Having trouble doing the drain for Hammerhead pump.

Jeff000

Electrician
I have a 330g DT, it has three 2" drains.
I have the Hammer head restricted a bit otherwise it pumps more than my overflow can handle.

My drain plumbing doesn't go straight down due to the shape of my sump room, it goes down ~2', then 90's, goes about ~4', then 90's, goes about ~6', then 90's to a short spa-flex into the sump.

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I have tried different lengths of pipe, 90's on the pipes, T's on the pipes, 45's, had a pipe with lots of holes drilled in it.


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The 90 to spaflex into the sump isn't shown in the picture.

One of my issues is the little bubbles that come off the overflow I think, but there is just so much water moving it's seemingly impossible to avoid.


I originally had a single 2" up and over the edge of the tank, but the water velocity out of it was like the jet in a hot tub, so I split it into 3, although that doesn't effect the drain.


Any help would be great.
 
Shortly after coming out of the drains, i would convert the 1 inch pipe to either 1.5 or 2 inch pipes. that should help with the flow and bubbles, also i don't see the plumbing for inside of the overflow, you need to have a line with an airline in it.
are following this?
beanAnimal.jpg

i know you have a modified version, but you still need those durso's in the overflow.
 
Shortly after coming out of the drains, i would convert the 1 inch pipe to either 1.5 or 2 inch pipes. that should help with the flow and bubbles, also i don't see the plumbing for inside of the overflow, you need to have a line with an airline in it.
are following this?
beanAnimal.jpg

i know you have a modified version, but you still need those durso's in the overflow.

All pipes are 2"

It's an older picture, I have tried many different stand pipes, there is just so much water flowing that I can't seem to prevent air bubbles from getting into the siphon and messing it up.
 
I don't think you will ever be able to get a reliable siphon with the turns your drain lines must negotiate. Without standpipes it is a typical air/water drain and as such you will have to deal with bubbles in the sump. Limiting the flow to the DT will eventually cause less bubbles but once again the multiple turns would require a very slow flow rate to not create microbubbles.
 
If you are running the drain at a siphon, then how are you getting air into it? Is it running the overflow empty and then sucking air? Or is not getting the air out of the horizontal runs and goofing up? If this is a bean animal drain style I'm not seeing a gate valve in the drain to help stop the siphon from running the overflow empty. And getting the air out of the horizontal runs on a siphon is almost impossible.
 
If you are running the drain at a siphon, then how are you getting air into it? Is it running the overflow empty and then sucking air? Or is not getting the air out of the horizontal runs and goofing up? If this is a bean animal drain style I'm not seeing a gate valve in the drain to help stop the siphon from running the overflow empty. And getting the air out of the horizontal runs on a siphon is almost impossible.

It's getting air from the overflow as it goes over the weir, even if I make the level almost the same as the tank level there is just such a large volume of water that the bubbles from the weir are too much.
It'll siphon good for a minute and then out of the blue it'll get a few too many bubbles to keep the siphon and then it gargles till it equalizes.
 
Look up the bean animal drain system (basically whats in the picture posted above)

I have a Loooong run of drain piping just like yours and the syphon drain works just fine and can handle TONS of flow.

and its nice and quiet!
 
Have you tryed putting a 45* bend at the overflow then go a few more inches and put a second 45* bend? That should make the 90* bend smoother.
 
Right now I have a constant water running sound from the water going over the weir, I have a feeling I may have a little too much flow into the tank maybe?
Maybe the Barracuda might be a better pump choice over the hammerhead?

Couple updated pictures.
8577840673_a8a9e15e62_c.jpg

The T fitting on the right is just because I cut the fail safe pipe a little bit short for my new water level, and ran out of 2" pipe. if I plug the siphon (middle) it still doesn't change the water level in the tank.


8578945022_98deb1b629_c.jpg

The drains going into the tank, middle one with the valve to control the siphon.


Look up the bean animal drain system (basically whats in the picture posted above)

I have a Loooong run of drain piping just like yours and the syphon drain works just fine and can handle TONS of flow.

and its nice and quiet!

My flow is restricted to the ability of my weir to let water in. In hind sight I should have made it twice as long.


Have you tryed putting a 45* bend at the overflow then go a few more inches and put a second 45* bend? That should make the 90* bend smoother.

I'm not sure I understand. Not sure I have room in the overflow for it.
 
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It's hard for water to make a 90* turn. If you brake the 90* in half and make it longer ( more of sweeping bend) it makes it easyer on the water to make the bend. It should help maintain the flow and not back up on it self. So insted of doing a 90* put a 45* then put a short strait peace of pipe then your second 45* bend. That should alow the water to flow smoother in the bend. The more fall you can give your pipe the beter. I hope I made sensc. The funny thing is I do sewer work for a living.
 
It's getting air from the overflow as it goes over the weir, even if I make the level almost the same as the tank level there is just such a large volume of water that the bubbles from the weir are too much.
It'll siphon good for a minute and then out of the blue it'll get a few too many bubbles to keep the siphon and then it gargles till it equalizes.

It sounds like your overflow is to small to run that much flow over then. I hate to say it but you might need a longer overflow to help reduce the the speed the water has to flow over. In the pic it looks like its only around 14"-16" in lengh. The longer the overflow is the slower the water can go over it and help reduce the bubbles. But that doesn't look like an option to replace it with a longer overflow. So the only thing I can think of is to remove the teeth in the overflow to help.


Yay for phone not updating, I get repeat what has been said already.
 
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