"GULP" sound every 5-10 Seconds!

chrowski

New member
Hey all,
My overflow tube that leads to the sump makes a gulping noise pretty consistantly and it's annoying. It sounds like flipping a 2L soda bottle completely upside down and the bottle needs to take in the air. So here are some pics of what I'm talking about.
The sump while not making the noise:
SumpInlet1.jpg

The sump w/ bubble(which directly relates to gulp sound)
SumpInletBUBBLE.jpg

Look around the outside of the tube to see the bubbles

Next up, my overflow, a view from the side
OverFlowFromSide.jpg


Now, the overflow pipe in the previous pic's Air hole(which i think might not be big enough hense the problem)
AirHole.jpg


If it helps for size idea...my airhole is not big enough for a pencil to fit through....it might even be half the Diameter of a pencil.

How do I fix this gulping sound??
Thanks in advance,
--tom
 
It comes from air being trapped in the drain being pushed out through the bottom of the drain under water. You can either cut back flow or add a bubble extractor to your drain to let the air escape instead of being pushed underwater. You might also have a syphon being created and the onslaught of water is causing this. Make sure that your standpipe's hole is unclogged and clear of debris and salt. (It looks like it is)
 
I have had the same problem and was wondering what you meant by bubble extractor? My setup is just like the one in the pics. I had to put a ball valve on my return. To keep this repetetive sound from returning, I had to cut my return pump down by at least 40 percent. I'm sure chrowski would appreciate some help just as much as I would.

Thanks in advance..
 
but a valve on your return pump and cut down the flow a bit, once it slimes over in a few weeks you should be able to increase it back up a little
 
you can try inserting some tubing into the hole in the cap. you may need to have 5 or so inches inside the tube. just play with the amount and clip off the top so that not much sticks out the top.
 
Yeah, I saw the airline tubing idea but I really don't see what that accomplishes except extending the airhole a bit?
 
I use an airline and it just quiets it down a little more on mine, I had to throttle back my pump for a few weeks and it worked like a charm
 
Sounds like your pushing water down the drain faster than the air can escape. The water lvl in my overflow only barely goes over half way to up the side of the T. Yours is almost to the very top. I would try making the whole smaller so it's can't pull as much air into the drain or cut down on output of the return. JMO
 
chrowski,
the air line (I use RO line) draws air in below the water level. It is air that is making your sound. I'm not sure if it will solve your problem, but for 20 cents and 2 minutes, it's worth a shot
 
So, Page 2, 6th post down shows a guys bubble extractor...what I'm getting from this is its basically a 90º that goes two ways Up(gases) and down(water)
Is my understanding of this correct or am I missing something?
That is basically correct except I think of it more as a T than a 90º.

This is what I came up for mine. On the far left is a 3” pipe inside an acrylic bubble extractor the drain empties into. I combined <a href="http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=917381&highlight=bubble+extractor” target="_blank">Prugs Bubble Extractor</a> and <a href="http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=917381&highlight=bubble+extractor” target="_blank">Melev’s solution to Micro-Bubbles</a> into one to reduce bubbles and lower the noise.

This is dead silent and no bubbles:

06090604.jpg


Sump03.jpg


HTH

Jay
 
Hey all,
My Dad fixed the whole GULP sound plain and simple...He just stuck a PVC 90º elbow on the end of my into-sump tube and it was done...(low quality pictures, sorry)

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w227/chrowski/SumpInletElbow.jpg[IMG]

[IMG]http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w227/chrowski/SumpInletElbow2.jpg[IMG]

All done with this
[IMG]http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w227/chrowski/SumpElbow3.jpg[IMG]
 
SumpInletElbow2.jpg

SumpElbow3.jpg


i'm sure i'll still make a bubble extractor (thanks for the advice jmait769) but it's nice to not hear any noise right now
 
As i said, sorry for the HORRIBLE pictures but it's just a 90º crammed into the pipe to redirect the water and bubbles so the bubbles don't have a chance to build up and form the giants noise making bubbles
 
Back
Top