Anyone using mas985s drip feeder for chlorine successfully?

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Rangeball

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May 25, 2007
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As he suggested I went back through the thread to see who has had success with this set up for chlorinating a pool, but it seems those that tried gave up due to white stuff plugging the drippers?

If anyone is successfully using this concept with chlorine, I'd love to pick your brain :)
 
One thing that might work is to use one of the valves that have been tried or suggested. That way, every time you refill the container, fully close, open and reset the valve to remove any accumulated solids. It shouldn't collect anywhere else other than the valve. You would need to have some way to return to the same setting each time but that shouldn't be too hard.
 
I looked at the valves mentioned in the thread, and wasn't sure if they were meant to be used in place of or with the drippers. If with the drippers, I assume you'd recommend putting the valve between the tank and drippers to catch the white stuff? But then when I opened the valve to clear the solids it would move the the drippers anyway?
 
The drip buttons are not need when using a flow control valve. However, you need to choose a valve that has a fairly fine adjustment to zero in on the proper flow rate. The one mentioned in this post looks like a good choice.
 
I believe that all drain plugs are 1/4" npt male fittings. The barb side depends on the tubing used.

Currently, I am using two Home Depot 5 gallon orange buckets with lids tee'd into a single line. This helps keep the evaporation down and there doesn't seem to be any smell with the acid so I don't think it would be a problem with chlorine other than filling the buckets. Also, using two buckets means 1/2 the refills.
 
Ordered the valve you linked as well as a check valve. I run my pump on low 24/7, so may be moot but it was cheap enough. Local hardware store has the 1/4 male NPT to 1/4 hose barb and the 1/4 clear hose, so I should be set when it comes in.

Thinking ahead, with the hose barb fittings, will I need to use clamps on these?

Also, when experimenting with flow rates, can I simply use water, will that approximate more dense bleach well enough?

Initial plan is to use a 5gal carboy I have, my weekly use is 5.25 gal, but if the experiment works, I'll investigate a larger container that will give me longer fill times or allow for dilution. My equipment sits in close proximity to the pool, so I need to have something that looks presentable and not overbearing, or I'd just use a 55 gal drum :)
 
You shouldn't need any clamps because the hoses are under suction and not pressure so they tend to be self sealing. But a little plumber's grease helps to create a good seal.

Yes, you can use just water for testing.

Also, as I mentioned before you can connect two (or even more) carboy's together using a drip inrrigation tees to connect into a single line. The draw rate from each will be half of normal so it will last twice as long.
 

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It shouldn't matter. I would attach it where ever it is convenient.

Also, I recently got a valve myself just to try it out and see if it is any easiler to control than the buttons but one of the things I first noticed is that it is very sensitive and really doesn't seem to have enough threads for fine adjustment even though it takes several turns to fully open/close the valve. Between drawing too little and too much is only a very very small turn of the knob but I would be interested in your experience.
 
:(

Well, I've got it now so nothing to lose. How many ounces were you trying to get it to draw per hour?

Something else I've considered if it won't fine tune full strength is a substantial dillution, say 1:5, which will let it draw more like 20 ounces per hour instead of the 4 I need. Of course I'd have to get a bigger container, but that shouldn't be an issue.
 
I agree, things become much easier if you have a much larger tank where the draw rates can be higher. My goal is to only have to fill the buckets once a month but I could go down to once every two weeks if I had to.

I am targeting a draw rate of about 40 oz of 2:10 acid:water mix per day. I have a run time of 2 hours at high speed and 6 hours on low speed right now and high speed should draw about 4x the rate of low speed plus there is some draw when the pump is off. So the rate should be about 12 oz/hour on high speed and 3 oz/hour on low.

I adjust the flow rate by introducing a small air bubble in the clear feed line and time the rate of progression. The line has a 3/16" interior diameter so that is about 0.06 oz/inch of line. So the bubble should move a little over 3 inches per minute to have about 12 oz/hour (0.133 oz/min). But once I get close, I make adjustments over the next couple of weeks to see where the PH settles. Because of the solar and suction cleaner, the pump suction can change quite a bit depending on the configuration which will also change the draw rate so I just try to adjust for the average and allow for some variation. With PH it tends to vary quite slowly so it hasn't been a real issue. However, with chlorine, there could be some swings in the residual over the day depending on what changes but as long as it doesn't hit the minimum, you should be ok. But from what I understand, the Liquidator requires a bit of trial and error as well.
 
Messed with it last night. It's a no go :( Set my pump on low, hooked everything up and ran the hose into a large measuring cup that shows ounces. Set the valve to one-half rotation open, timed a minute and it drew well over 6 ounces. Not good. Next just barely cracked the valve open so that it would just draw, timed a minute and still was over 2 ounces. That would give me 120 oz per minute, and even with a high ratio dilution is a deal breaker.

Back to the drawing board. I wonder if drippers in front of the valve with it barely cracked open could be made to work? If it could be successfully tuned, might require less drippers and the white stuff would possibly build up on the front end of the valve and I could remove the hose and clean it periodically easy enough?
 
Rangeball said:
Messed with it last night. It's a no go :( Set my pump on low, hooked everything up and ran the hose into a large measuring cup that shows ounces. Set the valve to one-half rotation open, timed a minute and it drew well over 6 ounces. Not good. Next just barely cracked the valve open so that it would just draw, timed a minute and still was over 2 ounces. That would give me 120 oz per minute, and even with a high ratio dilution is a deal breaker.

Back to the drawing board. I wonder if drippers in front of the valve with it barely cracked open could be made to work? If it could be successfully tuned, might require less drippers and the white stuff would possibly build up on the front end of the valve and I could remove the hose and clean it periodically easy enough?
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How about building a restrictor for the hose? A piece of dowel or something similar that you can drill a teeny hole through, then keep enlarging if it doesn't flow enough?
 
It's possible, but I'm having a hard time imagining how small the hole would have to be if the valve just barely cracked open is still way too big. Maybe a better solution would be to just use the drippers as originally proposed and just plan routine maintenance to clean them of white stuff every couple weeks if it presents a problem?
 
A true needle valve would work better. But I don't know where to find an all plastic one.

Those SMC valves, while called needle valves, are really gate valves with a fine threaded stem. Not good for very fine flow control.

The Hayward needle valve is a better design but it's more expensive. It would most likely allow you to get the flow you need.
 

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