Hydros dual doser

[Fractal ReefWorks]

I went on an adventure to make my own dual head doser for hydros, I didn’t want to spend $300 on a blenny.
Going to be using it for dosing 2 part.
My goal is to make sure it stays accurate and low maintenance.
So far it has been good and pretty dang quiet.



If there is enough interest I may end up selling these in the future.

 

[JeffB418]

What port does this use?

 

[Fractal ReefWorks]

What port does this use?

Two 12v drive ports, like the normal doser that hydros sells.

 

[BriDroid]

I use two cheap peristaltic pumps for my AWC. They were sold from AliExpress with 24VDC wall warts, but taking them apart I found they’re actually 12VDC rated . I run them off two drive ports on my Kraken. They work very well!

 

[Wonkabar]

These look better than any of the hydros stuff. I’m also a glutton for carbon fiber

 

[Fractal ReefWorks]

These look better than any of the hydros stuff. I’m also a glutton for carbon fiber

3d printed on a carbon fiber like build plate gives that awesome look.
I wanted something slimmer yet repairable if something were to go out on the pumps

 

[Wonkabar]

These look better than any of the hydros stuff. I’m also a glutton for carbon fiber

3d printed on a carbon fiber like build plate gives that awesome look.
I wanted something slimmer yet repairable if something were to go out on the pumps

It came out awesome. Great job!

 

[Reefuzz]

These look awesome! Following along for updates.

 

[Fractal ReefWorks]

These look better than any of the hydros stuff. I’m also a glutton for carbon fiber

3d printed on a carbon fiber like build plate gives that awesome look.
I wanted something slimmer yet repairable if something were to go out on the pumps

It came out awesome. Great job!

Thank you! If I can figure out how to make the wiring nice and pretty I may end up selling these.
I need to experiment with larger peristaltic pumps for awc and calcium reactors

 

[afboundguy]

Love the box! I plan on doing the exact same thing but with 5-7 total pumps...

 

[Fractal ReefWorks]

Love the box! I plan on doing the exact same thing but with 5-7 total pumps...

That would be awesome! Would you have hydros control it or going a different direction?

 

[afboundguy]

That would be awesome! Would you have hydros control it or going a different direction?

Hydros would control it more than likely. Currently I have a 5 head Jebao dosing pump and I dose 3 part and then the other two heads I have one dosing phyto and the other one sucking out the same amount of tank water so salinity stays consistent as I dose a lot of phyto.

I have a bunch of automation ideas and want to use some of those kamoer dosing pump heads to create an automatic feeder setup similar to what @WallyB has done to feed my three tanks that are plumbed into my current system.

 

[Fractal ReefWorks]

That would be awesome! Would you have hydros control it or going a different direction?

Hydros would control it more than likely. Currently I have a 5 head Jebao dosing pump and I dose 3 part and then the other two heads I have one dosing phyto and the other one sucking out the same amount of tank water so salinity stays consistent as I dose a lot of phyto.

I have a bunch of automation ideas and want to use some of those kamoer dosing pump heads to create an automatic feeder setup similar to what @WallyB has done to feed my three tanks that are plumbed into my current system.

Nice! If I could figure out how we can trigger dosers off the 0-10v I’ll be cookin

 

[n2585722]

Nice! If I could figure out how we can trigger dosers off the 0-10v I’ll be cookin

There are currently only 2 controllers with 0-10v outputs those are the X4 and WEv2. All the others that have 0-10v are inputs and not outputs. So unless you have a X4 or a WEv2 with 0-10v outputs that are not in use then 0-10v would not work. Also the 0-10v is a voltage reference and not meant to drive any kind of load. So you would have to create some kind of controller to drive the pumps that have a 0-10v control input.

 

[afboundguy]

Nice! If I could figure out how we can trigger dosers off the 0-10v I’ll be cookin

I wouldn't think it would be worthwhile to try and trigger it through 0-10V and plan to just do simple timing schedule and have the various pumps go off in a specific order for a specific amount of time.

 

[Hooz]

My workbench currently has a stack of Kamoer dosing heads and project boxes. One is a 0-10v, relay controlled, 4 head doser, two 2 head "simple" dosers like the one you made and three simple "high volume" (400 or 600ml/min)dosers for AWC pumps. I'm using very low flow (3ml/min) 3.3v Kamoer pumps so I can get very small, precise doses in my nano tanks, so there are some extra steps to convert the 12v input to 3.3v for the pumps. Otherwise, it's basically the same thing you did.

I'm using standard barrel jacks for power for all the simple dosers. That way I can use custom drive port power cables, or standard 12v DC power supplies (in a switched outlet) depending on what's available on what tank.

Triggering the 4 head doser via 0-10v output allows you to run up to 4 heads without tying up 4 Drive Ports. My 4 head doser will be fully Hydros controlled without using a single Drive Port, actually. All you need to do it is a small 12v relay board with 4 relays. I'm using this one...

Amazon product

 

[JeffB418]

My workbench currently has a stack of Kamoer dosing heads and project boxes. One is a 0-10v, relay controlled, 4 head doser, two 2 head "simple" dosers like the one you made and three simple "high volume" (400 or 600ml/min)dosers for AWC pumps. I'm using very low flow (3ml/min) 3.3v Kamoer pumps so I can get very small, precise doses in my nano tanks, so there are some extra steps to convert the 12v input to 3.3v for the pumps. Otherwise, it's basically the same thing you did.

I'm using standard barrel jacks for power for all the simple dosers. That way I can use custom drive port power cables, or standard 12v DC power supplies (in a switched outlet) depending on what's available on what tank.

Triggering the 4 head doser via 0-10v output allows you to run up to 4 heads without tying up 4 Drive Ports. My 4 head doser will be fully Hydros controlled without using a single Drive Port, actually. All you need to do it is a small 12v relay board with 4 relays. I'm using this one...

Amazon product

If you want some really high precision dosing pumps, this place sells some really nice ones that you can configure the tubing size/gear ratio to get REALLY precise dosing amounts, down to 0.27ml/min. I recommend these for reagent pumps for those who want to use the iV but not buy a X10.

PM100 12 Volt Peristaltic Pump Tygon Tube - Simply Pumps

PM100 12 Volt Peristaltic Pump Tygon Food & Beverage Tube - Miniature, low flow peristaltic pump solutions. Accurate dosing, dispensing, and metering.

simplypumps.com

 

[JeffB418]

If you want some really high precision dosing pumps, this place sells some really nice ones that you can configure the tubing size/gear ratio to get REALLY precise dosing amounts, down to 0.27ml/min. I recommend these for reagent pumps for those who want to use the iV but not buy a X10.

PM100 12 Volt Peristaltic Pump Tygon Tube - Simply Pumps

PM100 12 Volt Peristaltic Pump Tygon Food & Beverage Tube - Miniature, low flow peristaltic pump solutions. Accurate dosing, dispensing, and metering.

simplypumps.com

They also make a 0-5V controlled pump unit (option 1 here) https://simplypumps.com/product/gbx-peristaltic-pump-systems/

 

[Hooz]

Those are sweet, but I got an 8 pack of the Kamoer pumps for half the cost of one of those pumps. You can slow them down using the drive voltage to tune the flow rate. At the 3.3v I'm giving them, they'll do 3.1ml/min or, in Hydros terms (2.5 second minimum on/off time), they can be dialed down to a .13ml minimum dose.

If I need smaller doses than that, I'll do it by hand and/or re-evaluate whether I really need it or not.

 

[JeffB418]

Those are sweet, but I got an 8 pack of the Kamoer pumps for half the cost of one of those pumps. You can slow them down using the drive voltage to tune the flow rate. At the 3.3v I'm giving them, they'll do 3.1ml/min or, in Hydros terms (2.5 second minimum on/off time), they can be dialed down to a .13ml minimum dose.

If I need smaller doses than that, I'll do it by hand and/or re-evaluate whether I really need it or not.

Just be aware that voltage or pwm control of a DC doser can be inconsistent at lower voltages. If precision and consistency is key in the application, gear reduction of a doser while being driven at full voltage is always prefered.