OMG, what am I going to do? I am beside myself.
(a few minutes ago I was two feet to the right)

I was designing a new venturi valve for my home made 5' skimmer which is, I don't really know, maybe 15 years old, and you know how those large vinyl hoses get in that time. Nice and brittle. Anyway, the entire bulkhead fitting where the venturi screws into, cracked and came out. Luckily, I drained the skimmer before I did this because I knew I would have trouble with it.
I am sure all of those years of injecting ozone into it did not help.
Now there is a large hole in the side of the skimmer and I am sure water would not want to stay in the thing I can live for a few days (or forever) without the skimmer but it also feeds my algae trough which I really want to keep working.
This seems like a good time to clean the skimmer being I can hardly see through it anymore. I am soaking it in bleach now then it will be vinegar.
I had to install a temporary pump to feed the algae trough.
The skimmer bracket where it is bolted to the back of the tank is also very rusty and needs replacement so I can do that also.
Sometime you need to have an accident to get time to maintain these things.
After I get the thing back together and cleaned I still want to design a new venturi valve. The thing works pretty good but there is always room for improvement.
Have a great day
Paul

You can see the bulkhead here with the blue on it and the air hose stuck into the venturi

See what you get for using unproven, experiment, outdated, unrealiable equipment and methods?

Perhaps now you will finally wise up, spend 1,000s of $ To get new upto date reliable equipment.. You know the types that have been designed in the last year or so.


color me jealous.


and my .02

__________________
fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

Yes I do as I look at my workshop and remember all of the previous models that have been re-designed, this is the last one of a long line of prototypes that started when skimmers were invented in the seventees. I broke it myself or it would have lasted with no maintenance forever. It is fixed now and after I design a new stainless steel bracket, I will start a new line of venturi valves to try. I installed a union on it so I can change the valves without breaking anything. I will also change the glass hard vinyl tubes which caused the thing to break in the first place.

Do you mean to say there was actually a time before skimmers. (time B S)?


Pitty most don't get our little jokes.

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

I actually do, and I bought the first Sanders skimmer on the market. They are so simple I have always built them since.

Kids

I got the thing back together and bolted to the stand, I got it running and found out why the bottom bracket rusted so bad. There is a slight leak, more like a seepage on one of the lower fittings. It was probably leaking for years. So of course I had to un bolt the thing, dis connect the 7 hoses, take it to my workshop and fix the leak.
Now I am waiting for the sealer to dry. I think I will test it before I put it back on the tank like I should have done in the first place.
The good news is that the new venturi valve works better than the old one but more bad news is that one of my MH lights that I did not touch, does not go on. So I have another "fun" thing to fix

What a bargain, the ballast was only $85.00.
So now the lights and skimmer are working. I am not going to touch anything for a while

That's always my best plan.

__________________
fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

Hello,

Thank you for your nice Information. I like it very much.

Thanks