My diy ghetto Sea Sweeps..

[radobahn]

Cost me $30 each and spent about an hour building each one.
I used a project box from Radio Shack, a $19 disco ball motor, 1/4" acrylic, PVC, 3m double sided tape, and some spare linkage from my RC helicopters.

I'm sure other people have made better diy versions of these, but I tried to keep it simple and this is what I came up.
They've been moving two WP40's controlled by a JBwave (on 'Random Full' set at 90% speed) for over a month and are still going strong.
Hope this helps anyone who'd like to build their own.. :thumbsup:

Video here --> http://s39.photobucket.com/user/nine2cg60/media/180/20140416_152053_zpsd63ec2a1.mp4.html

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e175/nine2cg60/180/th_20140416_152053_zpsd63ec2a1.jpg (http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e175/nine2cg60/180/20140416_152053_zpsd63ec2a1.mp4)

[myaerica]

Looks good but,my concern would be is that magnet ment to be in the water or will it rust and crash the tank.

[joshky]

Very cool DIY project!

myaerica does bring up a good concern though, I'm sure there are other ways to mount it if any problems should arise.

[radobahn]

Hmmm.. I didn't think of that. I think they're sealed in rubber but gonna definitely check now.
I might have to find another way to mount them..

[rfgonzo]

Looks good but I would cover the magnet in apoxie resin to be safe.

[Wills612]

Very sweet! Thanks for sharing.

[radobahn]

Yeah I just pulled one out and checked. Rubber suction cup is all that's there with the magnet behind it, and you can just pull the rubber part off.

I'll keep an eye on it and look into sealing them or mounting a different way.
myaerica: Thanks a lot for pointing that out

[houstonhobby]

This is genius at work. One way I mount things under salt water is by making two holes, feeding a long plastic cable tie around thru the holes, cinching it down tight, and clipping off the end.

That said, I think that magnet is rubber coated and will last as long as the pump does.

[myaerica]

No problem. If you search this diy forum there's a similar project with tons on info. I think is called the swirl stein. I'm not sure, maybe someone else will chime in on the name of the thread.

[79chopperdr]

The wp comes with two identical magnets. They are both safe in the tank. Nice idea, I thought the same thing awhile back but never followed through.

:thumbsup:

[radobahn]

Thanks guys.. and I'm glad to hear the magnets are ok

Only thing I'm going to change soon are those acrylic mounts. The ones in the video are a little long and I have a smaller set done and ready to go.. I'm just picky with stuff like that sometimes. Other than that I'm gonna run both of them until they fall apart. It'll be interesting to see how long they last.

FYI for anyone interested in making your own and using a disco ball motor.. the one in the video is a 2 rpm motor. I started with a 5 rpm and it was a little faster than I wanted. I got the motors on ebay, and except for the trip to Radio Shack everything else can be found at a hardware store.

[myaerica]

The wp comes with two identical magnets. They are both safe in the tank. Nice idea, I thought the same thing awhile back but never followed through.

:thumbsup:

I Don't Know For Sure but, I Have A Hard Time Believing A cheap Chinese Knock Of Pump Spends The Money On Magnets That Won't Rust In Saltwater.

[mcgyvr]

I Don't Know For Sure but, I Have A Hard Time Believing A cheap Chinese Knock Of Pump Spends The Money On Magnets That Won't Rust In Saltwater.

but yet they do...
China knows magnets :lol:

[TimmyD16]

First off these are really neat! Thanks for sharing!

Is there some sort of seal so that the box is somewhat water resistant?

[shifty51008]

I Don't Know For Sure but, I Have A Hard Time Believing A cheap Chinese Knock Of Pump Spends The Money On Magnets That Won't Rust In Saltwater.

I bet 90+ % of all magnets come from china so they get them cheap compaired to companies that buy from them.

[Gorgok]

With just about anything they do, soak the stuff in enough epoxy and nobody knows how crappy the insides look like. Side effect of this common practice is it becomes waterproof...

[reefwiser]

Nice I made this style of powerhead mount in 92. Sold them to the LFS .

[radobahn]

First off these are really neat! Thanks for sharing!

Is there some sort of seal so that the box is somewhat water resistant?

Thanks, I hope this can help some of you make your own. I noticed a big difference when I put them in, not only from the fish/corals.. but with a couple dead spots in the tank that are no longer a problem. I started off with a 90degree sweep that was way too much, then got them down to about 40deg which is perfect for my setup.

Somewhat water resistant? Yeah, I'd be comfortable saying that. The only seal is the tight fitting lid and the four screws holding it down, so I wouldn't be worried about an occasional splash. I guess you could always run a bead of silicone around the edge before putting the lid on..

[TimmyD16]

I'm sorry, I meant if there was some sort of seal where axel exits the box?

[radobahn]

oops sorry, no there isn't a seal where the pipe exits the project box.. just a snug fit with a 1/2" pipe inside a 1/2" PVC coupler..

[radobahn]

I've had some interest via PM.. so here's a few pics for anyone else wondering about the parts I used. I tried to keep it very simple and this was my first attempt at this. I've seen what some of you are capable of and know many of you could do better, so if anyone decides to make one please share how it goes. I might just borrow some of your ideas and upgrade mine :)

Smoothed out the inside of a 1/2" coupler..
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e175/nine2cg60/20140329_192805_zps304e5d13.jpg

Glue that coupler inside the project box, and after it dried I used a dremel to poke thru and smooth the edges
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e175/nine2cg60/20140329_202058_zps361d1ff8.jpg

Screw on a slip to thread fitting on the 1/2" PVC nipple
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e175/nine2cg60/20140329_202131_zps74b26aea.jpg

Sand down and smooth the raised lettering on the ends and then see how it all fits. If it spins freely then add your motor, linkage, and make a mount for your powerhead..
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e175/nine2cg60/20140329_202226_zps2560f4f6.jpg

I had some leftover nylon rods, nuts, and washers from a Marco rocks order. This is what holds the acrylic mount to the pipe..
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e175/nine2cg60/20140329_202308_zps7bdbac3f.jpg

Hope this helps.. I know some of you will be making your own soon and I'm looking forward to seeing them :thumbsup:

[jonnyu]

Thank you very much for the pics. That's some great help. I'm going to start building mine soon.

[TimmyD16]

There are plenty of low RPM DC motors online to choose from, any particular reason you went with the disco ball ones? other than maybe you had them around...?

[radobahn]

There are plenty of low RPM DC motors online to choose from, any particular reason you went with the disco ball ones? other than maybe you had them around...?

I honestly wasn't sure what I was going to use.
All I knew was that it had to be a certain size, low rpm, wanted a vertical shaft so I wouldn't have to add gears/pinions or build a gearbox, and preferably something that was plug-n-play.
There were a few out there that would have worked great, but most were also 'just a motor' which meant I'd have to build some sort of frame and add wiring.

So after looking for awhile they just seemed like the easiest (for me) to work with at the time. I'm pretty sure someone will find a motor that'll have me scratching my head asking myself "why didn't I think of that?" :)

[Steveb]

How did you go about attaching the motor to the shaft that rotates the power head?

[radobahn]

How did you go about attaching the motor to the shaft that rotates the power head?

-1/4" thick acrylic or plexiglass from Lowes
-Ball linkage used on RC planes/heli's
-Carbon fiber rod

The top of the shaft/PVC was trimmed so that the acrylic arm is countersunk, locked in, and sits flush.. Loctite Gel superglue holds them together.
Then another small piece of acrylic was cut/drilled to fit the motor shaft.

Linkage balls were screwed into the end of each acrylic arm, and then the carbon fiber rod was measured and cut to connect the arms. Superglue was also used to attach the linkage ends to the carbon rod

If you want to use the same parts you could probably swing by your local hobby shop and find them.
Look for something similar to this.. http://www.heliproz.com/HN7121-700-Newly-Rotor-Head-Linkage-Assembly/productinfo/HN7121/

Hope this helps..

[PokyReef]

This is sweet!!