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What epoxy did you use on the elbow? A quick sarch reccommended XTC-3D brush-on epoxy specifically for 3D printed parts.but it doesn't appear to be a good option for water sealing.
I used JB Weld Clearweld (mostly because I already had a couple large bottles of it). It's not NSF61 rated or anything, but its a very low contact part, and epoxy should be reasonably safe once cured. I will definitely update here if it fails.
100% I have a hardwired one on either end of the cabinet tied directly to the controller as an interlock, and will keep a wireless battery unit in there too, as well as below the overflow box as an independent check as well.
I managed to get the basement cabinet all setup for testing.
I'll clean up the wiring and lines once everything is calibrated and tests okay. I did calibrate the pH meter and the Renke EC probes which btw are working very well so far. In the 1413µS/cm calibration solution, one probe read 1408 and the other 1413 prior to calibration, and each one stores its calibration on the probe - so firmware side is very easy to interface.
I did get the scale calibrated as well for the CO2 tank, and started feeding the Yugang reactor . One thing I've noticed is a lot of drift on the scale, so while it may be okay for knowing that a bottle is close to empty, I don't think I'll get great consumption data from it - so I'm extra glad I ordered the AMS01 sensor that @JacksonL reccomended.
From the first CO2 run yesterday, I've also realized my Yugang is way overpowered. I think I estimated way more loss than I'm actually getting with the overflow and (loosely lidded) sump.
I started with the Yugang at the middle rotation so I could have room to move either way - and way overshot the 30ppm target I was aiming for.
I also thought it was interesting how fast the Yugang loads the water, a testament to its efficiency is seeing the delta in ppm/h (in 30 minute chunks):
Also interesting is that the decay after shut off follows a fixed half-life on the log scale:
All in all what i've learned from day 1:
Holding the target takes very little gas, but reaching the target does, so the valve needs to turn on sooner (or maybe an adjustable flow rate later?).
The reactor dissolves most of the gas - while the scale was tracking before it started drifting, the cylinder lost 8.5g, and the water gained 8.2g - thats > 96% efficiency!
Expect a huge lag after shut off - The co2 kept rising for 53 minutes after the valve was shut - probably due to my 25-30 feet of line between the regulator and the Yugang, so I need to actually shut off CO2 even sooner than most would.
I've rotated the reactor up about 5-10 degrees and will see how it goes.
Unfortunately, I'm away from home today, and the Emergency standpipe sensor picked up some flow, so it killed the pump and all peripherals. Sump level didn't lower when it was triggered, so I suspect a bit of loose plant matter might be stuck in the gate valve - as a reset triggered the same thing after a few minutes, so probably slightly reduced flow caused the OF box level to rise just enough to trickly into the emergency.
The nice thing is the automation caught it, correctly responded and was a good real-world test. Downside is my cycle likely takes a hit since it will all be off for about 10-12 hours until I can get to it. I will add some interchangeable strainers in the OF box and make it a regular maintenance item so I don't have to open up and retune the gate valve every time this happens.
This journal should really be called the 3D printed aquarium =D
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