Needle Wheel Question, Please Help!

luke33 · 03/02/2007, 08:24 AM

I have a quick and easy question(if you know). I have a venturi skimmer now and its at 600gph pump, i want to know if swaping it out with a 600gph NW pump if it would do any better as far as bubble production? Does the NW pump need to be air injected or does it create bubbles in the pump? Thanks!

Navyblue · 03/02/2007, 08:45 AM

Do not use a NW pump to drive a venturi. Venturi need pressure to operate and NW pumps are low in pressure. If you can remove the venturi, you should be able to do so as long as you can connect them together.

luke33 · 03/02/2007, 08:56 AM

Would i be better off boaring out the intake on my venturi pump and adding an air pump to get more bubbles. Doing this before the propellar should work right?

Navyblue · 03/02/2007, 08:58 AM

Is your venturi placed before or after the pump?

Either case, I don't think it will do any good. You are better off to place an airstone in the skimmer chamber if you want to use an air pump.

luke33 · 03/02/2007, 09:05 AM

My venturi is before the pump. I just figured more air meant more bubbles being made.

dhnguyen · 03/02/2007, 09:24 AM

Do you have a picture or 2 of this "venturi"? Most skimmers do not use a true venturi that requires a pressure rated pump to run. In fact you can probably make your own aspirator "venturi" for that NW pump easily enough.

Yes NW pumps require air to generate bubbles, the impeller pulls in the air just like a normal pump does. Where it make a difference is that the NW will chop up the air even more to generate more and smaller bubbles than a conventional pump.

Why not do the mesh mod to the pump instead, it would be even better than NW IME.

D.

luke33 · 03/02/2007, 09:32 AM

D, its the via aqua, remember? We had a brief convo about it. So i did the mesh mod and the skimmer was milk throughout the whole body, but after two days the bubbles ceased throughout but its producing good skimmate. I was just curious if a NW pump of the same or greater gph would make better bubble production. Do you think more air would help? I wonder if the venturi is now blocked or somthing.

http://www.commodityaxis.com/ProductData.aspx?id=52

luke33 · 03/02/2007, 09:34 AM

D, FWIW, it produced about 3 cups of skimmate that was dark green in 9hrs. My remora pro in the same area produced about 2oz in the same time period. lol

dhnguyen · 03/02/2007, 10:02 AM

I would take a look and see if the air line is clogged at the venturi or something like that.

Did you use the Enkamat PF4 to mod this?

A NW won't neccessarily make it skim better IMO. There comes a point when you're pulling so much air in that your skimmer body may not be able to handle it although I doubt that this is the case here.

dhnguyen · 03/02/2007, 10:04 AM

ya know now that I looked at the phto of the via aqua again. I wonder if you wouldn't get better performance by cutting down on the that inner tube (inside the skimmer body).

luke33 · 03/02/2007, 10:13 AM

I hear ya on the inner tube. I just can't get to it without breaking the thing. I'd cut it in half if it were up to me. I'll see if its clogged, but don't think so. I don't see a problem with more air as i think the body can handle about any amount of air. Yea, the mesh is the not best kind. Needle mesh from hobby lobby. I'll be buyin some of that other good mesh here in the next few days. It just sucks to have to pay 10 bux shipping on a 2 cent item. lol, oh well. And i'm gonna boar out the intake and add a air pump just to see what happens, if nothing happens, oh well, just ten bux down the drain, big woop. Thanks D!

03/02/2007, 08:24 AM	#1
luke33 Moved On Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 8,375	Needle Wheel Question, Please Help! I have a quick and easy question(if you know). I have a venturi skimmer now and its at 600gph pump, i want to know if swaping it out with a 600gph NW pump if it would do any better as far as bubble production? Does the NW pump need to be air injected or does it create bubbles in the pump? Thanks!

03/02/2007, 08:45 AM	#2
Navyblue Low maintenance first Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 2,790	Do not use a NW pump to drive a venturi. Venturi need pressure to operate and NW pumps are low in pressure. If you can remove the venturi, you should be able to do so as long as you can connect them together.

03/02/2007, 08:56 AM	#3
luke33 Moved On Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 8,375	Would i be better off boaring out the intake on my venturi pump and adding an air pump to get more bubbles. Doing this before the propellar should work right?

03/02/2007, 08:58 AM	#4
Navyblue Low maintenance first Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 2,790	Is your venturi placed before or after the pump? Either case, I don't think it will do any good. You are better off to place an airstone in the skimmer chamber if you want to use an air pump.

03/02/2007, 09:05 AM	#5
luke33 Moved On Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 8,375	My venturi is before the pump. I just figured more air meant more bubbles being made.

03/02/2007, 09:24 AM	#6
dhnguyen Moved On Join Date: May 2004 Location: Kingston, WA Posts: 4,751	Do you have a picture or 2 of this "venturi"? Most skimmers do not use a true venturi that requires a pressure rated pump to run. In fact you can probably make your own aspirator "venturi" for that NW pump easily enough. Yes NW pumps require air to generate bubbles, the impeller pulls in the air just like a normal pump does. Where it make a difference is that the NW will chop up the air even more to generate more and smaller bubbles than a conventional pump. Why not do the mesh mod to the pump instead, it would be even better than NW IME. D.

03/02/2007, 09:32 AM	#7
luke33 Moved On Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 8,375	D, its the via aqua, remember? We had a brief convo about it. So i did the mesh mod and the skimmer was milk throughout the whole body, but after two days the bubbles ceased throughout but its producing good skimmate. I was just curious if a NW pump of the same or greater gph would make better bubble production. Do you think more air would help? I wonder if the venturi is now blocked or somthing. http://www.commodityaxis.com/ProductData.aspx?id=52

03/02/2007, 09:34 AM	#8
luke33 Moved On Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 8,375	D, FWIW, it produced about 3 cups of skimmate that was dark green in 9hrs. My remora pro in the same area produced about 2oz in the same time period. lol

03/02/2007, 10:02 AM	#9
dhnguyen Moved On Join Date: May 2004 Location: Kingston, WA Posts: 4,751	I would take a look and see if the air line is clogged at the venturi or something like that. Did you use the Enkamat PF4 to mod this? A NW won't neccessarily make it skim better IMO. There comes a point when you're pulling so much air in that your skimmer body may not be able to handle it although I doubt that this is the case here.

03/02/2007, 10:04 AM	#10
dhnguyen Moved On Join Date: May 2004 Location: Kingston, WA Posts: 4,751	ya know now that I looked at the phto of the via aqua again. I wonder if you wouldn't get better performance by cutting down on the that inner tube (inside the skimmer body).

03/02/2007, 10:13 AM	#11
luke33 Moved On Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 8,375	I hear ya on the inner tube. I just can't get to it without breaking the thing. I'd cut it in half if it were up to me. I'll see if its clogged, but don't think so. I don't see a problem with more air as i think the body can handle about any amount of air. Yea, the mesh is the not best kind. Needle mesh from hobby lobby. I'll be buyin some of that other good mesh here in the next few days. It just sucks to have to pay 10 bux shipping on a 2 cent item. lol, oh well. And i'm gonna boar out the intake and add a air pump just to see what happens, if nothing happens, oh well, just ten bux down the drain, big woop. Thanks D!