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Pulse
11-16-2012, 01:34 PM
I have some questions before building my first turf scrubber prototype. Hopefully I can get some good answers here because I do not have a lot of free time for research.

I am wondering if anyone has any scientific research showing how much more productive systems with pulsing water are? I have seen people explain why pulsing water is advantageous but never anyone who could site any sources. I would assume air circulation around the screen would be necessary to get the full benefit of a pulsing system. I have a neat design for a pulsing water pump that would produce a much less turbulent flow then a dump bucket without putting extra wear and tear on your pump by switching it on and off, but it is somewhat difficult to make without injection molding. Should I hold on with developing that and sell add on units later, or is it worth it to develop that before I start marketing the scrubbers?

I also have a question about slot width. It seems like a wider slot would be better, especially if there where a 3/4" long hard plastic "skirt" to help control the water and keep algae out of the slot? Can anyone tell me what happens if the slot is too wide? Somewhat related, how far does the glass need to be from the screen? Is there a problem with algae build-up on the glass? How difficult is it to clean the algae that does grow? I would like to make the unit as a slim as possible. What happens if the water touches the glass?

SantaMonica
11-16-2012, 03:16 PM
Surges were tried a few years ago and did not seem to help. Sure added a lot of cost and complexity though. The concept of air circulation, however, is also provided by UAS scrubbers.

If the slot is too wide, the water only comes out is certain places.

Best distance of the glass is 20 mm. The glass will get 3D growth, and will need to be scrubbed during cleaning.

Pulse
11-16-2012, 05:25 PM
Very Interesting...

The surge generator I had in mind would cost about $40-$100 for a unit that could theoretically go up to several hundred GPH in surges. The unit would be powered by an air pump and it would use the displacement of the air to force water out of a chamber replacing the piston with air and leaving no moving parts besides the check valves and a special valve to let the chamber refill with water. If built correctly it should be very low maintenance and not kill pods, fish fry, etc. I am sure it has some market if it works as I imagine it would, but if it does not make a significant difference for the scrubber then I obviously wont include it as part of the scrubber.

The design I had in mind will work perfectly with the 20mm gap, and I think I could make a glass cleaner that fits tightly between the glass panes so that it scrubs the algae off the glass easily.

SantaMonica
11-16-2012, 05:33 PM
Just look through the pics in the build section