Silent and Failsafe Overflow System

[GROSSR]

C2C is acrylic and I placed some silicone over the area that is leaking and after 30 minutes nothing is leaking. I have the whole C2C, make of acrylic sealed to the glass tank and I had 2 minor leaks. I understand acrylic and silicone don't "seal" together, but silicone does a good job.

If the seal ever breaks and I loose power, I will drop 8 gallon of water on the floor.

How else would you suggest I attach the C2C to the glass tank, other than getting glass cut to size?


rich

 

[budster.stig1]

They dont have 1.75 holesaws at lowes ace or hd i can get 2 or 1 3/8 or 1 1/4 what is my best bet and what bulkhead size will correspond?

Dangerwill:

You will need to order special "glass cutt" diamond bit hole saws in the sizes you require. You can not use standard hole saws purchased from the "Big Box" on glass, I don't think they sell diamond bit hole saws. You can find them at most speciality Fish stores on line, look up your bulk head size and they will reccomend the right hole saw size......................Gooooooooooood Luck!

 

[GROSSR]

ebay baby. Might take a while, but, they are cheap. 4.99 for a 1 and 3/4 inch diamond hole saw. did a great job. Did take 3 weeks to get to NJ.

rich

 

[Dangerwill]

Hd and lowes had pretty much every size diamond coated hole saw but the one i needed. Ordering 1 now but really wanted to get this thing wrapped up. I want my garage back!

 

[meegwell]

finally got my tank and had the drilling done per the template I shopped around here. I have one comment since I was considering drilling my own holes - that hole drilling machine used at teh LFS that suctions to the tank is sweet. We were able to stand there and talk while he just lowered the lever to drill the hole. I was thinking to myself jeeze, me with my DeWalt handheld drill would have been a much different situation than this. He mentioned he sees chips and scratches from were the bit danced across teh glass - I would definately recomend some sort of guide clamped down. Holes were perfect. He had a little ring that created a pool with vegatable oil in it. smooth.

I also built and attached my C2C with tinted glass this weekend. That went smooth also. I'll post some pics when I get it up on the stand. Thanks for all teh help here.

 

[reefermad619]

C2C is acrylic and I placed some silicone over the area that is leaking and after 30 minutes nothing is leaking. I have the whole C2C, make of acrylic sealed to the glass tank and I had 2 minor leaks. I understand acrylic and silicone don't "seal" together, but silicone does a good job.

If the seal ever breaks and I loose power, I will drop 8 gallon of water on the floor.

How else would you suggest I attach the C2C to the glass tank, other than getting glass cut to size?


rich

I built my overflow like a box with out a lid. Then cut holes in "box" to match holes in back wall of tank for drains. Use a generous amount of silicone to attach box to back wall of tank. Lots of silicone around the holes. Press firmly into place and attach bulkheads. Bulk heads go thru BOTH holes (holes in overflow and back wall of tank). When tightening the bulks this adds pressure to make sure overflow is nice and tight against glass. The silicone acts some what like an adhesive (especially if you're using RTV), but its mainly there to make here water doesn't get the holes of the bulks. This is the best way I've found to attach an acrylic overflow to a glass tank.

 

[uncleof6]

C2C is acrylic and I placed some silicone over the area that is leaking and after 30 minutes nothing is leaking. I have the whole C2C, make of acrylic sealed to the glass tank and I had 2 minor leaks. I understand acrylic and silicone don't "seal" together, but silicone does a good job.

If the seal ever breaks and I loose power, I will drop 8 gallon of water on the floor.

How else would you suggest I attach the C2C to the glass tank, other than getting glass cut to size?


rich

I was thinking of something else, disregard. As long as you mentioned it though, glass would be the best choice.

 

[Lavoisier]

I will have an external C2C (96" on a 500g), with the 2" returns coming up through the bottom of the box so I will run the elbows parallel to the back of the tank.

My question is (I could not find an answer on the thread or Beans website) does anyone know what the wideth of a 2" return would be (distance between the far side of the "T" and the opposite side of the 90 degree elbow)? I am asking so I can properly drill--distance between--the holes for the return.

 

[uncleof6]

Offhand, no. But I am certain, if I got the parts in my hands, and measured it, I would know. Seems a bit of homework is in order......

 

[Lavoisier]

Offhand, no. But I am certain, if I got the parts in my hands, and measured it, I would know. Seems a bit of homework is in order......

Cute. Same here! Getting the parts in hand will certainly come...I'm in the middle of my drawings and don't like to leave that detail uncertain.

Does anyone have a 2" BeanAnimal and can share the measurement? If not the hardware store must wait until tomorrow.

 

[BeanAnimal]

How else would you suggest I attach the C2C to the glass tank, other than getting glass cut to size?


rich

Getting glass cut

 

[BeanAnimal]

Cute. Same here! Getting the parts in hand will certainly come...I'm in the middle of my drawings and don't like to leave that detail uncertain.

Does anyone have a 2" BeanAnimal and can share the measurement? If not the hardware store must wait until tomorrow.

I would measure the actual parts in hand... Or at least run down to the hardware store with a tape measure. You could also consult any of the online pvc catalogs for dimensional detail (lasco, hayward, etc).

 

[BeanAnimal]

Dangerwill:

You will need to order special "glass cutt" diamond bit hole saws in the sizes you require. You can not use standard hole saws purchased from the "Big Box" on glass, I don't think they sell diamond bit hole saws. You can find them at most speciality Fish stores on line, look up your bulk head size and they will reccomend the right hole saw size......................Gooooooooooood Luck!

In fact HD and LOWES (at least locally) have been selling a few sizes of diamond holesaws. It may be because they stock more porcelain tile than they used to... who knows.

 

[Dangerwill]

Yea the bigboxs like lowes hd and ace had lots of smaller sizes 1 inch and smaller but no 1.75 so i ordered from brs and got it superfast for half the price

 

[GROSSR]

Bean, I figured as much and had Allegheny glass did the smoked glass. Assembling it now. Will make an attempt at it Sunday morning. I do need to cut the old overflow out.

What thickness glass did you use?

rich

 

[Lavoisier]

I would measure the actual parts in hand... Or at least run down to the hardware store with a tape measure. You could also consult any of the online pvc catalogs for dimensional detail (lasco, hayward, etc).

Yes, still have not been able to get to the hardware store but was able to look at some dimensional tables and it looks like between 7 to 9 inches. In any even I'll plan on 12" between circumferences to be on the safe side.

 

[dairelee]

I'm still having trouble holding the siphon after system shutdown/startup. When I shut down the system and turn my pumps back on, the open channel is taking most of the water. I have to "burp" the siphon channel to get the siphon going again. I'm wondering if I need bigger pumps. This is what I have:

- 240 display.
- 75 sump.
- (2) 1" returns.
- (3) 1.5" drains, all drilled at the same height.
- (2) Mag 9.5s as return pumps.

Would the size of the pumps matter?

Thanks

 

[GROSSR]

dairelee :

I had the two drains, not the emergency drain, all wide open. I started up my pump and when the C2C started, what a racket. This was continual. So I started to close down the drain, little by little, until I heard nothing. My second drain picked up the balance. Both of these drain into the same location of the sump, so I am not concerned how much is in each pipe as long as it is quiet.

You should not have to do anything once you have it balanced.

Will the tank overflow if you do nothing? Will it overflow or stay noisy? If it doesn't overflow and is noisy, how long have you waited for the gurgling?

In mine, on power up, it fills the C2C to the top and then when I think it is going to overflow one of the pipes fills up and sucks most of the water down into the sump and the sound of silence.

rich

 

[uncleof6]

I'm still having trouble holding the siphon after system shutdown/startup. When I shut down the system and turn my pumps back on, the open channel is taking most of the water. I have to "burp" the siphon channel to get the siphon going again. I'm wondering if I need bigger pumps. This is what I have:

- 240 display.
- 75 sump.
- (2) 1" returns.
- (3) 1.5" drains, all drilled at the same height.
- (2) Mag 9.5s as return pumps.

Would the size of the pumps matter?

Thanks

Look at your siphon drain line: What would keep the air from being purged from this line? (Horizontal runs, outlet too deep in the sump) Look at the air tube on the open channel: How high is the inlet to this tube above the siphon inlet, and the dry emergency inlet? Generally, starting issues are caused by the configuration, however I am seeing low flow rates with large pipe having issues. On the other hand, this system has a very wide bandwidth, as designed, which brings us right back to the configuration.

On the pumps: In terms of flow rate, you are not getting near what you could get out of them. They need 1.5" return hose/pipe to get any flow out of them. This is per Danner's instructions. On the efficiency side of things, one single properly sized pump and plumbing, would be more efficient than two undersized pumps, fighting the handicap of wrong size plumbing.

 

[racundra]

Hi everyone.

This is my first post on reefcentral... I am setting up 50 gallon DT with about 25 ish gallons in the sump and want something like 450 - 500 gph. I have read (most) of the posts here (there are quite a few!) but still have a few questions... I hope you can help!

I am planning on a c2c weir with the 3 drainlines made from 1" piping. The sump is about 7' away and about 4' below the display tank (it's in the garage).

Do I have to use tees at the back of the tank, or can I go straight to90 degree elbows? I understand about taking end caps off to be able to clean, but am struggling to find screwthreaded Ts and endcaps (I'm in the UK...). I take it the siphon will still work OK with just elbows. Won't it?

A few people have said that I should be using 1.25" piping to get the flow rate I want, but I am assuming that 1" will be fine for 500gph under full siphon.

Finally (for now...) will the siphon start OK with this long drain line to the sump?

Thanks for your help with this!

Noel