Silent and Failsafe Overflow System

[TheFishMan65]

IIRC upsizing will allow just a little more flow. Rather than being restricted the whole length of the pipe it will only be restricted at the bulkhead. I think it boils down to friction losses. So if it does not cost that much more or you are pushing a lot of water why not.

 

[aargh]

Teflon paste

Teflon paste

Is teflon paste better than teflon tape? If so, can anyone recommend a brand?

thanks,
Brian

 

[ukguy]

hmm well the sound of water pouring is back,

recap... 120g tank in 1st floor, sump in the basement (14feet of pipe),
1 ball valve 3ft above the sump,
Pipe submerged at both ends etc,
paste on the cap.

I'm not sure if I have a air leak (I Siliconed the outside of all the joints recently). I definately see micro bubbles in the basement sump.

I've used paste on the cap, and then siliconed the outside of the seal. The only thing not siliconed is the unions, is it possible to over tighten unions and cause a bad seal? mine are extremely tight (hand tightened, but still very tight)?

I'm almost ready to give up, I've redone the plumbing as per the recommendations in this thread, but getting it totally silent seem impossible.

 

[BeanAnimal]

Silicone on the outside of the plumbing really doesn't do anything

Are the bubbles coming from the siphon standpipe's discharge?

 

[ukguy]

Silicone on the outside of the plumbing really doesn't do anything

Are the bubbles coming from the siphon standpipe's discharge?

I was confident my joints were dry, but I'm getting paranoid lol

yes theres micro bubbles come out of the spihon standpipes discharge, I closed the valve down more, and opened up the valve on the open pipe, to try and slow the flow in the siphon but it didn't improve any.

need to take my unions apart and check them, but I've tighten them so much its a struggle to undo them. Wonder if I've over tighten them?

 

[chrishet]

Hi BeanAnimal...great thread and excellent support. I have gone through some of this thread but it is quite large so forgive me if this has been answered already....I have a 22 gallon nano, custom build, that I am considering for an overflow. My return will be about 400 gph. 1.5 inch drains seem quite large for my implementation, would you have a suggestion on a design? Thx!

 

[TheFishMan65]

Chris,

Check BeanAnimal.com. Bean had a chart the gave the flow with different head pressure. I would think 1 inch or maybe 3/4 would be enough. back some number of pages the chart is in this thread.

 

[scott26]

1" sounds good better then 3/4" since you might get some noise since the pipe would be such a small diameter cavatiaion might insue.

 

[chrishet]

I found the chart, Thx! By the looks of things I would be fine with 3/4 and given I will have a fairly slow rate (by design), I think I may give that a try...still in the decision phase however - my original design was to do an AIO but the added space would be nice. Thx!

 

[uncleof6]

The smaller the pipe the easier it is to stop up the drain. There are other considerations with pipe sizes.

Jim

 

[Wrench]

I came up with a few more questions-

I've got a tank with a drilled bottom and internal overflow box. What should I have on the ends of the pipes? I currently have an upturned 180* elbow on the siphon channel and a 90* elbow on the open channel.

How far below the top of the teeth on the overflow box should the tops of the drain pipes be?

 

[RocketSurgeon]

1" sounds good better then 3/4" since you might get some noise since the pipe would be such a small diameter cavatiaion might insue.

I would think you could run a 3/4" for the siphon, as long as it doesn't get clogged up, but you want the larger 2nd pipe to keep air in the middle. Also, a snail could easily clog a 3/4" pipe, that may not make much of a difference on a 1.5" pipe. The smaller the pipe, the more clog proof you would want to make it.

Perhaps, You could drill for the bigger bulkhead, and immediately reduce to smaller pipe. This allows freedom to return to the larger size if need be.

 

[Wrench]

I was able to get the system tuned up today and it's nearly silent. Just needs a bit of fine tuning.

Only problem I'm having is that the siphon wont start on it's own. I have to remove the elbow from the pipe then once the water starts flowing I can put it back and it will draw the air out. What should I change so the system starts on it's own?

 

[teesquare]

Make sure the exit for that pipe is not more than 1'' deep in the water, in your sump. This is measured at normal operating level.

T

 

[knight2255]

How would I best incorporate the beananimal system into a dual corner overflow tank(120g)?

 

[TheFishMan65]

You can't. The best you can do is the herbie method. Siphon and emergency. No open drain. Little harder to tune, but still quite.

 

[uncleof6]

well, yes and no. There are a couple options, though putting a herbie in one overflow, and blocking off the other would be a little simpler.

The overflows can be bridged, with a narrow weir, put the siphon in one overflow box, the open channel in the other, the emergency in one, and the return in the other.

Another option, is to put the siphon and open channel in one overflow box, and the return and dry emergency in the other. Water would need to be kept out of the second overflow, as there would be no water movement inside, and it would stagnate.

The grand plan would be to remove the corner overflows, plug the holes, and install a coast to coast. Drill and plumb out the back of the tank.

Jim

 

[RocketSurgeon]

If you separated the siphon and the open channel, there would be no stagnate water.

 

[TheFishMan65]

I misread the question. I read two holes in one corner. Rocket I don't think that will work since you could not use the valve balance the flow very well. The open would have to even with the top of the overflows which would also make the emergency hard to fit.

 

[RocketSurgeon]

well, yes and no.
The grand plan would be to remove the corner overflows, plug the holes, and install a coast to coast. Drill and plumb out the back of the tank.

Jim

+1