Siphon Stopper - Not working?

travis32

New member
Last night I found union on my plumbing that was leaking. It's intermittently caused problems, so decided to replace it. It was on one of my two return lines that I split with a PVC T at the return pump (external Hammerhead pump).

I went to shut everything down (which I had done in the past) Waited for the sump to finish filling up to the max line.... It kept going and going, and before I knew it, it was flooding. I turned the return pump back on and tried to figure out why it kept back filling.

I did the same process, waited for the sump to empty, then shut everything down. I then went to the tank and listened for the back flow. Discovered that it was back flowing through my return lines. I have two 3/4" bulkheads that the return lines are on. I saw water back flowing from both. I could also hear air out the top of the siphon stopper fixtures. I moved them around, tried cleaning them. Just heard a wheezing sound, but water kept back flowing.

I then put my finger into the return outlet and felt the water being sucked through it, heard more wheezing noises and then some gurgling then it stopped. I did the same with the other outlet and it stopped flowing as well.

I was able to replace the plumbing without the sump over flowing and then turned everything back on. I lowered my auto top off float switches some in light of the recent overflows. However, umm... I need the siphon stoppers on the spigots to actually work....

I have the return lines, T'd off the manifold one is 1.5" PVC about 3 feet from the tank then I use a Bushing to reduce it down to 3/4" and convert to tubing the rest of the way. The other return line is T'd off from 1.5" to 1" with a PVC T down converter. Then a bushing from 1" to 3/4" to convert to the tubing about 6 feet from the tank.

Any suggestions on how to avoid 100 plus gallons flooding my house in the event of a power outage. Short of Manually siphoning the tank down to the bottom of the return spiggots. (The tops of them are mostly above water. on the siphon stopper part. Water line comes up to the threads of the siphon stoppers.) I'm thinking not enough air is getting into the return line to break the siphon....

I'm not sure how to fix that though.
 
Just put a 1", or whatever size your return is before the T, transparent swing check valve in line.
Get one with the union threaded ends so you can take it apart once a year and clean it.
Also get the transparent clear one so you can see if it's not functioning or something is stuck in it.

I never have problems with mine and when you shut that pump off it will slam shut so hard from the pressure that it doesn't let a drop of water through.
 
siphon stoppers

siphon stoppers

Just put a 1", or whatever size your return is before the T, transparent swing check valve in line.
Get one with the union threaded ends so you can take it apart once a year and clean it.
Also get the transparent clear one so you can see if it's not functioning or something is stuck in it.

I never have problems with mine and when you shut that pump off it will slam shut so hard from the pressure that it doesn't let a drop of water through.

Actually a great idea as a just in case situation. I have replacement return outlets coming. The vendor indicated that based on pictures the stoppers weren't glued properly on mine. They want me to send them back to investigate. The other issue that's a possibility is that I've been feeding tiny pellet food from my sump. It's possible that pieces of food got stuck in the return outlets where the siphon stopper is. Preventing it from functioning properly. I should have replacements this week and will move the auto feeder to the top of my tank. I liked feeding from my sump, but not if it's going to cause issues with the plumbing.

A check valve is a great idea as well. I'll get the replacements on first and test those out. I'll have to make a habit of shutting the pump down to make sure the siphon stoppers are working.
 
A photo might be clearer than your discription.

Put one of these on the outlet from your pump before the "T"

41rdNHHFq%2BL.jpg


If you have a manifold that feeds things like a refugium or reactor then place the swing check valve after the manifold to prevent back-siphoning through those routes.
 
Back
Top