How to build a DIY Carbon Snake (carbon hose)

[cameracorpus]

wheres the video?? =)

We assembled the hose and shot the video this morning. I used 15.5' of 1.5" hose, since that was the remainder of the spool and they gave me a small break on the price. With the interior volume of 1.5" hose, 10' would be plenty. I also used a 6' washer hose instead of 4'. That way it will let the big hose lay on the floor when I hook up the washer hose to the sink/python.

I've already thought of a way to make a waste/new water supply all in one assembly. It involves using the 2 way splitters you attach to a garden faucet on each end of the carbon snake, and then making a short bypass hose the same length as the carbon snake. You would just turn levers one way or the other depending on if you were filling or draining. The downfall would be weight of the thing for some folks, and also remembering which way to turn the little levers. Still it would eliminate having to disconnect hoses and reconnect them for filling the tanks. Also, Mike is using quick disconnects, which make life much easier too.

Anyway, Mike will be editing the video ASAP and posting it. Preliminary results are good. Testing the tap water showed over +3ppm of chlorine (and we DRINK the stuff???). Testing the water after it went through the snake showed less than .3ppm, and that was on the first use. 1000% decrease. Not bad. Also, that doesn't count all the other heeby-geebies that the carbon is trapping.

Oh, and my total bill was right at $70. That included some fittings for another invention of mine that may or may not show up in the videos, plus more hose than I really needed. So assuming you had some cement and teflon tape on hand, it would be more like a $45 investment. If you use quick-disconnects, you can find some that thread right into the couplings and save the price of the fittings. And if you went to an industrial supply house instead of a home improvement store for the hose, it would probably be even less.

Sorry, I'm a technical writer, so I could go on and on, but I won't. But videos are worth lots and lots of words, so stay tuned.

Michael

[Zulaab]

Great post - got me thinking.
My fish room is 10 x 20' (old garage) and my incoming water is in one corner and I want to set up my betta baracks at the other end of the fish room. If I used a 4" PVC pipe mounted high on the wall and packed with carbon, how long do you think it would last if my flow rate was 50 GPH ??

Setup in the corner rolled up the same 15ft 1.5 spa hose like everyone is doing. Then from run regular water hose from the coiled up hose which you stash in the corner (so you can replace the carbon in the filter once every 2-3 years without pulling it down from the wall) and install 1" pvc pipe as your transport to a center location and T off from there to fill your jars up. I am getting about a 150-175gph filtered water from mine.

I hope this helps
Jesper

[cichlid1409]

video on post #2 :)

[76dragon]

Setup in the corner rolled up the same 15ft 1.5 spa hose like everyone is doing. Then from run regular water hose from the coiled up hose which you stash in the corner (so you can replace the carbon in the filter once every 2-3 years without pulling it down from the wall) and install 1" pvc pipe as your transport to a center location and T off from there to fill your jars up. I am getting about a 150-175gph filtered water from mine.

I hope this helps
Jesper

How long does it take for you to fill 150G??

[madehtsobi]

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BEST VIDEO!!!!

[fshfrk]

Nice job guys!!!!!!!

[Gene D]

video on post #2 :)

Well done gentleman. This thread should be a helpfull guide for most

[cameracorpus]

How long does it take for you to fill 150G??

That's a loaded question. It mainly depends on the water pressure at the source. When we hooked up the new snake to the garden hose, it only reduced the flow by maybe 25-40%. Keep in mind also, that that included a washer hose, which has a small ID compared to a regular hose. However, since an inside sink has much less flow to begin with, using one would obviously slow down the process. I plan on using a garden hose as the source as long as my wife isn't home.

And remember that the slower the flow, the more time the carbon has to do it's thing. I'm gonna test the chlorine again the next time I do a WC, and I bet that if I use an inside faucet with slower flow that there will not be a trace of anything left in the water.

[fshfrk]

Once again GREAT job Corpus men. I would like to add when I glue in the plastic screen I glue in 3ea and turn them different directions. May not be needed though. I also lash my snake together at 5 dirrerent points to make it more managable. Weave the small poly rope in and out. This thing when presurred up is strong. You will need to back flush every month. Put the hose on the other end and flush out the carbon dust and other nasties for 10 minutes. I leave the hose on that end and reverse flow for a month. The carbon we are using is made for vapor not really for liquids but it works. You Corpus men need to come up with a pre & post filter for this thing. Next time I build one I would like to mix 50&#37; catylytic carbon but it cost's 2x what we are using now.

[mark razmandi]

Once again GREAT job Corpus men. I would like to add when I glue in the plastic screen I glue in 3ea and turn them different directions. May not be needed though. I also lash my snake together at 5 dirrerent points to make it more managable. Weave the small poly rope in and out. This thing when presurred up is strong. You will need to back flush every month. Put the hose on the other end and flush out the carbon dust and other nasties for 10 minutes. I leave the hose on that end and reverse flow for a month. The carbon we are using is made for vapor not really for liquids but it works. You Corpus men need to come up with a pre & post filter for this thing. Next time I build one I would like to mix 50% catylytic carbon but it cost's 2x what we are using now.

lol that would be me!

[fshfrk]

Great post - got me thinking.
My fish room is 10 x 20' (old garage) and my incoming water is in one corner and I want to set up my betta baracks at the other end of the fish room. If I used a 4" PVC pipe mounted high on the wall and packed with carbon, how long do you think it would last if my flow rate was 50 GPH ??

Would this be run continuiosly? If just for some w/c's it should last for years.

[Astex]

Everyone keeps talking about refilling in 2-3 years...but everything is glued together. Is the assumption that you just hack one end off, empty/refill, and glue on new end fittings?

[madehtsobi]

yeh i think so?

how hard is it pull apart the glued pieces apart?? ull just lose like 4" or so if u cut it off...

[specialone0812]

does the black color from the carbon come out every time u run water through carbon snake? so do we have to drain water out for a while before we can get water through carbon snake to the tank for every WC??/

[madehtsobi]

does the black color from the carbon come out every time u run water through carbon snake? so do we have to drain water out for a while before we can get water through carbon snake to the tank for every WC??/

i believe its only the first time from the carbon dust....