Water table bladder questions

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Scratch
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Water table bladder questions

Post by Scratch »

So my brother (who hasn't managed to figure out how to sign up here yet...) bought a used Arclight 9600. He's in the process of figuring out how to use it, but in the mean time, he's decided to build a bladder tank for the water.
How thick of steel should the tank be made from... is like 16 ga thick enough, 14 ga, 1/8"???
Aluminum would be better, but I think he's planning on steel.

Should he design in some sort of filter?

Are there any videos, pics or diagrams that anyone wants to share?

Any tips, pointers, or "I wish I woulda done this" words of wisdom?
I think I'm the oldest 10 year old boy on the forum...
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SeanP
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Re: Water table bladder questions

Post by SeanP »

Have a look at this video I did a while back to give you a few ideas, https://youtu.be/3PBdJoRCh8k

I made that tank from 2mm mild steel, but for some reason it started some strange corroding, I scrapped having the tank under the table and now have a plastic tank outside, same principle though.
The sump/ trap works well.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ur7LegMT5eCTu8ou2
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WyoGreen
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Re: Water table bladder questions

Post by WyoGreen »

I just use a 55 gallon plastic drum laying sideways under the table. I use low air pressure into the tank to force the water up to the table, and gravity to drain the table back into the tank. I have a piece of window screen rolled up in the drain to keep the big chunks out of the drain. It's easy enough to roll the tank out from under the table (it sits on a 4 wheel dolly) and hose it out if too much crud accumulates in the tank. I've only cleaned it out once in the 4 years or so I've been using it. I let the table sit a few hours after cutting so most of the crud just settles in the table. When the table water pan is dry, I vacuum the residue out.

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Re: Water table bladder questions

Post by zstapp »

SeanP wrote: Wed Feb 07, 2018 4:42 pm Have a look at this video I did a while back to give you a few ideas,

I made that tank from 2mm mild steel, but for some reason it started some strange corroding, I scrapped having the tank under the table and now have a plastic tank outside, same principle though.
The sump/ trap works well.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ur7LegMT5eCTu8ou2
I just joined plasmaspider for this reason. Thank you for the video! I am in the middle of my build and just decided to add the bladder system. I think it's going to be worth it.

Question - Why did you end up going with the plastic tanks? Also what about cleaning the tank out? I am thinking of adding an additional large drain to empty the storage tank.

Thanks again,

Zak
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SeanP
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Re: Water table bladder questions

Post by SeanP »

Sorry Zak I missed this post.
The steel tank only lasted 2yrs before corroding in some areas on mine, there was extra capacity in that tank but wasn't long beore I was needing to top up again, I'm using a 1000ltr ibc tank now, it's not gone bang yet! that's great can go for months without topping up, probably not ideal for most as I have it outside maybe 3 feet below the table, so it drains out at afair rate from the table, yes go that size of outlet.
You do get a bit of sludge in the tank, most of the slag seems to stay in the table tray, try and include some sort of trap to catch bits at the drain.
I'm lucky I just drain onto the grass.
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