Silent and Failsafe Overflow System

[batman3n1]

Uncleof6

You said you run the wiers one inch below the top edge on rimless tanks. You also said to drill 2-3/4" from the top edge. My tank has the plastic rim. Does all that still apply?

 

[ojonas81]

Does all three drains have to be the same size or could I have the full siphon 1.5" and the other two 1" or even 3/4"? I may have to save some space in my overflow.

 

[uncleof6]

Uncleof6

You said you run the wiers one inch below the top edge on rimless tanks. You also said to drill 2-3/4" from the top edge. My tank has the plastic rim. Does all that still apply?

2 3/4" down from the top edge of the glass, to the center of the hole. The top edge of the glass is the same point in all tanks. It is universal. The top edge of the trim on a rimmed tank, is ~ a half inch above that...

2 3/4" is the minimum distance, and applies only to 1" bulkheads (1.75" hole). Larger bulkheads need to be further down. You are looking for around a 1" or so drop from the resting water level in the tank to the water level in the overflow.

 

[browning_boy20]

It appears you have a horizontal run in addition to the 45 on the open channel and siphon line. That can cause issues.

Normally the siphon channel and open channel take water initially with the siphon picking up more flow as air is purged from the lines until flow down the open channel slows to a trickle. Depending on the flow and drain sizes the emergency may be triggered before the system stabilizes, which can take several minutes.

I am plumbing my 8ft 350 gallon tank and was curious how to run the plumbing without a horizontal run. My overflow is in the center of my 8ft tank and where I am placing my sump is on the far end of the stand. It looks like I will have to have a 2.5 - 3 ft horizontal run to make it to the end of my sump. Is that going to cause an issue? I also plan to have my ball valves right above where its dumping in to the first chamber of the sump instead of right under the sanitary tees. Is this gonna work?

 

[browning_boy20]

Anyone have any input? I know thats a small horizontal run but I dont know how else to do it.

 

[BeanAnimal]

Horizontal runs tend to become easily vapor locked during startup. Why no tangle the pipes on a 45 toward the sump?

 

[BeanAnimal]

Does all three drains have to be the same size or could I have the full siphon 1.5" and the other two 1" or even 3/4"? I may have to save some space in my overflow.

They do not have to be the same size, but the siphon standpipe should be the smallest, and the emergency at least the same size. The open channel needs to be the largest....

Depending on your proposed flow, downsizing can cause some issues. The design works well as published. Making changes is possible, but most folks that venture out on their own end up having problems.

 

[browning_boy20]

I am going to have to play with the 45's to see if I can make it work. Worst case I guess I can go with flex pvc. Thanks for the response.

 

[smb2415]

-- Getting ready to drill --- double checking layout ---
I originally posted my tank info, layout, and questions on page 238 & 234 starting at post #5824 and am now ready to drill for 2" sch80 bulkheads.

My questions are:
1) Have I correctly determined the tank and overflow water levels?
2) Did I leave enough "headroom" at the top of the tank?
3) Should I move the holes up or down?
4) Did I place the holes correctly to allow for proper operation and more importantly safe drilling?
5) Is the internal coast-to-coast overflow box properly sized?
6) Did I miss anything in regards to layout, sizing, placement?

I did not show/display but do have the proper external plumbing to connect to the bulkheads and in tank fittings

Thank you in advance!! Your help has been invaluable!

Shane

http://<a href="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/801/slide2kj.jpg/" target="_blank"><img src="http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/801/slide2kj.jpg" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us" border="0"/></a>
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[RJS8540]

Is there any problem with using flex line from the bottom of my shut off's to the sump?

 

[dirtycontour]

I just want to thank everyone who pitched in on this thread and especially Beananimal for sharing your idea with everyone. I got mine up and running a couple days ago and I already love it. It's so quiet, I find myself checking to make sure everything is running.:thumbsup:

 

[uncleof6]

Is there any problem with using flex line from the bottom of my shut off's to the sump?

Other than flex looks sloppy as all get out, not really any problem. It isn't going to improve performance significantly either, if at all.

 

[uncleof6]

-- Getting ready to drill --- double checking layout ---
I originally posted my tank info, layout, and questions on page 238 & 234 starting at post #5824 and am now ready to drill for 2" sch80 bulkheads.

My questions are:
1) Have I correctly determined the tank and overflow water levels?
2) Did I leave enough "headroom" at the top of the tank?
3) Should I move the holes up or down?
4) Did I place the holes correctly to allow for proper operation and more importantly safe drilling?
5) Is the internal coast-to-coast overflow box properly sized?
6) Did I miss anything in regards to layout, sizing, placement?

I did not show/display but do have the proper external plumbing to connect to the bulkheads and in tank fittings

Thank you in advance!! Your help has been invaluable!

Shane

1) & 2)Water level in the tank does not need to be that low. 1" from top is plenty. Water level in the overflow will be around the top of the downturned elbow.

3) I would move them down a quarter inch, maybe a half inch. Not so great using absolute minimums with hole placement.

4) Yes. A little more, as I stated above, gives some wiggle room--margin for error.

5) With a euro, no matter what, it will be quite difficult to get to the elbows for service, or to get them installed in the first place. C2C overflows are not euro-brace friendly.

6) Don't know, I am not building the system.

 

[Mr_N1ce]

Hi everyone

I have a question concerning the measurements of bulkheads. Since I'm from germany, stores here don't label the measurements in inches but in cm or mm.
The standard design on page 1 uses 1inch bulkheads. 1 inch would be about 25mm - There is a bulkhead that is sold here as a '25mm' bulkhead which needs a hole of about 35mm or 1.38 inches.
But in the designs I found in this thread, the holes in for the bulkheads are usually 1 3/4" or 45mm, which is needed for a '32mm' or 1 1/4" bulkhead.

I hope someone can help me with the conversion from inches to mm.

 

[Doug864]

mm divided by 25.4 = inches
inches multiplied by 25.4 = mm
Hope this helps,
Doug

 

[Mr_N1ce]

Hi Doug. As I wrote in my post, I know in general, that one inch is about 25mm. My issue is that the definition of a standard 1"bulkhead which most people use in this thread doesn't seem to translate to a 25mm bulkhead sold here in Germany. That's why I'm asking for the exact measurements in mm of the 1" bulkhead used by bean animal.

 

[kabe87]

:sad2:

I wish I saw this post before I made my tank :deadhorse1:

Anyways to all experts out there, let me first thank you for the good design and help you provide!

I have couple of questions if you don't mind answering

My tank has a side overflow box and its drilled in the bottom (4 3/4" holes) can this system work with 4 drains? Also if the hole is 3/4" but I make the drain pipe and the suction pipe 1'' will the flow differ any?

 

[kabe87]

Hi Doug. As I wrote in my post, I know in general, that one inch is about 25mm. My issue is that the definition of a standard 1"bulkhead which most people use in this thread doesn't seem to translate to a 25mm bulkhead sold here in Germany. That's why I'm asking for the exact measurements in mm of the 1" bulkhead used by bean animal.

1"= 25mm

 

[uncleof6]

1"= 25mm

No. 1" = 25.4mm. 25mm < 1". The parts are not interchangeable, and there is no point trying to convert between the two. Use one or the other.

 

[kabe87]

Thought the .4mm wouldn't be of any use. Sorry