Official: Masterflex Calcium Reactor Setup Thread

[BigMike75]

Could you please post some pics. I am going to be running a Geo 618.

Thanks

[swk]

Pardon the mess. Notice the typical effluent port is simply plugged. The black line running from the lid is where my effluent gets pushed out.

[Chicago]

ca1ore... how is yours set up .. can you post pic.. I have the pro cal also and have issues with air co2 build up on the chamber.. you have a t that takes from the top of both lids..???

[sfdan]

For those of you deciding between brushed and brushless, since I now have purchased a collection of these pumps I made a little video of the noise difference. People have talked about the difference in the thread, but maybe the video can add to that.

http://vid1075.photobucket.com/album...psix2s8vuo.mp4

This is between a 7518-10 (brushed) and 7523-60 (brushless), both are 0-600rpm.

Cliffs: Brushed is fairly quiet, the but the hum of the motor at slow speeds is still noticeable above the sound of the reef. All my brushed pumps basically sound the same. The 7523-60 is inaudible over the reef sounds at low speeds, once it gets to 200-300rpm then it starts to make some sound (which is way above the speeds I'd be running it at).

I was going to live with the sound of the 7518-10 or try to muffle it somehow but saw a deal come across ebay on the 7523-60 and pulled the trigger on it. Glad I did after firing it up!

[Pife]

Originally Posted by ca1ore

Not just a Geo problem. My MTC did the same thing so now I pull from the lids of both cylinders.

That's interesting. Does it eventually keep the recirculating pump from working?

[ca1ore]

Originally Posted by Chicago

ca1ore... how is yours set up .. can you post pic.. I have the pro cal also and have issues with air co2 build up on the chamber.. you have a t that takes from the top of both lids..???

Best picture I have ...



Masterflex pulls not pushes. I removed the float from the large cylinder and use the red tube from the lid to connect to the bottom of the smaller, second cylinder. Pump then pulls from the normal effluent output on the top of that smaller cylinder. Feed tube draws from my frag tank which is about 24 inches above the reactor which maintains about 3 psi of pressure in the unit that seems to a is in dissolving of CO2.

I also modified the circulation pump plumbing to incorporate a pH probe. Much easier than trying to drill and tap the lid. Downsisized the pump at the same time.


My masterflex is one of the older economy drive models. Grinds and chirps, and has for as long as I've had it, keeps going though. Best $100 spent in years.

[Chicago]

thanks for the input.. great idea removing the float.. i do not see it realy doing anything..

[MikeTR]

Looks like I'm just about dialed in. 30ml/min, 6 bpm.. I'm at about 4 psi on the regulator side (AP carbon doser) holding the reactor at 6.6pH with less than .1 variation.

I'm using the 7523-60 to push the GEO 618 and not having an issue with air/co2 buildup. What's the advantage of pushing over pulling or vice versa? My other question is that in the bubble counter when the regulator clicks I see multiple small bubbles and not just a single bubble. Happens at higher PSI also, just larger bubbles. What gives there?

[slief]

Originally Posted by MikeTR

Looks like I'm just about dialed in. 30ml/min, 6 bpm.. I'm at about 4 psi on the regulator side (AP carbon doser) holding the reactor at 6.6pH with less than .1 variation.

I'm using the 7523-60 to push the GEO 618 and not having an issue with air/co2 buildup. What's the advantage of pushing over pulling or vice versa? My other question is that in the bubble counter when the regulator clicks I see multiple small bubbles and not just a single bubble. Happens at higher PSI also, just larger bubbles. What gives there?

The solenoid lets a out a preset amount of Co2 equivalent to 1 bubble per opening. That doesn't necessarily result in all the Co2 making it out of the regulator in one nice bubble. This is why you might see more than one bubble come out at once. The bubble broke up while exiting the regulator and came out at different times. The most important thing is the consistency of the amount of Co2 and not so much how it appears to be released.

As for the advantage of pushing or pulling, the theory is that if you were to develop a leak, pulling will result in air being drawn into the reactor where as pushing can result in water coming out of the reactor from the leak.

[swk]

Originally Posted by slief

As for the advantage of pushing or pulling, the theory is that if you were to develop a leak, pulling will result in air being drawn into the reactor where as pushing can result in water coming out of the reactor from the leak.

this is a definite advantage of the reactor is NOT in your sump. If it is in your sump, then it is really of no real consequence. I found when first setting up that pushing worked better for me, for whatever reason. And since my reactor is in the sump, I just rolled with it.

[MikeTR]

Originally Posted by slief

The solenoid lets a out a preset amount of Co2 equivalent to 1 bubble per opening. That doesn't necessarily result in all the Co2 making it out of the regulator in one nice bubble. This is why you might see more than one bubble come out at once. The bubble broke up while exiting the regulator and came out at different times. The most important thing is the consistency of the amount of Co2 and not so much how it appears to be released.

As for the advantage of pushing or pulling, the theory is that if you were to develop a leak, pulling will result in air being drawn into the reactor where as pushing can result in water coming out of the reactor from the leak.

Originally Posted by swk

this is a definite advantage of the reactor is NOT in your sump. If it is in your sump, then it is really of no real consequence. I found when first setting up that pushing worked better for me, for whatever reason. And since my reactor is in the sump, I just rolled with it.

Thanks slief.

I could see that.. when I first installed the reactor a week ago I forgot to open the effluent valve and primed the pump. Blew the impeller housing right off the eheim recirc pump, tabs broken and all. Kapow! Won't do that again!

Is either scenario less likely to lead to clogged effluent lines? I'm still using the valve on the effluent line to back it off a bit. At the lowest setting it puts out more than 30ml/min. Calibration is off I assume.

[swk]

Originally Posted by MikeTR

Thanks slief.



I could see that.. when I first installed the reactor a week ago I forgot to open the effluent valve and primed the pump. Blew the impeller housing right off the eheim recirc pump, tabs broken and all. Kapow! Won't do that again!



Is either scenario less likely to lead to clogged effluent lines? I'm still using the valve on the effluent line to back it off a bit. At the lowest setting it puts out more than 30ml/min. Calibration is off I assume.

Switch from ml/min setting, to rpms. Find out what your pump head will pump per revolution and set the appropriate rpm level. This can get the 7523-60 to lower than 30ml/min

Most heads with ls17 tubing pump 2.8ml per revolution if I remember correctly.

[slief]

Originally Posted by MikeTR

Thanks slief.

I could see that.. when I first installed the reactor a week ago I forgot to open the effluent valve and primed the pump. Blew the impeller housing right off the eheim recirc pump, tabs broken and all. Kapow! Won't do that again!

Is either scenario less likely to lead to clogged effluent lines? I'm still using the valve on the effluent line to back it off a bit. At the lowest setting it puts out more than 30ml/min. Calibration is off I assume.

Neither scenario will impact effluent clogs. Effluent glogs should be a thing of the past since you aren't pinching the effluent line. With LS17 tubing, that unit is rated at 28ml/min as the minimum since your unit has a 10 RPM minimum per the flow chart for that model.
http://www.coleparmer.com/Product/L_...chTerm=7523-60

That's pretty close to what you are seeing at 30ml/min and depending on how you are measuring that, 2ml one way or the other could be very easy to mismeasure.

[zachts]

Originally Posted by slief

Neither scenario will impact effluent clogs. Effluent glogs should be a thing of the past since you aren't pinching the effluent line. With LS17 tubing, that unit is rated at 28ml/min as the minimum since your unit has a 10 RPM minimum per the flow chart for that model.
http://www.coleparmer.com/Product/L_...chTerm=7523-60

That's pretty close to what you are seeing at 30ml/min and depending on how you are measuring that, 2ml one way or the other could be very easy to mismeasure.

Add in the +/- 3% tolerance for most CP pumps and that gets up to nearly 29ml/min. How the tubing is seated will also have a slight increase/decrease on pumping rate, tighter stretched tubing will pump a bit less but be more accurate, looser tubing will pump more but with a bit less accuracy. That may be where they get the +/- 3% from though.

[JoshuaG]

Hey guys I had bought this setup for my large multi tank setup but broke everything down before I used it. You could dose several different setups with this and it's variable speed, pretty awesome.

If anyone is interested shoot me a PM

http://www.coleparmer.com/Product/Ma...AC/EW-07553-70

[BlackTip]

What size of Polyethylene Tubing should I use? I have 1/4" mur-loc at home, but I don't know whether I should use 3/8" instead.

In the first post the author said for long runs and commercial use 3/8", but what define long runs?

Setup will be Masterflex pump, Geo CR624, and the distance between the sump and the pump is between 4-8'

Thanks,

[royvoss]

i used 3/8, i just inserted a piece of 1/4 in side so i could see the stream . 3/8 will e fine for that run, 1/4 would work also, kind of up to you

[hkgar]

I ran 8 feet of lift and 30 feet of vertical through 1/4 inch tubing with a Cole Parmer. I think it was my 7524-00. It was for auto top off and did not run continuously but it never lost its prime.

[vhuang168]

Been trying to wade through the whole thread but its pretty big. I've nailed down a few things but want to check to make sure. I was looking online for some kind of reference chart on what the specs are for each model but haven't been able to find any so far.

All 7523 pumps are brushless and the # after the - refers to rpm range?

So a 7523-20 or a 7523-40 will work? Both are listed as 10-600rpm so I don't know the what other difference there is.

7518 heads are what I want and again the # after the - are different rates. Will -60 or -12 work for the above pumps?

I found a 77300-80 which looks to be just the controller. Can I match it to a 77300-50 drive and 7518-00 head?

Thanks for the help!

[slief]

Originally Posted by vhuang168

Been trying to wade through the whole thread but its pretty big. I've nailed down a few things but want to check to make sure. I was looking online for some kind of reference chart on what the specs are for each model but haven't been able to find any so far.

All 7523 pumps are brushless and the # after the - refers to rpm range?

So a 7523-20 or a 7523-40 will work? Both are listed as 10-600rpm so I don't know the what other difference there is.

7518 heads are what I want and again the # after the - are different rates. Will -60 or -12 work for the above pumps?

I found a 77300-80 which looks to be just the controller. Can I match it to a 77300-50 drive and 7518-00 head?

Thanks for the help!

Not all pumps are brushless.
Neither the 7523-20 or the 7523-40 appear to be brushless.
The 7523-20 is a 10-600 RPM unit.
The 7523-40 is a 1-600 RPM unit.

The 77300-80 does appear to be a controller only but I am not sure what motor goes with it. i would suggest sticking with an integrated motor controller combo like the ones you are looking at above.

I got that info by searching the model numbers on the cole parmer website.
I am basing the non brushless comment based on price and looking at the manual for the 7523-40 which shows the brushes in the diagram.
http://www.coleparmer.com/Assets/man...-1299-0724.pdf
Both will work fine for calcium reactor use. They just will not be as quiet as their more expensive brushless counterparts.

For reference, the Brushless models will be listed at $1900+ on the CP website even if they are discontinued. If you see a price that is in the $1200 range as these were, you can generally bet they are brushed models and not "Maintenance Free" brushless... Some really old models will not be listed at all. The ones with the little knob to adjust the speed and pretty much all brushed models. The digital ones like the two you mentioned are typically offered in brushless but that is model specific.


As for the heads, the coleparmer.com website is a good resource. Just search the head model and look at the tubing it suggests. Ideally you are after one that supports LS17 tubing. While not a necessity, stainless rollers are better than the standard steel ones.

7518-60 is a good head that supports LS17 tubing and has a stainless rotor.
7518-12 does not support LS17 tubing.
7518-00 is a good head that supports LS17 tubing but does not have the stainless rotor. Not a huge deal though as long as you don't get a tubing leak.

In the future, if you search this thread by clicking the "search this thread" tab above, you can put in the model number and get more info on it quickly as others before you have asked the same or similar questions and there are other users of these pumps in this thread too and they don't all monitor the thread. As such, the search this thread feature can be a quick and useful way to gain knowledge about specific pumps.

[vhuang168]

I had searched the thread but only for certain models and got confused about which worked and which didn't. The CP website isn't very forthcoming with specs either, the -20 page had nothing and I did not notice the -40 page had a manual.

The 77300 seems to be a brushed motor controller from further digging.

I'm just looking to see the most cost effective way of going forward. The only 7523-60 I've found is $999.

At that price point, I can actually spend a little more and get something more current.

Found a 7523-80 for the same price but I just need a head which is another few hundred.

[africangrey]

wow, $1k for a used 7523-60 is way too much, I suggested you wait for one of biotech companies that go under in either SSF, or Morgan Hill.

[slief]

Originally Posted by vhuang168

I had searched the thread but only for certain models and got confused about which worked and which didn't. The CP website isn't very forthcoming with specs either, the -20 page had nothing and I did not notice the -40 page had a manual.

The 77300 seems to be a brushed motor controller from further digging.

I'm just looking to see the most cost effective way of going forward. The only 7523-60 I've found is $999.

At that price point, I can actually spend a little more and get something more current.

Found a 7523-80 for the same price but I just need a head which is another few hundred.

The 7523-80 is what I am using. It's silent at normal operating speeds and is about the best pump you can find below $1000. As far as heads, you can get a new 7518 head that will work with any of these pumps for about $100 on eBay. I've seen them for even less. The good thing about those heads is that they don't really wear out so if you found a deal on a clean used one, I wouldn't hesitate.

[BlackTip]

Those pumps have been hard to find used. Good units demands high price. I stalked ebay for 6 weeks to find a good working unit that doesn't cost 1k. Don't use the price reference in the older posts. They don't apply in today's market. For reference, I got 7523-70 used for around $400 and 7518-00 head for $95.

[BigMike75]

Originally Posted by BigMike75

Just pulled the trigger on a 7523-60 with Easy load 7518-00 head. These things are hard to come by for any kind of reasonable price. Got a bonus at work so I thought this would be the time to grab 1.

I gave a little less then $600 with shipping for mine. You just have to keep watching ebay. There was 2 at that time but the other 1 didn't have the right head for the l/s 17 tubing.