Wavebox extension question

[Floridiot]

My tank size is 150 gallon 52"x26"x26" with a single rear corner overflow. I'm currently running a pair of 6080s. One in each of the rear corners facing towards the opposite front corner. I'm also using a wavebox on one end (end with the overflow) that is placed in the middle of the glass on the end of the tank.

With this configuration, I only get a little less than a 1/2" wave (highest point to lowest point) which is less than a 1/4" differential from the norm. I'm sure much of this has to do with the corner overflow and the tank's dimensions, not to mention the configuration of my rockwork.

I'm considering the addition of a wavebox extension. Would adding a wavebox extension double the current wave height?

[rvitko]

I think it would about double it but their are many things to boost the performance. First, you could be close but not exactly hitting the right frequency. Subtle things like- is the sponge covering the intake grate, is the intake grate open side up, are the screws installed on the back blocking the holes, all have an effect that can cumulatively increase wave height.

[Floridiot]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6493823#post6493823 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rvitko
I think it would about double it but their are many things to boost the performance. First, you could be close but not exactly hitting the right frequency. Subtle things like- is the sponge covering the intake grate, is the intake grate open side up, are the screws installed on the back blocking the holes, all have an effect that can cumulatively increase wave height.

I've double checked the grate and sponge. Sponge is not covering the intake, and grate side is up. Screws are in the box blocking the holes. As far as fequency, I've messed with it a hundred times. The frequency is very difficult to adjust. It goes from too fast to too slow in about a 1/32" of rotating the dial. When adjusting it, I almost always get a few nice 3/4" waves, but after a minute, they resume their average wave height of a little less than 1/2".

I saw someone modded one of their streams by removing every other fin on the intake with a dremel tool. They claimed to get a substantially larger amount of flow doing this. Would this void my warranty if I were to do the same?

[rvitko]

In the big picture no , but I wouldn't replace the screen and if the damage was a broken prop I wouldn't cover that because it would likely be caused by the mod. I don't think it would work much in this case. You might read the thread started by Armando on adjusting the wavebox. Eli had a great idea to make the knob bigger to make finer adjustments easier.

[Floridiot]

I made an adjustment knob extension like Eli mentioned. It does make dialing the frequency in a bit easier, but did not help my wave height any.

I found out one of my main problems. The bottom piece of the wavebox (that slides in to hold the pump) keeps creeping out a little bit and leaves a 1/16" gap in the bottom. I fastened it securely with a tie wrap and found a noticed improvement. Is there any way of securing this bottom piece in better, or at least a little more appealing to the eye?

[rvitko]

Let me take a look at that on Monday.

[Floridiot]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6504768#post6504768 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rvitko
Let me take a look at that on Monday.

I was wondering if you came up with anything on this yet? My tie wrap helped, but the bottom piece was still able to work itself out over a couple of days, creating the small gap again (1/16" to 1/8")

I was considering drilling a small hole in the bottom sliding piece, along with another in the rear of the box. I could then feed a small black tiewrap through the two holes to lock the pieces together. The amount of seepage from these two additional holes would be less than the gap that occurs.

I don't want to drill these holes if you've figured out a better way of accomplishing this.

[rvitko]

I'm sorry about that, it has been a hard week, my only employee got the flu Monday, so I had a double work load and then I got sick and we have been shut down until today.

From what I can see the main culprit would be the pump vibrating against the base plate. I would first check that the pump is seated properly, the oring is behind the plate onthe face of the wavebox. If this doesn't fix it I would suggest just a tiny dab of silicon in the groove to increase the friction between the pieces.

[Floridiot]

The tiny dab of silicone did not work, but a tiny dab of superglue gell did. This created just enough friction to keep the plate seated.

Thanks for the idea.

As far as wave height, I now have a solid 1/2". I'm still considering the addition of an extension, because I'd love to see it really rocking in there. I may have to find someone locally who'll let me borrow their wavebox for a few hours to see how much more it adds.

Thanks for the advice.