Air meter for skimmer testing?

[sammy33]

Which air meter should I get for skimmer testing? I know that Dwyer makes some good ones. What range should I look for? SCFH or other measure?

 

[xyzpdq0121]

I don't know but when you get it, I am the first to borrow it!

 

[mwitten]

sammy33;121021 wrote: Which air meter should I get for skimmer testing? I know that Dwyer makes some good ones. What range should I look for? SCFH or other measure?

I have a Dwyer. They are good, and not horribly expensive ($35 or so).

Which you get depends on the rated intake for your skimmer... Get one that goes a minimum of, say, 25% higher than that, though usually that is limited by the ranges available. I have two: 1.2-10 SCFH and 3-20SCFH , RMB-50D and RMB51D, respectively. I did not have to convert to metric so I went with those "dual scale" versions

Obviously, you don't want it to peg-out or restrict the flow (too much), but neither do you want to be measuring in the bottom 5% of the scale if you can help it. I don't remember the numbers for sure, but I believe you want it at least 25% of full scale to assure that it is accurate.

They are fun, and educational... I wish I had gotten it before I pulled out my Beckett skimmer, as I would like to have compared air flow.

-Mike

 

[roland jacques]

Mike I agree with mike. It depends which skimmer you want to test. stay away from the lower 25-30% of the meters.

I have 3 you can borrow one if you want. When I started the Octopus Modding the 1-20 SCFH was good enough. Then the Gutter Guard mod i used the 10-50 SCFH. Now with good mesh mod you could need one over 100 SCFH. Dual reading English/metric is great.

The thing is, for our application we should be using a entirely different type of air flow meters that don't restrict flow, but they cost a fortune.

What are you wanting to test?

 

[sammy33]

I am thinking something like an RMA-6. Measures 2-20 SCFH air and also RMA-10 Measures 20-200 SCFH air. This should cover a good range. Do I need any connectors/valves or do these meters run/install out of the box?

I just want to test various skimmers and add another tool to my reefing toolbox. :shades:

 

[victor626nj]

sammy i hope you get this before you come test my par again would love to know how much air my das is pulling

 

[roland jacques]

Seeing only a very few skimmers get over 100 SCFH maybe a 10-100 would work better than the 20-200. Or get a third for 20-50 range. PS it a good idea to really try to make sure SW does not get inside your meter. (mount it higher than your skimmer when testing)

With the 20 -200 they should say 70-200 because the first 25-30% the ball may move to much to get a good number to read (I've found the ball tends to bounce a Good bit more in this range) The 20-200 may require a very big hose also.

I had to get fitting at Lowe's to not minimize any chance of a restrictive fitting messing up the readings.

 

[sammy33]

So the low threshold for performance is 25%? The second set numbers in parentheses would be the working/readable range. So maybe a set of testing air meters like this

RMA-5 Flowmeter, range 1-10 (2.5-10) SCFH air: for the small skimmers

RMA-7 Flowmeter, range 5-50 (11.25-50) SCFH air: for the medium skimmers

RMA-9 Flowmeter, range 15-150 (33.75-150) SCFH air: for the large skimmers

:confused2:

 

[roland jacques]

Sounds good to me. not Knowing the smallest skimmer you want to test is the 1-10 is pretty small. But i mainly deal with bigger stuff.
For me it is 2-20 and 5-50 and I would like the 15-150 to add to my meters

 

[roland jacques]

One more thing, i like the bigger scale meters. i think they more accurate and easyer to read

 

[cameron]

This is an item that would make for good club equipment. I would personally like to use one from time to time when testing skimmers but don't want to invest in one as I doubt I would get the use out of it to justify the price.

 

[mwitten]

sammy33;121142 wrote: So the low threshold for performance is 25%? The second set numbers in parentheses would be the working/readable range. So maybe a set of testing air meters like this

RMA-5 Flowmeter, range 1-10 (2.5-10) SCFH air: for the small skimmers

RMA-7 Flowmeter, range 5-50 (11.25-50) SCFH air: for the medium skimmers

RMA-9 Flowmeter, range 15-150 (33.75-150) SCFH air: for the large skimmers

:confused2:

Hmm. I'd look for more overlap...10-11.25 is missed completely, and you don't want to measure anything under 20 with the RMA-7 in that range. To be honest, I don't remember which one I used the most off hand. I'll have to go down and dig them out again and see what my numbers were.

Oh, and I did manage to flood one. Not sure how it happened, but they are a mess, and I am not very confident in the readings since I cleaned it.

I got my fittings at the hardware store.

-Mike

 

[james s_]

I have an RMA-10 which is 50-200SCFH. Its the smaller unit but it is still easy to read.