Easy way to reduce noise in an overflow

[Engloid]

Well, I tried the method of putting a larger fitting on the drain side of an external overflow, and it didn't work out. It may be that I just couldn't find a fitting that was bery good for creating a vortex.

nonetheless, I went back to thinking about what was going on and how to solve it. I figure that even with a little vortex in a 1" pvc drain, the water flows in from all sides and creates a solid sheet of water from inside diameter to the center of the pipe....leaving no way for air to go in or out. So I figured maybe I could eleminate the vortex entirely and fix the problem. it worked!!

How did I do it? You're going to love this... I set a bioball on the top of the tube. I did notice that it made a difference in noise level, based on what direction I put it. I have the kind that's blue with round pins on both sides. if I put the pins straight up and down, it made it quiter, but when I turned them sideways, the noise completely went away.

 

[digidana]

wow, good thinking!

 

[TriMax]

Spencer

How do you plan to make any money off this hobby if you come up with ideas like that and then share them with everybody? Next thing you will be posting pics of your invention. Nice idea and for less than $100.

 

[Engloid]

One thing that brought me to this idea was that, contrary to popular belief, the fastest flow is NOT created by making a vortex. In fact, many industrial applications have pieces in the drain to prevent a vortex. Also, when I looked into the drain, I noticed that the water flowing over the edge of the pipe and towards the center sealed the entire cross-section of the pipe, making it hard to get air in or out of the pipe. I figured that if I could make water flow down on the inside surface of the pipe and leave the inside open, it would prevent the gurgling. I now have ZERO gurgling (from two 55's and a 125g in my living room). Of course, there is a little sound, such as some bubbles going up over the U pipe, but it's very quiet.

Nice idea and for less than $100.

WAY less than $100 :lol:

How do you plan to make any money off this hobby if you come up with ideas like that and then share them with everybody? Next thing you will be posting pics of your invention.

I'll take that as a request.
I wish I could make money off the hobby, then I could afford more of the goodies I want.



The first pic shows a bioball in a fitting that I used trying to make a larger diameter and create a vortex. It's a 1x2 bushing, I think. The second pic shows the bioball on another tank. It is directly on top of the 1" pipe. By rolling the bioball different directions, you can change the flow (sound) characteristics, so if it doesn't work immediately, roll it around a bit.

 

[dan3949]

Make sure you keep an eye on the bioball, it could easily get plugged with crud or algea over time.

 

[Engloid]

Yeah, I anticipate it to eventually. Many of these overflows have prefilters on that drain, but I found they clog up way too often, so I take them out.

The good thing is that even if it (or the bioball) gets clogged up, it will only stop flow. It won't cause a flood.

 

[omreardon]

I had the same problem but I cured it using a short length of airline tubing. I placed the end of the tubing into the drain and kept the other end up in the air, clipped to the top of the overflow box. It allowed the air to escape and the flow to become silent. Quick and cheap!

 

[Engloid]

I had the same problem but I cured it using a short length of airline tubing. I placed the end of the tubing into the drain and kept the other end up in the air, clipped to the top of the overflow box. It allowed the air to escape and the flow to become silent. Quick and cheap!

I tried that before the bioball, but couldn't get it to help. The airline method may be a bit touchy as to the depth and whether it ends on the side or middle of the pipe, and how it disrupts the natural vortex at the opening. I just couldn't get it to work as well as the theory I had in my head wanted it to. That's what got me to keep thinking of other ways.

Can you try the bioball and tell me whether it works, and if it was better or worse than the airline?

 

[iamwrasseman]

you can put a 90 on the tube and drill a 1/8" hole on the high side and that too will quiet things down .also the bio ball can get clogged with algae so be sure and cover the overflow so light doesn't get to it and that should help but it still can clog as it will become a strainer .
reduce flow also as many people have very oversized return pumps and that will be excessivly loud too .

 

[Engloid]

you can put a 90 on the tube and drill a 1/8" hole on the high side and that too will quiet things down .

I tried that too, and the bioball worked better. Maybe I'm odd, but none of the typical things worked and that's why I tried this one.

 

[omreardon]

Unfortunately I can't try the bioball since I sold the tank that the overflow was on. I'm now running a 24 gallon nanocube so no overflow box. I had heard about the bioball trick but didn't have any bioballs and did have some airline tubing. It wasn't really all that touchy, I just placed it in the fitting until the noise stopped and clipped it there.

Glad you found a method that works for you!

 

[iamwrasseman]

okay what will do the trick is two 90 fittings the first will slip over your pipe and the second will be a "street 90" which is made to go inside the first elbo and then point the second directly down and still drill the hole . silence

 

[cee]

There are actually many solutions, Stockman, Durso, variations on those two, and others. I'm a fan of Stockmans because I have snails in my overflow to keep diatom growth down and don't want a snail plugging up the works.

 

[iamwrasseman]

yupper cee, there are so many ways to skin a cat !

 

[Engloid]

yupper cee, there are so many ways to skin a cat !

Yes, the bad part is that I couldn't get it done with any other method. I probably am running a lot more flow through the overflow than they are rated for. That COULD be part of the problem and why I couldn't get the noise down with the other methods.

None of my tanks are "reef ready" or drilled and I run MagDrive 9.5's on them. I am planning sometime to upgrade to better pumps as I find good deals on them. I want to get away from a submersible, especially on my 125 SW tank, so I can keep the heat of the pump out of the water. You guys think the 9.5's put much heat into the water?

 

[cee]

Yes, the bad part is that I couldn't get it done with any other method. I probably am running a lot more flow through the overflow than they are rated for. That COULD be part of the problem and why I couldn't get the noise down with the other methods.

None of my tanks are "reef ready" or drilled and I run MagDrive 9.5's on them. I am planning sometime to upgrade to better pumps as I find good deals on them. I want to get away from a submersible, especially on my 125 SW tank, so I can keep the heat of the pump out of the water. You guys think the 9.5's put much heat into the water?

When I ran a Mag 9.5 submersed it put a TREMENDOUS amount of heat into the tank. To answer your question, absolutely.

 

[iamwrasseman]

most basic add on overflows are rated much lower than what a 9.5 will feed it so i would get a smaller pump or simply install a ball valve on the return to restrict it as that will also quiet things down ,
most are rated near 700 gal per hour and there is no reason to cycle water through at such a fast rate