Overflow Noise

[rfdoc]

I recently setup a sump with an HOB overflow. The overflow sounded like a constant running urinal until I put the sponge in it that came with the unit. However you are not suppose to have sponges in reef tanks so I wanted this out, therefore I purchased an Aqua-Silencer. This magically took away all the noise from the HOB unit......and moved it to the hose draining down into the sump. Now it sounds like a running urinal again and I don't have any ideas left. The hose is also shaking a little bit which it wasn't doing before I put the aqua-silencer in place. Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

[snulma1]

try extending the hose and placing it underwater in your sump. This may get rid of your noise.

 

[rfdoc]

The hose is underwater, its about as far down as it can go without blocking the water's exit.

 

[OneReef]

Sometimes you have to play around with different things to get it right. You might try extending or shortening your hose, make your hose go at different angles (straight, curve, etc), try shortening you hose, I found that mine was quieter with it two inches into the water vs. 6". Everyones is different and will respond to different things. Just takes some fooling around.

 

[Avi]

I went through the same issue after silencing my hang-on overflows when I first set up my reef. This is what completely silenced them for me after someone here in RC helped me out with the problem....It's made out of simple PVC stuff that is available everywhere and it doesn't have to be glued....

 

[rfdoc]

Ok I'll try moving the hose around and if that doesn't work I'll try Avi's design. Thanks!

 

[papagimp]

rfdoc, you can have sponges, you just gotta stay on top of keeping them cleaned. Daily for optimal performance, but at least once a week minimum.

AVI, I like that idea with the "tee". may have to try that out for some different reasons My drainline outlet allow too many bubbles to reach the return pump (sump designed for one tank, added second tank to system, and it's just not working this way, need to redesign the entire sump)

 

[SSpiro]

My overflow is noisy too.. the sucking sound every 30-45 seconds from the outer box is what is noisy. The outer box will fill up, and then the draining catches up and it empties, sucking the water with it. Or at least this is how I can best describe.. lol.

 

[Avi]

Here's my take on this noise thing....When I first set up my 120-gallon reef with its two hang-on overflows, it made so much noise that it was really awful. I looked around here in RC for a way to effectively deal with it, though, it was so loud I actually thought that it might be impossible to quiet it down. People were really helpful and in short order I was able to completely silence both the overflows and the water-return to the sump. I believe that no matter how crazy loud the noise is, you shouldn't give up on having complete silence. We'll get you there some how.

 

[Sophie-G]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12023723#post12023723 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Avi
I went through the same issue after silencing my hang-on overflows when I first set up my reef. This is what completely silenced them for me after someone here in RC helped me out with the problem....It's made out of simple PVC stuff that is available everywhere and it doesn't have to be glued....

this really works well...I just did this on my 135 set up...

I made it larger...about a foot from the tee on both ends...and put it at an angle in my sump so the water slides into the sump and dosn't fall straight down...

cover the top section with something (and end cap with a hold for air the escapse)...this will also make it quieter...

for the sump...I put just smaller pipe in the drainage pipe on the back of the HOB and it worked good...

Does your overflow have a lid? if not cover it with a towel or something to make it quieter...

 

[Sophie-G]

Please note that the top of the tee should have an extension added to this diagram so it above the water line...

You need to do this to stop the gurgling...

P>S this is the same set up as a house plumbing system...notice the black abs pipes sticking into the air on your roof...those are the vent pipes for you plumbing...

Exactly the same principal

 

[rfdoc]

Does your overflow have a lid? if not cover it with a towel or something to make it quieter...

The overflow is not making the noise anymore, the water running through the drain hose is now. Also I noticed the water is going up and down slightly in my sump and in the overflow, does this mean the water is going through the drain hose too fast or too slow?

 

[proverbs308]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12025798#post12025798 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SSpiro
My overflow is noisy too.. the sucking sound every 30-45 seconds from the outer box is what is noisy. The outer box will fill up, and then the draining catches up and it empties, sucking the water with it. Or at least this is how I can best describe.. lol.

I just had this problem myself and figured that my U pipe was to short in the tanks side. As soon as I put a U pipe in there that was longer on this side it fixed the problem.

 

[SSpiro]

Well, my sucking sound isn't coming from the u-tube though. It's coming from the drain the outer box.. the pipe connection going to the sump..

 

[Tswifty]

You need to vent out the trapped air by creating a stand pipe like this... Mine did the same thing until I fabricated this out of PVC...

It sits in the overflow box, I used teflon tape to seal it in place so it doesn't move...

 

[SSpiro]

Interesting.. so (referencing the top picture), the bottom end goes into the connector leading to the sump, the middle "t" piece is where the water flows into, and the top is a vent?

 

[Tswifty]

Precisely

 

[Tswifty]

One thing I will caution... I made mine large enough so that the opening of the "T" touched the 2 corners of the inside of the box. I fit it extremely tight with the teflon tape, but did this as an added precaution just in case anything crazy would happen and the unit would tilt so that the "T" opening could not suction against the inside of the box and cause an overflow. That being said... I've never had a problem with it. Works great!

 

[SSpiro]

Very good. I'm going to try in a day or two.
THANKS!

 

[Tswifty]

Re: Overflow Noise

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12020813#post12020813 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rfdoc
I recently setup a sump with an HOB overflow. The overflow sounded like a constant running urinal until I put the sponge in it that came with the unit. However you are not suppose to have sponges in reef tanks so I wanted this out, therefore I purchased an Aqua-Silencer. This magically took away all the noise from the HOB unit......and moved it to the hose draining down into the sump. Now it sounds like a running urinal again and I don't have any ideas left. The hose is also shaking a little bit which it wasn't doing before I put the aqua-silencer in place. Any ideas would be appreciated.

You may be able to silence with smaller diameter tubing... Also, I've seen vents created where the water dumps into the sump... how many bends do you have in you drain line? This will also create more noise...