DIY tap for aquarium compressor. The gearbox lowers the pressure in the CO2 cylinder

DIY compressor for aquarium

Compact, mobile and almost noiseless aquarium compressor is assembled taking into account the next algorithm:

Aquarium compressor is a device without which the aquarium cannot function. It saturates water with oxygen. There are several models of various types on the market, but they are expensive. The aquarist can build it himself. All you need to do is read the instructions and buy some components.

In the aquarium, the compression is to dissolve oxygen in water, that is, it is responsible for the life of pets, that is, it helps them to breathe.

Other names of compressors. aerator and aeration system. Only breeders and maintenance of these fish can abandon the labyrinth fish.

Requirements for homemade compressors

To perform certain functions, household compressor is necessary.

• Provide a stable oxygen supply. In natural conditions, oxygen is enriched with a stream of water. In the aquarium, this process is carried out by living vegetation through photosynthesis. But this happens during the day, and at night vegetation and animals consume oxygen, releasing carbon dioxide, and an oxygen fan for the aquarium in such a situation cannot be dispensed with.
• Create an artificial course that will not allow liquid to stagnate and turn into a swamp. This is due to the accumulation of a large number of fragments of food and the life of the inhabitants, fine debris and dust that fall into the water, films formed on the surface, a low concentration of oxygen. In addition, the compressor for the aquarium made by us is mandatory for moderate control of the air flow. It is recommended to calculate in advance the performance of the built.in engine according to the formula of 0.5 liters per hour per liter of water.

Install a blower with a minimum voltage in the aquarium (not more than 12 volts).

Advantages of sprayers

Advantages of the first two types of sprayers:

Ceramic sprayers are more effective, but are more expensive and suitable for compressors that develop pressure at least 1000-1500 mm of a water column. Their disadvantages include noise during operation.

Long tubular synthetic sprayers:

• can be easily masked (attached with suckers to a smooth surface);
• have an air supply regulator on the hose;
• are from 20 to 60 cm long, which allows you to choose a sprayer for a particular aquarium;
• A long wall of bubbles creates an active movement of water.

Almost all internal filters are equipped with a built.in sprayer, in which the air hose is attached to the filtered water output pipe. With this hose, the atmospheric air is mixed into the stream of water and a full aeration is obtained.

DIY compressor for aquarium

Such a device can be assembled if you understand the basic principle: first you need to accumulate air in any way, and then gradually supply it to the aquarium. This is the fundamental difference between a home.made unit and commercial piston or membrane pumps operating from an electric motor.

But how can air accumulate? The answer suggests itself: in a balloon, a car chamber, a football chamber, etc. P. By the way, it is the inflatable ball that some home craftsmen use in such cases.

So, in order to quickly and without much difficulties to collect an aquarium compressor, you need:

• rubber chamber (like an air battery);
• car (or bicycle) pedal or manual pump;
• three.way tap (tee);
• plastic tube from a medical dropper with a clip.

Three tubes need to be taken from the tee: the first to the manual pump, the second. to the inflatable ball, and the third tube (a dropper hose with a clamp) will be alend hose. The end of this hose must be firmly plugged with a cork, and in front of it in the tube you need to pierce several small holes, from which the air will come out. Of course, all compounds should be reliable and sealed.

To collect air using the tee, the “Pump-camera” highway opens first. The ball camera is very durable on its own, so you can pump it to failure. Then this direction is overlapped and the “Camera-Pipe” highway turns on and turns on. In order for the air to enter the aquarium gradually, the diameter of the output tube in one place is adjustable using the clamp. Naturally, this clamp should be outside the aquarium, closer to the tee. Experimentally selected the speed of airflow.

In principle, a home.made compressor is ready. The disadvantage of such a device is that the battery chamber must be periodically pumped. As a rule, for the normal aeration of the aquarium with a capacity of up to 100 liters, such pumping should be done 2 times a day. Therefore, a home.made compressor cannot be left unattended for a long time.

DIY CO2 generator

For the manufacture of an efficient gas generator to adjust the supply, a little more materials and labor costs will be required.

The principle of installation is the gradual supply of citric acid from one vessel to another, where the baking soda is located. Acid is mixed with soda, and the CO2 is released as a result of a chemical reaction to the aquarium tank. Consider the process of manufacturing at the stages of work.

Creating the device

Take two identical liter plastic bottles. In the lids, it is necessary to carefully drill 2 holes with a drill on wood for the subsequent installation of tubes (hoses). One check valve pipe connects the capacity with the capacity

A tribe tube is inserted into the second holes of the lids, one branch of which also has a check valve. Hoses with check valves should be inserted into the container, and a small tap is set to adjust the flow to the central branch of the tee.

Necessary reagents

A water solution of soda (60 g of soda per 100 g of water) is poured into the bottle, and a bottle. a solution of citric acid (50 g of acid per 100 g of water). Lids with tubes should be tightly screwed on the bottles.

All joints and holes must be reliably sealed with resin or silicone in order to avoid gas leakage. The ends of the first hose should be lowered into solutions, and the left and right tubes of the tee must be installed above the level of solutions. it will pass through them CO2.

Beginning of work

To start the gas generation process, you need to press on the bottle (with citric acid). Acid through the first hose enters a solution of soda, and a reaction with the release of carbon dioxide occurs. The check valve of the pipe does not allow the soda solution under pressure to fall into the container

The released gas passes in two directions:

• into a bottle of citric acid, creating pressure for continuous generation,
• into the central pipe of the tee, according to which CO2 enters the aquarium.

With the help of a tap, you can adjust the gas stream. If, instead of a homemade tee, use hoses from a medical dropper, then an additional meter of gas bubbles will appear, which is very convenient to create an accurate concentration of CO2 in aquarium water.

Some aquarists using the adapter attach the exhaust hose to the output of the internal filter. In this case, carbon dioxide diffusion occurs, and it is better absorbed by plants.

Cranes are divided into several types:

• Wright. This type can withstand high pressure and temperature. It has simplicity in the installation of parts. Mostly used in industrial environments. The minus is the accumulation of liquid residues, which leads to corrosion of the material.
• Regulating needle valve. Has a diameter of 20 mm. Material of this type. steel. It is installed on segments of pipelines, where the medium is water, steam or liquids that have oil in their composition.
• Balancing needle valve. It has small resistance. Material of this type. brass. Stream in the pipeline. water.
• Passing needle crane. This type of crane has its own parameters: the diameter starts from 6 mm and ends 25 mm, the case consists of steel material, is installed for liquid and gaseous media. The temperature can withstand up to 310 degrees Celsius. The weight of the passage crane reaches a half.kilogram.
• Corner needle crane. This type is most often used to supply water from the pipeline. Can withstand pressure up to 300 bar, and the temperature is up to 630 degrees Celsius. The corner crane reaches in a diameter of 8 mm. The material of this type of needle crane is also steel (there may be others).
• Directed needle crane. It is mainly used in the oil industry. Material of this type. steel. Installed on pipelines that are designed to process oil products. If necessary, a direct.flow crane can simply be replaced with another.
• Tarelly crane. This species serves to supply gaseous mixtures.
• Salnic needle crane. The temperature withstands up to 60 degrees Celsius, and pressure up to 340 bar. This type is made of steel material. Salnic crane can be found in the chemical industry.
• Sylphone or, differently, vacuum needle crane. Replacing details of this type is impossible because this design does not understand.

The vacuum crane has a distinctive of all tightness and reliability. Made of steel stainless metal. Has a long service life (about 15 years). The nicheol’s needle crane is divided into several types. Resistant to temperatures up to 350 degrees Celsius.

These are the main types of needle crane that have their distinctive features. Each needle crane has its own thread.

Please note: the valve must be installed in the place where the manometer (the pressure meter in the pipeline installation) is connected and disconnected).

The valve is controlled by your own hands to independently adjust the flow of the medium. The needle crane also has two functions: distillation and rectification. Rectification. the procedure for separating various mixtures of steam and fluid using heat transfer (evaporation, condensation). Distillation. evaporation of a certain liquid and steam condensation.

The smallest selection is one drop in 6.5 seconds. This design is used to select alcohol, that is, it is a rectification of alcohol. He can be homemade.

The best is the needle.shaped selection crane “Camozzi”.

It is used in water supply or heating, because this device smoothly stops the liquid, so that unpleasant situations can be avoided. Needle crane is used due to its long service life.

Fine adjustment valve for CO2

I recently found out the price of a fine adjustment crane for C2 (Camozzi), and before that I asked something like that in various stores and found nothing Then I saw https: // www on this site.Starcomputer.com.UA/Content/Kra I-Za-Pyat-Minut

Fine adjustment valve. in five minutes !

When developing a new device, it was necessary to develop as a separate node. inexpensive and accurate pneumadrossel (fine adjustment crane, in the future PD). Camozzi pneumenmodrossels offered about 100 UAH cost. and are not designed for use in low.pressure systems and low consumption. They are designed to regulate the cross.section of the passage in airbrushes, and even the smallest of the airbrounds, has an order of magnitude higher than necessary for serving CO2. Hence the rather inaccurate settings for small aquariums with a low presentation and high price, and an alternative to him, alas, is not on the market. Therefore, without waiting for the end of the manufacture of the entire device, I post the description separately PD.

Figure 1 device PD can be seen in the figure.

a piece of rod of the fountain pen 8 mm;

on the basin. what will you find (the back cap of the fountain pen, the tip from the tube of superglide, and t.e) I used a cap from the nipple of the bicycle wheel.

Try to find a tee of such as it has the ideal dimensions of the passage for the manufacture of PD.

The most difficult thing is to make a fairly correct cone at the end of the screw. To do this, clamp the screw in the drill cartridge (better than a screwdriver), and at an angle of about 30 degrees. we pull on the side surface of the sandpaper. In fact, the angle of the cone can be anything, but the sharper it is, the “thinner” will be the adjustment. Then, without removing the blank from the drill, we bring the surface of the cone to a mirror state with fine sandpaper and volcanic. Reference is not required, but desirable. If you have a need to completely block the feed, then the rough walls of the cone will not let this do.

Drilled flywheel, put on a screw and fix it with a nut.

We screw the screw into one of the sleeves of the tee. No passages with a tap is required, t.The cross section is ideal for M3, and the material of the tee is polyethylene, optimal for this operation.

Cut off the fountain rod 8mm from the end of the rod. and the “native end” we press the segment into the sleeve of the tee opposite to the sleeve with the screw.

I recommend that after full assembly, unscrew the screw completely and grease with any fat grease (I used thick silicone, but you can apply vaseline and solidol) inner surface of the sleeve of the tee with thread. This, with a “weak thread”, guarantees tightness, and with a tight.facilitate adjustment.

I played with him at the present all day. it works perfectly. Camozzi is resting

P.S. After a small refinement, an option is possible for installation directly in the reactor cover.

It is interesting who will do something similar and tells whether it really works well and it makes no sense to spend big money.

By the way, there is also how to make an electric class and a liquid fertilizer dispenser.

How to make an air curtain from bubbles for your aquarium

The manufacture of a spray of air with your own hands is used not only to save time and money. This solution implies the possibility of creating a unique product, which exactly meets certain needs. A high.quality curtain from air bubbles creates favorable conditions for breeding fish, improves the aesthetic parameters of the aquarium, and for a long time performs its functions. Detailed instructions will help to perform the necessary working operations without errors.

You will need it

For safety, holes in the walls of the air duct are created using pliers, holding a needle in them. In addition to reliable fixation, this solution allows you to establish the optimal depth of immersion of the needle.

Bend one end of the hose (2-3 cm). Fix the situation to ensure tightness. Choose a fairly thick wire with insulation, which is not able to damage the hose.

Polymer twine fasten the prepared components of the structure with a step step of 20-25 cm. Dose efforts so as not to squeeze the hose.

Connect the air curtain to the output hose of the compressor. Mutual overlap of elements at the junction. from 1.5 to 2 cm. For reliability, additional strengthening is used by twine.

Lower the veil into the aquarium. To preserve good aesthetic characteristics, placement of a decorative barrier of stones and plants is used. The sand hose is not immersed to ensure free exit of air bubbles.

At the final stage, the functionality is checked in the normal and maximum performance of the compressor installation.

How to make a miniature compressor from a syringe and a machine gearbox

For pumping inflatable balls, air supply to the aquarium, and other purposes may need a mini compressor. The main detail for its manufacture is a motor-editor, which can be ordered at a cheap on aliexpress or simply remove from a broken children’s toy on the radio management. Everything else can be found in your workshop.

Materials:

For the compressor, you need a more powerful motor, if initially in the gearbox costs a small one, then it should be replaced.

It is required to polish the rubber piston so that it slides in a sleeve with less resistance. The syringe rod behind the piston is cut off, and the eye is cut out of the cross.

From leaf plastic, a disk with a curly hole in the center is cut out. It needs to be installed on the gear spindles. On the disk closer to the edge, the same hole in diameter is drilled as on the eye of the piston.

The craving bends from the wire to combine the flywheel on the gearbox with the piston. Pieces of tubes are pulled on its edges so that the wire does not fall.

A lubricant is applied to the piston, then the sleeve is glued to the engine housing. To strengthen it, you need to wind the thread, and soak everything with superglue.

The compressor casing is cut out of the plastic sewer pipe. Then from sheet plastic you need to make a plug for him. In the latter, a hole is cut under the diameter of the sleeve. The wires are soldered to the contacts of the motor.

Now you need to cut the viewing window in the casing. From the inside it must be sealed with transparent plastic cut from a bottle from cosmetics or household chemicals.

The compressor with a plug is inserted into the casing, and it is glued drowned by 10-20 mm. A plug is also glued to the back, but already from the edge. It needs to be made in it to remove the food wire.

Repair

With prolonged operation (more than 12 months), the compressor membrane may break. It is possible to determine the refusal by power loss and a strong noise. Replacement is not difficult. it is enough to unscrew the lid, find damaged elements, pull them out and install new.

Piston compressors often have to be turned off due to the fact that the winding of the motorchist has burned out. This is due to natural wear or voltage drops, water from getting into the device. To solve the problem, you should contact the service centers.

DIY Aquarium sprayer

In the presence of a low elongated “can”, air should come from several groups of points. Otherwise, aquarium animals will be localized in one part of the tank, which will negatively affect the appearance.

Repair

The malfunction of the compressor mechanism indicates too loud noise during operation. If a membrane aerator is installed, the reason in most cases is too dirty valves. To solve the problem, the following actions are necessary to perform:

• Disable the device.
• Remove the lid and pull the valves with tweezers. When holding on the jet, they come off.
• Clean the surface with a cotton swab moistened in alcohol.
• Delete pollution from the channels of the ducts and saddles of the valves.
• Let it dry and collect.

With prolonged operation (more than 12 months), the compressor membrane may break. It is possible to determine the refusal by power loss and a strong noise. Replacement is not difficult. it is enough to unscrew the lid, find damaged elements, pull them out and install new.

Piston compressors often have to be turned off due to the fact that the winding of the motorchist has burned out. This is due to natural wear or voltage drops, water from getting into the device. To solve the problem, you should contact the service centers.

DIY Aquarium sprayer

An alternative to a submersible aerator is considered to be a home.made water spray, which is easy to make at home, without special knowledge. It can be collected in one of two ways:

• Take a short tube of rubber and put on the output hose. On each side with the needle make small holes and drown out the free part. There is an option to do without a nozzle, but it is better not to spoil the structure.
• You can add aesthetics to the aquarium, making bubbles rising from natural stones. In this case, a breed that does not affect the quality of water (an acid indicator and alkali) will require, as well as a mount, a securely fixing hose, the length of which should be comparable to the length of the aquarium. Holes are created by groups subject to the same distance from each other for uniform aeration. The tube is placed to the bottom, after which the diffuser is masked by plants.

In the presence of a low elongated “can”, air should come from several groups of points. Otherwise, aquarium animals will be localized in one part of the tank, which will negatively affect the appearance.

DIY check valve. how to make a home.made valve from improvised materials from improvised materials

From this article you will learn a little about the basics of the functioning of the check valves and in more detail about how to make a check valve with your own hands. The use of all kinds of pipelines suggests that a liquid or gaseous substance will pass through it in one specific direction. Sleeping the check valve with your own hand, or by buying a sample from the series, this condition for the operation of the pipeline itself and its equipment can be provided.

Application and principle of working valves

In pipeline systems, the reverse flow can occur completely for various reasons. If this happened in a liquid medium, then most likely this reason is the disabling of the pump. If we are talking about ventilation, then, definitely, this is a poor installation of an exhaust pipe or the amount of the incoming air is too small.

Whatever the reason is, it is not desirable that this happens at all, because it leads to poor operation of the details of the system or, in the end, their failure.

In order to prevent the appearance of the reverse flow in the pipes system, check valves are put on it. Well, of course, they differ in size, appearance and factory performance.

The main purpose of such a device, which is attached on pipes, in which, in turn, liquids or gases pass, it is to pass a moving stream in one direction and, accordingly, block it when it tries to move in the opposite direction.

The design of a typical check valve necessarily includes the following elements:

• The frame, the inside consists of two communicating cylinders.
• Drill element. It can be: a ball, a sash or a cylindrical spool
• Spring that will press the locking element.

Well, the principle of operation of this design is very simple.

• After the course of a gaseous or liquid medium reaches the desired pressure, the pressed shut.off element is squeezed and gives the stream to calmly go through the inner cavity of the device.
• If it suddenly happened that the pressure of the flow drops, the spring will immediately return the shut.off element to the covered state, thereby blocking the return path for the stream.

Two checks check valve

Experienced aquarists know well that if the air compressor is placed below the water level of its sooner or later. Avoiding such an extremely negative development of events allows a simple device called a check valve. You can make it with your own hands from available materials, and this process is described in detail in the article offered to your attention.

Materials and tools

We carefully shorten the spring with pliers so that it peers slightly from a segment of a 5 ml syringe with a syringe. From a syringe of 2 ml, we cut a small piece of the nose itself and apply glue abundantly on it.

Additionally, pour it on top with an adhesive composition, allow you to completely dry and conduct the check with a syringe. We connect the latter with the valve as shown in the figure and pull the piston. With a properly working check valve, the external pressure should return the piston to its original position.

We install the valve at the output of the air compressor, and throw the tube into the aquarium, the air is properly supplied and saturates the water with oxygen.

At the same time, in the case of disconnecting electricity of the reverse current, there will be no water current, the valve piston pressed by the spring prevents this.