Avast Kalk Stirrer Motor upgrade

Fallenreef

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I have been using my avast k1 kalk stirrer but I am having trouble keeping the full saturation past a few hours. I have tried adding zip ties and various other mods with little impact. Has anyone upgraded the k1 motor to a higher rpm motor for better saturation? If so which motor did you use? Thank you in advance!
 

14 foot reef

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How long have you been running this reactor, and how are you testing for full saturation ? Are you graphing PH & Alk in actual tank with monitor or controller ? If so, what are your reef tank PH & Alk numbers day & night ?
 
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Fallenreef

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How long have you been running this reactor, and how are you testing for full saturation ? Are you graphing PH & Alk in actual tank with monitor or controller ? If so, what are your reef tank PH & Alk numbers day & night ?
I have been running the reactor for 7 months. I’m testing it with a conductivity meter manually and a ph probe (constant monitor on my apex). It would be fully saturated when I first mix the fresh Kalkwasser then for ph would drop to 11.8 when the peristaltic pump is not on. (It would climb to 12 when it is dosing since I only dosing at night). I am testing my alkalinity every 2 hours with the KHG and trident every 6 hours. Alk is usually between 9-10 dkh. Tank pH is around 8 to 8.2 I’m trying to peg the pH to 8.3
 

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Following as I am in the process of setting up the K1 for my Redsea S400 (about 100gal volume). My current consumption is about 1,600mL per day.
How big is ur tank? What is ur consumption and what Kalkwasser are you using?
Thank you
 

14 foot reef

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Are you running the stirrer motor 24/7 ? I run my stirrer motor 24/7.
I'm running and testing basically the same process as you. I found that after time and tweaking the dosing times longer than just lights out, I was able to peg my ph between 8.28 & 8.32. Which I believe is close enough and possibly exactly the same if you calculate in testing error +/-
One other option I was thinking about is extending the dosing tube internally of the Avast K2 to 1" off the bottom of the stirrer.



35DEEAC3-8732-4423-B29B-5E7A094369BE.jpeg
 
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MichaelReefer

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Are you running the stirrer motor 24/7 ? I run my stirrer motor 24/7.
I'm running and testing basically the same process as you. I found that after time and tweaking the dosing times longer than just lights out, I was able to peg my ph between 8.28 & 8.32. Which I believe is close enough and possibly exactly the same if you calculate in testing error +/-
One other option I was thinking about is extending the dosing tube internally of the Avast K2 to 1" off the bottom of the stirrer.



35DEEAC3-8732-4423-B29B-5E7A094369BE.jpeg


The instructions clearly say not to run it 24/7. Mine turns on for 5 minutes every hour.
 

14 foot reef

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The instructions clearly say not to run it 24/7. Mine turns on for 5 minutes every hour.
At 24/7 it just possibly shortens the life of the motor. They are designed to run 24/7 (recheck that) I purposley ordered 2 spare motors for $30.00 and they are on my shelf if they fail. With only running 5 minutes every hour, that's where your problem is coming from, with not staying staurated. Try one hour on one hour off and see if you see a difference, then push your comfortable limits on how long you want to run the motor.
 
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dwest

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I run my avast K2 24/7
 
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Fallenreef

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Are you running the stirrer motor 24/7 ? I run my stirrer motor 24/7.
I'm running and testing basically the same process as you. I found that after time and tweaking the dosing times longer than just lights out, I was able to peg my ph between 8.28 & 8.32. Which I believe is close enough and possibly exactly the same if you calculate in testing error +/-
One other option I was thinking about is extending the dosing tube internally of the Avast K2 to 1" off the bottom of the stirrer.



35DEEAC3-8732-4423-B29B-5E7A094369BE.jpeg

I am running it 24/7 I was thinking about extending the RODI tube as well. But I have mixed results when the tube is buried vs not buried in the Kalkwasser.
 

14 foot reef

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I am running it 24/7 I was thinking about extending the RODI tube as well. But I have mixed results when the tube is buried vs not buried in the Kalkwasser.
If I run into a saturation problem, a fall in consistent PH or alk because of the reef tanks new higher demands, I will first start extending the tube inside the reactor with small increments of different length extensions until I find a happy medium.
 

KStatefan

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I do not remember who but i have seen some 3D printed paddles for them.
 

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I am running it 24/7 I was thinking about extending the RODI tube as well. But I have mixed results when the tube is buried vs not buried in the Kalkwasser.
The tip of RO/DI tubing on mine is in the white slurry at the bottom. I think it’s best this way so new water coming in gets saturated at the bottom.
 

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I saw some information where someone upgraded from the stock 10rpm motor to a 30 or 45rpm motor. I ordered a 45rpm that will arrive today and will update this thread on the results.

I am doing this because my tank does not evaporate enough and I need to bump the potency of the effluent. I have tried the zip-tie trick but it did not provide the boost I need. The 45rpm motor should hopefully help kick the slurry higher up in the column.
 
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Fallenreef

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I saw some information where someone upgraded from the stock 10rpm motor to a 30 or 45rpm motor. I ordered a 45rpm that will arrive today and will update this thread on the results.

I am doing this because my tank does not evaporate enough and I need to bump the potency of the effluent. I have tried the zip-tie trick but it did not provide the boost I need. The 45rpm motor should hopefully help kick the slurry higher up in the column.
Where did you get the motor? I am interested in doing the same upgrade
 

14 foot reef

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I saw some information where someone upgraded from the stock 10rpm motor to a 30 or 45rpm motor. I ordered a 45rpm that will arrive today and will update this thread on the results.

I am doing this because my tank does not evaporate enough and I need to bump the potency of the effluent. I have tried the zip-tie trick but it did not provide the boost I need. The 45rpm motor should hopefully help kick the slurry higher up in the column.
Also interested in the 45 rpm motor. Please send detail on where you found it.
 

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