Official: Masterflex Calcium Reactor Setup Thread

[gdemos]

Help me troubleshoot please:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p1-HNYXlS4

Thanks, -Greg

[swk]

That seems like a very small amount of flow. 8-10ml? Have you tried running at 40ml and raising the ph in the reactor?

[gdemos]

I've been running at 8 mL/min on this setup for several months.
Reactor pH at 6.5. I'd prefer to get it to 6.4 but that's okay. It has maintained my parameters with this cadence at 8.7dKH 460pm Ca 1300Mg.

My only guess, eventhough the pump ran well in the sink, is that the impeller has failed. maybe it has expanded and is running lower than it should.

So after a few days of running at 500 mL/min to purge air, then as soon as I lower effluent to my normal drip rate of 8 mL/min I got the air again... so today I left the house at 30 mL/min to see if this normalizes. beyond this - my guess again is impeller

I run my other reactor also at 8 mL/min with a pH of 6.35 and it maintains my QT system with good stability.

[zachts]

Originally Posted by gdemos

I've been running at 8 mL/min on this setup for several months.
Reactor pH at 6.5. I'd prefer to get it to 6.4 but that's okay. It has maintained my parameters with this cadence at 8.7dKH 460pm Ca 1300Mg.

My only guess, eventhough the pump ran well in the sink, is that the impeller has failed. maybe it has expanded and is running lower than it should.

So after a few days of running at 500 mL/min to purge air, then as soon as I lower effluent to my normal drip rate of 8 mL/min I got the air again... so today I left the house at 30 mL/min to see if this normalizes. beyond this - my guess again is impeller

I run my other reactor also at 8 mL/min with a pH of 6.35 and it maintains my QT system with good stability.

You probably have an air leak for it to suck that much air that quick. Since it's not leaking and you are pulling thru the reactor creating a slight vacuum, the culprit is probably on the intake side of the reactor or the pump. you could also try pushing thru the reactor at high rpm which may pressurize it enough to identify the leak.

If the recirc pumps on the two reactors can be interchanged you could swap them and see if the problem moves to the other reactor to rule out the pump as the issue.

[gdemos]

Ok. I rotated the lines. So my intake (feed) side of the pump (front as you look at the side profile of the head) switched to the back. So now pushing water through reactor as opposed to pulling out... Ran at max rpm. No leaks detected.

I'm going to give it some time today running at traditional low rpm and see if the air creeps back. It could be that I didn't give it enough time (even though I ran it at 500 mL rate for 15 hours +) to really purge all the air. Even with full media the reactor holds almost 10gal of water I think.

[JB NY]

Got mine setup last night.

[swk]

Originally Posted by JB NY

Got mine setup last night.

Looks like a solid setup. Congrats!

[africangrey]

My 7524-60 is making some clicking noise when running and I think the sound is coming out of the easy load head unit, is that normal? The click is in rhythm along with speed adjustment. do you think lubing the rollers would make any difference?

[JB NY]

Try resetting the tubing in the rollers. I had that clicking, I just opened and closed the lever a few times and it went away.

[africangrey]

Thanks Joe I will try resetting the tubing and see what happen.

Originally Posted by JB NY

Try resetting the tubing in the rollers. I had that clicking, I just opened and closed the lever a few times and it went away.

[hkgar]

Originally Posted by africangrey

My 7524-60 is making some clicking noise when running and I think the sound is coming out of the easy load head unit, is that normal? The click is in rhythm along with speed adjustment. do you think lubing the rollers would make any difference?

Yes, normal due to wear of the flat piece on the head that connects it to the motor. I solved the problem with a few wraps of teflon tape to eliminate the gap

[zachts]

Originally Posted by hkgar

yes, normal due to wear of the flat piece on the head that connects it to the motor. I solved the problem with a few wraps of teflon tape to eliminate the gap

+1

[EvMiBo]

What exactly are you wrapping the teflon onto?

[zachts]

Originally Posted by EvMiBo

What exactly are you wrapping the teflon onto?

when you remove the head from the motor there is a metal tab that fits a slot on the motor shaft, the connection wears and gets loose over time, that is what makes the clicking sound as the rollers clear the tubing it "snaps" forward and makes the click.

the tape fills the gap and doesn't let it click.

[EvMiBo]

Nice. Thanks for the tip.

[EvMiBo]

Sorry if this is slightly off topic... I'm switching from a GEO612 to a MTC Minical. I use TLF Reborn (will put that in the larger 1st chamber), but was wondering what people would recommend for the 2nd, smaller chamber? Just a smaller media? Finally, does anyone have a copy of their user manuals? I tried contacting MTC but haven't gotten a reply.

[janey]

Hi, eveyone...
Question I received a MasterFlex L/S pumphead PharMed HP precision tubing 25' 06585-15
From Fleabay. And Thankful received a full refund on it,
Cause the tubing is Solid like a rock.

Any chance on making it flexible again.. any tricks.. ???

[FarmerTy]

So I bought an old fixed rate Masterflex unit to run my Deltec and it came with this style power plug. Anybody seen this before?



Here's the model number of the drive.



I called ColeParmer and they were clueless on it but were very helpful otherwise. Before I cut this and splice it with a regular plug, I wanted to throw it in here first.

Anybody?

[slief]

Originally Posted by janey

Hi, eveyone...
Question I received a MasterFlex L/S pumphead PharMed HP precision tubing 25' 06585-15
From Fleabay. And Thankful received a full refund on it,
Cause the tubing is Solid like a rock.

Any chance on making it flexible again.. any tricks.. ???

Try putting a piece of it in a pot of boiling water for several minutes. That should soften it up.

[hkgar]

Originally Posted by FarmerTy

So I bought an old fixed rate Masterflex unit to run my Deltec and it came with this style power plug. Anybody seen this before?



Here's the model number of the drive.



I called ColeParmer and they were clueless on it but were very helpful otherwise. Before I cut this and splice it with a regular plug, I wanted to throw it in here first.

Anybody?

Unless I am mistaken, you have purchased a pump drive and the plug you see is to be plugged into a controller that tells the drive what to do.

MNever mind I just double checked and I am wrong. It is a fixed speed pump. So I have no idea why the plug. The fixed rate is 6 RPM whch will therefore not allow for changeing the ml rate without changing the tubing.

[Krazie4Acans]

How precise does the adjustment on the pump need to be? I found one that is adjustable from 0-130ml/min in 0.5ml increments. Do you think that one will work or is that not fine enough adjustment?

[JB NY]

I think that .5ml is plenty.

[jimmy007]

Can a Litermeter dosing unit so the same?

[slief]

Originally Posted by jimmy007

Can a Litermeter dosing unit so the same?

No. The LM pumps are not designed for continuous duty and their pumps divide dosing amounts up by they day. They don't allow finite control over continuous flow. Instead the pump a small amount broken up over the course of a day. Their slave pumps with the AC adapter could run constantly but they aren't designed to and don't allow you to control the rate of flow which is critcal. Essentially the Calcium reactor needs constant flow and you want to be able to slow the flow down to meet the needs of the tank. In many cases, a constant flow rate of 25-50ml a minute is needed. I have a 650 gallon system and run my Cole Parmer at about 25 ml/min but I have relatively low calcium uptake. A smaller tank may require even lower flow rates or higher depending on the calcium use. They key is being able to adjust that flow to meet your tanks needs and have it constant so that the pH in the reactor is consistent and also to avoid the effluent line from clogging.

[jimmy007]

Originally Posted by slief

No. The LM pumps are not designed for continuous duty and their pumps divide dosing amounts up by they day. They don't allow finite control over continuous flow. Instead the pump a small amount broken up over the course of a day. Their slave pumps with the AC adapter could run constantly but they aren't designed to and don't allow you to control the rate of flow which is critcal. Essentially the Calcium reactor needs constant flow and you want to be able to slow the flow down to meet the needs of the tank. In many cases, a constant flow rate of 25-50ml a minute is needed. I have a 650 gallon system and run my Cole Parmer at about 25 ml/min but I have relatively low calcium uptake. A smaller tank may require even lower flow rates or higher depending on the calcium use. They key is being able to adjust that flow to meet your tanks needs and have it constant so that the pH in the reactor is consistent and also to avoid the effluent line from clogging.

Thanks. I'm now on a search for Masterflex unit.