Does the AVAST CS-1 count as DIY?

[Chad]

After a long time of running a skimmerless system on my seahorse tanks (7 years now), I made the decision to add a skimmer. Since the idea of AVAST's you-built line intrigued me and I am always on to support local endeavors whenever I can, I contacted Justin and came home with all the parts to build my skimmer and top it with a Swabbie.

 

Now that I have it all together, I want to share my thoughts and experiences with y'all.

 

First off, I have a reasonable amount of DIY in my background, but mostly with electronics and woodworking, this was the first time I have worked with acrylic.

 

My first impression when I opened the box and found bags of parts and lots of saran wrap... "wow, there are a lot of parts, what did I get myself into?"

 

 

I pulled up the PDF online and tried to verify that I had everything. I say tried because the individual parts were not labeled and I didnt know the noun names for all of the piece-parts. Slightly frustrated, I pulled up the instructional video (cute girl, by the way). This was the answer that I needed. The video walked through what all of the parts were first thing. "Great, let's get going!"

 

Once I got past my initial state of overwhelm, the video did a great job of walking me through the process. Here are some in-process pictures of my build:

 

Hey, the girl in the video happened to find a refractometer nearby... which I thought was rather funny, because I had one within arms distance too!

 

 

Once I got the hang of things, I skipped around in the video and assembly instructions a bit to put as many things in parallel dry time as possible, almost there!

 

 

And the finished product (albeit, not completely cured yet)

 

 

All of the parts fit together as intended although some were rather roughly machined and required quite a bit of sanding (with provided sandpaper) to clean it up. There was one instance of a stray saw cut that left a gap (the part that attaches to the top of the bubble plate), which I filled with provided solvent. My repair looks ok now and it was not a critical part.

 

Overall, this was not a difficult project, sure I was initially a bit overwhelmed by it, but that went away quickly as I began work. It took me a little over two hours of working time, plus some dry time (although, I admit it, I pushed the envelope a bit). My final product looks good and I am rather impressed at both the way the project went together and the satisfaction I got out of doing it.

 

I will post again after I get it running on my system.

[zygote2k]

I installed one of these on a system, but I have to say that it was already built. I found that if you take the air fittings off the grey tube and insert the blue line into the bottom hole about an inch, it makes the removal of the collection cup much easier. take the top barbed fitting and put it inside the grey tube at the top. keep the little foamy thing inside too. to remove the cup, just seperate the grey tubing instead of always removing the the blue line from the barbed fittings.

[tecsavi]

Chad,

 

Thanks for the write up on putting this skimmer together. I have plans to buy the same kit and it's good to hear it's relatively easy to put together.

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ctenophore]

Looks great! What is the title of your book? Looks like a textbook, perfectly suited for building a skimmer (watch the video to appreciate that)

 

Sorry about the couple of rough parts. We just spent a few weeks upgrading the spindle on the router to a new water cooled higher rpm version and a new vacuum table, this produces much nicer machined edges. So we're definitely working to improve the quality & finish of the parts.

 

You don't need to glue the PVC caps on the silencer- just pull either the bottom one or top one off (press it on very lightly) to take off the cup. You shouldn't need to remove the cup very often with the Swabbie though. The blue airline can stay on the barb fitting.

 

If possible you should give it a few hours' run time in a warm water + vinegar bath, that will help reduce break-in time. It will produce lots of microbubbles during the break-in, which can take a week or more. The bath can reduce that to a few days.

[Mountaineer]

I think that is the new edition of Essentials of Baking he has there.

[Chad]

Thanks for the tips! I noticed that the collection cup might be difficult to remove... that blue line is TOUGH to get off right now, and becuae I am both an idiot and a fan of minimizing variation, I glued the bottom cap of the silencer to the hole. Man, I wish it would have been the top one that I glued down! I will see what I can do about warm water and vinager. This project will go on hold till next week while I am out of town this week.

 

Haha, the book that was closest was Veterinary Internal Medicine Volume I... A little light reading. My Essentials of Baking (is it sad to admit that I have it?) was further away, otherwise I might have used it.

[ctenophore]

Thanks for the tips! I noticed that the collection cup might be difficult to remove... that blue line is TOUGH to get off right now, and becuae I am both an idiot and a fan of minimizing variation, I glued the bottom cap of the silencer to the hole. Man, I wish it would have been the top one that I glued down! I will see what I can do about warm water and vinager. This project will go on hold till next week while I am out of town this week.

 

Haha, the book that was closest was Veterinary Internal Medicine Volume I... A little light reading. My Essentials of Baking (is it sad to admit that I have it?) was further away, otherwise I might have used it.

Both caps are threaded- just flip it over

 

Nothing wrong with baking- I am trying to learn how to make good hand-made bread!

[Chad]

^I glued the lower cap to the hole that the silencer fits through in the bottom of the skimmer cup...

 

I was plying with it after I did that... oops! It just means that I have to undo the blue tubing to take the skimmer cup off... I will probably only partially push the tube on a regular basis

[Chad]

Who would have thought that this thing would start prodcing skimmate in warm vinegar water in my sink?

 

 

As it turns out, I found a small leak on the joint between the top cone flange and the botton of the grey neck... I think I am just going to leave it, though, because the whole thing is going in my sump... a couple drips wont be noticed.

[Larry Grenier]

Way to go Chad! Thanks for sharing your experience. I periodically go to the Avast site and think to myself, "Maybe I should try that".

Edited November 8, 2010 by Larry Grenier

[Chad]

Well, it has been a few weeks, so it is time for an update.

 

I like the skimmer, and I recommend it. Works well, was not difficult to assemble and was inexpensive. Anyone looking for a skimmer that has a tank size this will serve should seriously look into it.

 

Oh, and since I deleted many of my pictures by accident, here are the assembly pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the one of it producing skimmate in clean, fresh, vinegar water: