Overflow pipe size?

[Woodchuck12]

If I were to do the 3 pipe (beananimal?) overflow, what size of pipe should I use to get 700 gph of flow through a sump? Also, does it hurt a pump to put a ball valve on it to reduce its flow by as much as 1/3 even?

Thanks, Charlie

 

[Woodchuck12]

Anyone?

 

[stcharles_stl]

Not too sure on the pipe size, but choking back your pump with a ball valve can shorten the life of the pump and also cause the pump to create additional heat. That said, you can add a "T" before the ball valve allowing you to re-route the flow back into the sump. This way you can control the flow to your dt without stressing your return.

 

[sirreal63]

You can restrict the output of a magnetically driven pump with no damage or increased heat but you should never restrict the input side. This has been verified numerous times with a kill a watt meter and we have been doing this for many many years. It is a good practice to take advantage of the available flow that you are reducing and use it to power reactors or provide additional flow in the sump.

 

[lighthouze08]

i would say 1". i have it on my my tank and using a panworld 800gph pump with no problem

 

[Woodchuck12]

The main reason that I am asking about the pump, is that I got a Mag 18 assuming more flow was better and to do 1500 gph through the sump. I now know that this would not work as well, so I was hoping to reduce the flow without getting a new pump. I also will definitely be running a carbon reactor off of the return line. What else could I do or run to avoid overflowing my tank while maintaning a reasonable flow through the sump?

 

[sirreal63]

More flow through the sump is a bad assumption, you need enough for flow for surface skimming, any more than that is not as productive, I had to learn this the hard way and know I am not alone, the 5-10 times system volume is still a good general rule. Also unless you are running 1-1/2" plumbing on the return, you are not getting the 1800 gph you expect from the Mag18, a reduction in the recommended size results in significantly less flow from the pump. I hope that helps.

 

[Woodchuck12]

I have got it down to 764 gph on the head loss calculator. So, would 1 inch pipe work on the beananimal overflow setup?

 

[Saltydrip]

Why not go to 1 1/4"?

I would always go big on a gravity overflow system. If you open or close something buy accident and get a sudden burst of water into your display thank you want a drain that can take the rush. I'm not firmiliar with these setups. I'm a newb here but I have done lots of ponds and monster indoor tanks but they are always well drained at multiple points.

 

[greg0385]

I used 1.5inch. 2 drains and one return. Slightly mod bean animal setup. 2000gph pump

 

[Woodchuck12]

So just use bigger pipe such as 1.5 inch to avoid blockages?

 

[greg0385]

Im no expert by any means but i perfer it as it can drain alot under a syphon or as a regular drain it allow the water to slide down the sides and not interupt the central air column. My bean animal setup handles my 2000gph pump with a emergency drain as a backup(im running only two drains instead of three)

 

[Woodchuck12]

Because the beananimal setup uses a full siphon, would it be a problem to use bigger pipe that would let more water through than the 5-10 times tank volume recommended? Sorry if my questions seem repetitive or stupid. Thanks for all of the help! Charlie