ADG Raffle Tank - Finally!

[Mzungu]

Its not the solenoid. Its the needle valve.

Well, poop. I'll check the brand later today, Thai. Not sure what it is.

Sigh. Me and CO2 have problems.

[Mzungu]

that goby rocks!! where do you get all these cool gobies?

The lace is gettin BIG!

Thanks! I got these from work - we had to make the minimum order, so I cleaned up. )

Yeah, I'm proud of the lace so far! The first baby leaves haven't grown, but all the new ones are shooting up!

[Mzungu]

So, do I need to replace the needle valve?

[wesleydnunder]

So, do I need to replace the needle valve?

I'd scrap the milwaukee crap altogether MB. The Teledyne set up that I bought from y'all worked flawlessly and the needle valve is rock-solid. I never did care for milwaukee stuff.

Mark

[Mzungu]

Not sure it is Milwaukee...gotta check when I get home.

Argh.

[Mzungu]

Regardless if it's Milwaukee or some other brand, I really kinda spent all I had to get this tank up and running finally. I'm assuming replacing/fixing the needle valve is the best option for me.

With that in mind, any advice from anyone would be great. Can you fix a needle valve? Or do you just have to replace it? What exactly goes wrong when the needle valve stops working properly?

[wesleydnunder]

If the threads on a needle valve are loose or too coarse the adjustment won't be fine enough, or stay steady. The finer the threads, the more turns to span the adjustment. It can be the difference between trying to get 1/32 of a turn for 2 bps versus 1/4 of a turn to get 2 bps. The valve seat also has to be cut as fine as the needle to work properly.

I'd try to get a good replacement valve; maybe a Clippard if you can't get one of the teledynes.

Mark

[Mzungu]

Okay. Had to read that about 3 times, but I think I get what you're saying.

So, my needle valve is at the bottom right of the bubble counter, correct? (Please don't laugh at me if I'm totally off, lol.)

Did I circle the needle valve in red in the picture below? That's what I've been adjusting, mainly. It takes about 1/69th of a turn to make a difference between no bubbles and tons o' bubbles. Does that mean that it's adjusting itself, and I should replace it with something that takes a whole turn to produce tons o' bubbles, for instance?



"The valve seat also has to be cut as fine as the needle to work properly. " Yeah, absolutely no idea what you said there.

[Mzungu]

A couple nerites:

[cichlid1409]

nice pics. thump that goby for talkin smack

you get the CO2 problem fixed?

[Mzungu]

you get the CO2 problem fixed?

Negative. You're the only person who has posted after I asked my questions, so not much I can do. Everything's the same, except I have pea soup for water and have no idea how much (if any, which is doubtful) CO2 is actually being injected.

I'm just a tiny bit frustrated. :biggrin: But thanks for asking!

[wesleydnunder]

Okay. Had to read that about 3 times, but I think I get what you're saying.

So, my needle valve is at the bottom right of the bubble counter, correct? (Please don't laugh at me if I'm totally off, lol.)

Did I circle the needle valve in red in the picture below? That's what I've been adjusting, mainly. It takes about 1/69th of a turn to make a difference between no bubbles and tons o' bubbles. Does that mean that it's adjusting itself, and I should replace it with something that takes a whole turn to produce tons o' bubbles, for instance?



"The valve seat also has to be cut as fine as the needle to work properly. " Yeah, absolutely no idea what you said there.

I'm so sorry I didn't get back to you about this MB.

Yes, the one you circled in red is the needle valve. From the way you describe its output it's way too coarse in its adjustment. Is it self-adjusting? It shouldn't be. When you set a good needle valve it should stay where you put it. With that in mind, at what low-side pressure do you have the regulator set? 20 PSI is where I kept mine. If your needle valve is giving way too many bubbles at the slightest turn, try setting your low-side pressure at 15 psi or even 10. You adjust the regulator to do this... that's the knob between the two pressure gauges.

For the green water, I'd get a UV sterilizer. It will rid the tank of the green water algae. After it's gone you'll probably need to reduce the light period or fert or both. Balancing a hi tech set up can be tricky, especially with such a small tank.

Mark

[TheOldMan]

About 2 ml per gallon of Hydrogen Peroxide should get rid of your green water after 1 or 2 treatments.

[cichlid1409]

hows the green water MB?

[Mzungu]

hows the green water MB?

It's great! :emt_thumbs: )