Silent and Failsafe Overflow System

[BeanAnimal]

you have any suggestion Beananimal ?

I will attempt to respond this afternoon, but wow that is a lot of questions and at a glance, I am not quite sure what exactly you are trying to do.

 

[Kingfisher1980]

Ok, I'm about to go drill this tank.

Before I do, I want to make sure I drill at the appropriate height.

I will likely be doing a coast to coast weir.
The tank is a 40 Breeder.
The bulkheads and all drain plumbing are 1"
The return bulkhead and plumbing are 3/4"

The trim on the tank is 1-3/4" tall. The top of my weir will sit 1/2" inch above the BOTTOM of the trim for asthetic purposes.

So my question is: How far down from the bottom of the trim (1/2" below the water level) should the centers of my holes be?

From reading back some (it would take forever to read this entire thread) I see mention of drilling two times the diameter of the bit size down from the edge of the tank. This seems a bit far to me.

Also, does it matter how far apart I space the holes? Meaning will it have any impact on how the overflow operates? The reason I ask, I have basically the entire length of the back of the tank to work with. I know they can be placed too closely together. Can they be spaced too far apart?

 

[uncleof6]

Uncle has posted a drawing several times in this thread, but I don't have a link off-hand. Maybe I can whip one up this weekend and ad it to the site.

 

[uncleof6]

Ok, I'm about to go drill this tank.

Before I do, I want to make sure I drill at the appropriate height.

I will likely be doing a coast to coast weir.
The tank is a 40 Breeder.
The bulkheads and all drain plumbing are 1"
The return bulkhead and plumbing are 3/4"

The trim on the tank is 1-3/4" tall. The top of my weir will sit 1/2" inch above the BOTTOM of the trim for asthetic purposes.

Set the top of the weir even with the trim on the outside. Aesthetically, the water line will always be hidden by the trim. That extra 1/2" up will limit your wiggle room or "overhead."

So my question is: How far down from the bottom of the trim (1/2" below the water level) should the centers of my holes be?

From reading back some (it would take forever to read this entire thread) I see mention of drilling two times the diameter of the bit size down from the edge of the tank. This seems a bit far to me.

Most frequently asked question... see drawing in previous post.

Also, does it matter how far apart I space the holes? Meaning will it have any impact on how the overflow operates? The reason I ask, I have basically the entire length of the back of the tank to work with. I know they can be placed too closely together. Can they be spaced too far apart?

Functionally it makes no difference. However the further they are spread apart, the harder it is to get them into the same section of the sump, without very different configurations for each drain line. You want them to terminate in the same section, and you want the configurations to be very close to identical if not exactly identical.

 

[Kingfisher1980]

Thanks uncle. I just made my template before reading this. Do you think this is close enough to get me by?

Hopefully the picture attaches.

 

[uncleof6]

I have no idea what part that is.... or how it fits the rest of the system.

It is acrylic, so hole spacing requirements are simply good practice, not necessarily a requirement.

 

[Kingfisher1980]

That is the guide I will use to keep the bit in place. It will be clamped to the back of the tank right against the trim.

 

[Kingfisher1980]

Like this

 

[Twistofer]

It actually does make a difference how close they are. Rule of thumb, according to my research is that they be placed at least one hole diameter apart, edge-to-edge.

 

[Kingfisher1980]

All done drilling! What do you think?

Couple more questions regarding this setup.

1. How tall do the stand pipes above the T fittings need to be?

2. Do I even need a T fitting on the emergency pipe?

3. Should I use these low profile strainers or do you think they will interfere with the BAs operation?

 

[sleepydoc]

All done drilling! What do you think?

Couple more questions regarding this setup.

1. How tall do the stand pipes above the T fittings need to be?

2. Do I even need a T fitting on the emergency pipe?

3. Should I use these low profile strainers or do you think they will interfere with the BAs operation?

Looks good, but it ultimately depends on the overflow box. How much flow are you aiming for?

1. The standpipes can be as tall or short as you want them, the only purpose the Tee serves is to serve as access to clean the pipes.

2. See #1

3. Those strainers very well may cause problems. I would take them off.

 

[Kingfisher1980]

Thanks everyone for the help!

One final question. All of the plumbing is slip fit..... Do I need to glue everything together? I mean if I glue the T fittings into the bulkheads.... That's it I can never take it apart again. Seems risky!

 

[sleepydoc]

What's riskier - never being able to take it apart, or the Tee coming off of the bulkhead one morning right after you leave for work?

The only fittings that don't need to be glued are those that can come loose and/or leak without a problem. If you truly want t he ability to take apart the plumbing, get threaded bulkheads. IME, you rarely need to take apart your plumbing unless you are moving the tank completely. In that case, you generally need to replumb the tank anyway. PVC and bulkheads are relatively cheap, and glued fittings are more secure and less prone to leaking than threaded fittings.

Unions are a great option if there are specific areas you want to be able to disassemble or need the ability to rotate/adjust.

Re: the elbows inside the overflow, those potentially can be fit snugly without gluing. Some people have reported problems with air bubbles getting sucked into the siphon line, so I would consider gluing this one at a minimum. It doesn't really matter if a bit of air leaks into the open channel and emergency drains.

 

[Twistofer]

what's riskier - never being able to take it apart, or the tee coming off of the bulkhead one morning right after you leave for work?

The only fittings that don't need to be glued are those that can come loose and/or leak without a problem. If you truly want t he ability to take apart the plumbing, get threaded bulkheads. Ime, you rarely need to take apart your plumbing unless you are moving the tank completely. In that case, you generally need to replumb the tank anyway. Pvc and bulkheads are relatively cheap, and glued fittings are more secure and less prone to leaking than threaded fittings.

Unions are a great option if there are specific areas you want to be able to disassemble or need the ability to rotate/adjust.

Re: The elbows inside the overflow, those potentially can be fit snugly without gluing. Some people have reported problems with air bubbles getting sucked into the siphon line, so i would consider gluing this one at a minimum. It doesn't really matter if a bit of air leaks into the open channel and emergency drains.

+1

 

[Kingfisher1980]

Thanks again.

I failed to answer your question about flow though.

I will be using an eco plus 633 for my return pump. It is rated at just under 600 gph. So I expect to see closer to 400. Which would be 10x turnover. It's a 40B with a 20L sump. My overflow box I haven't quite decided on just yet. I was thinking coast to coast, however..... Once assembled they are nearly impossible to get into place. So I may just do 30"L x 3"D x 4"T.

If that helps at all.

 

[dickwhitehead]

Re: the elbows inside the overflow, those potentially can be fit snugly without gluing. Some people have reported problems with air bubbles getting sucked into the siphon line, so I would consider gluing this one at a minimum. It doesn't really matter if a bit of air leaks into the open channel and emergency drains.

I have an internal coast to coast and then went the bean animal route. I did not glue the elbows inside the overflow and have not had any issues with air bubbles. If you did develop air bubbles, you could always use tape and twist the elbow into place tightly.

 

[sleepydoc]

I have an internal coast to coast and then went the bean animal route. I did not glue the elbows inside the overflow and have not had any issues with air bubbles. If you did develop air bubbles, you could always use tape and twist the elbow into place tightly.

It depends on how snugly the elbows fit into the bulkhead, what the flow is, how big of a drop there is on the siphon to create a negative suction at the top, etc.

You could also use pipe thread sealant to get a better seal; it might work, might not. Either way, the worst that will happen is you get some bubbles in your siphon from air entrainment making it less-than-silent.

Realistically, after it's set up and running you don't need to take them out, so it's probably worth gluing the siphon elbow up front.

 

[adova]

Hey guys -

My BeanAnimal setup has been running for about a month and a half. I shut the system down last night for a few hours and when I started back up, the overflow water level was about 2 - 3 inches lower than normal. I have shut down the system before several times and it always stabilized at a particular level.

No big deal to adjust again, but I was wondering what factors could cause the change?

Thanks...

 

[sleepydoc]

Something got flushed out of the pipe when you started it back up? How long did you wait for it to stabilize?

 

[adova]

It's been 24 hrs since I started it up and I have not adjusted yet. Not sure what could have been cleared. There are no animals in the tank yet - just cycling...