AAAHHHhhhh!!! microbubbles.

[IamBIGGUN]

I HATE MICROBUBBLES!!!!

I just spent last night taking the inlet plumbing for my pump apart and retaping all my threaded fittings trying to solve this problem. I thought for sure that was where it was sucking air.......I was wrong!:mad2:

There are no skimmer micro bubbles or baffle bubbles making it to the inlet so it has to be sucking air into the plumbing somewhere.

I have a primer tube on my inlet where it comes over the top of my sump and back down to the pump. It is just tee'd off on the top so I can prime my pump I thought that the air caught in that was working its way into the lines and would just slowly get better and stop, but this hasn't been the case.

How does anyone else check for plumbing leaks on the inlet side. I need some good ideas. I'm tired of my tank looking dirty because of the bubbles.

Thanks,
Kevin

 

[cloakerpoked]

A picture might help, I can't picture it...

 

[Paul_PSU]

Can you post any pics of your sump and the primer tube you're talking about?

 

[IamBIGGUN]

This is the best shot I could get.

I take the cap off the top and fill it with water to prime the pump.

Kevin

 

[Paul_PSU]

So is that the return line with the black union on it or the primer line?

edit* I get it now. The return pump is on the outside of the sump and pulls water up and over the side of the sump. That is probably where the air is coming from. The top section of the primer junction with the cap.

 

[Paul_PSU]

Out of curiosity, why didn't you drill the sump and use a bulkhead to connect the external return pump? Or just use a submersible pump.

 

[cloakerpoked]

If the cap isn't air tight, it will function sorta like a venturi. I'd think that's where it comes from. A ball valve might solve that problem....

 

[IamBIGGUN]

I built the sump 8 years ago before I knew how easy it was to drill them. Also at the time I was using a mag 36 submersed but it ended up adding too much heat to the water. So I plumbed it like this and then burnt the pump up because the water wasn't there to cool it. After that I went to an Iwaki 55 that got zapped in an electrical storm this summer. Then I went to an Iwaki 70 with no noticable problems until I redid the return. I put an Ocean Motion 4 way with 1" plumbing and 4 Revolution heads on to get the water really moving. Well I think that because there is not as much back pressure as before it is really causing a draw on the inlet side and sucking air. If I throttle it back it get's rid of the bubbles but that defeats the purpose of putting the 1" lines in.

The cap was the first thing I checked. There is SO much teflon tape on it that it was hard to get it started on the threads.

Now that I have a ball valve on the outlet I was thinking of removing the primer and just opening the valve to prime the pump.

Kevin

 

[cloakerpoked]

A check valve or drilling a hole on the top of the system to break the siphon right away should keep the pump primed anyway shouldn't it?

 

[IamBIGGUN]

A check valve would til you disconnected the inlet side. Then, once reassembled, you'd need to hold the check valve open to let the tank drain back thru and flood the inlet. As for the hole in the top of the system that is to let it suck air through the outlet side so your tank doesn't drain through your sump all over the floor.

Kevin

 

[cloakerpoked]

OK, now i understand why you have the primer...I was thinking it was for power outages, but I see now that its for pump maintenance. Neither of those would help out with that situation....