Disaster strikes

[Paul B]

OMG, what am I going to do? I am beside myself.
(a few minutes ago I was two feet to the right) :happysad:
I was designing a new venturi valve for my home made 5' skimmer which is, I don't really know, maybe 15 years old, and you know how those large vinyl hoses get in that time. Nice and brittle. Anyway, the entire bulkhead fitting where the venturi screws into, cracked and came out. Luckily, I drained the skimmer before I did this because I knew I would have trouble with it. :sad2:
I am sure all of those years of injecting ozone into it did not help.
Now there is a large hole in the side of the skimmer and I am sure water would not want to stay in the thing I can live for a few days (or forever) without the skimmer but it also feeds my algae trough which I really want to keep working.
This seems like a good time to clean the skimmer being I can hardly see through it anymore. I am soaking it in bleach now then it will be vinegar.
I had to install a temporary pump to feed the algae trough.
The skimmer bracket where it is bolted to the back of the tank is also very rusty and needs replacement so I can do that also.
Sometime you need to have an accident to get time to maintain these things. :sleepy:
After I get the thing back together and cleaned I still want to design a new venturi valve. The thing works pretty good but there is always room for improvement.
Have a great day
Paul
You can see the bulkhead here with the blue on it and the air hose stuck into the venturi

 

[Awibrandy]

:Up_to_som:screama::fishhit::joke::hug:

 

[Salty Dog]

yea guy that really needed to be fixed the right way so nows the time. In this Hobby you cant have any rigged equipment ,its to dangerous. Take a good look at the issue and start thinking of the best way to fix the issue. Go into plastic fittings.com, they have tons of fittings, im sure one will work fo you.

Goodluck

 

[Paul B]

The thing is repaired, cleaned, modified and back in service. It was only out for a day.
It's not just a matter of adding plastic fittings. This is not real PVC pipe, it is drainage pipe and very thin. Less than an eigth of an inch so it can't be threaded. I needed to mold some PVC to it to thicken it up and glue some fittings in. Thats how I built it so thats how I repaired it.

 

[Arati]

.. yoiu scared me Paul...don't do that...


title shoulda been, "Oppertunity Strikes" after all its just another chance to tinker with stuff.

glad it all worked out.

 

[Paul B]

Ok I won't do it again :biglaugh:

 

[masterswimmer]

.. yoiu scared me Paul...don't do that...


title shoulda been, "Oppertunity Strikes" after all its just another chance to tinker with stuff.

glad it all worked out.

Ditto :smash:

We've all been here too long, reading your threads for years, and you don't normally cry wolf. Paul, next time we see you, we're collectively going to .....ahhhhhh............uuuummmm.........well we're all going to be.....very mad at you. For at least a minute or two :hug: DISASTER STRIKES ????????? Come on now. With all the poop you've gone through in your life, YOU couldn't come up with a 'catchy' but more appropriate attention grabber? tsk tsk tsk

I'm glad to hear everything is ok Paul.

Russ