Swirl Steins with Koralia 4 Mods

Discussion in 'I made this!' started by dngspot, Nov 6, 2008.

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  1. dngspot

    dngspot Spaghetti Worm

    Joined:
    Jun 24, 2007
    Messages:
    199
    Location:
    Wichita KS
    I am going to try this again; we shall see how it goes.


    Here is what I have done with the help of some folks at RC.
    I have had these running for just over 24 hours and the flow is terrific. The pumps on the end of the Swirl Steins are a set of mod’ed Koralia 4’s, I am way impressed on their flow alone. I have the complete build thread at my local site. The build thread is pic intense and the instructions are clear.

    Swirl Stein Build
    DIY Swirler Stein - Wichita Aquarium Club Forums

    Koralia Mods
    Korilia 4 Mod'ed and WOW! - Wichita Aquarium Club Forums

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    The items on top of the box are the arm and ring for the second box.

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  3. silverwolf72

    silverwolf72 Skunk Shrimp

    Joined:
    Sep 17, 2006
    Messages:
    264
    Location:
    Lake Forest CA
    Do you have a hard time with it vibrating being at the end of a long pole?
     
  4. dngspot

    dngspot Spaghetti Worm

    Joined:
    Jun 24, 2007
    Messages:
    199
    Location:
    Wichita KS
    No vibration at all.
     
  5. dngspot

    dngspot Spaghetti Worm

    Joined:
    Jun 24, 2007
    Messages:
    199
    Location:
    Wichita KS
    For the last couple of days I have been having trouble with the left Swirl. I keep breaking the ring around the down tube. The problem was the pumps are putting allot of force on the down tube which is causing down tube to press on the sides of the bushings, the parts that are glued to the box. This causes a bind at the weakest point, the top or bottom of the stroke. I did give some thought to this when I was building the units and put food grade grease inside those bushings and the down tube.

    The fix, remove the ring and wipe that worthless grease off and use bearing grade lithium grease. They are running smoother and working less. I must have broken 3 of those stinking little rings. I am getting real good at making them too.

    I have beefed up the ring also, they do not look as cool but, you can bet that it is not going to break anymore. I have to say, those little microwave turn table motors have a bunch of torque for as little as they are.
     
  6. dngspot

    dngspot Spaghetti Worm

    Joined:
    Jun 24, 2007
    Messages:
    199
    Location:
    Wichita KS
    Along with the mods I did with the old units I have done more. I have removed the grey pvc and installed clear 3/4 inch O.D. acrylic tube. I was going through my stuff and remembered that I had a solid piece of 3/4 inch acrylic rod. The bearings that I am using are 3/4 inch I.D. This allows me to do minimal machine work. The problem with the rod is, I want to pass the cord through the tube. Then it came to me that I have about 4 feet of the tube that I used for my calcium reactor bubble counter. It turns out it was pretty close to 3/4 O.D. but just a bit too big for the I.D. of the bearing. So I took my dremmel, with a sanding drum, to it and with a little work I was able to fit the bearing snugly to the tube. It looked a little rough so off to work and I cut them smoothly on the lathe. If I did not have it I would have just used the dremmel, the portion that is machined is covered anyway.
    I also removed the pivoting knuckle; we kept the K-4's pointed up about 5 degrees to keep the sand from blowing around. Off I went to the miter saw, and I cut 5 degrees to the bottom of the tube.
    The first one is up and running, what a difference. They are much smoother and cleaner looking. I am very happy.
    Here they are.

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