King Fern

Hi guys
I am tired of shelling out money on air pumps from pet stores that die within 2- 3 months.
So I have been researching alternative methods for supplying air to the bubblers.
I have looked ar scuba tanks to air compressors.
This looks like the best alternative.

There are many ways of supplying air to a multiple DWC setup, . Popular today are air blowers and large diaphragm air pumps. The former pumps large volumes of air at low pressure and the latter pumps reasonable volumes of air at higher air pressures. Both of these products have one disadvantage, high cost. Before these products came onto the market there was the configuration, or something similar, to that shown in the photo. Assemblies such as this were commonly used by many serious aquarists in Australia. It is an anti- pollution air pump off a Mazda RX7 vehicle engine (on the left of the picture) and that is driven by an electrical motor, with some form of coupling, in this case a V-Belt.
The anti-pollution air pump was common on vehicles around the late 1970's and early 1980's. The principle is to rotate vanes in a confined space in an elliptical orbit such that the vanes trap air from an inlet and discharge it via an outlet. The vanes are made of carbon and slide between carbon guides. The inlet is on the right and the outlet at the back of the pump. The Mazda.is a good choice as it has three vanes resulting in a superior output volume, compared to other vehicle manufacturers that commonly used a design with only two vanes. Before use in an air supply that is required to be clean, the pump is fully dismantled and cleaned of oil and grease. The internal surfaces are sometimes polished. One drawback of the anti-pollution pump is noise. The noise can be quite excessive, but a little care during the cleaning stage and a careful shaving of the vanes will reduce this considerably, and certainly to acceptable limits. The fan is to keep the air moving over the motor for cooling purposes. In winter, the fan drawing air over the hot motor, assists in keeping the room at its desired temperature, and reducing heating costs.

The electrical motor that is regularly chosen to drive the pump is an old washing machine motor, or similar. They are readily available and very reasonable in price. In the fullness of time this will prove a mistake as the running cost is not insignificant, due to the inefficiencies of such a unit. The amount of heat generated by an electrical motor is a guide to its inefficiency. In addition, the motor is required to run continuously and the electrical motor from such appliances as washing machines can eventually fail under that continuous demand.

I chose a B.W.N. motor. It is a heavy-duty, dual winding motor which runs on 110V AC and draws only 1/3 amp under normal running conditions. In the air pump application the load is very small and the motor runs relatively cool. The speed of the unit is 1800 rpm, and I have geared it to approximately 1.5:1, again reducing the work of the motor. It is reported that no B.W.N motor has ever been burned out. You can comfortably leave your hand on my unit whilst it is in operation. The use of these motors is commonly seen in automatic sliding door equipment on shops and commercial premises.

Two mechanical filters are used. One filter before the pump where the inlet air is mechanically cleaned or airborne dust to reduce wear within the pump, and one after the pump to remove any dust created from the moving carbon vanes and carbon guides of the pump.

This assembly easily caters for my needs which at the moment stands at 80 outlets. As mentioned previously, this setup lacks air pressure, and as such, most outlets are at a depth of 0.46m (18") or less.

The worst item for loosing pressure of air is to use long lengths of 3mm air line tubing. By increasing the diameter of the piping, headloss virtually disappears in our situation. Distribution of air from the pump is by 20mm class 12 rigid PVC pipe. This ensures no head loss. It is easy to bend, cut, glue and affix to normal surfaces using saddles. At take off points I use 3mm brass tubing. The hole drilled into the PVC is purposely slightly smaller than the diameter of the brass tubing. Taper the end of the brass tube and hammer it into the drilled hole making an airtight fitting. The length of the brass tubing is such that the tubing touches the opposite side of the PVC, making it stable, and remains protruding from the hole by about 10mm. The taper end ensures that the pumped air can gain access to the tube. The 10mm is for attaching airline tubing, taps, valves etc.. The length of airline tubing should be kept to a minimum, so the takeoff points should be close to their point of use.

If you are pumping warm humid air from within an fishroom, you will soon experience condensation in the external pipes (especially in winter), and the potential for back siphoning if the pump is stopped. To avoid this place the air entry to the pump outside the fish room. You will never have the problem again.

IF ANYONE HAS ANY OTHER SIMPLE IDEAS HERE IS THE PLACE TO PUT THEM HERE
THANKS GUYS

King Fern

Surely someone has some ideas ?

Gamelin

well i dont think im helping but the 803's have spare parts you can buy for them the lady told me that if it breaks its probibly the diaphram and they are like $2 and she said other parts are cheap too hope i helped ive been watching this post and will continue to do so !!! im interested in different air techniques

lab_rat_x

airpumps being readily avialible straight off the shelf, i would have to say i would avoid all the extra work and possible contamination from auto lubercates and grease. i plan on sticking with my aquarium airpumps. adding solid tubing to help air flow sounds good and worth while. maybe a turbocharger would be a a more tricked setup!

__________________
We create nothing, express nothing; we only discover or uncover what is already there.

lilbuddie

Cheap ones are like 5 bucks

Yeah most common failure is the diaphragm and they sell repair kits cheap! like 5 mins to fix after they finally break down which isn't for awhile

__________________
Dope will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no dope
Pass the Roots and Hit the Culture
Catagory 5 Survivor

Xzoomd

An aquarium power-head would probably
work...on the bubble mode.

x

But then each bucket would needs its own
power-head. that could run into some
cash..but then K Firn seems pretty
serious

King Fern

If you read the article man you would have seen that
This is for fish breeding purposes.
Fish are far more sensitive to pollutants, than plant's are.

I breed fish so I should Know.

The problem is I am currently running 15 Resovoir's
And Increasing to 30.
The power consumption from your cheap $5 airpump is quite considerable.
I have 16 duel outlet pumps running simultaneously
And my power bill Is Friggen rediculous
A problem encountered by many fish breeders the world over.
2 of my larger 4 way pumps Use over 40 watts each 24 hours a day.
I introduced this idea as, RX-7 Air pumps are around AU$20 to buy secondhand.
The Washing machine motor is AU$15
And when put together in 5 minutes
Has enough aircapasity to run 80 airstones.
For $15 USD
The more air in the bubbler the better right !!
And it runs on less than one third of an amp !!

Now I thought everyone here was power conscious ?
I must have been mistaken
I have never seen an Aquarium pump for $5 in my life lilbuddie
And I have been breeding fish for 25 years now
So If you live in the states and can buy airators made by children in slave labour camps in Mexico, Good for you
However I dont have that luxury at my doorstep.
As to the availability of spare parts ?
I have a choice of 3 pet stores
None of which carry spare parts
As it is easier to sell new pump's.
:A power head wont work as well as a cheap airator
Even on bubble mode the best on the market doesn't come near
The cheapest airpump.
If you checked the prices of power heads lately you would see they are far more expensive than an airator.

And what's this " but then kFirn seems pretty serious crap huh ?
Xzoomd feel free to post one of your new growing techniques/inventions
To the rest of the marijuana
growing community here.
And cash is not a problem for me as I have worked my whole life to get into the position I am in today.
I am not a school boy growing in my mom n pop's place.
I grow marijuana for terminally Ill cancer patient's undergoing Chemotherapy.
All Vietnam vetran's
I am a medicinal smoker as well.
I dont smoke for the hell of it.
My stomach was torn apart in the Army serving my country
After that I hit the booze for 11 years to self medicate.
As I was addicted to morphine when I left military hospital,
And didnt want to start shooting up pain killers,
I chose alcohol with detrimental effects to my liver.
On top of only having half my stomach and Intestines left.


I thought I was contributing here in a highly positive way.

I planned on posting plans for a fully automated Rainbird DWC for 30 plants , + a 30 plant aero system I have almost completed
With the guidance of a pro hydroponic farmer
But considering the snide and inaccurate comments cast forth here, "

I seriously cant be bothered posting any more new ideas here.
Why should I even bother ?
When most people here are growing 1 or 2 plant's in their parents cupboard's and they are called "Master growers

Xzoomd

Whats your problem?

Dont bother replying.. I've unsubscribed from this thread. And do you think youre the only one around here thats been wounded?!?! Or is a Viet Nan vet!?!? This time..and I said THIS TIME you picked the wrong dude to phuck with.
BYE!!

lilbuddie

The last part was totally uncalled for.
You better check your attitude before posting things like this again. A simple explanantion would have suficed instead of a sarcastic remark. I have had fish for all my life (which is more than 25 years) and I know well and good what is available out there. And alot of those pumps are from China as well as available online.

There is something wrong with the pumps you are buying or how you are using them. They should not be expiring that fast! no way. I have had some pumps for years with no problems.

I do applaud you inventiveness to solve a problem but need to keep that attitude on the other side of the keyboard!

__________________
Dope will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no dope
Pass the Roots and Hit the Culture
Catagory 5 Survivor

Xzoomd

Yours was the first post I read this morning. I wouldnt win any popularity contests when I first wake up. After having my java & a joint I'm an iota closer to a mellow state of mind.
But first, I'm going to be 50 next year, own my home, which means it's paid. No more FN payments. My two sons have graduated from university. I'm a viet~nan (era) vet....trained helo pilots only to be shot from the sky. And I have been shot and disabled by a .357 hollowpoint. Dont think you have a monopoly on chronic pain. also worked the pits of a major commodities exchange, among other things. So you see I'm not the snot slinging youngster you may have envisioned. I may be guilty of regression though
That out of the way, I too have kept freshwater and saltwater fish and am interested in your idea....after I chill and digest your insults alittle further.