10 min $10 DIY aerated compost tea ACT brewer

heady blunts · Mar 23, 2011

von maybe we could duplicate some posts from my thread. i think post #1 is a pretty complete tutorial. oh and i vote for the tea sticky to stay on the front page .

stankie- would you mind?

mm- thanks!

dm- there's a link to a tutorial to build that exact DIY vortex brewer in the picture on microbeorganics.com. i am thinking of building one too but i'll probably only use one or two airlifts to make clean up easier.

here we go: http://www.subtleenergies.com/ormus/tw/turbo-vortex.htm

jaykush · Mar 23, 2011

did u make the vortex or other design? & care to PM me on the details. If all goes well, i will likely get a new brewer built sometime in april.

ive just set them up as quick brewers for other people. didnt take the time to do the vortex just like a conebottom tank mimic. they worked great.

jaykush · Mar 23, 2011

did u make the vortex or other design? & care to PM me on the details. If all goes well, i will likely get a new brewer built sometime in april.

ive just set them up as quick brewers for other people. didnt take the time to do the vortex just like a conebottom tank mimic. they worked great.

DARC MIND · Mar 23, 2011

thnx heady
ive came across that link before & had wanted to build one for sometime but i never got around to it.didnt really like the design

jay,that is exactly what i wanted to do
simply use the cone jug as the brewer & def take advantage of the bottom to connect a valve of some sort..

any who
hands down one of the best ACT threads ive ever come across
the info & examples shared in these first few pages are worth a million :ying:

Microbeman · Mar 23, 2011

Dark: You can make a nice little brewer by eliminating three of the riser pipes in that design. IMO better than the 'magic' created by a vortex.

Stankie · Mar 24, 2011

heady blunts said:
stankie- would you mind?

No I don't care.

vonforne · Mar 24, 2011

They will be merged soon. I sent the message to OP.

V

heady blunts · Mar 29, 2011

Microbeman said:
Dark: You can make a nice little brewer by eliminating three of the riser pipes in that design. IMO better than the 'magic' created by a vortex.

i want to do that (i think you suggested the same to me way back when). less to clean/break.

methinks if you angle the lift so that the water shoots not at the center, but off to the side, you could get a vortex going if you help initiate with a little hand stirring.

make sure you're trying to get it going the same direction (clockwise or counterclockwise) as your sinks drain.

Scrappy4 · Apr 6, 2011

Hey guys, I'm in the middle of trying to make an air lift pump for returning tea into a ten gallon cone shaped tank. The outlet on the bottom of the tank is 1 1/4, so with 1 1/4 pvc pipe, I T'd off the bottom, one leg going to a drain valve, and one leg clearing the tank and then up and over returning into the tank.

I am using a super luft air pump @ 18W, 3 psi, 1.34 cf per minute. We tried piping the air into the up and over leg via a bushing with a barbed fitting and no diffuser. We are using a T instead of an elbow on the up pipe, so we can use a barbed bushing to supply air to the stand pipe. The air alone would not push the water high enough on the side piping to return it to the tank. Then we tried using a 8 inch piece of pvc for a diffuser with several thin cuts from a thin jig saw in the pvc that was capped. Still the water did not rise enough to return it to the tank, then we made the diffuser pvc piece longer so it released the air higher in the up and over pipe.
Still not enough to force the water to the top of the side pipe and back into the tank. We tried different water levels without success.

I'm not sure where we are fouling up. Too small of pump? better diffuser? Air leaks ? (nothing is glued yet)
Sorry no pics I'm working with a friend on two of them, and they are at his house. Any ideas would be appreciated.......scrappy

RipVanWeed · Apr 6, 2011

Hey Scrap,

Pictures would be better fo sho.

Anyway, if I'm following your description right it sound like the problem may be that your lift is not vertical. If your teeing off from the bottom of the tank you must be running part of the lift at an angle less than straight up, won't work, bubbles rise to the upper side of angled pipe and passes all the water.

The lift needs to rise straight up so the water will get trapped on top of bubbles and be pushed straight up.

I fabbed mine like this.

Air diffuser runs on it's own pump. Cut slots in the bottom of the octogon with the thinnest Dremel cutting wheel. Delivers air to the perimeter at the bottom.

Then I fashioned this manifold for the bottom of the lift. Four 1/8" elbows delivering air and cutouts to allow water above the air outlets

It lifts more than 1.5 gpm of water from the bottom of the bucket!

Respect,

heady blunts · Apr 6, 2011

RVW-
that is a fuckin awesome brewer.

scrappy-
i'm not clear where your airlines are in the lift. they need to be at the lowest level possible to create the most lift. hth...

Scrappy4 · Apr 6, 2011

Yep, apologies for no pics, sorry. It is at a friends house 30 miles away at the present time. He has no camera or internet access. Let me see if i can make it more clear.

Where i added air is in the return line.

From the tank bottom we have a bushing, then a short pipe, then the T. One leg of the T goes to a drain valve. The other end of the T goes to the side of the tank then up the return up-riser. Instead of an elbow on the up riser bottom, we used a T. On the empty end of the T we used a barbed bushing screwed into another bushing in the end of the T, so the air is directed up the up riser. The homemade diffusers (3/8"?) were jammed in the inside of the bushing, and inside of the up riser pipe for a friction fit.

I'm thinking the pump is not adequate, or we need better diffusers. But this is all new for me. The way it is now, the air only pushes the water up the up riser to near the top of the tank, maybe 8 inches higher than the water's level, not up and over like we wanted.......scrappy

Microbeman · Apr 7, 2011

RipVanWeed said:
Hey Scrap,

Pictures would be better fo sho.

Anyway, if I'm following your description right it sound like the problem may be that your lift is not vertical. If your teeing off from the bottom of the tank you must be running part of the lift at an angle less than straight up, won't work, bubbles rise to the upper side of angled pipe and passes all the water.

The lift needs to rise straight up so the water will get trapped on top of bubbles and be pushed straight up.

I fabbed mine like this.

Air diffuser runs on it's own pump. Cut slots in the bottom of the octogon with the thinnest Dremel cutting wheel. Delivers air to the perimeter at the bottom.

Then I fashioned this manifold for the bottom of the lift. Four 1/8" elbows delivering air and cutouts to allow water above the air outlets

It lifts more than 1.5 gpm of water from the bottom of the bucket!

Respect,

Nice combo; simple

Scrappy4 · Apr 9, 2011

Scrappy4 said:
Hey guys, I'm in the middle of trying to make an air lift pump for returning tea into a ten gallon cone shaped tank. The outlet on the bottom of the tank is 1 1/4, so with 1 1/4 pvc pipe, I T'd off the bottom, one leg going to a drain valve, and one leg clearing the tank and then up and over returning into the tank.

I am using a super luft air pump @ 18W, 3 psi, 1.34 cf per minute. We tried piping the air into the up and over leg via a bushing with a barbed fitting and no diffuser. We are using a T instead of an elbow on the up pipe, so we can use a barbed bushing to supply air to the stand pipe. The air alone would not push the water hi

gh enough on the side piping to return it to the tank. Then we tried using a 8 inch piece of pvc for a diffuser with several thin cuts from a thin jig saw in the pvc that was capped. Still the water did not rise enough to return it to the tank, then we made the diffuser pvc piece longer so it released the air higher in the up and over pipe.
Still not enough to force the water to the top of the side pipe and back into the tank. We tried different water levels without success.

I'm not sure where we are fouling up. Too small of pump? better diffuser? Air leaks ? (nothing is glued yet)
Sorry no pics I'm working with a friend on two of them, and they are at his house. Any ideas would be appreciated.......scrappy

I finally got some flow up the up riser and back into the tank. I reduced the up riser from 1 1/4 To 1, and the smaller pipe allowed a better flow. Still some more to do, and now, I think I may mount the brewer on a two wheeled hand cart, but thought I would post my solution to get the water flowing....scrappy

Stankie · Apr 10, 2011

Scrappy4 said:
I finally got some flow up the up riser and back into the tank. I reduced the up riser from 1 1/4 To 1, and the smaller pipe allowed a better flow. Still some more to do, and now, I think I may mount the brewer on a two wheeled hand cart, but thought I would post my solution to get the water flowing....scrappy

Are you still using a diffuser in the up-riser or just a straight tube outlet?

Scrappy4 · Apr 10, 2011

Stankie said:
Are you still using a diffuser in the up-riser or just a straight tube outlet?

Diffuser, it's a short piece of capped pvc. We cut some thin slices into it for diffusing air. And it is jammed (friction fit) into the inside of a reducer that has a barbed fitting screwed into it. The diffuser is pointed straight up the up riser, and just above the supply line for the T, so the bubbles go straight up....scrappy

supuradam · Apr 11, 2011

So the airlift I tried to build today didn't work. I originally thought the pvc I was using was too thick, so I got thinner (1-1/4" was the smallest p-trap they had). I tried with a longer pipe deeper into the water, shorter pipe, the bottom of the trap just an inch above the water, the bottom 6 inches above, nothing seemed to work. I think the pump I have is big enough, supposed to move 45L a minute.

I feel like I'm missing some very elementary physics, but it's been a lot longer than 10 minutes.

Microbeman · Apr 11, 2011

supuradam said:
So the airlift I tried to build today didn't work. I originally thought the pvc I was using was too thick, so I got thinner (1-1/4" was the smallest p-trap they had). I tried with a longer pipe deeper into the water, shorter pipe, the bottom of the trap just an inch above the water, the bottom 6 inches above, nothing seemed to work. I think the pump I have is big enough, supposed to move 45L a minute.

I feel like I'm missing some very elementary physics, but it's been a lot longer than 10 minutes.

Why do you need a P trap?

supuradam · Apr 11, 2011

Microbeman said:
Why do you need a P trap?

It was a one piece bend vs. hooking up a couple pieces of pvc. I just thought it would be a smoother ride.

heady blunts · Apr 11, 2011

supuradam said:
So the airlift I tried to build today didn't work. I originally thought the pvc I was using was too thick, so I got thinner (1-1/4" was the smallest p-trap they had). I tried with a longer pipe deeper into the water, shorter pipe, the bottom of the trap just an inch above the water, the bottom 6 inches above, nothing seemed to work. I think the pump I have is big enough, supposed to move 45L a minute.

I feel like I'm missing some very elementary physics, but it's been a lot longer than 10 minutes.

sorry to hear your frustrations supur.

it was a good impulse to go with narrower tubing. i love the p traps because they are so easy to pull apart and clean, but if you're still having trouble, you might need to switch to 3/4" or 1" diameter pvc and build the bend with a couple 90* elbows.

can you tell us the wattage of your pump? sometimes those stated flow ratings can be misleading. (also let us know if you're on 120 or 220v power)

some other good tips that have been mentioned:

1. make sure your lift is vertical. any incline will decrease its efficiency.

2. the open ends of your airtubes should be as close to the bottom of the tube as possible.

3. the bottom of the lift should be less than 4" from the bottom of your container.

4. the open spout at the top of the lift should be only 1"-3"' from the surface of the water.

scrappy
i'm of the opinion that in an air lift scenario, bigger bubbles move more water than smaller ones (ie the diffuser isn't helping, plus it can rob you of a lot of your CFM)

hth!

10 min $10 DIY aerated compost tea ACT brewer

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