Skimmer Air Intake Drawing From Outside

jkobel

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I'm looking to draw fresh air from outside for my skimmer to help with PH.

I live in the northeast US and it gets cold and snowy in the winter and hot and buggy in the summer. Looking for people to post some photos and examples of how they have this set up so I don't try to reinvent the wheel.

My tank is on the first floor about 12 feet from the exterior wall. DT is 130 gal and the skimmer is sized appropriately (mentioning for how much airflow I might need)

Specifically, I'm curious about the type of tubing (size and material) and the intake on the outside of the house to keep moisture and bugs out.

Thanks!
 

Casper12065

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I tried this for a while since my tank is next to a window. Ran normal air line hosing from the air intake of the venturi valve to the window between the glass and the screen. Didn't really see an appreciable increase in ph, so am trying other options.
 

Gtinnel

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My tank is on a exterior wall of my house so I only had to run the airline through the wall. I used the same size line that connects to skimmers (I don't remember the actual size). On the outside end I put a barbed tee connector and attached it to a few pieces of small pvc pipe that I stuffed loosely with filter floss and carbon. The filter keeps the carbon in place and keeps bugs out. I don't know if the carbon even makes a difference but I saw others use it and figured it couldn't hurt. I tried tightly packing the floss into the pvc tube but it restricted the air flow too much.

It made a fairly significant difference in my pH. Mine went from 7.9 and now it's constantly around 8.2
 

Tumey

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I used 2” pvc pipe and caps with 1/4” RO tubing for my outside air setup. I live in Iowa and made it through the winter with my outside intake tube covered in snow without any issues to the air being drawn in.

This first pic shows my outside intake tube. I simply capped the top and zip tied it to a section of fiberglass garden stake so that I was able to stick it in the ground. On the underside I used a foam reactor pad ( available through BRS ) tucked inside the tube with a small slit from a razor knife to be able to feed the RO tubing inside.
43F9390C-B560-4FA7-8AF0-A0BE0FB5D198.jpeg

The second pic here isn’t the easiest to see but I cut a 2 foot length of pipe and once again used the reactor foam pads at each end with Bituminous Carbon between them to absorb anything potentially toxic in the air being drawn. The caps I had to drill and tap to accept 1/4” x 1/4” NPT push lock fittings. I chose to do it this way for ease of changing out the carbon when needed. I can simply disconnect this tube and swap out the carbon inside.
93A3CE3E-A3B1-4515-8317-DB4FCF20286E.jpeg
 
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jkobel

jkobel

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I used 2” pvc pipe and caps with 1/4” RO tubing for my outside air setup. I live in Iowa and made it through the winter with my outside intake tube covered in snow without any issues to the air being drawn in.

This first pic shows my outside intake tube. I simply capped the top and zip tied it to a section of fiberglass garden stake so that I was able to stick it in the ground. On the underside I used a foam reactor pad ( available through BRS ) tucked inside the tube with a small slit from a razor knife to be able to feed the RO tubing inside.
43F9390C-B560-4FA7-8AF0-A0BE0FB5D198.jpeg

The second pic here isn’t the easiest to see but I cut a 2 foot length of pipe and once again used the reactor foam pads at each end with Bituminous Carbon between them to absorb anything potentially toxic in the air being drawn. The caps I had to drill and tap to accept 1/4” x 1/4” NPT push lock fittings. I chose to do it this way for ease of changing out the carbon when needed. I can simply disconnect this tube and swap out the carbon inside.
93A3CE3E-A3B1-4515-8317-DB4FCF20286E.jpeg


this is great, how much carbon are you running in that tube and how often are you changing it?

in the first pic, how is the air flowing into the PVC if the bottom is blocked with a foam pad and the top is capped?

No issues with the black RO tubing being exposed to the elements like that?

How did you penetrate the home, or did you run it thru a window or similar?
 

Rickybobby

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I saw a significant increase in ph with the windows open instead of just the skimmer line. Because all the agitated flow in the tank has access to the air not just the skimmer
 

Tumey

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this is great, how much carbon are you running in that tube and how often are you changing it?

in the first pic, how is the air flowing into the PVC if the bottom is blocked with a foam pad and the top is capped?

No issues with the black RO tubing being exposed to the elements like that?

How did you penetrate the home, or did you run it thru a window or similar?
The foam pads are coarse allowing air to pass through. Here’s a pic of the pad
3F2892C6-B706-41C6-A693-CC5657B82013.jpeg
I haven’t been through the summer months yet so I’m unsure if the black tubing will have issues with heat and moisture.

I filled the tube as full as possible keeping in mind the process of swapping out carbon could potentially get messy if the tube were too full.

My home is a ranch with a full basement. I actually got lucky enough to have my tank sitting on the main level right above where my electrical service enters the house. The hole was already drilled through the joist where I needed to feed the RO line to the outside.

I don’t remember exactly when I set everything up but it was towards the end of summer maybe early fall of last year. I haven’t swapped the carbon yet but will be soon just because my neighbor has a lawn service that sprays and I’m sure they’ll be out to do so anytime now.
 

mdb_talon

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I saw a significant increase in ph with the windows open instead of just the skimmer line. Because all the agitated flow in the tank has access to the air not just the skimmer

Ideally that would be a feasible solution for all of us... ie reduce the co2 inside our homes to outside freshair levels. It is not a reasonable solution for the majority of the country though other than small parts of the year.

Personally I get about a .3 ph increase by having my line ran outside which is about the same as with windows open, but I have an oversized skimmer that pulls through a ton of air.
 

Rickybobby

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Ideally that would be a feasible solution for all of us... ie reduce the co2 inside our homes to outside freshair levels. It is not a reasonable solution for the majority of the country though other than small parts of the year.

Personally I get about a .3 ph increase by having my line ran outside which is about the same as with windows open, but I have an oversized skimmer that pulls through a ton of air.
Same went from 7.8 to 8.1
 

jdiefenbaugh

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I run a 1" PVC intake into a 2" activated carbon filter, and then just an extended airline to the skimmer about 4' long. I get a .2-.3 difference with it. Most important aspect is to keep the intake big enough, 3/4-1" is smallest you can probably go, depending on total run length. There can't be any resistance on the skimmer.
 

ca1ore

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I saw a significant increase in ph with the windows open instead of just the skimmer line. Because all the agitated flow in the tank has access to the air not just the skimmer
I think this is a more common finding. True for me also.
 

mdb_talon

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I think this is a more common finding. True for me also.

I dont think many would argue that point, but the problem is it is not a reasonable solution for the vast majority of us which is why we look into things like outside lines or scrubbers
 

ca1ore

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I dont think many would argue that point, but the problem is it is not a reasonable solution for the vast majority of us which is why we look into things like outside lines or scrubbers
Understood. For me there are more months in the year when I can open the windows than months where I cannot. When I cannot, I simply don't worry about pH.
 
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