Buying Prepaid SIM Cards in Malaysia. Avoid the Cheats.

 2 February 2018

Introduction

“I bought a Prepaid SIM card from Maxis in Nu Sentral, Kuala Lumpur (KL). The counter staff helped to register the SIM card and recommended a RM$10 top up for my stay in KL. After a day of usage,  the system reminded me for another top up.  I was shocked to find the top up was never done.”   This is a very common complaint when buying prepaid SIM cards in Malaysia.  

This article will show how one can avoid this predicament.   

The Malaysian SIM cards

1. There are basically 4 different brands of prepaid SIM cards  in Malaysia;   namely,  Celcom,  Maxis,  Digi and U Mobil.  

2.  The market is quite competitive offering various  kinds of services and schemes with gimmicks to attract the tourists and local users.   Some are offering unlimited and free use of Whatsapps and Facebook etc.  There is even one that offers free traveller’s SIM card but they will recover the cost when one starts using the card.  Here is one good blog that describes the various types of cards 

The Basics

Prepaid SIM cards are available everywhere in Malaysia and the prices are mostly fixed.  Buying at the Airport is just a convenient. 

1. SIM cards would most likely come with some stored value;  some stated upfront the actual value and some hidden the information for some good reasons.  For example,  if one buys a Maxis Card for RM$10, it would have a stored value of RM$5 for 1.5 GB of internet usage which can last for about  a week for an average user;

2. All SIM cards will need to be registered before it can be used. The process would only take less than 5 minutes;

3. If one must top up the card for some reasons and gets the counter staff to do on behalf ,  it would better to tell the staff upfront that you will want a receipt and a check for the  added value stored in your SIM card;

The Cheaters and Scammers

As tourists,  we are always the easy preys of the cheaters and the scammers.   Unfortunately,  most bloggers are blogging about  how to choose the best SIM card and not how to prevent the cheaters and scammers.   

In the past,  the cheaters and scammers would normally lurk tourists to buy the “cheapest SIM card available in Malaysia” which sometimes may cost as high as 3 times the price of the next shop.   Nowadays,  this loop hole has been plugged by the Service Providers who stated upfront the cost of each  package on each prepaid SIM card.

The cheaters and scammers  now started a new scam as there is a requirement for all SIM cards to be registered and most tourists are not familiar  with the complexity;  often,  they will let the counter staff handle the registration.  2 types of cheats and scams become possible:

1.  Selling of the Personal Information

The counter staff who handle the registration can  collect and sell the personal information. Fortunately,  the registration is done in front of you so that you can make sure they do not take photos or Photostat your passports or ID cards for unknown reasons.

2. Topping of Stored Value

This is one of the most common stunts as most tourists do not want to be bothered about topping the stored value and would leave it to the counter staff to top up the cards for them.   Many would leave the shop immediately without checking the value stored in the card.   Some would keep wondering why they used up the internet GB so quickly in Malaysia.   This is all because the counter staff did not top up the card.

Most SIM card sold in the market have some stored value enough for the numbers of days as per advertisement shown by the Maxis prepaid card for example.   There is usually no need to top up the card unless you are a very heavy user.  

 Their websites would often contain enough information including how much is the stored value when you purchase the prepaid card.  In the case of Maxis,  the information is hidden in this FAQs

3.  Selling the Wrong Package

The Service Providers change their offers regularly to attact customers;  some has 1-day validity,  some 2-day and some  7-day.   They came in with different prices.  The seller might cheat by giving you the cheaper package.   It is good to be familiar with the various packages offered by the Service Providers.  Most of their information are available in their webpages and also in their phone Apps where one can download free for viewing.

How to check the stored value?

Most Service providers will have phone apps where one can easily check the stored value or balanced value in the card;  for example,  Maxis has this in the front page of its phone apps

 

For those who don’t use their phone apps,  they can always key-in some special key-codes to check the balance.

How to Top Up the Cards?

This can also be done easily through their phone apps;  for example,  Maxis has the following page in their phone apps to top up the card using credit or Debit cards.   The SIM  cards could also be topped up in specified payment machines and even at convenient stores such as 7-11s. 

One could also top up the SIM cards using 3rd party service portal such as Recharge,  who will accept many form of payment including PayPal where one's particular information can be kept confidential.

 Complaints if any

Most Service Providers have a twitter page where one can complain to them about the services they are rendering.   In the case of Maxis,  the twitter manager will respond very quickly to answer your complaints within the day.  They may request for your Name and the telephone number registered in Malaysia and also the location of the shop you purchase the prepaid card.

DBS Right Issues & Smart Money

Introduction
DBS halted trading on 22 December 2008 to announce that it would offer rights issue at a one-for-two ratio. This right issues can be traded in the open market in the SGX between 6 Jan to 14 Jan 2009 and must be converted to ordinary share by paying $ 5.42 per right issue before 20 Jan 2008.

A day before the announcement, i.e. 21 December 2008, DBS closed @ 8.37 per share; but when the trading halt was lifted on 22 December, the share price opened at a low of $ 7.74 and closed @ 8.05 per share. Thereafter, the share was traded up to a high of $ 9.56 on 6 Jan 2009 and subsequently to a high of another new high of $ 10.38 before it was dumped to a low of $ 8.40 last Friday on rumours that DBS has "breached" a loan contract in Middle East amounting to $ 3.0 bln.

What's the Actual Price?

To work out the actual price of DBS's share, one must gastimate the trading price of the DBS's share after 2nd February, when the right issue is converted to oridinary share in SGX. If one were to assume that one DBS share would worth $ 10/= after 2nd February, then today's price must be

=(2x10+5.42)/3 or around $ 8.47/= . Note that DBS's price has been pushed up to a high of $ 10.38 or someone was of the view that DBS should be traded around $ 13/=, which appeared to be on the higher side.

What had happened?

Smart Money could be at play here. One theory is that they have pumped up the price of mother share to sell their rights at higher price and thereafter, dumped the mother share so that they can accumulate again at a lower price.

How Do We Know?

Smart Money are being played by Big Boys who know how to manipulate the market and to spread rumours for gains. Jim Cramer admitted that he practiced it although it was quite legal to do so. TradeGuider tracked what happened and showed how one can avoid being sucked into such manipulation and gain from it.

Transaction Volume

TradeGuider believes that one can track and follow Smart Money and know where the Smart Money will flow and make money from it. He pointed out the tracking the volume of transaction and the high and low price will tell tales.

Accumulation/Distribution Indicator

The Accumulation/Distribution Indicator (AD), developed by Marc Chaikin did exactly what TraderGuide has said. He used the following simple formula:

( ( (C - L) - (H - C) ) / (H - L) )* V

Where C =Close price

L= Low price

H= High price

V=Volume of transaction

The signals for the AD are quite simple:

Bullish: when there is a positive divergence or when AD moves higher while the stock is declining.

Bearish: when there is a negative divergence or when the AD moves lower while the stock is rising.

Tracking Smart Money in DBS Counter

ng together. However, the stock finally caught up with the Accumulation/Distribution Line when it broke resistance in November.
Another means of using the Accumulation/Distribution Line is to confirm the strength or sustainability behind an advance. In a healthy advance, the Accumulation/Distribution Line should keep up or, at the very least, move in an uptrend. If the stock is moving up at a rapid clip, but the Accumulation/Distribution Line has trouble making higher highs or trades sideways, it should serve as an indication that buying pressure is relatively weak.

Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) began a sharp advance in August that was accompanied by an equally strong move in the Accumulation/Distribution Line. In fact, the Accumulation/Distribution Line was stronger than the stock in early September. After a bit of a consolidation, both again started higher and recorded new reaction highs in early October. Volume flows were behind this advance from the very beginning and continued throughout. The stock ended up advancing from 40 to 60 in about 3 months. Interestingly, as of this writing (December 1999) the Accumulation/Distribution Line has started to move sideways and is indicating that buying pressure is beginning to wane.
Bearish Signals
The same principles that apply to positive divergences apply to negative divergences. The key issue is to identify the main trend in the Accumulation/Distribution Line and compare it to the underlying security. Young negative divergences, or those that are relatively flat, should be looked upon with a healthy dose of skepticism.
The Wal-Mart chart shows a relatively flat negative divergence that is just over a month old. This negative divergence has yet to make a lower low, and should probably be given a little more time to mature. The relative weakness in the Accumulation/Distribution Line should serve as a sign that buying pressure is diminishing while the stock remains at lofty

If the stock closes on the high, the top of the range, then the value would be plus one.
If the stock closes above the midpoint of the high-low range, but below the high, then the value would be between zero and one.
If the stock closes exactly halfway between the high and the low, then the value would be zero.
If the stock closes below the midpoint of the high-low range, but above the low, then the value would be negative.
If the stock closes on the low, the absolute bottom of the range, then the value would be minus one.
The CLV is then multiplied by the corresponding period's volume, and the cumulative total forms the Accumulation/Distribution Line.

share can be traded between 6 Jan and 14 Jan 2009 in the open market at the SGX.

. Basically this system caters for 3 types of people:a. Those who are already shareholders at XR and do not want to pay for the rights. The thing goes like this, whether you want it or not, you'll be given the nil paid rights. If you want to subscribe to it, you can do so by accepting it and paying for it before 20th Jan 2009 (last date for acceptance). You can even subscribe to excess rights beyond what is entitled to you too, but it might not be successful. For those who do not want the nil-paid rights (i.e. do not want to accept the rights shares and pay for it), you can sell it in the open market. The last date of trading for the nil paid rights is 14th Jan, 2009. Which brings us to the next category...b. For those shareholders who want to make sure they can get excess rights shares without bidding for it (and thus subjecting to chance), they can also buy the nil paid rights direct from the open market. Of course, if you subscribe to excess rights and bid for a chance to get it, you'll only pay $5.42 for each right. But if you buy from the open market, you have to pay the market price of the right PLUS a fixed $5.42. Might not be so cheap.c. Those who are not DBS shareholders at XR but want to buy the nil paid rights at open market. Basically these arbitrageurs will look for opportunities to buy the rights cheaply, waiting for the nil-paid rights to become ordinary shares on 2nd Feb 2009, then profit (or lose) the difference.However, do not be mistaken that the nil paid rights will be trading at the rights issue price of $5.42. If we take the post-rights price of DBS to be $8.37 (as mentioned in the announcement), then the nil paid rights should be trading at around $2.95 range (8.37 - 5.42 = 2.95). DO NOT assume that it's cheap - it might not be!For example, if we buy the nil paid rights off the market at $2.90 per share (this varies according to market forces), then pay another $5.42 per share (this is fixed) to convert it to ordinary shares, our cost of each new share of DBS will be $8.32. There's no brokerage involved so that is truly our cost. If after the new shares commence trading on 2nd Feb 2009 at a price of $8.37, we basically earn $0.05 per share (8.37 - 8.32 = 0.05) excluding brokerage involved in selling. To succeed in this arbritrage opportunity, we have to guesstimate the price of DBS on 2nd Feb, then minus off 5.42. Any price lower than that is a good bargain, pre brokerage charge.3. The theoretical post-rights price of DBS on 2nd Feb 2009If you've been in the market for long, you'll realise that 'by right', the price can be this and that, but 'by left', all is not right. Oh well, in theory, because DBS is offering 1 new shares for every 2 existing shares, they are going to dilute their earnings and dividends by a factor of 2/3, which is quite substantial for those who are shareholders but chose not to subscribe for the rights. This means that if the earnings is say $3 per share pre-rights, the new earnings will be $2 per share post-rights. Dividends yield too, if their dividend yield per annum is say 6%, the new dividend yield will be 4%. Ouch.Anyway, here's how to calculate the new share price of DBS when the rights shares commence trading on 2nd Feb. Today, DBS closed at $9.37, so let's use this price. The formula is:New share price of DBS = (2 x 9.37 + 5.42) / 3If we take DBS's closing price to be 9.85, then using the calculation, we end up with the post rights share price of DBS at 8.37 per share. However, do take note that the actual price will be swayed by more than just mathematical calculations, hence it might not be what is calculated. Be aware of the risk of arbitraging!There's a whole lot more details that I missed out, so for those who wished to find out more, do visit my newbie's FAQ. Alternatively, you can visit the same version in this blog over here.Now I worry about HSBC's possible capital injection through rights too. Will I be able to subscribe to it because I'm a foreign investor?

High CPU Temperature in AC Ryan 4K UHD Media Player

28 January 2018

The Media Play is AC Ryan VEOLO ACR-VE94000 4K UHD Media Player . It is still available in Q0010 for about $99/= but I bought this second hand set for $40/= in Carousel but it has a CPU heating problem running as high as 80 ⁰C. This article outline a method where one could resolve this CPU heating problem in AC Ryan Media Player. 

What could be the Reason?

There are many reasons and one of the them must be poor heat dissipation.  When CPU temperature went beyond the set temperature,  it cuts itself off  to protect the CPU.  

The Construction

The set has a Quad-Core CPU (Cortex-A17 SoC) with a ARM Mali-T764 GPU, 2GB DDR3 RAM and 16GB Flash memory.  Its maximum operating temperature is around 70 ⁰C.  

The CPU has a small heat sink no larger than 35x35 mm as shown in the attached.  It has also a metal plate of around 100x40mm attached by 2 screws on the casing.   The metal plate is offsetted slightly from the CPU heat sink,  providing an air gap of about 5mm between the CPU and the metal plate.  The exact reason for this strange set up is unknown.

What Could Be Wrong?  And the Solution

The heat sink was found firmly attached to the CPU by thermal glue.   It could only be removed by heating to inspect the condition.    Repacking the CPU with new thermal glue would be the solution;  instead,  a piece of alumimum sheet was inserted in between the 100x40 metal plate and the CPU as shown with 2 purposes

1.      To provide a direct thermal contact between the CPU and the 100x40 mm metal;

2.      To apply some pressure to the CPU heat sink hopefully to reduce the gap if any between the CPU and the heat sink

The modification appeared to be successful as the CPU temperature was reduced from the original 80 ⁰C to around 55 ⁰C after the piece of aluminum sheet was inserted. The casing took sometime to assemble as some force was required to force-fit the alumimum sheet so that it could be “moulded” properly onto the CPU’s heat sink.

 

 Update:  8 Feb 2018 

Have extended the sheet of aluminum to also cover all the tops of the COU heat sink and added a piece of thermal pad in between the aluminum sheet and the heat sink to further improve the heat transfer.

 

 

 

 

Install Youtube and Google Chrome in Xiaomi TV without rooting

21 January 2018

Xiaomi TVs made in China are one of the cheapest in the market.  A 4K 55” TV will cost around $900 to $950 depending on the bargains.   However,  the original Xiaomi TV come with all Chinese characters and does not equip with Youtube and Google Chrome unless one is prepared to root the TV.   This article will show how one can install the appropriate software to a unrooted Xiaomi TV

1)      Change the display language from Chinese to English

2)      Install Youtube and Google Chrome

What are needed?

 1)      The appropriate installation software or APKs for Xiaomi TV

                  a)      Open Hidden Setting APK  (download here or here )

b)      Google Chrome  (download here)

c)      Youtube (download here or here)  (Note:  Only Youtube for Andriod TV can be used)

2)      USB thumb drive

Step by Step 

A)      To Change Display Language from Chinese to English

1. Download the appropriate APKs to a USB thumb drive;
2. Insert thumb drive to one of the USB port at the back of the TV
3. Switch on the TV and the TV should come up with this screen automatically;

4. If not,  navigate to the "Apps Store" page and select “高清播放器”  or “Video Player”   in English

5. and then select “设备“ or  “Device” on the  top left hand corner to reveal the following page,  then select  ”移动存储设备“ to select the “Open Hidden Setting” APK  from the thumb drive to load and install the program

 

6. Open up “Open Hidden Setting” and on this page,  select “语言和输入法“ or “language and input” to change the language from Chinese to English

   

B)      To Install Google Chrome and Youtube

Follow step A1 to A5 to install the correct Google Chrome and Youtube.   Note that other version of Google Chrome and Youtube may not work reliably.

Update:  14 Feb 2018

 One could also use other versions of Youtube and Google Chrome designed for ARM16 Andriod TVs;  for example,  the following version appears to run stable for Xiaomi TV4

a)   com.google.android.youtube.tv_2.02.08 or here
b)   Chrome_63.0.3239.111.apk

Other Articles About Xiaomi TV or Box 

Can be found here

Reference:

1. Backup APKs in Xiaomi TV
2. The Sacred Screen  Controller or TV Assistant
3. Xiaomi TV:  Factory Reset and Recovery
4. Xiaomi TV:  To root or not to root

Tiny Url : https://tinyurl.com/y7tgn85b

How To Backup APKs in Xiaomi TV (小米电视)

18 January 2018 
https://tinyurl.com/y925zm63 


 

Introduction

Xiaomi TV is a very popular Chinese made TV.  It is one of the cheapest TV that is packed with lots of Chinese serials and Television programs.   One of the problems with Xiaomi TV is the lack of  technical support in English and also,  it does not support Youtube and other Google services unless one is prepared to root the device and void the warranty.   Therefore, backing up all the APKs to external devices becomes a challenge in an unrooted TV.   This article will deal with one method where one can back up all the APKs to the local drive or network or cloud  drives such as google drive,  dropbox etc without rooting the TV. 

What’s Required?

1.  esexplorer APK for Andriod TV (download link)

2.  USB mouse

3.  USB thumb drive

It is assumed that the Xiaomi TV is already connected to a Network and a computer PC is available to download the APKs to a thumb drive for the APK to be installed to the TV.

Setup

a)  Open Google Drive,  select APK and save it to internal storage

      1. Download  esexplorer APK to a USB stick and install the APK 

      2.  Start up esexplorer from the TV's Apps store and navigate to this home screen

3.  Find the Network Menu on the left panel and click the “Cloud” to reveal the following screen

4. Select "Gdrive" and the following familiar screen will appear to prompt for google username and password

   

5. Proceed back to the "Home screen" and click App to show all the Apps stored in the TV;  then  click and hold the icon until a tick appears.   To select all icons,  click the Select All button at the top right hand corner.  After that, click Backup at the bottom to save the APKs to the internal storage。

 b)      Transfer APKs from internal storage to Google Drive

1)  Click the “Local” on the left hand menu to bring up the following local screen.  and then click “backups” folder to show all the backed up APKs in the internal storage。

3. Select one or all the APKs and click “more” at the bottom right hand corner to bring up the side manual as shown

  

4. Click “Move to” and the following screen will appear

5. Click “/storage/emulated/0” and after that,  select “Gdrive” and the appropriate folder to move all the APKs to the Google Drive as shown.

Other Articles About Xiaomi TV or Box 

Can be found here

Tinyurl :   https://tinyurl.com/ycpm2tcl

Reference:

1.  Install Google Chrume and Youtube without rooting

How to Fix Blur Printing in SamSung ML2160

29 June 2017

Introduction

The printer works fine except the letters are blurring and sometimes,  there are horizontal lines and vertical lines.  Replacing and cleaning up the printing cartridge will improve the printing in some areas but not the blurring lettering,  horizontal and/or vertical lines.   This article will try to solve this problem

What could be wrong?

If the printer is still new and there is nothing wrong with the Lasing Scanning Unit (LSU),  most likely the lens of the LSU is dirty and require cleaning.

What is LSU?

It is the “printer head” of the printer. Instead of emitting ink, the LSU emits a laser beam, directing it at the drum of the toner cartridge so that electrostatic charge can be transferred onto the paper to form a “temporary glue” to pick up the carbons as the paper passes through the drum.

 

Why need to clean the unit?

When we move our printer around with toner cartridge still inside or when we remove and install the cartridge without taking necessary precaution, some toner powder could have fallen on to the lens of the LSU. This will weaken the laser beam and prevent electrostatic charge being transferred onto the paper; as a result, the printing either got missing characters or blank horizontal or vertical lines.

Where is this LSU unit located?

For ML-2160,  the LSU unit is hidden from view and it is located just under the black plastic cover at the opening where we install or replace the toner cartridge as shown in attached.   The lens is a curvy clear plastic of about 100 mm x 6 mm.

Can Clean the Lens Without Dismantling the printer?

One may be lucky to use proper tool such as the dentist's mirror to check the lens and make attempts to clean the lens,  first using cotton stick to get rid of the dirt;  then using anti-static cloth to pick the lint left by the cotton wool.  There is never any harm done provided the cleaning is done carefully,  without using any chemical or solvent that will damage or scratch the surface of the lens.

What’s Required to Strip the Printer?

Should there be a need to dismantle the printer,  one would need the following tools

a)      A small watch screw driver to ply open the casing

b)      A Philip screw driver the unscrew some of the cross screws

How to Dismantle?

There are only 5 detachable panels on the printer and they are held to each other and to the printer frame by plastic clips and a few screws.   

1.  Start working from the side panel.   First unscrew the only screw that is securing the right panel to the printer frame.

2.  Place the printer upside down and unclip the bottom of the side panel  from the printer frame and work towards to top of printer to release other clips by plying open the panel edges carefully with the small screw driver.

3.  Unscrew the back and the front panel and remove them.   Noting that the front panel is clipped onto the top panel and will need to unclip using the small screw driver

4.  Once the front panel is removed,  one should see the LSU from the front and also the 2 screws holding the black plastic to the printer frame.  Remove them to free the black plastic so that one can unscrew the 3 screws,  securing the  LSU.

5.  At this point,  it is good to mark the exact position of the LSU so that one could fix the unit back into its exact position during assembling. 

 

6.   Clean the lens cotton wool and remove any lint left over using anti-static clothing.

7.   Test the printing before re-assemble back the panels etc.

How to Prevent Dirtying the Lens?

ML-2160 was designed having the LSU placed directly underneath the toner cartridge.  This  has the disadvantage for lose toner to drop or deposit on the lens easily.   It is therefore essential to always remember to put a clean paper to cover up the lens when removing the toner cartridge for inspection or replacement,  

 

Clearing Water Clogged in Unreachable Pipe

28 March 2017


We renovated our kitchen and found ourselves  in a difficult situation where we could not  reach the outflow pipe to clear the water clog caused by sludge.   Here is how we resolve it.

What happened?

Our old kitchen layout allowed us to remove the cupboard that is sitting ontop of the floor trap.  With the cupboard removed,  we could lower one of our hands to reach the outflow pipe where to could insert a hard spring rod or guide the pipe cleaner wire so that it could thread the pipe trap to reach the outflow pipe as shown

After renovating the kitchen,  we fixed the kitchen cabinet ontop of the floor trap.  We allowed an opening of about 13 inches wide,   just  enough to reach the top of the floor trap to insert something hard to clear the vertical pipe.

During one water clog,  we found the outflow pipe choked again.  We could not use the pipe cleaner nor any  hard spring rod as we no longer able to use our hand to reach the inlet of the outflow pipe.  The next available option opened was to reach the pipe trap from the lower floor which is about 12 feet below us.

The Solution

After going through our workshop to get some ideas,  we found a piece of 20 mm PVC pipe in which we managed to bend the end of the pipe to form a curve bend as shown.

With that piece of PVC pipe,  we could then guide the wire of our pipe cleaner from the top of the floor trap and threaded through the pipe trap to reach the choked outflow pipe.

  

4 Sept 2017 update

The head of the pipe cleaner is usually expanded from the spring wire.  Sometimes,  the head is too small to clear the sludge completely in large pipes.   Soon after cleaning,  the pipe will be clogged again.

The solution is to attach a cutter to the head as shown

The cutter was formed by cutting a length of 60 mm long 20mm PVC pipe with one end of it splitted and opened as shown.  The cutter must be attached to the  pipe cleaner with metal wires,  making sure it  will not be detached during the cleaning process.

How to Extract Water from Reef Tank without drillings of holes

29 March 2017


Reef tanks will  need fairly high water flow rate and an external pump sump is usually required so as to install a large water pump as well as other equipment such as chiller,  filter medias etc.  Large amount of water  will have to be extracted from the tanks.  The conventional way is to drill larger holes on either the top side of the back glass panel or the bottom of the tank.   This article will try to introduce another method.

What's Needed?

1.   1/2 piece of 4 feet x 2 feet perspex sheet available from any shop that sells lighting diffuser for the lighting fitting;

2.   2 numbers of 15" 20 mm diameter PVC tube

3.   2 numbers of straight joint for aquarium air distribution pipe

4.   Industrial Liquid Thinner

How to Construct?

 a.  Overflow box 

1.  Cut the perspex sheet to form a box of about 10" x 3"; make sure one of the back sheet of the box is long enough for a bend to be formed to hang over the edge of the water tank;

2.  Use heat gun or oven to soften the perspex of the longer back sheet with heat good enough to bend the perspex to form the hanger;

3.   Cut the front piece to form a row of grooves or small opening to allow overflow water to flow into the box;

4.   Assemble and join the 4 piece together using the industrial thinner.  Allow enough thinner to run to and fro at the joint so as to seal the joints properly;

b.  Over Flow Pipes

1.   Heat bend the 20 mm PVC pipe in the center enough to form a U-shape tube as shown in the picture;  The U tube should have a bend radius large enough for it to be placed over the hanger of the box;

2.   A flexible spring or PVC tube is necessary to ensure a smooth bend.  I used one piece of chest expander spring;

3.   Drill a hole large enough to insert the air tube straight joint at the top of PVC bend to form the air nipples

How It works?

When water is pumped into the tank,  the excess water will overflow into the overflow box.  It will be sucked up through the U-tube continuously.

But before any water can flow through the U tube,  the tube must be primed and fill the entire tube with water.

Water priming is make simple by plugging up the open end of the U tube and then suck the air out from the air nipple.  As soon as the water has filled up the U tube,  plug the air nipple and water will flow continuously and naturally.

 Other Relevant Sites
tinyurl  :https://tinyurl.com/ydfaloww

Lower Reef Tank Temperature Without Chiller

28 March 2017

One forumer in the Singapore Reef Forum asked how to lower the water temperature in a reef tank without using a chiller.   Another forumer asked for a picture of such construction.  The article will tell how.

What's Needed?

a)   To form a Cooling Tower

1.  2 pieces of 4 feet x 2 feet plastic sheets that are  available from the shop that sells office light fittings.  I got mine free when my office was under renovation.
2.  One pump sump of about 1.5 feet x 3 feet or other dimension to suit requirement
3.  Industrial liquid thinner

b)  To construct a dry filtration media within the tower

1.   About 3 rolls of twine string paper

2.   1/4" plastic tubing or plenty of plastic straws

3.    Few pieces of  10 mm diameter PVC pipe each cut to about 10" length

How to Construct?

a)   Description

As I have  retired the cooling tower a long time ago. The following sketch will give some idea on how to construct the cooling tower which was located at the back of the reef tank with a pump sump below the tank.

The tower was about 4 feet tall and filled with loose packed dry media made from flatten twine paper string that has gaps to allow air and water to pass through them.  


Water is fed into the top section using 2 Nos of 20 mm U shape plastic tube and overflow reservoirs without drilling any hole in the reef tank (link) The water is then allow to go through the rain shower plate, which is basically a plastic sheet full of small holes.

 b)  Constructing the Tower

1.  Cut plastic sheet into 10"x 4 feet strips and glue them up to shape using the industrial thinner.  As thinner will normally dissolve the surface of the plastic,  it will provide a good joint without using any other glue.  To form a good seal at the joint,  run a little amount thinner alongside the joint,  to and fro several times.  Allow  the plastic joints to dry over night.

2.  Cut a piece of plastic sheet and drill as many holes of about 1/8" to form the rain shower plate to be inserted on the top section to form the rain shower.  Allow at least 6" clearance between the fan and the rain shower plate.

3.  Allow one empty section for air inlet as shown in the sketch 

c)  Constructing the filter media

1.  Unroll the twine paper string and flatten the string out so that it can be rolled loosely together again with plenty of  1/4" tube or the plastic straws inserted in between to form another roll of filter media that can be filled the inside of the entire cooling tower.   The tube or plastic straws should be as many as possible to ensure the papers will be  loosely packed and that air and water will be allowed to flow freely through the filter media.

2.  Place twine paper rolls inside tower horizontally with each roll separated by the 10 mm PVC pipe for proper air circulation in between the rolls.

Conclusion

This set up can cool the water  to about 27 C which is the average wet bulb temperature of our ambient air. Constant feed of light Limewater and kalkwasser is all that is necessary to replenish lost water.  I used the setup for about 2 years without any other filters although I stored some dead corals inside the pump sump.

Other Relevant Sites
tinyurl :  https://tinyurl.com/y994fau6

Aquarium Chiller Resun CL650- Erratic Temperature Readings

27 March 2017

The chiller  controller has erratic temperature readings.  It fluctuated between 3 to 4 degrees C erratically.  As a result,  the chiller did not start and stop properly.  Otherwise,  the Chiller worked normally.

What Could Go Wrong?

 1.  Dry Joints -  They are often responsible for erratic performance and often give erroneous readings;

 2.  Faulty Capacitors - They will lost the filtering and cause voltages to fluctuate;  thereby,  giving erroneous temperature readings.

How to Dismantle and Remove the Controller?

The controller is flushed mounted with a dust protective plastic cover in the inside of the chiller casing.  The cover is secured to the chiller casing by four clips evenly distributed around the peripheral of the plastic cover.

To remove the cover,  one will need to push the clip inwards using one finger and pull the cover down at the same time using another hand.  Releasing the clips will need some care and patients,  releasing the clips one at a time.  Some reported that there might be four screws securing the plastic cover and they must be removed first.

Once the plastic cover is removed,  one can pull up the controller from the top of the chiller casing.  Observe and make notes on how the wirings are connected.

What Went Wrong?

Bench inspection suspected that there are a few dry joints.  However,  resoldered those joints did stabliise the readings and prevent much voltage fluctuations in the supply line but the controller continued to give erratic readings.

Finally,  bench testing proved that one of the two capacitors shown below had a deteriorated capacitance giving only 15 uf instead of the 400 uf.  Replacing the 400 uf capacitor fixed the erratic reading.

Degree of Difficulty

It was  not difficult to replace the capacitors but the 2 tier circuit board arrangement made de-soldering and soldering pretty difficult to carry out to test and replace those capacitors.

What to get a Replacement?

For those who need a replacement for the controller,  they should be able to find it on TaoBao (link) for about RMB200.  Write to them make an enquiry at this website.  Alternatively,  one could replace the controller.  

 Other Relevant Sites
tinyurl : https://tinyurl.com/yae4zudq