Break siphon return pump

Drill a hole in the PVC pipe with a drill.
Or you can use a T connector and have one output just at the water level.
 
Just use a 1/8" drill bit and drill a hole in the return lines at the water line. Does not have to be big. Just enough to let air into the line to break the siphon.
 
best to have it under the water surface. Or else it sounds like a waterfall

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Laws of physics don't wear out. Mechanical components do.

Drill a hole in the return, near the waterline, and pointed down.
 
Drill a hole just below the water line (1/2" or so). I've got two 1" returns and I drilled a 3/16" hole in each of them. I tried to drill them where they weren't under direct light also, so algae wouldn't grow in them and potentially clog them. It's been two years now and they work like a champ every time the power goes out or I shut off the return pump.

Also, drilling a hole is free. :)
 
Holes get clogged, things grow on valve seats.

Placing the outlet at/near the water surface ensures that if a siphon tries to start that it pulls air immediately.

The single best solution is to have enough volume in the sump to accept all the water that gets siphoned out of the tank until the siphon stops because the outlet to the tank pulled air instead of water. This is the only true fail-safe solution.
 
Breadman03 said:
Laws of physics don't wear out. Mechanical components do.

Drill a hole in the return, near the waterline, and pointed down.
Click to expand...

Drilling a hole will work, but that can fail too.
It can get clogged with debris or a snail can park itself over the opening, both of which I've seen happen.

Like anything there should be a backup to you first method.

Drill a hole and use a mechanical solenoid valve or check valve (spring loaded or gravity).

The Electric Solenoid Valve is not that expensive.
I got a 1/2" valve for $38.
 
Sacohen said:
Drilling a hole will work, but that can fail too.
It can get clogged with debris or a snail can park itself over the opening, both of which I've seen happen.

Like anything there should be a backup to you first method.

Drill a hole and use a mechanical solenoid valve or check valve (spring loaded or gravity).

The Electric Solenoid Valve is not that expensive.
I got a 1/2" valve for $38.
Click to expand...

or drill the hole and place the return loc line higher in the tank, near the surface. If the siphon hole is clogged, the Locline will break siphon as soon as it sucks in air. 2 fail safe and $0 spent.

Measure your sump to handle all the siphon water is the only SURE way of preventing siphon flood

Your logic will require a 3rd fail safe.. what happens if siphon is blocked and your valve fails..
 
m0nkie chances of that happening are slim.
Besides if you spend time maintaining your tank neither of them should fail.

What happens if the hole is clogged, solenoid fails and your ATO goes crazy and your sump is filled higher than it is supposed to be and there is not enough room in the sump to handle the backflow from the tank?
 
see now we are going into 4th, 5th fail safe.. which all comes down to sump size. I made sure my sump is big enough to handle the 1" of extra siphon water from my DT and all my ATO water.

I agree proper maintenance is required to keep all things functional.
 
A solenoid is the most likely to fail followed by a one way valve. The most reliable of these is a hole drilled in the return line.

The foolproof option is to have your return just under the water line.
 
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