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PVC Compression Fittings

Behold

Member
Joined
6 Aug 2008
Messages
218
Location
Basingstoke. Hants
How good will this be for a DIY reactor?? will this work? the reason is i have some usable parts that might work but some is slide in and tighten. Will this be secure enough????
 
Do you mean the larger diameter fittings or 6mm ones? I would rather use glued PVC rather than push fit domestic fittings if it was mounted under the tank. The rubber seals can degrade over time or leak slowly and you don't want that over the carpet!!!
 
If the seals are rubber then I wouldn't use them in a reactor as CO2 attacks rubber which would cause the seals to fail. Even some people have had problems injecting CO2 into their filter intakes causing the rubber seals to fail.

James
 
Where sells Glue fit PVC Parts with all the reactor bits i need??? There is online but sometimes it not all clear and im sure i will order the wrong parts....
 
Behold said:
Where sells Glue fit PVC Parts with all the reactor bits i need??? There is online but sometimes it not all clear and im sure i will order the wrong parts....

Best place I know and use is Henderson's Plastic. Not a great website but they have all sorts of fittings in imperial and metric sizes.
 
Just because sods law ill have got it wrong.



Henderson Plastics Ltd

Item Name Quantity Price Total
HTRS01 Stepped hosetail 43mm( x 2)
169738 Slide Valve Adapter 50mm x 43mm( x 2)
WS72 Screwed access cap 56mm glue( x 1)
WS52 Swept bend 56mm glue( x 1)
WS56 Swept tee 56mm glue ( x 1)

This is using waste pipe as im unable to find anything else to use the stepped hosetail.

Also will a 16/22 fit on a 19??? or is it too much. if so what do i use instead???
 
I think you might be best using the PVC fittings onto threaded fittings and then stepping the threaded fittings down onto Barbed LDPE fittings, which you can get in a range of sizes.

Let me klnoow what diameter pipe are you going to make the body of the reactor out of and I'll work out the fittings to 16mm Barbed LDPE. :D
 
Your a star ed. I was looking at 50mm Pipe (could go larger) and was looking at having a upbend at the bottom and a t-peice on top using the top hole as a service hole.

Using the bend to cause some water disruption along with some bio balls.

As to fitting the CO2. I have seen some manifold airline connectors. or should i just glue in a brass tail?

as to the Gas off valve im thinking the same but in the screw in lid then use a valve shut off on a short pipe.

This is for a 500l Tank so i need to run quite a rate on the CO2 from my previous tests on a cheap diffuser that failed catastrophicly
 
I'd use the metal screw-in airline fittings for the CO2 injection and gas-off point. Just drill a tight hole into the PVC where needed and add some glue around them.

I'll have a quick look and sort out a plan for you.
 
Right I hope this table displays correctly! Edit - and it doesn't!!! It's compressed the tabs so it looks a mess unless you're looking at it in the edit or quote windows!!!
Item Quantity Cost Total
2" pipe (6m) 1 £39.66 £39.66
2" tee (2 plain sockets with 2" threaded on tee) 1 £3.51 £3.51
2" 90o Bend (plain socket to FBSP) 1 £4.82 £4.82
2" spigot to male BSP 1 £2.42 £2.42
2" threaded cap 1 £2.12 £2.12
2" - 1/2" threaded reducing bush 2 £1.55 £3.10
1/2" male threaded to 16mm barbed LDPE fitting 2 £0.31 £0.62
£56.25

Obviously I'd look at sourcing a shorter length of 2" pipe as you don't need 6m!!! Your local koi outlet should have lengths of it they will sell by the metre or maybe even less.

The spigot will stick into the top socket on your tee piece and the 2" cap will then screw onto that. In the side threaded fitting on the tee and the threaded socket on the bend you simply screw the 2" to 1/2" threaded bushes in and then screw the barbed fittings into them. Your 16mm pipe should then fit firmly onto the barbed fittings. If you want extra piece of mind then get some hoseclips to screw on the outside of the pipe (but I don't think you'll need them). You might also want to get some pipe clamps to secure the reactor to your cabinet.

The only thing you can't get from Henderson's Plastic are the barbed fittings. You can get them from this page on LBS Garden Warehouse. You might want to order a few more garden things from them as the fittings are so cheap!!!

Hope that helps and makes sense.
 
Big Thanks Ed.

Ordered it all from Hendersons. I called them and thy have 16mm Hose tails. They also did me a 1/2 meter peice of pipe too.

All in all it wat 45 quid delivered on a next day. (Thought i should with it being christmas) Parts also included pipe cement and PTFE Tape at this price.

I will post pics of the build for all once done and working.

The only thing im missing is a stop valve to put on the cap's nipple to allow excess gas release. but this can be done by releasing the cap till water seeps out.

The only down side is no clear viewing window. but TBH this should minimise algae in the reactor.

Finally i need to think of what to do with the media to stop it from going in the way of the exit hoseway... some sort of open grill....

Again thanks ed this really helped.
 
No worries. I am thinking about building one too so will be very interested to see how you get on! I just hope it all works now!!!

On a side note you are going the have the water going in at the top aren't you and then flowing down against the bubbles of CO2? You'll get a pocket of gas at the top of the reactor but it should still work well.
 
Ed Seeley said:
No worries. I am thinking about building one too so will be very interested to see how you get on! I just hope it all works now!!!

On a side note you are going the have the water going in at the top aren't you and then flowing down against the bubbles of CO2? You'll get a pocket of gas at the top of the reactor but it should still work well.

Yes thats exactly the way it will work. yes an air bubble will build up in the cap at the top. i have bought 2 brass tails and plan on one in the lid with another bit of tubing and a stop valve (Seen one in B&Q which will take the pressure) This is like on the aquamas one.

As said the only issue will be how to stop the media from trying to escape out the bottom hose and block it up.
 
Behold said:
As said the only issue will be how to stop the media from trying to escape out the bottom hose and block it up.

What media are you using? I had large plastic bioballs in mine and they will be too large to block the outlet.
 
Balls will still manage to stick over the outlet and reduce the flow.

Im thinking of using some spagetti filter media as i have loads of it. if its knitted well it may not move.

well if it turns up tommorow i will be taking some photos before duraing and after. should only take a short while to make then just 24 hours to cure. i can start pumping up the CO2 again.
 
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