Kalkwasser stirrer: How to make it drip evenly?

[KGV]

I have a Deltec Kalkwasser stirrer, and frankly the design is pretty much the same as most Kalkwasser stirrers out there. I feed it with a dosing pump, about 200 ml per hour. The problem is that the water level rises inside the Kalkwasser reservoir and suddenly squirts out several ml at the time. Then the water level builds up again, squirts out a few ml, and so forth. I can't get the output to drip evenly. I tried putting a valve on the output, which works to some degree, but inevitably clogs. So, not happy about that. However, what works is to use one pump head to top up the reservoir with RODI, and a separate pump head to drip Kalkwasser into the sump. But I don't want to occupy two pump heads.

Any ideas how to get an even drip rate with one pump?

 

[Water Dog]

My guess is that you are getting precipitation buildup at the outlet of the tube. When a dosing cycle starts, the initial pumping isn’t strong enough to break the seal of the precipitation. That’s why you’re seeing a rise in the level within the Kalk reactor, till theres enough pressure built to break through that buildup.

What is the dispensing rate of your dosing pump? I prefer pumps that dose in the faster side for Kalk reactor applications. I use a Spectrapure standalone pump that dispenses about 160 ml/min. The slower the pump speed, the more difficult it is for that pump to break through the precipitation seal at the end of the outlet IMO.

 

[garbled]

It sounds like your output tube has a rise to it. It should always slope down from the unit. Never up. Also, you want it to drip into the tank, not have the end submerged where it has to potentially overcome a pressure of trapped air.

 

[KGV]

I dose at about 30 ml/min. My feeling was always that the Kalkwasser needed to overcome surface tension before it flows over into the dispensing tube.

 

[ajnies]

Reviving this old thread since I'm having the same issue with getting a consistent drip. Were you able to solve this?

 

[KGV]

I was never able to solve this. But frankly, whether it drips steadily or whether it doses the entire 200 ml in just 2 minutes (1x /hour) probably doesn't matter. Corals are thriving.

Somehow, so many YouTubers and other folks on the forum aim for that steady drip. But it's really not necessary IMO. Therefore, also no need to buy a more expensive constant-duty pump.

 

[ajnies]

I was never able to solve this. But frankly, whether it drips steadily or whether it doses the entire 200 ml in just 2 minutes (1x /hour) probably doesn't matter. Corals are thriving.

Somehow, so many YouTubers and other folks on the forum aim for that steady drip. But it's really not necessary IMO. Therefore, also no need to buy a more expensive constant-duty pump.

Thanks for the update! I suppose it's not a necessity, I was just aiming to get the most consistent dosing possible.