Silent and Failsafe Overflow System

[BeanAnimal]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12282154#post12282154 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by EnderG60
Ok I havent seen any mention of it in the thread yet so I will ask.

how will this work with a wavebox?

my current plan is to have a large overflow box with said silent standpipe setup at one end of a peninsula...BUT at the same side as the overflow I want to put a wave box.

Im wondering how a 3/4" to 1/5" wave will effect the system.

The system MAY work with a wave box. The siphon would be set to NOT gurgle at the lowest flow periods and the open channel standpipe would handle the extra spillover from each wave. There is of course a point where it may not balance. This will take some trial and error, but I think you will be surprised at how wide the operating bandwidth is.

 

[melev]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12283124#post12283124 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BeanAnimal
I did not draw the valves, I downloaded them from the manufacturers website. I don't think I have the patience of skills to draw a valve with that much detail.

People keep mentioning "complication". There is really nothing at all complicated about the setup It is 3 standpipes, 1 with a ball valve and 1 with an airline fitting

Yes, it works like a dream. It is dead silent and I can sleep well knowing that my overflow will never cause a flood.

I'm pretty sure they are referring to your thread and your webpage. *jab* *jab* *poke* *taunt*

 

[BeanAnimal]

Its okay Marc... some of us just weren't meant to understand technical things. Would it help if I called it the "Model A" overflow

Honestly, is it that hard of a read? Does it need to be changed?

 

[melev]

If you want to slap some melev-style labels on your stuff, go for it. :lol:

I don't know. I never read it. I saw that, and scrolled down to "In Conclusion..." and it wasn't there. Which is why I asked for your melev-version last week.

 

[EnderG60]

hmm I see what you mean, just set the two syphons to be below the lowest point and set the open channel to just over the highest wave height. Sounds like it should work.

And wow I just realised I typed 1/5" instead of 1.5"...duh

 

[BeanAnimal]

BTW marc.. I did give your website a shameless plug on my links page.

 

[melev]

Oh no! Now the bandwidth will take a hit like never before.

 

[Beenalongtime79]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12283124#post12283124 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BeanAnimal
I did not draw the valves, I downloaded them from the manufacturers website. I don't think I have the patience of skills to draw a valve with that much detail.

People keep mentioning "complication". There is really nothing at all complicated about the setup It is 3 standpipes, 1 with a ball valve and 1 with an airline fitting

Yes, it works like a dream. It is dead silent and I can sleep well knowing that my overflow will never cause a flood.

I guess my wording was incorrect... it's not complicated, there are just a lot of standpipes to deal with! Haha

Peace of mind is priceless in this hobby! The only way this thing could flood is if you had a massive snail assault on all standpipes.... this of course would be the worst coincidence ever or a sign from above that reefing may not be your calling. Haha.

Peace,
John

 

[BeanAnimal]

Every shameless plug helps

Maybe one day I will find my site linked someplace on your site

I imagine it would look something like this:
www.beananimal.com (to wordy for me, but DIY nonetheless)

Anywa, I am working on getting some more actual photos of my setup posted here and on the website. I need a fisheye lens and taking photos of the equipment room is a good excuse to get one. I just can't decide if I should get a true lens or a screw on adaptor. Back in my skateboarding days, I had a fisheye adaptor and it did a pretty damn good job. Anyway I am struggling with a good workflow concept to get all of my photos from Nikon NEF into a useable format. I keep going back and forth between Nikon Capture and Lighroom and plane jane photoshop. I can't make up my mind.

I have also ordered the PCB boards for my DIY 2-part doser. They should be here in 10 days or so....

 

[BeanAnimal]

John...

the peace of mind is EXACTLY what I am all about these days. 2 weeks into having the tank setup, I left the RO/DI on and overflowed the sump. I left that Saturday morning at 6:30 AM to help my newly found fish friends move a club members 500, 225 and 150 to his new home. At 7:20 I got a nasty phone call from the warden. She rarely swears but in this instance my brand new friends heard the f-bomb stream from my cell phone several time. I just put $1500 worth of carpet in my newly remodeled home theater. It quickly became clear that I MUST create a fail-safe system or become a battered citizen who wished he DID NOT own an aquarium.

 

[Beenalongtime79]

Hehe Bean,

Seems that the warden showed no mercy that day on your poor soul.

I do like the redundancy of your overflow application and I too love redundant systems as well.

I use an auto-topoff with three floatswitches with a latching relay; two float switches for the relay and one float for backup. The biggest problem is I don't have two solenoids. I know I should get another solenoid in line or put it on a timer... I guess I'm just asking for trouble.

How'd your home theater fare? What projector are you using in the theater or are you using a plasma/LCD TV. I love the image size a projector can provide and they have dropped in price drastically within the last few years.

Peace,
John

 

[melev]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12283843#post12283843 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BeanAnimal
Every shameless plug helps

Maybe one day I will find my site linked someplace on your site

I imagine it would look something like this:
www.beananimal.com (to wordy for me, but DIY nonetheless)

Anywa, I am working on getting some more actual photos of my setup posted here and on the website. I need a fisheye lens and taking photos of the equipment room is a good excuse to get one. I just can't decide if I should get a true lens or a screw on adaptor. Back in my skateboarding days, I had a fisheye adaptor and it did a pretty damn good job. Anyway I am struggling with a good workflow concept to get all of my photos from Nikon NEF into a useable format. I keep going back and forth between Nikon Capture and Lighroom and plane jane photoshop. I can't make up my mind.

I have also ordered the PCB boards for my DIY 2-part doser. They should be here in 10 days or so....

Wow, I just look at a number of pages on your site. You need 70% more pictures and 60% less chatter to get the official Melev Seal of Approval. Not that you necessarily want or need it, but it's always fun to get it, right? No? Seriously?

I do know a venue that would be happy to mention your site.

 

[BeanAnimal]

John,

Only the corner of the new carpet got wet, the bulk of the water followed the floor through the office to the drain. That carpet is old and has yet to be replaced.

I have Dwin HD700 projector that has a dead power supply. It will cost $600 to fix and I am not willing to put that much into it, even if it did cost as much as a small car. The warden hates it anyway because it is so flippin huge. It is not worth more than $1500 or so these days so off to the scrap heap it goes. I also have a Hitachi RPTV (crt) that keeps losing vertical sync chips. I am tired of soldering on the beast and it is going to the scrap heap. I have been promised a Sony or Optoma DLP projector by a family member. I just have to wait until they arrive and he decides which one he does NOT want to keep. I am not a plasma fan at all...

Speakers and Electronics are coverd. I have Mirage Omni Polar speakers driven by Bob Carver Sunfire components. I suppose I need to post photos on my website someday...

Melev... I am crushed. You don't like my site What venue did you have in mind webpagesthatsuck.com?

 

[melev]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12285499#post12285499 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BeanAnimal
Melev... I am crushed. You don't like my site What venue did you have in mind webpagesthatsuck.com?

Maybe I'm just cranky because of no sleep in 38 hours. My other venue is a good one that others are aware of. I already made note to include your site, and after I get some rest I'll look at it more closely.

I know you are detail oriented. Don't be crushed; I'm overwhelmed but what I saw today. It's all good.

 

[BeanAnimal]

I had more than my share of 40+ hour shifts in the mining industry over the years. One of the reasons I no longer work in the industry... 16 hour shifts for weeks or months on end with no day off were normal in my line of work. By the time you got out, got showered, got some grub and back to the hotel you only had a few hours to sleep and then back to work. It was like groundhog day.

Honestly... not crushed at all. I appreciate input from the perspective of others who are also technical minded and detail oriented. I have not worked with anybody on my site so input from the outside is certainly needed.

Get some sleep

 

[gkyle]

What an excellent design! I have "reef ready" tank with two towers that have 1" drains and 3/4" returns at the bottom. I'm currently using the stock durso-style drain kit, but I have my return pump throttled at least 60% to keep from overflowing the tank. I also run a Tunze wavebox and am right on the edge with regards to water height.

Since I don't have the long overflow box shown here, would the design work just as well if I could drill those three holes behind my existing towers? The water level would be very deep below the elbows, but would that matter? If I can go this route, I would probably just cap off the existing drain holes. I have a Reeflo Hammerhead pushing up from a basement sump and would really like much more flow.

Thanks!

 

[BeanAnimal]

In simple terms, the design will only work with a "single" overflow box. If you split the components between the two boxes, then the open channel and siphon standpipes will NOT work in conjuction with each other.

That said, you could setup the boxes as follows:

3/4 Drain as SIPHON
1" drain as OPEN CHANNEL
(you could try it the other way, but the 3/4" as the open channel may be noisy. However, the 1" as a siphon will certainly handle more flow).

Anyway, do that in BOTH overflow boxes. You could drill the emergency drain into one (or both) of the boxes OR the back of the tank.

I hope that helps

 

[gkyle]

Helps very much! Thank you

 

[gkyle]

Sorry, I do have a couple of follow-up questions. I'm assuming that since I'll be using the existing boxes that are drilled at the bottom, I would just create the open channel and siphon pipes by creating an inverted "U" shape at the water line? If I'm using all 4 existing holes as the siphon and open channel, should the new hole for the emergency drain be larger, say 1.25 or so? I envision a basic 1.25 bulkhead with an upward-facing 90 on the inside of the tank for the emergency drain, correct?

Also, in order for the siphon to work, do all 5 lines (in this case) need to run individually to the sump and terminate below the water line? Right now I have a 2" flex pvc running for the drains (30' run to basement) and 1.5 flex pvc for the returns. I split them off with Y fittings under the tank to the 1.0 and 3/4 sizes needed.

I really appreciate the help!

 

[BeanAnimal]

Is your system noisy now?

As I understand your problem, you can not get the desired flow from the drain system. A siphon will certainly improve that. However 30' is a long way... Maybe use the 2" flex for siphons and add a 3rd 2" flex and combine both open channels into it.

Yes, the full siphon pipes would have downward facing intakes. The open channel standpipes can be topless in this case, or can be "durso" or "stockman" types. Because they are "internal" you do not need the fail-safe air hose. If the water in overflow box rises too high it will block the air intake and turn the open channel pipes into siphons.

The emergency overflow (if you decide to use it) should be at least 1". It will certainly not hurt to go larger.

I am sure that many people will make the arguement that you do NOT need the 5th standpipe because you will be running (2) open channel standpipes and therefore have a good deal of headroom. You would be running (2) "herbie" overflows. I may even agree that it would be sufficient, but would test it to make sure that the setup could handle any (2) standpipes being blocked and still function without a flood.