Add more unions ?

[Oceanavekid]

Too many unions or should I add more? [emoji848] decided to ditch the hose and hard plumb the main return

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[Lsufan]

I think u are good on the unions & u probably have a few that aren’t ever going to be needed. That is coming from someone that uses more unions then most people. The main places I use them are at the bulkheads & one as close to the return pump as possible. I also place one at the ends of the drains where they go into the sump. It looks like u have them in all of those places plus some, although I can’t tell if u have one close to your return pump.

The only places that they are really needed is by the return pump so u can get it out easily & the one u have on your syphon to unscrew to remove the pipe to change the filter sock. Those are the only two that u will more then likely ever use.

It looks like the open channel pipe that is to the right of the skimmer in your pic of the sump. If it is u need to cut it off to where it is no more then 1” below the water level in the sump. The same as the syphon & I would do the same with the emergency. I can only see the open channel so I’m not sure if u have the syphon & emergency submerged to far, but all three should only be no more then 1” below the water level in the sump.

Something else to consider. I would drill a hole in the back of thevstand for the syphon drain to run through. If u did that u would be eliminating three 90’s on the syphon drain. If u did that u could set it up basically identical to the open channel to where u only have two 45’s in the whole drain line instead of three 90’s & one 45. The syphon & open channel should really be setup as close to the same as possible

 

[mcgyvr]

yuck.. did you glue already?

 

[flsalty]

I would get rid of most of those and add one closer to the return pump. I agree with drilling a hole for a more direct route as well.

 

[Rover88]

Bruh, the chop on that return pump. You have your return coming up and taking three hard 90's into a T. Thats gonna be bad for it down the road.

Definitely a few to many unions, but do what makes you happy. Its just more points of failure to me.

You definitely didn't need a union on either side of a 90 degree turn, though. I'm part and parcel to the party of 'drill direct lines'. You always want to avoid 90's and angles if you can. The if you can part being the main part.

 

[Smokey Stover]

Yea, get the kinks out of the main drain and put a gate valve in just above the sump. And use a short piece of flex hose at the return pump with a barbed fitting at that last 90* to help lessen vibration.

 

[Oceanavekid]

I think u are good on the unions & u probably have a few that aren't ever going to be needed. That is coming from someone that uses more unions then most people. The main places I use them are at the bulkheads & one as close to the return pump as possible. I also place one at the ends of the drains where they go into the sump. It looks like u have them in all of those places plus some, although I can't tell if u have one close to your return pump.

The only places that they are really needed is by the return pump so u can get it out easily & the one u have on your syphon to unscrew to remove the pipe to change the filter sock. Those are the only two that u will more then likely ever use.

It looks like the open channel pipe that is to the right of the skimmer in your pic of the sump. If it is u need to cut it off to where it is no more then 1" below the water level in the sump. The same as the syphon & I would do the same with the emergency. I can only see the open channel so I'm not sure if u have the syphon & emergency submerged to far, but all three should only be no more then 1" below the water level in the sump.

Something else to consider. I would drill a hole in the back of thevstand for the syphon drain to run through. If u did that u would be eliminating three 90's on the syphon drain. If u did that u could set it up basically identical to the open channel to where u only have two 45's in the whole drain line instead of three 90's & one 45. The syphon & open channel should really be setup as close to the same as possible

I was thinking about making a hole in the back of the cabinet to make it easier to get the pipe through




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[Oceanavekid]

I would get rid of most of those and add one closer to the return pump. I agree with drilling a hole for a more direct route as well.

Which would you suggest I get rid of? It seems to work but I get trying to make it with as few curves as possible. Only have a small space to do it without drilling a hole in the cabinet.


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[Oceanavekid]

Someone suggested to get rid of all the unions on the return

I’ve Definitely thought about adding some kind of support for the overflow. Would some sort of bar on both sides be enough? Only reason so many fittings is because it’s hard to get three pipes in the small hole they have in the cabinet. I’m going to cut holes for the main and emergency pipes, make the secondary pipe a bit shorter so it’s not fully submerged in the sump. I’ll get rid of a good amount of fittings and a few unions

 

[Lsufan]

I would drill individual holes for the pipes to go thru. If u do this u could setup the syphon & emergency similar to how u have the open channel, with only using two 45’s in the whole run. I wouldn’t worry about replacing theball valve for a gate valve on the syphon. A ball valve will work fine in most setups. Where a ball valvebecomes a issue is if u are only running low flow thru large pipe.

I see about 5 unions that u can get away with removing. The 4 that is on each side of the 90’s on the return & when u redo the syphon u will only end up with two instead of three on the syphon drain.

I would add one at the return pump & use a short piece of flex pvc or soft tubing for about the first foot coming from the return. I prefer flex pvc because it uses the same fittings as pvc, so u can glue it straight into the Union. If u decide to redo the returns, u can get away with removing about 4 of the 90’s u have on it. U can replace the first 90 coming from the return pump with a 45 & cut a hole in the stand so the pipe can run thru. Then u can turn the tee at a 45 degree Angie to accept the pvc coming from the first 45. The tee would have to move over to where it is straight in front of the return pump, so it would be more to one end of the stand instead of in the center. By doing that u will probably gain 100 gph or so from the return pump, maybe less maybe more depending on other things but it would make a difference.

 

[Oceanavekid]

Add more unions ?

Cleaned it up. Plumbing looks much better. I'm about to glue the pipe, do I just glue everywhere I can? I want to make sure I'm glueing it right so I don't get any leaks.

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[laverda]

If you used superflex (marine depot) you could eliminate most of your 90 degree fitings and have a lot less joints. I agree you have way more unions then needed.

 

[laverda]

If you used superflex (marine depot) you could eliminate most of your 90 degree fitings and have a lot less joints. I agree you have way more unions then needed. I would only use 3 myself One at the pump and one on each end of the return. If you used super flex pvc instead of rigid pvc there is no need for any other unions.

 

[Lsufan]

Every joint should be glued. The only thing I wouldn’t glue is the plumbing that is inside of the overflow box