Cali Kid Corals

Got my fresh food autofeeder working today!

Flagg37 said:
Any particular reason you chose 2gph?

Do you have an actual picture of the Venturi injector?
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Sure....the picture is above in my original post. I don't actually know the real flow...it is an estimate. I just started the flow, by opening the gate valve, to get the suction...that is all. You want a close up picture of the injector?
 
Scott Sweet said:
Sure....the picture is above in my original post. I don't actually know the real flow...it is an estimate. I just started the flow, by opening the gate valve, to get the suction...that is all. You want a close up picture of the injector?
Click to expand...
If you don’t mind. Does the plumbing just change from the 1/4” to 1/2” or is there a check valve in there too?
 
Flagg37 said:
If you don’t mind. Does the plumbing just change from the 1/4” to 1/2” or is there a check valve in there too?
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1/4" to 1/2" where? Do you mean where the injector fitting is? It is already 1/4" tube nipple. There is no check valve. The way injectors work, when water flows through the 1/2" line, it naturally creates suction on the 1/4" injector to suck whatever is attached. Water won't go down the 1/4" nipple. The dosing pumps hold back the food from constantly being sucked from the food bottles. That is one reason why I keep the water flow through the 1/2" line slow so the suction is minimal.

injector.jpg
 
Thank you for sharing, and especially your thought process and diagram.

It still seems to me that you could accomplish your goals with the water line just outside the fridge. You’d have 1 small hole total that has the 1 combined output tube coming out, going directly into a water line running along the side of the fridge instead of through it.

Also randomly curious why thermoelectric was out as an option? Because may not be able to get cold enough?
 
A key issue with thermoelectric is that they can only reduce temp up to about 40 deg or so.
So on a hot day, in a spot with no AC, things could spoil.

They also do not dehumidify as much, but given the rarely opened sealed box, doubt that matters much.
 
JVU said:
Thank you for sharing, and especially your thought process and diagram.

It still seems to me that you could accomplish your goals with the water line just outside the fridge. You’d have 1 small hole total that has the 1 combined output tube coming out, going directly into a water line running along the side of the fridge instead of through it.

Also randomly curious why thermoelectric was out as an option? Because may not be able to get cold enough?
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Well...not sure what you mean. The food must remain cold at all times. As soon as the food comes out of the cold, it will spoil...and introduces plugging of the line. Maybe you can draw a picture of what you are thinking :). The food line where the injector is would need to be cleared completely so the food would not solidify or spoil. You could introduce a fresh water clear after a feeding, but then you are using up a dosing head for that function. Also, it takes up more physical space for the venturi to be out of the refrigerator.

As noted in another response, thermoelectric refrigerators do not get cold enough and do not remove moisture. Also, this is why I do not use a freezer...plus the freezer takes up space at the top of the refrigerator.
 
rygh said:
A key issue with thermoelectric is that they can only reduce temp up to about 40 deg or so.
So on a hot day, in a spot with no AC, things could spoil.

They also do not dehumidify as much, but given the rarely opened sealed box, doubt that matters much.
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40 degrees in the best of conditions.
 
Scott Sweet said:
Well...not sure what you mean. The food must remain cold at all times. As soon as the food comes out of the cold, it will spoil...and introduces plugging of the line. Maybe you can draw a picture of what you are thinking :). The food line where the injector is would need to be cleared completely so the food would not solidify or spoil. You could introduce a fresh water clear after a feeding, but then you are using up a dosing head for that function. Also, it takes up more physical space for the venturi to be out of the refrigerator.

As noted in another response, thermoelectric refrigerators do not get cold enough and do not remove moisture. Also, this is why I do not use a freezer...plus the freezer takes up space at the top of the refrigerator.
Click to expand...
I wasn’t suggesting anything particularly fancy, just to have the tubing come out of the fridge right before the injector, where I circled in red below. Idea being that only a very tiny length of tubing/injector would be outside the fridge, and be less likely to spoil.

93FA6873-93C4-48CC-AA98-386ED59FE3A3.jpeg
 
JVU said:
I wasn’t suggesting anything particularly fancy, just to have the tubing come out of the fridge right before the injector, where I circled in red below. Idea being that only a very tiny length of tubing/injector would be outside the fridge, and be less likely to spoil.

View attachment 14444
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Right, you could have all the 1/2” plumbing outside and the perpendicular injector part being the part that penetrates into the fridge.
 
Flagg37 said:
Right, you could have all the 1/2” plumbing outside and the perpendicular injector part being the part that penetrates into the fridge.
Click to expand...
This might work. That said, the overall footprint grows because the plumbing and injector is outside of the fridge..rather than utilizing the dead space inside the fridge.

The two 1/2" holes I drilled is pretty straight forward.
 
Scott Sweet said:
... You could introduce a fresh water clear after a feeding, but then you are using up a dosing head for that function. Also, it takes up more physical space for the venturi to be out of the refrigerator.
...
Click to expand...
You could just run RO line there, if you have an auto-top-off.
Not saying it is worth bothering though.
 
Thanks Scott! Maybe virtually?

Any lessons learned or changes you’d like to make with your food supply -> dosing pump -> manifold tubing and connections?

I’m wondering if back pressure from the return water flow intrudes at all into the dosing head and possibly backwards into food storage.

Or do the dosing heads work as 100% check valves preventing any intrusion into the food?
 
Squist said:
Thanks Scott! Maybe virtually?

Any lessons learned or changes you’d like to make with your food supply -> dosing pump -> manifold tubing and connections?

I’m wondering if back pressure from the return water flow intrudes at all into the dosing head and possibly backwards into food storage.

Or do the dosing heads work as 100% check valves preventing any intrusion into the food?
Click to expand...
Sent you a PM with my number. Feel free to call...
 
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