DIY Frozen Food Feeder

[bozo]

I was thinking about using solenoids connected to my Apex and running a splitter line from a reservoir of RODI water to solve the flushing of the food lines. So basically 2 lines joining into one line.

Solenoid from food container before splitter. And separate line from RODI reservoir before splitter.

Controller would tell the solenoid to open the food line when it's time to feed. Close when done. But when it closes the food line, the pump would pump from the RODI reservoir to flush the lines for however long you want.


If you're worried about salinity drift, use a reservoir of fresh saltwater to flush.

I haven't thought this through thoroughly, but I think the concept should work.



What do u guys think.

 

[Rick Mathew]

I was thinking about using solenoids connected to my Apex and running a splitter line from a reservoir of RODI water to solve the flushing of the food lines. So basically 2 lines joining into one line.

Solenoid from food container before splitter. And separate line from RODI reservoir before splitter.

Controller would tell the solenoid to open the food line when it's time to feed. Close when done. But when it closes the food line, the pump would pump from the RODI reservoir to flush the lines for however long you want.


If you're worried about salinity drift, use a reservoir of fresh saltwater to flush.

I haven't thought this through thoroughly, but I think the concept should work.



What do u guys think.

So as I understand you would use two pumps....one to dose the food from the food container and one to backflush..... Something like this

If this is correct there are two potential "DEAD Spots" as well as the tubing in PMP #1 where food could sit outside of the cooling chamber and go bad...if they are short distances it may not be a problem...not sure

 

[bozo]

So as I understand you would use two pumps....one to dose the food from the food container and one to backflush..... Something like this

If this is correct there are two potential "DEAD Spots" as well as the tubing in PMP #1 where food could sit outside of the cooling chamber and go bad...if they are short distances it may not be a problem...not sure

Just one peristaltic pump before the tank and after the splitter.


No back flush. Would it be a problem to have the lines filled with RODI or saltwater?

 

[Rick Mathew]

Just one peristaltic pump before the tank and after the splitter.


No back flush. Would it be a problem to have the lines filled with RODI or saltwater?

Ok...I see...That should work...Just FYI here were my considerations for setting up my system yours my be different but for what it is worth


1) Don't let food remain outside ot the frig---Feeding tube outside of refrigerator needed to be clean as possible to prevent the food from rotting----Thus my back purges

2) Food delivery need to be dependable and a relatively consistent amount...For me this required a larger diameter tubing running from the feeder to the tank. The smaller diameter tubing would clog...with some experimenting I found PVC tubing with Outside Diameter if 1/4" and Inside Diameter if .17" worked well (from ACE hardware...one of my favorite places).

3) Because I use a mix of foods I wanted to make sure the food delivered was a good blend of the actual mixture....thus the air stir.

For 2 and 3 I had to do a bit tweaking to get it right...which I determined by running a cycle, look at what it delivered and compare it to a sample I mixed up by hand...Visual observation

4) I wanted to assure the "gadget" did not dump water all over my house, thus the balance between the amount delivered from the feeder...in my case 90mL, had to balance with the purge(back feed) volume 90Ml ...this also keeps the volume in the feed container at a constant level and helps keep the distribution by the air mix relatively constant. The float switch provides me a measure of comfort that if for some unforeseen reason the APEX or Dosing pump malfunctions I will not flood my house.

So I would say give it a try ..."nothing ventured nothing gained"

I monitored my setup feed cycle for 2 weeks...I physically watched the entire cycle to be sure it worked. As I saw issued I made adjustments to resolve them (air tube placement as an example)...let me know how it goes

Thanks for the question

Rick

 

[troiusmaximus]

So as I understand you would use two pumps....one to dose the food from the food container and one to backflush..... Something like this

If this is correct there are two potential "DEAD Spots" as well as the tubing in PMP #1 where food could sit outside of the cooling chamber and go bad...if they are short distances it may not be a problem...not sure

I was actually thinking of something similar this morning but since I don't have an Apex, I was thinking I might need to have my back flush water flow through the cooler somehow so that all the dead spots are in the cooler.

 

[DBR_Reef]

I was actually thinking of something similar this morning but since I don't have an Apex, I was thinking I might need to have my back flush water flow through the cooler somehow so that all the dead spots are in the cooler.

For those of us with no Neptune controller or DOS pumping system, I was wondering if a regular two or four pump doser like a Jaebo could approximate the function of reverse pumping by using one pump (1) to extract food from the container and a second pump (2) to pump water from the display.

If you want to use this method (there are better and safer ways) without a apex or DOS then it is relatively simple. Take a large flow peristaltic pump- here is a cheap one with double the diameter tubing as a DOS. http://www.ebay.com/itm/401222703897 Then connect two dc adapters to the pump, with the wiring reversed between the 2. Then connect the dc adapters to 2 separate digital timers, one with a set period of time to feed the tank, then the other for the same period of time with a slight delay to flush the line with tank water. This achieves the same thing as the OP's design without an apex or a DOS. But there are still better ways to do this that do not risk contamination or a siphon of tank water.

 

[Rick Mathew]

If you want to use this method (there are better and safer ways) without a apex or DOS then it is relatively simple. Take a large flow peristaltic pump- here is a cheap one with double the diameter tubing as a DOS. http://www.ebay.com/itm/401222703897 Then connect two dc adapters to the pump, with the wiring reversed between the 2. Then connect the dc adapters to 2 separate digital timers, one with a set period of time to feed the tank, then the other for the same period of time with a slight delay to flush the line with tank water. This achieves the same thing as the OP's design without an apex or a DOS. But there are still better ways to do this that do not risk contamination or a siphon of tank water.

I am going to check this out...looks interesting

 

[troiusmaximus]

If you want to use this method (there are better and safer ways) without a apex or DOS then it is relatively simple. Take a large flow peristaltic pump- here is a cheap one with double the diameter tubing as a DOS. http://www.ebay.com/itm/401222703897 Then connect two dc adapters to the pump, with the wiring reversed between the 2. Then connect the dc adapters to 2 separate digital timers, one with a set period of time to feed the tank, then the other for the same period of time with a slight delay to flush the line with tank water. This achieves the same thing as the OP's design without an apex or a DOS. But there are still better ways to do this that do not risk contamination or a siphon of tank water.

I like it[emoji41]. But you have me more intrigued with the promise of better ways. Can you say more?

 

[Rick Mathew]

I like it[emoji41]. But you have me more intrigued with the promise of better ways. Can you say more?

I always am looking for a better way