Harmonics

[casalt]

My return line has bad harmonics, submerged mag 7 with 3/4 pvc return straight up and a gate valve 10 inches over the the pump. would it be better to put the valve on the input opening in the sump. the gate valve is a slip fit ball with a red T handle. its closed about 10%. anybody have a fix for this or is it just the mag pump, if I open the valve 100% the harmonics lessen and the flow is too high. Help the hummmm is driving me crazier???

 

[funman1]

Mags are just plain noisy!!
That's why I ditched my closed loop that was drivin by a mag 5. The noise was just too much..
DO NOT put any flow restrictions (Valves) on the input of any pumps.. They are not designed to do this and will cause eatra heat, premature wear etc...

I LOVE my Quite One 3000 pump.. It's very quiet!

 

[casalt]

Thank you and my neighbors thank you ! finally got my return quiet ,tahts what made the pump so noticeable. tahnks Steve

 

[bored4long]

what did you do to fix it?

 

[P.Kelly]

I have a similar problem. I've opened my ball valve 100% and instead put the crappy filter material over the intake. After a few weeks it gums up a bit and reduces the flow to what I actually need.

 

[funman1]

umm so what did you do?
It looked like you already did not have any flow restrictions on the input?

Glad it's quite though!!

 

[edsimmons]

Get an Ehime pump for your return.

 

[casalt]

I think the ball valve causes the water to cazitate also. One new pump to be ordered I suppose.

 

[dots]

Mags do have some kind of "mouse pad" for them to solve this, John at Yourreef had mentioned it to me at one time.

 

[bored4long]

I have a brand new Eheim 1262 that I am not yet using that you are welcome to try. This way you can determine if its worth the upgrade without spending any $$.You can pick up in Roseville or get at the next meeting. Just let me know.

 

[casalt]

Thanks for offer, meetings are out for me for awhile as my shift is 11am to 11pm without OT....

 

[WarrenG]

You need to dampen the vibration that is transmitted through your PVC. Basically, you want to isolate vibration sources from rigid materials.

Get yourself some silicone tubing about 1" diameter and use as long a section of that on your outflow (and inflow too) as possible, a foot or so, and that will dramatically reduce the noise. Then take a couple of 4" pieces of that tubing and set your pump on it. My outflow mag pump actually hangs in my sump by the silicone tubing and there's almost no noise at all.

Carbon fiber is also a great vibration damper but the silicone will cost less.

For reducing the noise on my skimmer I put a 1/4" thick x 6" square piece of sorbothane rubber in a sealed zip-loc bag, and set my skimmer base on it.

For the inside walls of your cabinet there is some very effective sound absorbing foam available with an adhesive back.

McMastercarr has all of these items.

 

[casalt]

The pump ia already on a foam base , I might try the silicone though, I favored the pvc for its reliability to not leak. Touching the return line shows more vibrations after the ball valve. I ordered a quiet one pump already. Strange though that when its wide open its very quiet.

 

[WarrenG]

The 1" silicone tubing is very tough. You'd have to try hard just to puncture it. Foam like you find in a mouse pad is not as good as the sorbothane, and definitely not as good as suspending the pump by the tubing. I know because I've tried it.

 

[Quatro]

The mag 5 is much quieter. Eheim are soooo much better and quieter than mags tho. If interested I have a Eheim 1260 that would blow the Mag 7 away.

HTH.