DIY UV Sterilizer Project
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Dmitri,
Most current UV bulbs are rated to operate for 9,000+ hrs. at 80+% output, depending on conditions/temperature. A year/365 days at 24 hrs/day is 8,760 hrs. (Almost 9k).
If you were to change out 1 bulb every 4 months in rotation, your average output should never fall below 90% of the rated output, and the average bulb life would average 1 year. That is the best bang for your buck$. That assumes running 24/7. If you switch your UV on/off daily, then adjust the math as necessary.
Fwiw, I like to turn off a UV at night, so the plankton which are active then do not all get fried. If we do a good job with qt or treating prophylactically for pathogens
first, then a UV is just a preventative measure for major outbreaks.
My $0.02
Below for more info -
(sorry to digress, but thought you both might be interested
Most current UV bulbs are rated to operate for 9,000+ hrs. at 80+% output, depending on conditions/temperature. A year/365 days at 24 hrs/day is 8,760 hrs. (Almost 9k).
If you were to change out 1 bulb every 4 months in rotation, your average output should never fall below 90% of the rated output, and the average bulb life would average 1 year. That is the best bang for your buck$. That assumes running 24/7. If you switch your UV on/off daily, then adjust the math as necessary.
Fwiw, I like to turn off a UV at night, so the plankton which are active then do not all get fried. If we do a good job with qt or treating prophylactically for pathogens
first, then a UV is just a preventative measure for major outbreaks.My $0.02
Below for more info -
(sorry to digress, but thought you both might be interested
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Great info, year maybe I’ll do that rotation. It’s on 24/7. I usually buy yearly bulbs then change all at once, I think I’ll do every 4 months like you said .Dmitri,
Most current UV bulbs are rated to operate for 9,000+ hrs. at 80+% output, depending on conditions/temperature. A year/365 days at 24 hrs/day is 8,760 hrs. (Almost 9k).
If you were to change out 1 bulb every 4 months in rotation, your average output should never fall below 90% of the rated output, and the average bulb life would average 1 year. That is the best bang for your buck$. That assumes running 24/7. If you switch your UV on/off daily, then adjust the math as necessary.
Fwiw, I like to turn off a UV at night, so the plankton which are active then do not all get fried. If we do a good job with qt or treating prophylactically for pathogens
My $0.02
Below for more info -
(sorry to digress, but thought you both might be interested
How much are the 80w bulbs? I went with the 55w because that was what was available for bulb/ballast and the dual lamp design cut the length of the bulb in half.
What do you all use the UV for? I mainly use it to clarify the water. That is why I'm actually looking to fire up the 57w Aqua UV unit I have. I was really thinking about upping the wattage for my system but after rereading the manual, for water clarification, the 57w unit I have should handle the 660 total gallons in my display system. I too would also only have the bulb lit for 12ish hours a day, the pump would run 24/7 to keep any hydrogen sulfide from forming during the down hours. I've thought about ozone for water clarity but it sounds like a big hassle and I already have a UV.
I would really like to know if I'm wrong about the following assumption. @ichthyoid @gainesvillereef or anyone else with more knowledge please correct me where needed.
I feel that unless we pull water for the UV directly from the display the likelihood of drastically reducing parasite populations is minimal at best. If you're going for sterilization of the water to kill pathogens you are only going to get those that are in suspension with very little swimming ability. We're normally pulling the water that goes through the UV unit from the sump. That means that any parasite that hatches in the display has to actually go down the overflow, then not just once, but multiple times. What are the chances that the first trip to the sump the Theronts will get sent on the journey through the UV unit?
Now a good reasonably sized UV on a QT system would be highly effective. And you wouldn't need as high a wattage because the tank volume is much, much smaller. I also think that UV could really help with bacterial issues. But the problem there is, it doesn't matter if the bacteria is good or bad.
Where this DIY project has my interest is in designing a very high 90,000-120,000 uW/cm^2 unit to use in QT systems for both fish and coral in a smaller footprint. If it also makes the bulb and occasional quartz sleeve replacement a little easier on the wallet, that's a bonus. I would almost use the output of the UV as a circulation pump, so a decent flow rate would be a plus and make it so one less piece of equipment would be needed. A 400-500 GPH pump would be plenty and you'd have about 200-250 after head loss. Perfect for a 10 or 20 gallon QT.
I would really like to know if I'm wrong about the following assumption. @ichthyoid @gainesvillereef or anyone else with more knowledge please correct me where needed.
I feel that unless we pull water for the UV directly from the display the likelihood of drastically reducing parasite populations is minimal at best. If you're going for sterilization of the water to kill pathogens you are only going to get those that are in suspension with very little swimming ability. We're normally pulling the water that goes through the UV unit from the sump. That means that any parasite that hatches in the display has to actually go down the overflow, then not just once, but multiple times. What are the chances that the first trip to the sump the Theronts will get sent on the journey through the UV unit?
Now a good reasonably sized UV on a QT system would be highly effective. And you wouldn't need as high a wattage because the tank volume is much, much smaller. I also think that UV could really help with bacterial issues. But the problem there is, it doesn't matter if the bacteria is good or bad.
Where this DIY project has my interest is in designing a very high 90,000-120,000 uW/cm^2 unit to use in QT systems for both fish and coral in a smaller footprint. If it also makes the bulb and occasional quartz sleeve replacement a little easier on the wallet, that's a bonus. I would almost use the output of the UV as a circulation pump, so a decent flow rate would be a plus and make it so one less piece of equipment would be needed. A 400-500 GPH pump would be plenty and you'd have about 200-250 after head loss. Perfect for a 10 or 20 gallon QT.
To your point about pathogens in suspension, those are what we target, as those are also what have the opportunity to make fish sick. One's on rocks/bottom likely don't.
In other words, if a pathogen is not in suspension, then it's probably not an imminent threat.
As for pulling water directly from a display, or the sump?
I would like to believe that, in most reef tanks, we have sufficient flow/turbulence to keep things adequately stirred up for adequate treatment & that location is a secondary consideration.
FWIW, contrary to popular belief, a UV simply denatures one of the 4 bases which constitute DNA, which is thiamine. This makes pathogens unable to replicate.
It does not 'fry' the organisms, like overly cooked French fries. If enough are sterilized, then the pathogen population will quickly dissipate.
The process is subject to 'kill rates' which are governed by 2nd order kinetics & consequently statistical rates of efficacy. I know this is technical, but some of you want to know.
Some (a few) of the thiamine 'dimers' which are formed by the UV irradiation, revert back to their normal structure. So kill rates of 100% are improbable, if not impossible.
What is accepted by the industry, are rates of 99.995% (log 5), based on requirements to 'sterilize' drinking water.
These numbers came from the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF).
Which has little to do with what is required to 'control' a pathogen's population, so that fish remain 'healthy', ...not sterile.
In summary, the sizing of a UV sterilizer (generally) significantly exceeds what is required to keep fish in an aquarium healthy (except perhaps for tangs
In other words, if a pathogen is not in suspension, then it's probably not an imminent threat.
As for pulling water directly from a display, or the sump?
I would like to believe that, in most reef tanks, we have sufficient flow/turbulence to keep things adequately stirred up for adequate treatment & that location is a secondary consideration.
FWIW, contrary to popular belief, a UV simply denatures one of the 4 bases which constitute DNA, which is thiamine. This makes pathogens unable to replicate.
It does not 'fry' the organisms, like overly cooked French fries. If enough are sterilized, then the pathogen population will quickly dissipate.
The process is subject to 'kill rates' which are governed by 2nd order kinetics & consequently statistical rates of efficacy. I know this is technical, but some of you want to know.
Some (a few) of the thiamine 'dimers' which are formed by the UV irradiation, revert back to their normal structure. So kill rates of 100% are improbable, if not impossible.
What is accepted by the industry, are rates of 99.995% (log 5), based on requirements to 'sterilize' drinking water.
These numbers came from the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF).
Which has little to do with what is required to 'control' a pathogen's population, so that fish remain 'healthy', ...not sterile.
In summary, the sizing of a UV sterilizer (generally) significantly exceeds what is required to keep fish in an aquarium healthy (except perhaps for tangs
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Thank you for the info! I don't want to hijack this DIY thread anymore than we already have. I still am very interested in the design & outcome. I'd love to carry on this conversation in another thread.To your point about pathogens in suspension, those are what we target, as those are also what have the opportunity to make fish sick. One's on rocks/bottom likely don't.
In other words, if a pathogen is not in suspension, then it's probably not an imminent threat.
As for pulling water directly from a display, or the sump?
I would like to believe that, in most reef tanks, we have sufficient flow/turbulence to keep things adequately stirred up for adequate treatment & that location is a secondary consideration.
FWIW, contrary to popular belief, a UV simply denatures one of the 4 bases which constitute DNA, which is thiamine. This makes pathogens unable to replicate.
It does not 'fry' the organisms, like overly cooked French fries. If enough are sterilized, then the pathogen population will quickly dissipate.
The process is subject to 'kill rates' which are governed by 2nd order kinetics & consequently statistical rates of efficacy. I know this is technical, but some of you want to know.
Some (a few) of the thiamine 'dimers' which are formed by the UV irradiation, revert back to their normal structure. So kill rates of 100% are improbable, if not impossible.
What is accepted by the industry, are rates of 99.995% (log 5), based on requirements to 'sterilize' drinking water.
These numbers came from the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF).
Which has little to do with what is required to 'control' a pathogen's population, so that fish remain 'healthy', ...not sterile.
In summary, the sizing of a UV sterilizer (generally) significantly exceeds what is required to keep fish in an aquarium healthy (except perhaps for tangs
Procurement of the spiral shaped quartz sleeve from China is taking longer than expected. It doesn't help that we are 12 hours off time wise. Trying to see if there's a ready made in stock quartz coil that will work vs. having custom specs built. The couple of quotes I have received were either super expensive (shipping was hundreds for 1-2 pieces) or the minimum order quantity wasn't viable. In the mean time I'm grabbing some quartz tube off of eBay I'm going to cut to length and see what I can come up with.
Wow. Super dangerous and not worth the risk IMO. I have a lot of experience working around electricity and in order for you to pull this off and not do damage or even kill yourself you have to get everything just right. If I may offer a few safety tips:1)Don’t do it! 2) My UV manufacturer recommends a dedicated circuit for a sterilizer. 3) Install redundant GFCI’s, one at the receptacle and one at the breaker panel 4) Don’t source ANY materials from China. No offense to anyone but if the quality doesn’t meet muster then you may have a ticking time bomb. In the 15 years that I’ve worked around electricity I have firsthand knowledge of houses burning down, people losing limbs and equipment damage from things going horribly wrong. If you follow my advice, your cost will exceed the cost of a quality UV sterilizer. If you proceed I wish you all the best. Even with my experience and having done plenty of electrical wiring, I hired a licensed electrician to install my dedicated circuit for my UV.Hello!
I'm starting a build thread for a DIY project that I'm working on (if this should be in another forum section, mods please let me know). The sheer cost of consumer/prosumer grade UV sterilizers was enough to motivate me to try to build my own.
Quick required safety disclaimer:
Even brief exposure to intense UV radiation is harmful to the eyes and skin as is high-current (wall voltage) electricity. Both will be utilized to some extent in this build as would any consumer grade UV sterilizer. While I have a modest amount of experience with plumbing at this point and past electrical projects I am by no means a professional and you should not attempt to do duplicate what you see here. Do your own research. Remember, safetythirdfirst. Please don't try this at home. </warning>
Goal:
With that out of the way, my goal here is to build a DIY UV sterilizer for our reef system (currently ~200 gallons total system volume between the 120g display and 80g frag tank) for well under the cost of a consumer/prosumer unit. Thus far that seems quite feasible.
Requirements:
From what I've gathered the target wavelength needed for the sterilizer to be most effective is ~254nm and this is readily available in the form of either LED strips or traditional fluorescent UV bulbs. I'm going with UV bulbs because they will be much easier to replace when needed. The UV light emitted needs to be fully shielded when operating for safety. Only the water should be exposed to it and will benefit from being in close proximity to the bulb. Quartz glass is the material of choice for UV at 254nm because it lets most of the desired wavelength through. I'm starting with a 55w UV bulb which given the proper contact time (flow rate/surface area of the quartz coil) should be enough to properly treat our 200g system. The cost of this build must be under the cost of a prosumer unit.
Design:
I'm going to try to flip the usual design inside out and put the water inside of the quartz instead of the bulb utilizing a lab grade quartz condensing coil like the one below, but properly sized to the length of the bulb in this application. At the moment I'm sourcing a custom prototype from Alibaba. This is likely to be the most expensive part of the project however we're still talking a fraction of what a properly sized off the shelf sterilizer would cost for a 200 gallon system.
Example quartz coil:
The UV bulb:
The enclosure housing the bulb and coil will be lined with a roll of adhesive aluminum (one of the few things that reflects the desired 254nm wavelength) to maximize the exposure of the water to the light as it passes through the quartz coil from the bottom of the unit to the top (this should help any air bubbles escape). The plan is to have the coil mounted vertically. As for the wall thickness of the quartz coil, I'm thinking of starting with something over 1mm which seems to be the typical thickness of the quartz sleeves used in off the shelf units (perhaps 2-3mm) . Doing so will slightly reduce the overall transmission of the UV light but the tradeoff may be worth it for the added structural integrity of the coil to avoid breakage from internal water pressure, during shipping, and handling during maintenance (replacing the quartz coil). Being a closed loop this will not be designed to handle the full flow of the system through it from the start. I can easily up-size the quartz coil later if I desired if I want additional flow through it (might required a slightly thicker quartz coil wall).
Safety:
As a precaution I'm thinking of adding a Neptune Apex optical sensor at the bottom of the enclosure to quickly detect any liquid and shut off all power to the ballast and utility pump feeding the closed-loop unit should a leak occur. The bulb socket will be at the top of the unit so any drips are unlikely to make it to an electrical contact. There should be no moisture inside the enclosure at all (it all passes through the quartz tube that spirals around the bulb). The external enclosure is just to safely shield the UV light inside of the unit and hold the quartz coil/bulb in place. I might add a maintenance viewing port made of UV-safe viewing glass to confirm proper operation while the unit is closed/on while protecting my eyes. The high voltage UV bulb ballast will be up out of the way in a waterproof enclosure with a drip-loop plugged into a GFCI outlet.
Parts ordered so far:
Bulb: PLT pL-L55W/TUV 55 watt dual-lamp UV bulb which utilizes a 2G11 4-pin socket - $28
Socket for the bulb: 2G11 - $6
Vertical/horizontal clip-on supports for the bulb - $2
Ballast for the bulb: Advance Centium ICN-2S54-T (54w, 2 lamp ballast) - $22
Wiring (misc 120v solid core copper insulated wire)
Parts needed: (more to follow):
Enclosure for the bulb/quartz coil
Waterproof enclosure box for the UV bulb ballast
Roll of aluminum reflective sheeting for lining inside of enclosure
Quartz coiled tube ~20" long, 3/4" OD tube, ~ 2.5" across coil ID - cost TBD (sourcing from Alibaba)
3/4" grommets/silicone fittings to plumb in
3/4" quarter turn ball valve to adjust flow
GPH in-line flow meter for Apex
6/10/2021:
I'll try to add more to this post as parts arrive and I start to fit the prototype together. At the moment I'm getting quotes for quartz coils from Alibaba. This will be the most expensive part of the build but ordering in bulk makes them cheaper. If this is successful I plan to replace the quartz sleeve and bulb as would be done with any UV sterilizer after 6-12 months so I will need to order more of them once I get the size/glass strength correct for this application.
6/11/2021:
I have this build cross-posted to R2R for additional visibility. Someone brought up the possible need for heat dissipation for the UV bulb inside the enclosure. I'm hoping that the flowing water through the quartz sleeve will act as a heat exchanger, carrying water heated by the ambient air inside the unit away back to the tank as it passes through the tube and reducing the overall temperature inside the enclosure. I will need to monitor the ambient temperature inside. If passive cooling doesn't work, an active approach may be needed. I had the idea to perhaps use extruded aluminum motor housing like the example photo below:
View attachment 43499
Aluminum is a great conductor for heat. It's been used in the past for external computer water cooling tower loops like the Zalman series below. Should additional cooling be needed this might be enough on it's own, or a fan could be added if necessary:
View attachment 43500
R
TLDR Disclaimer: Electricity and water don't mix. Radiation is bad for you, mkay. Don't try this at home.
I think you're going a little over board. Yes you need to take precautions but many of us on ARC have a good bit of experience with electrical work. I'm in the process of wiring my second basement, which includes installing a second generator transfer switch. I've wired 3 phase equipment and do solder work on circuit boards, like replacing LEDs and drivers in lights. In my first house the building inspector couldn't believe I wired the basement myself and said I did a better job than most electricians.
Regardless of the piece of equipment being used it is always recommended to install GFCI's around an aquarium. They are not a be all end all for protection though. Actually it is now code that any living areas have AFCI breaker installed in non-water areas. And I would personally use a combo of an AFCI breaker and GFCI outlets around tanks.
I have a brand name Aqua UV 57w unit and had to replace the ballast in the past. The seal failed in the unit and saltwater actually migrated through the power cord into the ballast and shorted it out. Guess what? No current was lost and the GFCI outlet didn't trip. An AFCI breaker would have tripped if one was in place. If I wasn't home standing at the tank when the short happened it could very well have burnt the house down and at the very least I would probably have lost the entire system.
If the proper precautions are taken many diy projects can yield a better product than what is commercially available. If you're not comfortable doing something like this then absolutely don't try it. The OP has also put several warnings/disclaimers in the 1st post stating exactly that.
I don’t care about overboard, just tell me where I’m wrong?
Well, the spirit of forums is to share information. Including diy projects. In fact I believe many of the 1st forums start just with diy in mind.
If you're not comfortable doing something or have safety concerns, cool, air them. Blanketly stating "don't do it". That's what isn't needed. Again the proper warnings were posted by the OP.
Do you have any tangible info to add beyond what you've already posted?
If you're not comfortable doing something or have safety concerns, cool, air them. Blanketly stating "don't do it". That's what isn't needed. Again the proper warnings were posted by the OP.
Do you have any tangible info to add beyond what you've already posted?
Yes in fact I do: An AFCI would NOT necessarily trip in a given arcing event. I’ve tested thousands of them (literally thousands) and even the brand new ones fail. They are like aquarium heaters, they can fail on or off. Comfort level also has nothing to do with it. Any licensed electrician worth his “electricity attracting salt ions” will also tell you it’s a bad idea. Look on YouTube at the magician who did the gallows trick or the Houdini under water escape trick. Their last words were “don’t try this at home”. I’ve met Brian a couple of times and I’ve seen some things he can do. I know he’s capable and super smart. I’m just questioning the value vs risk. Like I’ve said, I’ve seen plenty of disasters from people thinking they could DIY to save some money. It’s tragic and it’s sad. There is a reason state licensing is required by electricians performing or supervising such work. Do you test your GFCI’s and AFCI’s every month? Because that’s what most manufacturers recommend because they are prone to failure and I guarantee almost noone here does it. If anyone has some more than 5 years old there’s a good chance one may fail. If you have the GFCI’s with the red and black buttons, don’t depend on it to save your life. Sometimes people need to hear stuff like this.
Cool. Thanks for the info!
