Oreo
07-07-2009, 12:44 PM
I hate hose barb fittings with a passion. I'd much rather deal with PVC threaded & slip fittings. Not to mention the 5/8" inlet / outlets of the ETH just don't allow enough flow for my big tank. So I went looking & found a way to modify the Hydor ETH to have 3/4" PVC inlet & outlets. The increased flow won't hurt a thing but this mod is sure to void any waranty protection.
There are four screws holding the plastic case of the ETH together. Removing them & pulling the halves of the case open reveals this:
http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l109/jdecar1/Aquarium/P7072038.jpg
As you can see in the pic, with the case opened up the hose-barb ends of the unit easily pull free from the glass tube. It's just a rubber seal holding them. Now for a look at those hose-barb fittings:
http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l109/jdecar1/Aquarium/P7072039.jpg
The inside diameter of those fittings where they fit into the glass is just about the perfect size for a piece of 3/4" PVC pipe (or street-fitting) to be glued in. One just needs to trim off the hose-barb section & remove the bit of plastic protruding into the flow**. This can be done without removing any of the ribs that secure it into the plastic case of the ETH. So it would all snap back together like normal after the mod.
(**Note: this bit of plastic is a cavity for the temp sensor at one end, so after you glue in the piece of PVC you'll need to find a way to accommodate the temp sensor. That should be easy enough for a creative mind to figure out so I won't spell it all out here.) The point is, this conversion is very do-able. If I can find the time around planning a wedding I'll make this conversion for my own system and post more pics of how I did it.
Enjoy!
There are four screws holding the plastic case of the ETH together. Removing them & pulling the halves of the case open reveals this:
http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l109/jdecar1/Aquarium/P7072038.jpg
As you can see in the pic, with the case opened up the hose-barb ends of the unit easily pull free from the glass tube. It's just a rubber seal holding them. Now for a look at those hose-barb fittings:
http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l109/jdecar1/Aquarium/P7072039.jpg
The inside diameter of those fittings where they fit into the glass is just about the perfect size for a piece of 3/4" PVC pipe (or street-fitting) to be glued in. One just needs to trim off the hose-barb section & remove the bit of plastic protruding into the flow**. This can be done without removing any of the ribs that secure it into the plastic case of the ETH. So it would all snap back together like normal after the mod.
(**Note: this bit of plastic is a cavity for the temp sensor at one end, so after you glue in the piece of PVC you'll need to find a way to accommodate the temp sensor. That should be easy enough for a creative mind to figure out so I won't spell it all out here.) The point is, this conversion is very do-able. If I can find the time around planning a wedding I'll make this conversion for my own system and post more pics of how I did it.
Enjoy!