Kalkreactor - the Kalkenstein........another good GEO design

[ErikS]

Been using this model for quite some time & I've really come to appreciate the design. Easy to maintain, easy to fill, and works very well.

 

Note the ball valve near the pump, this makes filling a snap. You simply open the valve, take out some water, make a slurry, and dump it back into the union in the lid = easy.

 

Maintainence is also a snap using the same valve. Drain the water and the entire unit can be disassembled in a few minutes thanks to the unions on the pump connections. Also the maxi-jet simply un-twists for easy cleaning without removing the piping.

 

On the inside the elbow & tubing aren't glued so they come right out = not obstructions for cleaning. But since it's easy to fill I only disassemble & clean it about 2 - 3x a year.

 

I have also come to appreciate why GEO uses 3/8" flange material & 1/4" gaskets.......FAR easier to get a good seal

 

[wreck]

nice work, I have a GEO kalk reactor and love it. How much did it cost you to make it?

Wreck

[ErikS]

nice work, I have a GEO kalk reactor and love it. How much did it cost you to make it?

So hard for me to say, I had a lot of the bits & pieces from previous projects (as you can tell by the mis-matched unions). The most expensive piece is the tubing & I by that in 36" lengths. I use 24" for this unit & 12" leftover for other stuff. Some of the items like the nylon bolts come in 50 packs, either buy for a group of the per unit cost goes up. Same with the gaskets, they come in ten packs - either a group buy or cost per unit goes up. Other "oddities" are the clear PVC downtube inside, unnecessary.........but I had some leftover (comes in 4' lengths). Probably around $35 + the cost of the tube,

 

Guess? Right around $100.

Edited April 6, 2008 by ErikS

[gastone]

Erik,

 

That reactor looks great. I'm still using the reactor that we made at Chip's place during the last build party. It works quite well, but accessing to add kalk/clean pump/dump "sediment" is a PITA. I like the idea of adding a union on top to add slurry.

 

Nice build. Looks quite refined/polished.

 

Would you change anything?

 

Garrett.

[ErikS]

 

Would you change anything?

Minor tweaks maybe. Might figure out a different pump as the o-rings on a maxi aren't the most reliable in the world (doesn't matter to me, hangs over the sump).............but finding a nice cheap pump that's water tight?

 

My own goof is the 1/2" bulkhead for filling - requires a funnel............but I only had the drill size for that particular sized PVC. If I'd taken the time I'd go bigger.

 

Most of the stuff I changed was from using the one we built (and a few clones). The 1/4" flanges don't give enough force to make an easy seal, the 1/8" gasket is too skinny, the cord grips tend to fail, and the "fins" inside prevent easy cleaning. The ones we built work fine, GEO's design (here) addresses most of the issues I had (which is why he's still selling the same design )

 

Really the main reason I changed was because I simply got tired of un-doing the screws to drain/fill it...........but then I'm lazy.