DIY Beckett Skimmer

[Frankie]

I thought i would share my new skimmer build with everyone and how i built it.
The material used is:
2x 48"x24" 1/4" cell cast acrylic, 1x 8'x8" cast tubing, 2x 8'x2" cast tubing, 1x 8'x5" tubing, two Beckett injectors, 40 1/4" nylon thumb screws, one 1 1/4" slip to slip gate valve, Weldon #4 andschedule 80 fittings and tubing.

Tools i needed to build it were:
Table saw, Drill press, dremmel, thread taps, miter saw, square, hammer, (for when all else fails ) sand paper (220# and 120#) buffing compounds ( I like the hard sticks) Buffing wheel with three seperate pads and did i mention a hammer?

Here are some material pictures:



I started by building the mixing box. The dementions are 12"x12"x14". In the origanal design the baffle in the box is a true 90 and the 5" tube riser sits an inch through the bottom. I found this to be a flaw and tilted my baffle so the bubbles would slide either to the 5" riser or back to where the mixing tube inject the bubbles. I also dadoed my bottom baffle for the 5"riser to sit flush with instead of pushing through 1". This allows to bubbles not to gather around it causeing the skimmer to burp.

[Frankie]

I used a friends jointer to get the edges perfect for the gluing up.
I bent the needle for getting into tight spots. It worked well:


Here is the water output with 90's and bulkhead installed. You want to install this before you install the 5" riser. So make sure it's tight! You only get one chance to do it.

Next i Installed the 5" inner riser. Because i had tilted baffle it sits on I needed to cut the bottom on an angle with my miter saw so it would stand straight and level:

Then i glued the top of the box on:

Next was the cup. This was the fun part where i learned how to make circles and flanges. I used my drill press like a milling machine. I set it to a high speed. I cut my acrylic sheet to the desired sizes,

drilled a small hole in the middle to fit a finish nail, nailed it to the press table and turned it into the 1/4" double fluted router bit. I used a 3/16" double fluted bit for the dado's to fit the 3/16" tubing in.


I cut the tubing with the table saw. I made a sled to roll the tube into the blade:
Tight fit!

I taped the flanges together and drilled the holes for the screws.

Then i tapped the flanges for the nylon screws:

finished.

[Frankie]

Next came the Beckett injectors. Now that i understood what it took to make the flanges with cup the injector housing went smooth.

[Frankie]

I bought most of the materials from Rhino Fittings, Plastic Material, Plastic Cutting Boards, Trade Books, Paisley Farm, Washout Booths for $664.30 with shipping. I have enough tubing left over to either build another smaller skimmer or use for other projects. I am thinking a Calcium reactor and waist collector for the skimmer. The O rings I got locally.
This skimmer is rated for a reeflow Marlin pump. I saved close to $600 dollars building it myself.

[Frankie]

The original Barr skimmer did not have the diffuser plate but the company that bought the design added it so i did also. I used a bath tub strainer for my hole template:

[Frankie]

Next I made a custom flange to hold the down draft tubes in place. Just a shape out of my head that i thought looked cool.





Then i glued in the downdraft tubes with the Beckett's installed:

[Frankie]

I used Banjo quick connects like the original Barr skimmer has. These things are cool!

[Frankie]

I also built an air filter for the injectors. This will help silence it and give me the option of useing filter media to keep air born pollutants from being injected into the tanks water. Like dust and such. I can also fill it with carbon or some other chemical media for other nasty air born stuff.

[Frankie]

And that was it. Here is the finished skimmer. I hope others out there will see that they too can build their own with the proper tools and care.
I used goggles and kept my work stations clean at all times during this build. Please do the same when useing power tools.

[Varga]

I cannot believe you just made that awsome thing! dude you are a pro

can I ask the total cost?
maybe your estimated total cost including the pump it would need to run.

[Frankie]

Post #4 has the info. I just updated that post at request from framerguy.

[Frankie]

I still need to post a few more pictures of how i polished the edges and such but feel free to ask any questions now. Good night everyone

[Varga]

Originally Posted by Frankie

And that was it. Here is the finished skimmer. I hope others out there will see that they too can build their own with the proper tools and care.

haha, I could never build anything like this

[deaclauderdale]

Bravo man you did a great job!!! If you want you could use the spare parts to build me a calcium reactor What is it rated for Frankie?

[Frankie]

300 to 1000 gallons i am told. Should do well on my 120