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    Thread: DIY UV light

    1. #21
      Gene's Avatar
      Gene is offline Supporting Member
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      Dick Weidner from Louisville, KY is where I got my design. He was building them 20 years ago, or more. I actually have several of his DIY UVs.
      Gene




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      The only failures are those that stop trying! There is a very thin line between procrastination and delayed gratification. You won't be happy with what you want, if you aren't happy with what you have. It's not what you are looking at, but where you are looking from.

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    2. #22
      phil hunter is offline Senior Member
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      Hi Gene,

      Very interesting! Dick Weidner is my friend and it was him and I that built my UV lights. I have known Dick since 1987. I lived in Louisville for 15 years and have been close friends with Dick for many years. Several of us had homebuilt lights on our ponds in Louisville, and Dick was the first. When I was building my pond, Dick came to visit and that is when we built the UV lights. Small world.


      Phil

    3. #23
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      Quote Originally Posted by phil hunter
      Hi Gene,

      Very interesting! Dick Weidner is my friend and it was him and I that built my UV lights. I have known Dick since 1987. I lived in Louisville for 15 years and have been close friends with Dick for many years. Several of us had homebuilt lights on our ponds in Louisville, and Dick was the first. When I was building my pond, Dick came to visit and that is when we built the UV lights. Small world.


      Phil
      Gene




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      The only failures are those that stop trying! There is a very thin line between procrastination and delayed gratification. You won't be happy with what you want, if you aren't happy with what you have. It's not what you are looking at, but where you are looking from.

    4. #24
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      Wow, lots of good info there. Here's some of the info I found last night. Looks like Garrett found the same ballast that I did.

      The G36T5/L4 is Philips Sterilamp brand. There are several variations of the GxxT5 (xx is the length). From what I found, the diameter is 5/8" (I'm guessing this is standard for a T5). These cost around $30 per bulb, give or take (lots of places to buy).
      ballast: $49 from Atlanta Ultraviolet #10-1036 (see Phil's post above) or $68 ballast i think would work -- or maybe a generic one from a local store
      quartz tube: Emperor Aquatics??... $45 from Gene

      If you want the same wattage in a shorter length, look at TUV PL-L36W/4P (PL-L36W/TUV)
      From pictures, I think this may be the same size bulb as used in the the Tetra UV3
      2G11 base, 2xT16 bulb (what are the dimensions on this????)
      17" long
      .44A, 105V
      $25 per bulb (lots of places)
      $68 ballast for 1 or 2 bulbs: IUV-2S36-M2-LD (PureVolt line from Advance Transformer)
      http://www.atlantalightbulbs.com/eca...-LDADVANCE.htm
      specs http://www.advancetransformer.com/up...V-6000-R02.pdf
      assuming same size at Tetra UV3, quartz sleeve may be around $70

      Or for more wattage...
      PHILIPS TUV PL-L55W/4P (PL-L55W/TUV)
      22 1/2" long
      2G11 base, 2xT16 bulb
      .54A, 103V (20% more current provides 65% more wattage compared to the 36W???)
      $35 per bulb
      same ballast as above

      list of a bunch of Philip bulbs
      http://www.specialtyoptical.com/Pondscum.htm

      it looks like the UV output wattage in pretty much any of these germicidal bulbs is about 30% of the total output wattage.
      Last edited by drewkeller; 06-23-2006 at 01:49 PM.

    5. #25
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      Hi Drew,

      A little more info regarding the G36T5L4 bulb. While this bulb has a 4 pin connector on one end, it is actually a 2 wire bulb. There is only one wire running up the outside of the bulb. A preheat ballast (4 wires) will not work with this bulb. That is why I used the Atlantic UV ballast. There may be other ballasts that will work, but I don't know what they are. There are several vendors that sell the 4 pin connectors, so you don't need to find a ballast wth the 4 pin connector already installed. I have attached a wire connection diagram for reference.


      Phil
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    6. #26
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      Man you'd swear this was some government secret!

      Not really or someone would leak it.

      Trying to find info on sizing ballasts to bulbs has been like pulling teeth. The important thing I'm finding is that it needs to be able to handle the current load for the bulbs. It also seems the higher the current draw the more powerful the lamp. If your ballast cannot handle the draw the lamp will still work just not at full strength.

      I'm also finding that making a three bulb unit isn't all that great on savings. By the time you buy qaurtz tubes, bulbs and ballast your usually over half price on a ready unit.

      I'm still planning on making one, but gave up on the idea of expanding my 80W to a 120W unit. I was going to use DWV sweeps to decrease resistance in the unit. But after looking at some of the other designs I'm going to make one out of an 8" pipe with all three bulbs in the middle. Cost wise I'll still save a few hundred over a ready unit but the benfit for me will be the custom design, low flow resistance and aimed in & out piping.

      I'll start another thread and link it here when I make some progress. Because my local guy sells Aqua UV stuff I'll go with those quartz tubes and bulbs. The ballst will be one of the Work Horse universal ones made by Fulham.

      Garrett

    7. #27
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      Here's my design

      I went a little out of the norm. It worked, just took a little longer to clear the pond than I thought it would.

      https://www.koiphen.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45037

      Garrett

    8. #28
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      I think it's time to resurrect this old threat again, I'm planning on building a 120W unit (3x40W). Something like the picture below. Starting this weekend and I will take lots of pictures.

      Bert
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    9. #29
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      I built a 4 bulb unit several years ago and been very happy with it. I used the same techniques and parts as in this thread, but have the option of flowing through 2 bulbs parallel (80 watts), 2 bulbs in series (80 watts), or through all 4 bulbs (160 watts) using both paths. Here is a diagram I made before I started construction. It had to fit vertically in a fairly tight space.

      One tip... the length of the tubes have to be precise so that the quartz sleeves fit snug into the bottom reducer. That snug fit keeps the water from vibrating the sleeves making them leak or slip through the rubber compression seal at the top. And not all brands of PVC fittings are the same length... measure twice... dry fit... cut once.


    10. #30
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      Mine is also going to be mounted vertically, I'm wondering though.... If I build it like the one in the picture in my post is it better to feed in from the top and out on the bottom or feed in at the bottom and force the water up

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    11. #31
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      So, here's some pics to start with, turned out that I don't need the 3/4" couplings at all, my Aqua quartz sleeve fits perfectly in a 1/2" compression coupling. Now I have to figure out how to connect the 1/2" coupling to the 2" pipe. After some browsing I found out that it fits very snug into a 1 1/4" plug, problem is how to connect the plug to the 2" PVC? (I know I have to drill a hole in the plug).
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    12. #32
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      So, I did find the 1 1/4" threat to 2" slip joint coupling at Lowes. Will post more pics later today.

    13. #33
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      This is what I got so far:
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    14. #34
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      Tomorrow I'll have to measure the exact lenght for the pipe so I can glue everything together.

    15. #35
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      Everything glued together! Got two sleeves in (that's all I have for now). Two new 40W UV lamps are on the way, for now I just use the ballasts that came with the original Aqua light until I find a ballast that can handle three lamps. My UV light will be installed indoors in my "pump house" that's why I'm not to worried about sealing off the UV lamps themselves. Materials used: 1x 10'x2" Pipe, 4x 2" Cross, 2x 2" Tee, 3x 2"-1" Reducer, 3x 1" Plug, 3x 2"-1 1/4" Reducer (Treated), 3x 1 1/4" Plug (Treated), 2x 1/2" Compression Coupling (cut off).
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    16. #36
      avorancher is offline Senior Member
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      Once you get it finished, you'll be able to use it as a night light in your filter room.
      I've had no problems with the PVC getting brittle after 3 years and I think Phil has had his running for at least 6 years with no problems. It is a little surprising the first time you see it at night.


    17. #37
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      Very impressive.

      Still learning as I go but y'all can call me Marilyn

    18. #38
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      What did the total cost end up being on those DIY units?

      I guess neither of you are planning on having any more kids, eh?
      -Rain

      :I CAN'T BRING THIS SHIP INTO TRTUGA ALL BY ME ONESIES, SAVVY?:

    19. #39
      avorancher is offline Senior Member
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      Quote Originally Posted by rainblood View Post


      What did the total cost end up being on those DIY units?

      I guess neither of you are planning on having any more kids, eh?
      The long shutter exposure makes it look a little worse than it is and you can't see anything in the daytime... but no more kids anyway.

      Cost depends some on the size. My quartz tubes were around $40 each and the bulbs around $35. I run two ballasts and I think they are around $20 each. The rest is just PVC parts. But if I tried to duplicate my commercial HO unit it would have been much more because the bulbs alone are over $100, the ballasts over $120, and I've never priced a quartz tube but I'm sure it is up there too. Woopud would have better numbers because he is right in the middle of doing it.

    20. #40
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      So, I added up the costs. I already had one quartz sleeve and two ballast from my old Aqua UV lights. All PVC pipe, couplers and adhesive $50, UV lamp $30 (Ebay), Quartz sleeve $40 (Ebay). If you would to build the whole thing from scrap it would probably be around $275 without the ballasts. I'm going to look around for the ballast because I want one that can Power all three lights. Will post here what I van find out.

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