linear piston air compressor

[s10jimmy]

has any one used one of these ? I might pick one up if I enlange the fish room .http://www.jehmco.com/html/central_air_pumps.html
thanks :hat:

[Flareside]

those are A++

This year I expanded my fish room and began using sponges. For 20 tanks I bought an AV50 from Kens Fish for about $85. I would rate it an economical thumbs up and give it an "A"

It does a good job for my needs. More than 20/25 tanks, I would definitely go linear though

[steve0199us]

I have the lph26, it's great! Not noisy at all

[EMTBMIKE]

How many tanks are you looking to run off of it? I have both the DAPMH8
DAPMH15. They are both quiet and strong. I would recommend these air pumps if your looking to us in on 15 outlets or more. If your are looking t use more then 15 outlets. Then I would get the linear piston air pumps.

[maddog10]

I have an LPH45, LPH60 and an LPH80. All are very quiet, I hear the bubbles not the pump and the bubbles could be quieter if I actually used airstones in the sponge filters.

[emartin]

CrabbyMatty has one of those in his fish room. I actually asked him if he had the air pump in the basement or something because I couldn't figure out where all the air from his sponge filters and undergravel filters was coming from! Then he points out one of those super expensive super quiet air pumps in the corner...

I couldn't believe how quiet they were! Your breathing is louder than they are! Just ZERO noise...

If I ever have a lot of tanks in a public area in the house and need air sources that is DEFINITELY going to be the brand I will be going with... JUST WOW at how quiet they are...

[TKC747]

Do these "work" with regular air line tubing? Or do you need special ways to deliver the air. I noticed when I use a regular pump (Whisper 100), the length of the tubing impedes the air flow, same thing for certain Tees

[CrabbyMatty]

Besides being very bright for his yound age, Ed has a photographic memory. Yes, I do have a linear piston pump. I bought the LPH80 on a nice sale from Jehmco about a year ago. They claim you could keep this near or under your bed and they aren't lying. It really is that quiet and performance is outstanding.


CrabbyMatty has one of those in his fish room. I actually asked him if he had the air pump in the basement or something because I couldn't figure out where all the air from his sponge filters and undergravel filters was coming from! Then he points out one of those super expensive super quiet air pumps in the corner...

I couldn't believe how quiet they were! Your breathing is louder than they are! Just ZERO noise...

If I ever have a lot of tanks in a public area in the house and need air sources that is DEFINITELY going to be the brand I will be going with... JUST WOW at how quiet they are...

[finman57]

Yes these things are great. I have been using one for about 3 years now. You have to really look for it in the basement to find it. Its so quiet.
I have the biggest one they had and am running around 100 or more outlets.

You need to have pvc up and run the regular air tubing out of outlets.

[TKC747]

You need to have pvc up and run the regular air tubing out of outlets.


Do you have any pictures of your set up, I'm curious about what the set up of such a system might look like

[Big ED]

Go with the linear piston from Jehmco. Costs a liitle more but worth it and should you have a problem John will be more than willling to help you out.

[nick a]

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/6851/dsc0815j.jpg

LOVE my air pump!!!! I've heard mosquito farts louder than this thing :runnningaround:

Make a loop of 3/4" or 1" PVC, then tap your individual drops off of the PVC. Loops are IMHO the best way to go. You have much better control and smoother function with the loop style. The loop in this pic goes around the entire room--but there are tanks around the room too. If you're only doing a long row of tanks, a loop still can (should) be done. Also consider a bleed-off valve for excess air.

[emartin]

Do you have any pictures of your set up, I'm curious about what the set up of such a system might look like

http://www.toadscastle.net/marduk/04-24-2010%20stand%20+%20fish%20pics/small/PICT0243.jpg

http://www.toadscastle.net/marduk/04-24-2010%20stand%20+%20fish%20pics/small/PICT0242.jpg

http://www.toadscastle.net/marduk/pics/PICT0456.jpg

http://www.toadscastle.net/marduk/pics/PICT0459.jpg


That's as simple as an air manifold you can make. More complicated ones involve having pvc piping run all around your fish room with a bleeder valve at the very end, and then just drilling and installing air valves where you need them.

[TKC747]

Thanks Ed and Nick_a. I guess its one huge Do-It-Yourself project!:ty::ty::ty:

[nick a]

It's really very easy to do. Drilling into plastic is no big deal either. Because the actual pressure is quite low, some people don't bother to even glue the pipe together.

[CrabbyMatty]

None of my PVC pipe is glued together.

It's really very easy to do. Drilling into plastic is no big deal either. Because the actual pressure is quite low, some people don't bother to even glue the pipe together.

It was way more intimidating in thought than it actually was putting in the air system.

Thanks Ed and Nick_a. I guess its one huge Do-It-Yourself project!:ty::ty::ty:

[JROGO]

Do you have to keep the air pump higher like in both pictures or does it matter at all. My air blower right now is about 3 feet off the ground sitting on an old metal filing cabinet. I'm thinking about getting the LPH45 model it's rated for 25-40 outlets and I only have about 25 Will this be ok to push the air to all my bottom tanks. Thanks for any info.

Thanks
Joe

[emartin]

It doesn't matter but I like to do that to reduce the potential for back-pressure, as well as to prevent the possibility of a siphon occurring during a power outage and water getting inside the air pump (keep in mind, they do NOT make check valves for large air pumps like these).

[CrabbyMatty]

Mine sits on a 12"x12" shelf I made that is supported by two brackets and is situated just a few inches below the ceiling in my fishroom placing it above all the tanks. Like Ed said, in case of a power outage there's no risk of siphoning this way.

[mrkillie]

If you think about the design, there is a virtual built in check valve so there is a miniscule chance of siphoning with linear piston pumps. I take no precautions whatsoever to deter siphoning and I've been running one of my pumps for about 8 years without incident. Since I moved to PA 5 years ago, I guess the Amish haven't quite gotten the power grid thing down and my power goes out almost every time it rains or we get high winds (which is very often). I couldn't believe how often the power goes out here compared to where I lived in NY and NJ over the previous 20 years. Never a hint of a problem.

[cracks]

Since we are talking about air pumps, I've always been confused by this in the description: 'Water depth:: Max. 64 inches (5.3 feet)'. I assume that it means it will push air into a deep tank? I've been thinking about upgrading to a central system & getting rid of the HOBs on my tanks now for a while. Is it imperative to also make a PVC manifold? My "fishroom" is also my bedroom, with most tanks on one side but a few on the other side of the room. Any thoughts on how to make that work?

[CrabbyMatty]

Tom, you need to design a loop system versus a straight line run for the best performance. The loop enables you to achieve equal pressure throughout the system. Nice thing about PVC is it's cheap. It's not the prettiest thing to look at but you could always paint it the color of your walls if it bothers you that much.

Matt

[JROGO]

So the height of where the pump is doesn't effect the amount of or preasure of the air output. I have 1 125 gallon tank thats run with 3-4 sponge filters and sometimes I don't get air from 1 of the sponge filters and i have to raise it up 4" or so. I want to make sure I dont have the same problems with this pump, and hopefully is less expensive to run.

Thanks
Joe

[JROGO]

Just bought the LPH60 model, it's a little bigger than I need but I want to make sure it can push the air to my bottom tanks.

[CrabbyMatty]

Great choice Joe. I own the LPH80 and I'm very happy with it.

[JROGO]

It's more than I needed but for the extra $60 between the 45 and 60 I had to get the larger one. Now I can take the blower off, hoping to lower the electric bill a little.

Thanks
Joe

[JROGO]

Put my new air pump up last night super easy took me about 5 minutes and WOW what a difference so much more air and quiet.

Thanks
Joe