Kessil

Red Sea Reefer 170

xcaret

xcaret

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I have a Red Sea Reefer, bare bones; might look familiar; the issue with these tanks is the proprietary drain design so little DIY.

What I did since I have no access to some tools is sand a PVC 1" fitting to barely fit into the drain holes.

Had to make myself something to keep the PVC as round as possible; a wood lathe would've been the perfect tool but I don't have one.

I bought a buffing wheel adapter from HD long ago and came to mind I had it and could make myself something similar to a wood lathe's spinning action.

Block of wood with sandpaper attached did the trick; sanded little by little to reduce it to the correct diameter of the original drain flange/bulkhead. I have to remove the inner "tread-locking" pieces in order to pass the new fittings so they bond in their entirety.

I had to find the center of a threaded cap or be as close as possible; it worked ok.

Now I have to make a run to HD to get some threaded 1" unions and start working on the drain first; the one in the pics was the "prototype".

I'll use the proper adhesive to bond the PVC to the ABS plastic and if I have spare 1" ball valves, probably will use two and have the drain over the top with black pipe and some Lockline fittings.

1" Threaded cap, centered drilled for a buffing wheel arbor fitted to a drill.


All set in place in the drill's chuck






Hand tightened slip x thread connector


Sand paper on a block of wood to keep the removal of material as even as possible.


Few passes on the improvised "lathe"


Test fit.


Slides nice and snug on the outside of the flange.


Fitted on the inside, view from bottom.


Inside the overflow flange/bulkhead


Wonder if I should remove the locking-thread-tabs and bring the new fitting flush at the bottom of the flange.
View from the bottom
 
Coral reefer said:
I don’t understand why? Can’t find the real pieces cheaply enough?
Click to expand...

Guess because I have nothing better to do? For instance, yesterday I found a long forgotten peristaltic pump; from the moment I got it, it didn’t work, dissembled it checked the motor and it did work by itself then has been like a decade since it was stored. While looking for a PVC coupler, I saw the pump, took it out and tested it again, nothing. Took it apart again but this time I noticed a little button like thing on the upper left of the pump and I wondered what it was, turns out is a plug and that is where I can regulate the speed of the pump via potentiometer; flat head screwdriver, turn it up and it works!! (See how I had nothing better to do?)
I didn’t check with Red Sea for a replacement set but I bet their price is beat by $3.00 worth of PVC, give or take.
If I have some free time this summer, I’ll probably make a stand for it so I can fund my...
 
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So the replacements for the reefer series are from 35-90 per pipe. I broke my drain pipe had to pay 30 shipping and another 45 for the part. This is just the bottom pipes, not the ones in the tank.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
More reason to try and DIY something to fit there.
I checked yesterday on the price of only one piece, the top return and it was ~$20 just for that piece.
At first I was thinking of removing the overflow box, get rid of the bulkhead flange and install regular bulkheads; silicone back the overflow box and be done.
Since this is just one more "project", I can take my time. I have at least eight glass boxes waiting for something to happen...
 
Pretty slick!
But be warned, those SCH40 female threaded couplings crack pretty easy. Make sure it is somehow replaceable.
 
I might get some gray sch. 80 fittings but I think these might do the job as long as the threaded side is not over tightened. The current RS bulkhead has a semi-thread; it just tightens the original pipes and the seal is done by an O-ring if I’m not mistaking. It is also very thin ABS plastic, similar to the regular bulkheads widely available.
 
And the last bushing done and in place; next is to cut PVC pipe for the correct height in both drains and I'll keep the return line inside the OF box.
Since I don't have the return nozzle, I'll make one piece to fit the C notch of the OF box and use 3/4" Lockline and a Y connector possibly.

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im trying to convert the bulkhead of a red sea max e-series. looking forward to seeing how things turn out. do you know what the actual diameter of the bulkhead is?
 
akaguyver said:
im trying to convert the bulkhead of a red sea max e-series. looking forward to seeing how things turn out. do you know what the actual diameter of the bulkhead is?
Click to expand...

I’m not sure on the size of the bulkhead for that tank in particular but I have another RSR that I removed the bottom plastic piece and it takes a 1” Sch 80 bulkhead from BRS.
I did this to the tank shown here because it’s pricey to order those pieces but they are low quality ABS plastic assemblies and some people have had issues with leaks or cracked connectors.

I swung by storage today to glue the adapters in place but the glue has dried out of the solvent so I have to buy some more to finish this project in it’s first phase.
 
On the red Sea reefer that you remove the plastic bulkhead was it just one large hole did you have to put a sheet of acrylic and drill new one inch holes through that or when the plastic bulkhead was removed are there actual 1in holes in the glass that you could add the BRS bulkheads to? I would much rather go with the bulkhead method although I do have water in my tank when I build my sump I'm going to re aquascape anyway so it wouldn't be too big of a deal just to put all of the rocks in the sump until I finish work on the bulkhead.
 
xcaret said:
I’m not sure on the size of the bulkhead for that tank in particular but I have another RSR that I removed the bottom plastic piece and it takes a 1” Sch 80 bulkhead from BRS.
I did this to the tank shown here because it’s pricey to order those pieces but they are low quality ABS plastic assemblies and some people have had issues with leaks or cracked connectors.

I swung by storage today to glue the adapters in place but the glue has dried out of the solvent so I have to buy some more to finish this project in it’s first phase.
Click to expand...

Checked today and the BRS 1” bulkhead fits on the holes of the RSR.
Upload a picture of the RS Max
 
bump an old thread. mario, did you finish and any leaks? any tips for removing the reefer pipes from the red sea bulkhead? just got a used reefer 170 first gen and looking to do the same thing. thanks and cool bel-air
 
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