy? Wow at that price I'd buy them all. What's the deal, are they used or something?

nope old stock and they are dropping the product line. I got a couple 1" for my skimmer so I can shut off each Beckett/mazzei individually and I got two 1/2" ones to control the air to the mazzeis. but I am thinking of stock piling a bunch for future skimmer and reactor builds.

Steve

These are gate valves or ball valves?

full gate valves.

Steve

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Thanks Tony. :biggrin: