Pin wheel done cheaply

Would you be interested in a pin wheel head and instructions on how to do conversion?

  • Yes

    Votes: 24 80.0%

  • No

    Votes: 6 20.0%
  • Total voters
    30
  • Poll closed .
mandarinman

mandarinman

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Dont have the resources to buy all the latest gadgets(power to those who do) i have a weipro sa 2016 skimmer powered by a 2000l ph powerhead. Not good to say the least. I have being doing mods on and off for months. Finally i have got a pin wheel head that i glued onto an impeller shaft. And it skims the same skimmate that took a week in half a day. Cost per pin wheel head is about 15 bucks. Pics to follow(from jacquesb) . I would be willing to show how to convert most 2000l powerheads into pinwheel pumps if there is enough interest
 
Yes please, show, know of someone with a Weipro that needs modding!;)
 
You might like to try a mesh wheel mod too. This Enkamat stuff is quite cheap (around R10 per impellor), and dead simple to tie to an existing impeller (using cable ties). I replaced the mesh on my bubblemaster recently, and am considering doing it to another cheap skimmer I have lying around.

ATI_fadenrad.jpg

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I'm led to believe that mesh wheels work better than pin wheels (although I've never personally done a proper comparison).
 
Quinton said:
I'm led to believe that mesh wheels work better than pin wheels (although I've never personally done a proper comparison).
Click to expand...

It seems like the general consensus (for now) is the other way round
 
mandarinman said:
Dont have the resources to buy all the latest gadgets(power to those who do) i have a weipro sa 2016 skimmer powered by a 2000l ph powerhead. Not good to say the least. I have being doing mods on and off for months. Finally i have got a pin wheel head that i glued onto an impeller shaft. And it skims the same skimmate that took a week in half a day. Cost per pin wheel head is about 15 bucks. Pics to follow(from jacquesb) . I would be willing to show how to convert most 2000l powerheads into pinwheel pumps if there is enough interest
Click to expand...
Please make one for the cheap and nasty powerheads? :D Thanks.
 
Was it really necessary to make this a poll. Just post the freaking pics.
 
IMO the effectivness of either depends on the type of pump that you are using. I think pin wheels are more effective on smaller output pumps whereas Mesh wheels are more effective on higher output pumps.
That's my finding at least :)
 
Quinton note that there is a difference between a needle wheel(stems frm centre point with little points on) and a pinwheel where there is a platform or base with pins that face towards air intake so that water pulls air into pins and it is pulverised into fine bubbles without letting larger bubbles sneak past. I made a needle wheel as well and the pinwheel out performs it by a mile.
 
I think the preference is now like this.
Needle wheel then mesh wheel and then Pin wheel. Pin wheel being the lastest and greatest at the mo. This depends on many different factors though. One of those factors being personal preference.
 
Agree hill! Whatever works with your specific set of circumstances. I keep on going and looking in amazement at what the skimmer is now producing as skimmate.at last i dont haveto sit and finetune water levels cos it now works well even with variences in water level in skimmer. Ps if there is anyone else who is willing to quickly post the pics forme please private me yur email and i will email the pics from my phone
 
Where does one get these pin wheels?
 
I made it out of some stuff i had laying around, wondering if it will be worthwhile making for others
 
Thanks w and j for posting pics. I have a one size fits all idea. Although if it is too thick one would sand it thinner to each specific need. I used an craft knife to slice the paddles off my ap 2000 powerhead's impeller . I then measured the diameter of the impeller sleeve and drilled the centre of pin wheel to fit. Held it upright and poured q bond filler around cntre and poured q bond in . I took a firmish airtube ala fish shop and fed it into intake until it squeezed through the opening in front of impeller . I q bonded this too in a couple of places. I dry tested the powerhead to see if anything was catching and removed burs. And voila super powerhead ala pinwheel monster. The skimmate pic that will be posted is one days
 
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