Aqua Medic To Quick For Drain

[Big_Johnson_Pro]

my delima... my 2 drilled drains plumbed with 1" pvc can't drop enough water to keep up with my aquamedia OR3500 return pump. i did my research and 1" pvc gravity feed should be able to handle 3500L/H ish. when buying the pump i checked its head loss chart and at 1.5m i should be getting 2500L/H ish seems i have miss calculated something along the line.
Please Asist!

 

[qfrisco]

If I understand it correctly, your overflow is not fast enough to keep up with your return pump, right?

If so, you can install a tee or wye (better) on the output plumbing of your pump, basically splitting the output of your pump. A portion of your pump's output will then go back to your tank. The other portion, you can install a ball valve and have the output go back into your sump. You then use the ball valve to control how much flow goes back to your display.

Hope that makes sense - kinda brain dead after a long day.

 

[THE ROOK]

My 1" drain thru the bottom is only good for about 600gph max. I'm likely running about 450gph & it's pretty quiet.

I agree either wye it back to the sump or use a gate valve on the output to dial it back. Supposedly this will also reduce wattage & could extend the pump life.

 

[Big_Johnson_Pro]

sweet i shall try it. is a Y fitting for 1" pvc common? i live in australia. so i shop at bunnings lol. they only have tee's

 

[qfrisco]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14953716#post14953716 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Big_Johnson_Pro
sweet i shall try it. is a Y fitting for 1" pvc common? i live in australia. so i shop at bunnings lol. they only have tee's

You can use a tee if that's all that's available. Put the ball valve on the line that goes back to the tank. Closing that valve will cause more water to be diverted to the other output of the tee.

The key here is to prevent undue back-pressure on the pump, which could shorten its life. The tee and ball-valve combination allows you to reduce the amount of water going back to your display, but allow the pump to push the same amount of water.

Good luck!

 

[Big_Johnson_Pro]

thanks for your help. looks like i'm off to the hardware store tonight.