Patent Pending Hybrid Pinwheel Impeller from RLSS

Patent Pending Impeller from RLSS

Reef Life Support Systems (RLSS) has been hard at work developing a unique skimmer impeller.  Daniel Nguyen from RLSS was nice enough to provide AquaNerd with a sneak peak look at the new design. Like their current pinwheel design, the new pinwheel features pins that are thicker at the base than at the tips.  This step down approach creates smaller microbubbles in the reaction chamber creating more overall bubble surface area in the skimmer body and this added bubble surface area ultimately increases skimmate production.

The new hybrid design was born out of necessity, according to Daniel.  As RLSS was developing and testing their smaller DC-2500 pump they observed that the existing impeller design wasn’t creating an optimal amount of bubbles in the reaction chamber, even while running the pump at full speed.  Daniel and his engineers immediately went to work on experimenting with various impeller designs.  After intensive R&D the new patent pending “hybrid impeller” was born.  The new design not only delivers more head pressure but also increases air output by 20% over the original design.  The added bubble production and increased head pressure decreases the amount of electricity used by the DC controllable pump making this efficient new skimmer impeller a revolutionary step forward in the protein skimmer market.

The Design:

You will quickly notice that the new design adds 4 curved blades in the center of the pinwheel.  The blades increase the head pressure of the pump and pull more water into the volute.  The increased water flow increases the air draw by 20%.  The new impeller design is expected to also benefit their larger diameter and taller skimmer models in the future.  RLSS has also incorporated holes into the pinwheel baseplate.  These holes assist in cooling the motor block.

At this time, the new impeller design is available on the new R5i, DB5 and DB6 model protein skimmers.  For more information Waveline Pumps and RLSS protein skimmers visit the RLSS Website.