3D Printed Turf Scrubber (ATS)

[waboss]

I've had several different turf scrubbers over the years and they all had good and not so good points (for me anyway).  Plus I always had to figure out how to mount them by making shelves or supports over the tank and stuff like that.   Recently I've gotten into 3D printing, and I decided "why don't I make one that fits exactly like I want it to"?.  So that's what I did.  

 

This one fits almost perfectly over my 20L sump (I say almost because I really should make it about 3mm longer, so there's less wiggle room).

 

Some thoughts I had as I built it:

• I want it to fit my sump, with no extra supports
• Needs to be easy to open and maintain
• Would prefer to be able to use "off the shelf" parts to fix or upgrade it
• Need to be able to see in the ATS to monitor growth and determine when to clean it
• Would be nice if it was designed so I could easily adjust the dimensions if I needed to

 

I've already made a few changes from my original design out of necessity or finding things I didn't think of at first.  I'll even share a couple of them here.  Things I really should have thought about, but didn't:

• If the drain tube is in, and the lid seals to the base too well, there's going to be a pressure imbalance that will force water over the edges of the base and cause an overflow
• Might want to find lights that have longer cables, these are a little short and can get in the way if not routed properly
• The walls on the base need to be a bit taller than I expected as I didn't account for the height of the drain bulkhead with the seal on it
  • I need to tweak the design again and reprint.  I want to bring the "walls" up on the base a little more and also create light "shades" built into the base around the lights, so there's not so much light bleed.  Also, I had planned to make a "door" or panel or something like that for the front window to also block light.  But overall, I'm pretty happy so far.

Anyway, this is what I came up with (if the video works, if not, maybe it'll show you the link):

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 20, 2020 by waboss

[thewire]

nice. I have a 3D printer as well. Are you using PETG filament?

[Aquastudent]

That's pretty neat! How has it been doing and have there been any new iterations of it?

[waboss]

 

@thewire @Aquastudent

 

Wow, I just happened to check and saw some folks had posted to this thread. My apologies for the delay in responding.

 

First, yes, I'm printing with PETG.  I was using ABS, but the smell eventually annoyed me enough to switch to PETG.

 

Secondly, yes, there's been several new iterations of it.  Some of the changes are:

• Slimmed down the "viewing window" to help minimize light bleeding out (I still need to make a cover for so you can just close it unless you want to se it)
• Added some tabs to the windows for the lights to also minimize light bleeding out
• Increased the height of the "walls" on the base
• Added a single vent to the top which helps with pressure causing an overflow if you try and put the top on with the pump running (I tried it with 4 small vents in each corner too, but I like the single better).

Recently I've modified it to "make" 2 newer versions

• One is a much slimmer ATS (about 43mm narrower) which I think will be fine, but I'd need to print one to test it out (based on everything else I've done, it should work fine though)
• The second has no "light windows" in case you want to use submersible LED's like the GEM lights from Santa Monica (I'm thinking of ordering a set of the lights to test this one out

The reality though is that I'm still running the first prototype though (with a warped top and all from some bed adhesion issues when printing).  It works fine.  I'm pulling massive amounts of algae off the screen weekly, and my nutrients are much more under control.  So I haven't had a reason to pull it and replace it.  I have 2 other ones printed that I thought I might swap it out with, but my motivation is pretty low with this one working so well.

Edited February 13, 2021 by waboss

[Whitewillsmiff]

That's awesome! I just started looking at ways to fab up an ATS, looks like everyone is sold out of the pre-fab units.

[waboss]

1 hour ago, Whitewillsmiff said:

That's awesome! I just started looking at ways to fab up an ATS, looks like everyone is sold out of the pre-fab units.

 

Thanks!  Yeah, I really just wanted one that fit where I needed to put it.  Now I keep refining it (one day I might actually swap in one of the new ones!  hahaha).

 

If I can help ya out, just let me know.  Heck, I might even have an extra complete "body" somewhere.