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atomizer bubbles from a diy spray bar

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danmil3s

Member
Joined
11 Jan 2010
Messages
756
hi guys just wondering if anyone has experience of the above. its no big deal but the bubbles from my atomizers only seem to come out of 2 places on the spray bar. my power heads catch them and blow them round so it doesn't matter but i was wondering if anyone knew the cause and if it was a simple fix. if there is simple solution i might try it. as it makes a bit of noise but its not worth messing around and spending money on. the spray bays a 1.25' pipe with 6mm holes every 70mm or so feed from a fx5 and a 2000lp power head, that's running 2 boyu in lines. if i turn the power heads off there's no change, if i cover the hole the bubbles come from there is no change, if i change the spray bar angle there is no change. any ideas or is it just one of them things. like i say not really worth building a new spray bar for unless someone's done it before. don't want to waste cash on it.
 
this was happening to me found the problem to be fluval hose sucking in air not the diffuser had to wrench up those jubilee clips pretty damn tight
you got me wondering about my spraybar now i put 3mm holes in mine
 
no its definitely the co2 causing the bubbles once its of they stop. you say your worried about your holes mine might be to big.
 
I put 3mm holes in about 20mm apart on a 1" spraybar which is 700mm lg fed from both ends by the filter and have had to turn the fx5 flow down as flow was to fierce
 
smaller holes seems the norm. but Steve if you make your holes larger the pressure should be less which should ease the fierceness. are any of you guys using in line atomizers
 
i tried several reactors but they couldn't cope with the injection rate. i like the in line seems better only small bubbles come out unfortunately they end up as large out of the spray bar.
 
Steve and Foxfish have obviously got there reactors sorted :thumbup: Reactors only work will and give zero bubbles if you drive them. On my Aquamas I can feed a continious stream, not individual bubbles into them and get zero mist or bubbles on the spraybar. 100% diffusion, :thumbup:.A lot of people strap them on to output of filters that are already taxed to a silly point. You get on a good day 50%, output then dirty hoses,media, and you add a reactor :shock: . What chance does the reactor have of working properly? Have fun kind regards Colin.
 
i think total diffusion gets more difficult the harder the water gets. i've got 18 dGH and 10 dKH tap water and a 750l tank with over 300w of ho t5s with reflectors so a lot of gas (over a kg a week easily). i ran a sera active 1000 reactor that filled with gas and a tried feeding it with a bouy in line atomizer, it still filled with gas. both attempts where powered with a dedicated 2000lph pump. i don't mind the bubbles just using the in line gives me. in fact i like them i can see my flow now. i was just curious if any one knew why i had large bubbles and most people get a mist from there spray bar. the farting noise bugs me a bit to. but my plants seem happier.
 
I can only imagine that the bubbles are caused through your spray bar design - basically the holes are to big & the pipe is allowing the micro bubbles to sit in the top of the bar.
If you had smaller holes the bar would have increased flow along its length & force out all the micro bubbles before they can accumulate?
 
thanks guys that's what i thought was happening. I'll see how cheap i can make a new spay bar. how thin should i go
 
Hi guys, by reducing the diameter of the spraybar you increase the velocity of the water internally within the spraybar therfor it is more difficult for the bubbles to collect :thumbup: kind regards Colin.
 
ok thanks for the input guys i think ill try a smaller diameter with smaller holes. only problem is i cant find ridged black pipe under 32mm diameter . any idea where i should be looking. was thinking between 15 and 20mm?
 
Neil thats a great find E bay store, for this answer and all the guys making reactors. Recently I answered a guy who wished he could see what was going on in side the reactor as his 50mm tube was black or grey but this shop you found will help both these answers for sure regards Colin.
 
thanks nelson i did have a spray bar made out of that pipe from that ebay store. it worked ok but being clear needed cleaning every week or 2 to keep it looking nice. anyway one day it just broke in half. being nearly 2m long makes it hard to handle and i guess over time a combination of co2 and water affected it. i was thinking some think like John guest speed fit but they don't do black. maybe ill just suffer the bubbles
 
danmil3s said:
anyway one day it just broke in half. being nearly 2m long makes it hard to handle and i guess over time a combination of co2 and water affected it.
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thats not good to hear.i've made a spraybar from it.mines only 70cm though.
danmil3s said:
i was thinking some think like John guest speed fit but they don't do black.
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i've used something like that before in black from B&Q.can't see it online anymore though.
 
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