Thu Jul 23, 2009 1:48 pm
I made one. The first thing I tried was an old ice cream churn motor. Worked ok, but it was slow. Next, I yanked that motor out and put on one of those 3600 rpm motors that are everywhere. I used different sized pulleys to drop the tank revolution speed to a little under 60rpm. This appears to create a wave effect in the media, so that some of the cleaning action is the scouring caused by dragging along the side, and some is from the impact action of the top of the wave curl. For media, I just went down to the local river and picked up clam shells and spent .22 shells(it's a very popular target practice spot). I have used it to clean several tanks(including one that I was sure would fail from rust damage), and it's worked on every single one I tried.
The only think I could change on mine is the thickness of the support bars. There is enough of a flex with a 72 + media that it tends to cause the tank to "wander" around on the bars. Also, if I rebuild it, I'm going to try that foam pipe insulation rather than the rubber grip tape I used on the original(which leaves a black smear mark after several hours of tumbling).
"Haul the sheet in as we ride on the wind that our
forefathers harnessed before us
Hear the bells ring as the tide rigging sings.
It's a son of a gun of a chorus" - Jimmy Buffet