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My DIY Kalk Reactor
- Thread starter jimroth
- Start date
Now that I go my AWI parts, I'm ready to try it out.
Here's a side view showing the support rod and upper flange:
The 1/4" fittings installed in the plug:
Support rod, lower flange, and the thing on the back of the stirrer that holds it.
Filled the tube with some sand and bent it.
And inserted it in the back of the fitting. I didn't get a good seal, so I added to heat shrink tubing and reinserted it. Silicone would have worked too.
Here's a side view showing the support rod and upper flange:
The 1/4" fittings installed in the plug:
Support rod, lower flange, and the thing on the back of the stirrer that holds it.
Filled the tube with some sand and bent it.
And inserted it in the back of the fitting. I didn't get a good seal, so I added to heat shrink tubing and reinserted it. Silicone would have worked too.
I ended up sealing the outflow tube with a blob of silicone and sealing the top with "tape dope," an advanced version of the familar teflon tape. The solenoid is upstream of the reactor, regulating a siphon flow from my water barrel.
It works pretty well so far. The vessel is sealed so the inflow water pushes kalkwasser out of the outflow tube without filling the vessel. The biggest problem I am dealing with is that too much lime powder settles on the bottom and stops the stirrer from stirring. There is an optimum amount that will not do that.
Here it is running:
Closeup:
It works pretty well so far. The vessel is sealed so the inflow water pushes kalkwasser out of the outflow tube without filling the vessel. The biggest problem I am dealing with is that too much lime powder settles on the bottom and stops the stirrer from stirring. There is an optimum amount that will not do that.
Here it is running:
Closeup:
Update:
Some trouble getting the top to seal tightly. It still works, but there's a small drip. I have to use 3 layers of tape and dog the top down all the way, takes muscle. Then it doesn't drip. Not too good long-term. I want to investigate replacing the cleanout on top with a union followed by a sealed cap. That would be easier to use (but expensive, I bet). The thing is glued together with silicone rather than cement, so I should be able to get it apart without sawing it.
I have worked my way up to 5 heaping tablespoons of kalk, after larger quantities stalled the stir bar. I have to position the stir bar in the middle of the reservoir after filling it with kalk, by using a large magnet outside the tube. Otherwise the stirrer can't catch it.
I have separated the stirring process from the top-up process. I found it was better to stir the solution for 5 minutes every hour than to have the stirrer come on during top-up. If there was no top-up for a while, the kalk settled on the stirrer and stalled it. Also the freshly stirred kalk make the tank cloudy.
It does a good job of keeping the pH up, though.
Some trouble getting the top to seal tightly. It still works, but there's a small drip. I have to use 3 layers of tape and dog the top down all the way, takes muscle. Then it doesn't drip. Not too good long-term. I want to investigate replacing the cleanout on top with a union followed by a sealed cap. That would be easier to use (but expensive, I bet). The thing is glued together with silicone rather than cement, so I should be able to get it apart without sawing it.
I have worked my way up to 5 heaping tablespoons of kalk, after larger quantities stalled the stir bar. I have to position the stir bar in the middle of the reservoir after filling it with kalk, by using a large magnet outside the tube. Otherwise the stirrer can't catch it.
I have separated the stirring process from the top-up process. I found it was better to stir the solution for 5 minutes every hour than to have the stirrer come on during top-up. If there was no top-up for a while, the kalk settled on the stirrer and stalled it. Also the freshly stirred kalk make the tank cloudy.
It does a good job of keeping the pH up, though.
Had a near-disaster when the single solenoid stuck. Put approx 1/2cup of kalk into the system in minutes, raised the pH to 8.4, would have been worse but I quickly saw what was happening.
ANYBODY who uses these solenoids, the ones from ATO.com, needs to check them regularly. mine stuck open and was not making the sharp clicking sound it normally makes. They are easily disassembled, the solenoid part comes off the valve, and you can manually free it. I now think that having the valve control the outflow (kalkwasser) was a mistake, and it should have just controlled the inflow (RO water) to prevent jamming with calcium. Live and learn. I now have a solenoid going in and one going out. This actually seems to work better than one solenoid, and it has redundancy.
I have worked my way up to 1.5 cups of kalkwasser, about 3 weeks supply if there are no disasters!
At the meeting, Bruce K. mentioned his concept of having a kalk reactor and a plain RO topoff working in tandem, switched according to time and pH by the Aquacontroller 3. I think this may be a better solution, possibly the ultimate!
ANYBODY who uses these solenoids, the ones from ATO.com, needs to check them regularly. mine stuck open and was not making the sharp clicking sound it normally makes. They are easily disassembled, the solenoid part comes off the valve, and you can manually free it. I now think that having the valve control the outflow (kalkwasser) was a mistake, and it should have just controlled the inflow (RO water) to prevent jamming with calcium. Live and learn. I now have a solenoid going in and one going out. This actually seems to work better than one solenoid, and it has redundancy.
I have worked my way up to 1.5 cups of kalkwasser, about 3 weeks supply if there are no disasters!
At the meeting, Bruce K. mentioned his concept of having a kalk reactor and a plain RO topoff working in tandem, switched according to time and pH by the Aquacontroller 3. I think this may be a better solution, possibly the ultimate!
I control my kalk reactor stirring and my auto-topoff via my Aquacontroller. I had some annoyance from instances when the top-up unit would come on while the reactor was stirring or had just finished stirring, causing milky kalkwasser to be dosed and make the tank cloudy. I solved this (duh) by having the topoff come on on the hour and the stirrer come on on the half-hour. I also set it so there's no top-off during primetime viewing hours, 5-11PM.
What I subsequently discovered was what I really want to share. You don't want the reactor to be stirring when it doses. If you just have some clear solution in there, the tank gets a shot of kalkwasser, followed by some plain RO water. This results in a smaller pH swing, I have found, and more stable conditions. Giving the tank big shot of milky kalk hourly around the clock is too much kalk!
What I subsequently discovered was what I really want to share. You don't want the reactor to be stirring when it doses. If you just have some clear solution in there, the tank gets a shot of kalkwasser, followed by some plain RO water. This results in a smaller pH swing, I have found, and more stable conditions. Giving the tank big shot of milky kalk hourly around the clock is too much kalk!
D
Deleted member 10862
Guest
im amazed at the creativity of reefers..i seriously think some of them can build a submarine!! great job!