I clamped off my waste tray line. I actually replaced the T fitting on the bottom with a plain old straight, and cut down the tube to the waste tray to avoid it getting entangled in the gears.
With good push fit fittings (the stock ones are not good) replacement of the tubing is a 10 minute job.
Replacing the push fit fittings though is not, so the first time round will involve a bit of pain. The plumbing needs to come out so you can access the base to unscrew the push fit fittings, and replace them with 100% 316L ones. The cheap plastic ones have brass parts that I suspect get a bit of surface corrosion.
I no longer have pictures, but if you'd like a walkthrough, I can do a write up.
Do you have the older model or newer model BE?
I hope I'm not jinxing myself but I've run the UV for about 2 1/2 years and not had any issue with the tubing... but I'd love to see
a write up on replacing it. I think I have a newer model BE but it does have the smaller tubing connection on the underside of the
piston unit.
I don't know which I have- older or newer. I think mine is the same as Steve/icu2 so probably the newer.
I would like the walkthrough if you could do that for me/us. Would be handy to have if not for now then for future.
I am also curious- I assume these are John Guest fittings? and are they likely to be metric?
No hurry on the write up- I won't touch my BE until Friday at the soonest and I am going to clamp off the waste tray as my first attempt at solving my problem.
I also need to replace a 4 inch ball valve that feeds my BE first. Think I will drain the pond down 18 inches, replace the valve, and then get serious about my BE.
Would help if you could get some pictures taken of the plumbing so I have some reference point. Most fittings in there are metric, 1/4 BSP threaded - 8mm push fit for mine, exception being the drive piston exit connection on the bottom, which for some reason is a 6mm push fit.
One reason I am seeing early UV degradation is that I relocated the UV lamp, which exposes more of the tubing to UV.
I feel the weightier side too, but it's usually as the dirtier side is going up with the weight of the gunk on the screen. Remember, the section in the water is dirty while the part out of the water was just cleaned. I also have a second unused BE at my house (my buddy's mr catfish's) which is clean and it generally rolls with minimal effort all the way around.
Interesting.
I will try to get a few pictures today of the plumbing. And I may go ahead and add those counterweights- I think that should be very easy- measure the drum and buy some threaded rod and zip tie it on.
Just musing here- I wonder if any of the DIY RDF crowd has considered driving the rotation of their drum with airlift? Imagine a drum that had on its ends something like upside down cups (upside down on the side that needs to come up) and when the drum needed to be turned a small air pump would turn on. The air pump would bubble air that would rise into the cups. And the bouyancy created by the cup full of air would lift that side and turn the drum. Think of one of those waterwheels from the 1800's that would run a mill. This would be just the reverse.
Would need a heck lot of bubbles to move an RDF drum that’s a little sticky. If it were mounted with ceramic bearings it might work... but darn those bearings are pricey for the size that an RDF would use.
I’ll be travelling this week. Will look to do writeup on the plumbing when I am back in town.
We have the older BE unit that's been running about 3 months now with numerous problems. Very frustrating. One of the big issues was due to the blue 8mm hose cracking in numerous places. Replaced most of it. Another problem we've experienced is the float cylinder not popping up so spray bar runs constantly and potable water drains out the waste tray. We learned a container load of BE units was dropped and damaged during shipment. These were rebuilt and sold as new. I'm thinking we have one of these as screws were loose, nuts were sitting on the bottom of the unit; the arm that holds the float cylinder was bent; the drum was shifted to one side and rubbing on the waste tray; the list goes on. It's been a nightmare given what we paid for it. When it does works, the water clarity is great. Hopefully, we can get the BE to work properly.
Looking forward to the write up!
Edit. Double post
Last edited by kevin32; 03-25-2018 at 07:01 PM.
Does anyone use a airstone to keep some of the junk from settling on the bottom of the drum? Watched a video and a guy was using an air stone inside his profidrum. I already have more air in my pond than I want so I can just tee off a line for a smaller air stone
I am going to wet vac mine out next weekend when I do some plumbing changes. I think you could use some hose and create a siphon and use that to vacuum the bottom. At our koi show 2 years ago we did that to some of our blue tanks that got residue on the bottom. It was surprisingly effective. I also think you could just use your garden hose and supply water and stir it up. RDF should catch it on the next pass.
I use an airstone on mine. It stirs everything up and keeps the input side clean. What settles at the bottom are heavier things like little pebbles and koi teeth.