300g Mixed Reef Journey
- Thread starter Chebby
- Start date
Chebby
New member
It is a common thing from hot tubs to turn off the heater if the pump is not running. It works in nearly the same way as a float switch. There is a little magnet/ferrite on the end of a plastic reed that when the water pushes it to the center stick, it completes the circuit.
Chebby
New member
Yes :headwalls:
SPotter
Active member
300g Mixed Reef Journey
Can I ask how it happened? Were you twisting the fitting on, did it just snap while the pump was running?
I'm going to be using two of the dc12000 pumps on my new tank for closed loop pumps. I'm growing more and more nervous about this happening as I see this issue popping up more and more . Last thing I want is this to happen on the Cl's when I'm not home and drain 360g of water!
Can I ask how it happened? Were you twisting the fitting on, did it just snap while the pump was running?
I'm going to be using two of the dc12000 pumps on my new tank for closed loop pumps. I'm growing more and more nervous about this happening as I see this issue popping up more and more . Last thing I want is this to happen on the Cl's when I'm not home and drain 360g of water!
Chebby
New member
After I disconnected my unions, I grabbed the top of the pump to move it and just the side force of my hand on the outlet snapped it. There were a few threads left so after I enlarged my tank bulkhead and connected it back up, it was fine for a few seconds then started leaking. I started to remove it again and the remainder of the outlet threads broke. Then trying to remove the inlet pipe, that broke too!
Perhaps you are only supposed to use the supplied screw-on hose barb fittings?
I read of this happening on quite a few pumps. From what I gather and what I did with mine is as follows. You only need to snug it tight. Also use some thread paste along with Teflon tape to help it twist easier. I used this method and had no problems with mine sealing without making it very tight. I also put a union right after it so if I ever need to change pipe size I can do it after the union and not have to take off the threaded adapter again.
SPotter
Active member
did you ever find out what caused this to happen? I have spoken with a couple of distributors for various labeled dc pumps and they indicated that this type of cracking has been happening more frequently when the pumps are hard plumbed instead of using the barb fittings. They said that the vibration from the pumps and the hard fittings are causing the threads to weaken and snap over time. they suggested using the barb fitting with flex pvc that then connects to hard fittings. I hope you have better luck this time around.
MrineLfRlz
Active member
were did you get the solenoid ?My MAG5 mixing pump was horribly loud and the vibration reverberated the whole stand. It had to go. I replaced it with a Waveline DC4000 and I am much relieved. This DC pump is near silent. There is no way it runs at its rated 1000GPH, but works for my application.
With each water change bucket from my 90G tank, I am slowing filling this sump up. A whole bunch more and I can do a full test :bounce1:
Chebby
New member
Cheap plastic, poor thread tolerance, metric threads? I've hard plumbed all sorts of other pumps over the years with no problems.
Ebay, company called Ehcotech.
Great build,you have certainly packed the stuff in there.How do you have your Tunze level controller hooked up.Do you have it plugged into your Apex with a separate float switch.
What type of float switches are you using.Are you using a breakout box to control them,you possibly answered this earlier I will need to reread the post.
What type of float switches are you using.Are you using a breakout box to control them,you possibly answered this earlier I will need to reread the post.
Chebby
New member
It is a self contained device with it's own high/low sensors, no communication to Apex except for always on power.
Just cheap generic floats that connect to the Apex breakout box.
Chebby
New member
Added an eductor to get more flow in my salt mix tank. It helps some but still get dead spots of unmixed salt on the bottom. I may have to add an extra powerhead for good mixing or find a way to directly inject the salt into the flow?
Finally filled the whole undertank system with enough water to run the whole system. Ran for about an hour. No major leaks! Found 1 media reactor that only leaked a bit when under pressure, simple overnight fix.
There are a whole lot of valves to get the system tuned which is great but concerns me a bit that it is possible to screw up and make a mess. I found I need some more vibration dampening material under the main return pump. Itself is not very noisy but the stand can start to reverberate and amplify what is there. I need to add another bubble trap before the return intake. I am also going to try an elbow instead of the strainer so I can prevent any air suckage while equilibrium is reached.
I need to work on my mechanical filter pad system as too much flow can roll it away. I will make up some lexan spikes. Also the drip system does make more noise than I like. I can cover some holes to help but need to find permanent solution.
I also learned when everything is on I can overload my battery backup while it is on AC. Not sure if I will get a bigger one as it is my 300 watt heater that puts it over the edge and I still have two 100 watts running. If on battery I would never run more than a single 100 watt. And once it is near the correct temp, all of them would never be running together. I may just end up moving the 300 watt heater to the salt mix tank and run it off the EB4 that is not on battery backup since that is the water that needs the big temperature boost.
Finally filled the whole undertank system with enough water to run the whole system. Ran for about an hour. No major leaks! Found 1 media reactor that only leaked a bit when under pressure, simple overnight fix.
There are a whole lot of valves to get the system tuned which is great but concerns me a bit that it is possible to screw up and make a mess. I found I need some more vibration dampening material under the main return pump. Itself is not very noisy but the stand can start to reverberate and amplify what is there. I need to add another bubble trap before the return intake. I am also going to try an elbow instead of the strainer so I can prevent any air suckage while equilibrium is reached.
I need to work on my mechanical filter pad system as too much flow can roll it away. I will make up some lexan spikes. Also the drip system does make more noise than I like. I can cover some holes to help but need to find permanent solution.
I also learned when everything is on I can overload my battery backup while it is on AC. Not sure if I will get a bigger one as it is my 300 watt heater that puts it over the edge and I still have two 100 watts running. If on battery I would never run more than a single 100 watt. And once it is near the correct temp, all of them would never be running together. I may just end up moving the 300 watt heater to the salt mix tank and run it off the EB4 that is not on battery backup since that is the water that needs the big temperature boost.
Chebby
New member
I haven't given up on this project, just was taking care of some other stuff in the meantime. Upgraded to Gen3 Radions on my existing 90G tank. Seeing nice growth responses.
I had the whole sump system running about 5 days straight to check stability and most things were working fine. The flow to the ozone reactor was not strong enough to trip the leaf switch so I changed to a plunger type device. When water flow it pushes the plunger up and makes a contact that will be used to control the ozone generator. When water is off, *in theory* the plunger will drop enough to break the contact. I don't think it will float at the top anyways.
Another thing I wanted was to produce my fresh water more quickly. I have good pressure so I did not think a booster pump would help much but indeed it did. I got a Smart Buddie. Works well and allowed me to remove my RO flush valve as it has one built in.
I also made my own 'filter sock silencer' which also keeps any bonded material that might lay over the opening from sagging into it with time.
I have also put a lot of thought to the material to use for the stand top. I wanted one large solid surface but at ~35 sqft. it would be stupid expensive to have custom made with even the on sale stuff. I can find a blank slab for ~$800 but shipping to my home was like $200 more. So I decide I am going to do a plywood/epoxy solution myself for ~$350. More effort for me but I can test fit all the holes first and get the color exactly as I want.
I had the whole sump system running about 5 days straight to check stability and most things were working fine. The flow to the ozone reactor was not strong enough to trip the leaf switch so I changed to a plunger type device. When water flow it pushes the plunger up and makes a contact that will be used to control the ozone generator. When water is off, *in theory* the plunger will drop enough to break the contact. I don't think it will float at the top anyways.
Another thing I wanted was to produce my fresh water more quickly. I have good pressure so I did not think a booster pump would help much but indeed it did. I got a Smart Buddie. Works well and allowed me to remove my RO flush valve as it has one built in.
I also made my own 'filter sock silencer' which also keeps any bonded material that might lay over the opening from sagging into it with time.
I have also put a lot of thought to the material to use for the stand top. I wanted one large solid surface but at ~35 sqft. it would be stupid expensive to have custom made with even the on sale stuff. I can find a blank slab for ~$800 but shipping to my home was like $200 more. So I decide I am going to do a plywood/epoxy solution myself for ~$350. More effort for me but I can test fit all the holes first and get the color exactly as I want.
aquaenthusiast
Member
Nice! thanks for the update was getting a little worried there
silentscream
New member
How's progress? One of my favorite local builds!
