Skimmer mod question

mr_alberta · #1 01-23-2006, 06:45 PM

You won't be able to drive a beckett very well with a needle wheel pump. They don't give enough "umph" to drive a beckett properly.

danny zubot · #2 01-23-2006, 10:34 PM

I guess I should have stated that I'd scrap the becket all together as the needle wheel would take over the injection system. Would it work? Or are the skimmers using them specifically designed for those pumps?

AndyL · #3 01-23-2006, 11:38 PM

There aren't that many reasonably priced pumps out there to run a needlewheel...

About the only ones out there for a reasonable price (IMHO) are the ocean riders - 2700 and 3700 both come in under 100$ (with the needlewheel - the eheim 1260 looks reasonable until you realize the impeller itself costs more than the pump).

What you may want to consider for the actual construction is to remove the becket head altogether, feed water in through that tube, then use a venturi/needlewheel recirc rather than trying to rework the whole system.

Andy

danny zubot · #4 01-24-2006, 02:28 PM

The Becket injector housing simply unscrews from the skimmer body so its not a hard mod. I'd simply have to plumb a needle wheel onto the skimmer, I'm just wondering if the bubble rate will be similar to the becket with a needle wheel pump. IE) currently using a mag 18 through the becket injector, what flow rate with a needle wheel will produce the same flow and bubble quuality?

AndyL · #5 01-25-2006, 12:14 AM

My thoughts on the matter are to use 2 pumps, or feed with a T off the drain from the tank.

Basically you'd be building a recirculating venturi skimmer. Flowthrough handled by one small pump (probably under 200gph) level controled by a gate valve, using the original input/outlets from the becket. Then you have to add a new inlet/outlet in the reactor chamber, for the recirculating needlewheel/venturi.

That's the easiest way I see to do it - Maybe someone else has a better suggestion.

Andy

Willow · #6 01-25-2006, 12:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndyL

That's the easiest way I see to do it - Maybe someone else has a better suggestion.

Andy

get an asm skimmer for a couple of hundred bucks and be done with it?

danny zubot · #7 01-25-2006, 01:50 PM

I guess I haven't done a very good job of explaining what I would like to do. Here is a pic of a similar skimmer to mine.

Now remove the entire injector housing and plumb a NW pump right to the skimmer body. Will that work? I have a stand pipe instead of a gate valve. My biggest concern is that the Mag 18 I'm using now must still provide 1200 gph flow even after the becket injector, will a NW pump at 500-700 gph still give me the same amount of foam?