Silent and Failsafe Overflow System

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One final question for anyone who can answer.

I'm planning an external overflow on one short end of my aquarium. I will be using 1-1/2" plumbing throughout and would like to put the bulkheads in the floor of the overflow rather than the side.

As I have not been able to model this accuratly and as I don't have ready access to the pieces necessary, could someone please tell me how much space is needed from the extreme outside edge of the standpipe to the other extreme edge of the upturned/downturned elbow?

Thanks,
Steve
 
It's pretty darn close to 4". I didn't have one laying out that I could get an exact measurement on but I kinda eyeballed one that was already installed and yes, it's pretty darn close.
 
I just went and measured the 1.5" Sch 80 bulkhead I have, and it is 3" from the flat edge to the directly opposite flat edge.


On a related note, I was test fitting the street 90s with the bulkhead prior to drilling....and it occured to me that if I cut the slip part that goes into the bulkhead in half, I could save a little room in the overflow shelf....thoughts on this? Will this affect its ability to stay in place during operation?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12977037#post12977037 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by saltee dood
and it occured to me that if I cut the slip part that goes into the bulkhead in half, I could save a little room in the overflow shelf....thoughts on this? Will this affect its ability to stay in place during operation?

That is exactly how my intake elbows are setup. Just be aware that both the male and female portion of the fittings are tapered. Shortening the male portion will allow the fit to be a little lose. You could end up with air being drawn in around the elbow on the siphon standpipe... a few weeks of operation usually fixes this as "stuff" builds up.

Bean
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12977037#post12977037 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by saltee dood
I just went and measured the 1.5" Sch 80 bulkhead I have, and it is 3" from the flat edge to the directly opposite flat edge.

Maybe my eyeball is a little bit off. I'll have to try that again after work tonight. Now you got me curious.
 
OK - my eyeballs are off. And my typing as well. Not sure how my comment got mixed up into the quote above. At 6:15 am I guess I was still a bit sleepy.

At any rate, I went and eyeballed the bulkhead again. I've been eyeballing a 2" bulkhead, not a 1.5". And this time it appeas that the 2" is closer to about 3.5" in diameter.

I will assume that the diameter for the 1.5" is the 3" as someone else stated earlier.

I apologize if this confused anyone.
 
aquaticeco had the dimensions for a long time.. it appears that the links are broken on their new website (is it just me or do the get a new website every year or so).

I will try and post some dimensions sometime tomorrow when the fish are awake and I can get some measurements.

Bean
 
BeanAnimal - How did you cut the elbow that goes into the bulkhead? I tried to shorten one with a PVC pipecutter, but wound up breaking the elbow.
Thanks,
ken
 
A hacksaw or dremel will work just fine. I used the tablesaw, but would NOT recomend doing so unless you fully understand how stupid an idea it is and how easy it is to get VERY hurt unless you have the proper fence and/or miter gauge setup.
 
Thanks for the response. I wasn't going to mention it, but I tried a table saw first. I put the elbow on a piece of PVC pipe so I could handle it, and I also used a fence and push block. The first one turned out great, but the second taught me a valuable and painful safety lesson. I don't recommend this to anyone.
I'll try the dremmel tomorrow.
 
PVC tends to be "grabby" with the typical ATB tablesaw blade. I.E. the materail is soft and gets sucked into the blade. The blade also tends to grab the as the teeth come through the other side of the pipe. PVC is cast and is under a lot of stress. Cutting it releives the stress and the pipe will slightly distort, allowing it to relax into the blade, causing more grabbing... At some point it gets into a slight bind or gouges and chunks (or the who piece) become airborn.

The only way to do it right is to have it clamped firmly to a fixed position jig and push it through in one motion.
 
you might want to try turning your saw blade around backwards to cut plastic. Usually this will help relieve the "grabbing". Your best bet for ease of cutting is probably going to be either a bandsaw if you have one, or putting the piece in a bench vise and using a sawzall.
 
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