Custom Water Filtration Setup

Apr 30

My overlanding buddy wants to over build everything on his Lexus aka Tank. The latest project is to create a pump and filter setup that is compact. Challenge accepted. Provided an opportunity for me to brush off the cobwebs and dive into CAD design again. I’ve been a bit rusty over the past year or two, no projects really needed it. Full parts list at the bottom.

First step was to install SolidWorks via the Maker edition, a wonderful option for those of us that don’t use it for corporate profit. Then figure out how to interact with the web-based software because I am an Autodesk kid. Only took a few minutes to get the hang of it and we were off to the races.

My preference is always to make crude models of the parts, then create the bracket or other parts I’ll need to create. In this case the filters (left and right) along with pump (center) needed a cradle.

For reference the filters and pump joined via a pair of brass adapters.

The next step was merely to print out the design and translate into reality. This is a very tedious effort without a fancy water jet or laser cutter. I had to rely on my time and skills with various tools; drill press, bench sander and band saw.

Scaling looks accurate

Test Alignment

Using Scraps

Saw and Saw and Saw

Sanding Time

Giant Holes

Slow and Steady

Test assembly

Finishing work

Polished up a bit

My next challenge was final assembly. It needed to be TIG welded. This in itself wasn’t actually a problem as I am capable (not going to claim proficient) of TIG welding. However I’ve never tried something this thick. It was a learning opportunity.

Test Piece

I’ve finally learned to always tune in yourself and the machines settings via a test weld. In this case my first arc was will set to DC. With a quick correction I was able to lay down this nice looking bead. I’m not sure how deep the penetration was as my machine maxes out at 200A and that’s pretty much the min for welding 1/4” aluminum.
This isn’t going to be for a bridge…we should be good to go.
I’ll soon learn no… my test was a false positive.

First Setup

With this configuration it is very solid. Plate clamped to a 1 inch thick piece of stainless steel, clamped to my bench. As you may guess this is a wonderful heat conductor…I could not get enough heat to melt anything except the rod.

Second Round

I took a step away and re-evaluated the setup to solve my now known mistake. Elevating the pieces via square tubing allowed the aluminum pieces to maintain enough heat and get the welds I needed with my machine limitations.