Schedule 80 drain plumbing

[Western_reefer]

Hey everyone, just wanted to share my sketches of my drain for my 120 gallon reef tank thats still in the works, its a straight drop from the display to the sump, the 1 inch is my main drain and the 3/4 inch is the emergency drain, the gate vavle is there to tune it so its dead silent what are your thoughts? Any ways of improving it? Am I missing anything? Ill be buying all the plumbing parts from bulk reef supply.

 

[jamie1981]

Looks like a good standard layout what kind of flow do you plan on running through it?

Also whats with all the threaded fittings then using thread to slip adapters?

Your far better off just using slip fittings, your a lot less likely to have leaks and it will be much cheaper...and cleaner looking

All the Sch 80 stuff really isn't necessary either, you could save a lot by using sch40 stuff with the standard black bulkheads.

 

[Western_reefer]

Not a crazy amount of flow, probably like 600 gpm plus or minus, almost maxing out the 1" gravity drain.. as for the thread to slip adapters, I just want to be able to reuse or be able to completely take apart the union, gate valve/the drain in general to be able to replace something or clean/soak in vinegar for maximum performance. I feel like that's better than to permanently glue everything and if I decide to change things up or switch something/something gets clogged, I won't be able to/will have to replace everything.. thoughts?

 

[Lsufan]

A 1” syphon can handle around 2,000gph give or take depending on the setup, not 600 gph. I would think about switching the syphon & emergency drain so the 3/4” is the syphon & the 1” emergency. A 3/4” syphon can handle the flow that u want. It’s always a good idea to use the smaller pipe as the syphon & the larger as the emergency. If u use the larger pipe for the main drain & it gets clogged the smaller emergency may not be able to handle the same amount of flow, so u have a flood.

I would maybe rethink using all of the threaded fittings. U can use a couple of unions Incase u ever want to change around the plumbing but the more threaded fittings u use the more chances of a leak occurring. If u have to take the plumbing apart chances are u will have to do so because it’s one of the threaded fittings leaking. I do a lot of plumbing so I have never had a issue with them, but if u decide to use them make sure u install them correctly so they don’t give u a bunch of issues.

Btw, I assume u plan on the main drain being a syphon being u are installing a valve. If u plan on air being in the drain like a durso, I would not install a valve on the drain line. A valve will dramatically raise the chances of a clog on a drain that isn’t a syphon.

 

[Western_reefer]

A 1" can handle 2,000 gph?? Never heard of that.. ive read and was told that 1" drain handles 600 gph gravity and 3/4" drain handles 400 gph??

 

[Lsufan]

Yes, a syphon can handle way more flow then a durso. The 600 gph that u read is a drain that has air in it like a durso. Being u are using schedule 80 those numbers would be a little lower.

 

[mcgyvr]

Why sch 80? Just the color?

 

[metasyntactic]

Is there a particular benefit to buying your plumbing from BRS? They're just reselling standard plumbing fittings at a markup. A gate valve shouldn't cost you more than $12 and a 1" union is more like $2-3. I mean, far be it from me to tell you where to get your stuff and maybe there's some benefit I just don't know of, but a rough estimate says you could probably save yourself $30-40 just off the valve, union, and bulkheads.

 

[mcgyvr]

Is there a particular benefit to buying your plumbing from BRS? They're just reselling standard plumbing fittings at a markup. A gate valve shouldn't cost you more than $12 and a 1" union is more like $2-3. I mean, far be it from me to tell you where to get your stuff and maybe there's some benefit I just don't know of, but a rough estimate says you could probably save yourself $30-40 just off the valve, union, and bulkheads.

No there isn't a special benefit from buying at BRS...
Nor is there any reason to use sch80 (other than color) and its more expensive than sch40..

 

[metasyntactic]

I just want to be able to reuse or be able to completely take apart the union, gate valve/the drain in general to be able to replace something or clean/soak in vinegar for maximum performance. I feel like that's better than to permanently glue everything and if I decide to change things up or switch something/something gets clogged, I won't be able to/will have to replace everything.. thoughts?

If that's your goal, don't use threaded fittings, use unions. I have no idea how you would unscrew your plumbing if you used threaded fittings. You've have to rotate the whole section of plumbing, and, as it was unscrewed, there would be pressure on your rubes as the threading pushed the tubes apart. If you use unions, you can just unscrew the unions without adding pressure to the system and the section will easily slide out. Threaded fittings just add cost and I don't think will work how you are envisioning. I suspect you'll find it very hard to unscrew a finished plumbing system without literally taking everything apart.

 

[ca1ore]

A 1" syphon can handle around 2,000gph give or take depending on the setup, not 600 gph. I would think about switching the syphon & emergency drain so the 3/4" is the syphon & the 1" emergency. A 3/4" syphon can handle the flow that u want. It's always a good idea to use the smaller pipe as the syphon & the larger as the emergency. If u use the larger pipe for the main drain & it gets clogged the smaller emergency may not be able to handle the same amount of flow, so u have a flood.

Exactly!

 

[Smiley28]

yeah like meta said unions will allow you to remove sections, clean, or change them pretty conveniently. Also I don’t see a check valve on the return.

 

[EvenFurther]

Also I don't see a check valve on the return.

Because he didn't sketch the return, only the drain plan. Check valves are not needed if the return and sump is designed to omit.

 

[homer1475]

Relying on a check valve is a flood waiting to happen. You should size your sump so the drain down can be handled without a flood or the need to rely on a check valve.



And I would agree with most of the above about sch 80 and BRS fittings. Although I will say their spears gate and ball valves, as well as unions are nothing like you will find in most big box or plumbing supply houses.



I used off the shelf big box store unions on my mixing station, they are no where near as easy to unscrew or as beefy as the ones I bought from BRS.