Results 21 to 40 of 347
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23-04-2020, 06:03 PM #21
I use 110mm black waste pipe to connect my drum to bio and bio to the ball valve for pond returns. I then just use rubber connectors to join them to the outlets on the drum and inlets on the bio. That way you dont need to weld any pipework onto either the drum or bio unit. Plus if you ever need to change pipe configuration. It's simply a case of unscrewing the jubilee clips on the rubber connectors and off you go.
Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk13,000L fibreglassed raised pond with window
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23-04-2020, 06:29 PM #22
Hi.
So the first thing to know about pipes (not to sound like Fightclub)...
Imperial pipe diameter measurements are the approximate bore diameter. So the thicker the pipe the inside bore remains the same which is very confusing getting things to connect together.
Metric pipe diameter measurements are the outside diameter. So the thicker the pipe, the outside diameter remains the same but the bore gets smaller.
Once knowing that.. flex boots seemed a far more intelligent answer to the problem (my set up is to be moved and I will re-evaluate boots vs pipes at a later date).
So I am using flex boots and I will probably continue to use flex boots for this reason - the boots allow you to mix and match. I have 4" flex boots on the 110mm outlets - no problems as they tighten up on the outlet and seal. The beauty is that you don't need to solvent weld and so you can fiddle to your heart's content!
As the setup is temporary the pipe I have from the pump goes via hose adaptors, so my 1.5" pipe on the host adaptors (just cut the adaptor to match the pipe and tighten with jubilee screw up clips.
I used a 4" to 2" flex boot then simply used a hose adaptor (stepped hose tail) that can take up to 2" pipes (or 50mm) . I was advised on a 50-40 reducer shim but I found the host take was calmped in hard enough by the boot anyway. The pipe just then connected onto the host tail and secured with jubilee clips.
My bio came with the drum-bio Interconnects, so check with the supplier if they're providing them.
Next up is that S-bend after the bio - if you've not looked at that, you will need something there as it keeps the water level in the bio & drum. If you don't have that the water simply flows out and you'll not have a water level in the bio with pump fed. Of yours is gravity fed then that's different.
Lastly - are you pump fed or gravity fed? There is a different sensor and position for each and by default the Draco doesn't come with both sensors (optional extra I was told) - I need that because of the switch I'll make when the filter moves.
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23-04-2020, 06:36 PM #23
On the noise.. It depends.
I have full pressure on the spray bar from the tap. Once the supplied filter lid is on the noise isn't too bad. Also the drum triggers only when it needs to. For the final location it will be in an insulated filter pit with a lid mainly for cold but it will deaden any further last noise. The phone was probably about a foot from the spray bar itself with lid off..
Next-door to me is an NHS nurse. Due to Covid I've not had chance to ask - but initially I had the pipe just going into the chamber so more noise. Now it's no louder than the water fall - just intermittent for a few seconds.
You will need to raise the drum up - the drum filter and bio sit at different levels (they can't sit on the same level of floor). Have a look at the dimensions as the drum sits above the bio filter a little.
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blondie Thanked / Liked this Post
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23-04-2020, 07:38 PM #24
Great review mate, very interesting read, thank you for posting
4600 Gallon Concrete Block and Fiberglass
2100 mm x 710 mm Infinity Window 32mm thick glass
2 x Aerated Bottom Drains and Skimmer
Filtreau HiFlow 30 Drum Filter
Bio Chamber - 140 litres K1
Bakki Shower - 30 KG Sakura Far Infrared Media
2 x 18,000 lh pumps
Heated from house boiler through a heat exchanger
Idealseal MS290
My Pond Build
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23-04-2020, 08:55 PM #25Originally Posted by Twhitenosugar
Originally Posted by NickK-UK
That clears so much up for me - never realised the differences in ways to measure!
Originally Posted by NickK-UK
Originally Posted by NickK-UK
Originally Posted by NickK-UK
Originally Posted by NickK-UK
Originally Posted by NickK-UK
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE COMMENTS AND ADVICE RECEIVED.
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23-04-2020, 09:11 PM #26
Hi Nick. The water tends to come out of the drum on the side furthest away from the float switch as that is the part of the drum that's been cleaned most recently (I'm guessing it doesn't do a full rotation on setting 1?). I'm not sure if that's normal but it seems to be how my drum has operated since I installed it.
In terms of nozzles, I checked and they all work.
In terms of flow I use an airlift made out of 110mm black waste pipe to return water to the pond. So its hard to know just how much water is being pulled through the drum. But based on what I've read when doing my research my current set up, when on full blast, can do about 24,000lph. And I did have more air diverted to my air lift than normal. So i might've upped the flow to more than the drum can handle.
I've turned the air down now and will see what intervals I get between cleans. If that doesn't sort it then I'm guessing it'll need a clean.
Just out of interest how does the drum come out? I've not seen any instructions on how to remove it. Has anyone done it? Is it a difficult job?
Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk13,000L fibreglassed raised pond with window
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23-04-2020, 09:44 PM #27
Getting the drum out.. I’ve not done - I assume that two of the wheels that push the drum against the seal need to come off..
You could ask Tony@draco the best way. I just thought removing it may be the way to clean it.
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freddyboy Thanked / Liked this Post
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25-04-2020, 11:38 AM #28
Successfully stopped the dripping. I found these hard plastic washers (possibly a hard teflon washer), opened up the bore to fit the brass thread and then used that for the brass adaptor to solenoid connection. Worked really well.
w.jpg
Also the bio is maturing nicely.. I still haven't bought a new air pump yet to replace the old 8lpm pump but.. Day one left.. with a couple of interim shots (you can see the patching of dirt rather than biofilm.. till today on the right which is all biofilm after giving it a stir up:
a.jpgb.jpgc.jpgd.jpg
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29-04-2020, 08:07 AM #29
I found one 'down side' of drum filters yesterday. I have a large bucket under the waste pipe initially to understand how much water on average is being used, to understand the effectiveness of extraction and because the Mrs didn't want it plumbed in the current position
In the bucked I found lots of small tadpoles that managed to make it through the pump only to be filtered out by the drum. So the downside of a drum filter is that it filters everything including pond wildlife. I've not seen any larger animals but given it's pump fed I suspect they became part of the ever-produced monster mash waste.
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29-04-2020, 09:09 AM #30
I'm pump fed but I have a surface skimmer running to it before it goes off to my filter. Yesterday, I rescued a newt from the skimmer basket, fortunately it hadn't made it through to the pump where it may have got mashed up before making its way to the filter - not that my filter would have done anything as its a rubbish pressurised one that let's everything through. But got a Draco Solum 16 and BIO chamber on order, arriving end of this week or early next week hopefully.
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29-04-2020, 09:22 AM #31
I’m gravity fed and I’ve had frogs in my drum filter, not sure how they got in the pond because it’s 900mm above ground, so that’s on hell of a jump
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk4600 Gallon Concrete Block and Fiberglass
2100 mm x 710 mm Infinity Window 32mm thick glass
2 x Aerated Bottom Drains and Skimmer
Filtreau HiFlow 30 Drum Filter
Bio Chamber - 140 litres K1
Bakki Shower - 30 KG Sakura Far Infrared Media
2 x 18,000 lh pumps
Heated from house boiler through a heat exchanger
Idealseal MS290
My Pond Build
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29-04-2020, 11:50 AM #32
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29-04-2020, 06:09 PM #33
On 1 - the drum doesn't seem todo a full 360. There is typically a portion of the drum that sits outside of the water between the water level and the nozzles - the drum seems to rotate enough to cycle up 360-that portion.
On 2 - I found the drum seems to have a better clean than with 1.
I've found that sometimes after a period of '1' washes the drum doesn't look as clean. I get the twitch and feel the need to manually clean with a 4. A lot more water but the drum seems visibly cleaner.
I normally leave the drum on 1 however I wish there was a way of triggering a 2 or a 4 every N cleans or perhaps once a day the drum does a 2 or 4. Perhaps an aftermarket Arduino-controlled controller could be programmable.
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06-05-2020, 05:49 PM #34
Summer is almost here.
Also the Mrs was interested in how much water is used per wash. At a lower pressure (my water hose keeps popping it's Gardena connectors) a '1' wash is about 1.6-1.7l of water. It's more expensive to put a water meter in (£23) vs paying £3-4 per 1000l of water!
So for about £4 I get 588 washes - let's say 500 washes given I like a 2 or 4 manual flush high pressure wash every week or so. So if the system washes say 6 times in a 24h period that's basically 5p a day or £18.25 per year.
I've noted that I'm not getting any algae in the pond water. Then I looked at the flush:
IMG_7644.jpg
IMG_7643.jpg
Happy spending £20/year if it's removing that much from the pond!
The water is still crystal clear - the fish are sunbathing at the moment
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11-05-2020, 11:59 AM #35
This morning - this is with 8lpm air from an old Oxy500:
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26-05-2020, 09:12 AM #36
Almost killed the fish day before yesterday. I came down and the pond was 1/2 full it was less than an hour. What had happened is that I'd unplugged the mains water supply to make use of it to clean some DIY soldering (the temp setup uses a single tap). Unfortunately I forgot to reattach. Drum mesh clogged and the overflow flowed to waste.. the pump kept pumping. So now I have a pond level cut out water level switch ordered for the pond. It will cut out the pump should the pond level drop for whatever reason.
Also I noted elsewhere on the forum that Teanteosugars has had issues with 20 minute washes using a solum 16 on a 12,000 litre pond. With a 4-5l wash (the pressure turned up) that uses a lot of water. I thought it would be good to bring that experience into the review for anyone reading up prior to a purchase.
On the subject of keeping a drum clean - this s the official way that DracoDum have stated on their Facebook page:
DracoDrumthe best way to clean these is drain the filter down so the drum isn't in water and paint some brick acid cleaner onto the screen, whilst rotating the drum manually (flip the motor up out of the way). You'll only need a small amount. Leave on for 10 minutes and then hose off. Don't forget to wear protection. Acid will get rid of limescale and biofilm at the same time and leave the screen looking new. No need to take the screen off at all.
In other news I've finally modelled my Pond 2.0 in sketchup for a more accurate volume. The new volume will be 11,900 minus some corner curves rather than the 8-9K originally envisaged so the design may have to have a sieve/bypass should the flow rate be too high for the Solum 16.
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26-05-2020, 10:31 AM #37
Draco Drum Solum 16 + Standard Bio review
Instead of messing around with adding a sieve to possibly assist with extra flow why don’t you flog the 16 and get the next size up or see if Tony would do you a trade in?
Might save you a whole world of pain and take up less space/less additional plumbing etc.
Just a thought.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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26-05-2020, 10:44 AM #38
I have used the search function to read as much as I could about the Draco kit and failed to find this thread. Glad you posted today Nick as it popped up under new posts!
I have an appointment with the nearest Draco stockists tomorrow with a view to using exactly this setup so very timely
Overall length with bends was one of the things on my check list and there it was right at the beginning
JimI don't keep fish, I keep water. I don't keep fish, I keep water. I don't keep fish I kee........
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26-05-2020, 02:42 PM #39
I'd give it space so you can (a) undo the boots and remove them easily but more importantly - if you need to remove the waste chute for the drum then you will need to slide it out from the face plate. So have a look amount that once you're looking at them.
Brand new the difference is £300. I can design the additional 130mm into the filter floor plan. I'll explore that option. I've been very happy with the performance so far
Nick
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26-05-2020, 09:20 PM #40
Hi, I've just installed a Solum 16 and Bio Chamber but I'll do a post on it in the coming days. In the meantime, I note you've ordered a cut off if the water level drops and I'm trying to find one as I'm pump fed and need to ensure I don't drain the pond if something goes wrong. Is it possible to put a link up of what you've gone for as I've done a search but can't find anything that is plug and play rather than switches that you then need to be all electrical with. Thanks
Aquaforte Dm vario 20000 pumps
Still for sale. Postage available for cost Sent from my SM-S901B using Tapatalk