whats wrong with my Stockman standpipe

[ultra spikey]

I attempted to make my own Stockman standpipe out of PVC fittings I found at Home Depot. Here's what I came up with...

...the problem is, is its still noisy. Its actually quieter without the airline in it. And with the airline in, why does the water fluctuate up and down? Here's a short clip of it...

 

[shouldabenacowboy]

Is the stockman noisy or is it the water falling over the overflow?

SBC

 

[Chris Witort]

You have the top of the standpipe way too low. The water level in the overflow with the return pump running should only be a few inches below the top.

 

[ultra spikey]

so raising the standpipe a little higher should help it out? any other suggestions?

 

[ultra spikey]

ok...I raised the standpipe a couple inches higher and the slurping and gurgling is gone! But, I've got 2 small questions...

1) I made the standpipe a little too tall. The water level in the overflow box is about 1-1.5" over the divider. Will there be any bad effects from this? (here's a drawing)

2) With the airline in the top, why does the water level in the overflow box fluctuate up and down? And it does gurgle every couple of minutes.

...thanks for the help btw...

 

[Justin James]

Yep it's too low. Rais it up out of the water a little.

 

[ultra spikey]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9978813#post9978813 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Justin James
Yep it's too low. Rais it up out of the water a little.

raise the standpipe? I already did that...look up one post

 

[ultra spikey]

well...about 1 hour after I raised the pipe, I noticed the water level in the display tank was rising. It seems like, since the standpipe was higher than the divider in the overflow box, the drain was not keeping up with the pump. So, I lowered the standpipe below the divider and am still getting some splashing and gurgling. The best fix I could think of is to seal the back of the overflow. Seems to be working.

 

[Justin James]

Sorry I missed that post. What if you raised your divider?

 

[nick18tjetta]

To stop the occasional gurgle, I put a T right at the water line (half in half out) in my sump. I capped the T and drilled a hole in it above the water line. This allows air to escape the return and prevents the gurgle. Don't put the hole straight up, because sometimes it will burp a little bit of water and you want that water to stay in your sump. I am going to experiment some more, I am planning on adding a 45 in the return to try to quiet it even more.

 

[DarG]

I have a Lifereef dual oveflow. THe picture is pretty much self explanatory but ...

The Lifereef has glued in 1" slip couplers instead of bulkheads for the drain. I added a piece of 1" pipe to raise their height so that the water would not fall and splash when it poured over the dividers of the U-Tube section of the external box. I use strainers on these 1" drain pipes. There is a small hole drilled in the top of each strainer. A length of rigid tubing (for air line/ UG filter) is inserted through the hole in each strainer. A small O-ring on the rigid tubing holds it in place and allows adjustment of how much of it is inserted down into the pipe. Makes it noise/ gurgle free 99.5%. I also use sponge donuts over the strainers which are changed out atleast 2 X per week. I removed for the photo.
The strainers are a buck or two each and the airline tubing is a buck for a 3 or 4 foot length. Easy and works like a charm.

 

[dmo]

On my stockman, I have to stick the airline down far enough to where it seems to me the end would be near or below the water line. I think this creates more air suction from the tube, eliminating the gurgling.. This worked for me anyway..

 

[zbrook1]

Nick18jetta could you post a pic or drawing showing the Tee method you described...Im having a hard time understanding what it is you did..thanks

 

[zbrook1]

DarG where did you get the strainers you used on the 1 inch tubing in your overflow?

 

[DarG]

Aquatic Ecosystems has them.

www.Aquaticecosystems.com

 

[zbrook1]

DarG...is it the threaded suction/overflow strainer and if so how did you mount it on the end of the 1 inch PVC pipe. I assume the pipe has no threads inside it.

 

[DarG]

My mistake, sorry. It's a slip coupler. The connectors for the drain lines are glued in 1" connectors. I used a 1 inch slip to slip coupler and used a short piece of 1" PVC pipe to join my coupler to the Lifereefs coupler (press fit, no cement). The strainers are 1" slip and they fit inside the coupler. Sorry, I forgot about this earlier.

 

[Chris Witort]

ultra spikey,

Yes there is a problem with having the water level that high. the whole idea of an overflow box is to skim the upper layer of water off into the sump. If the water is over the top it no longer works the same. I'd lower it till the water level in the overflow box is an inch or two below the level of the tank.

 

[zbrook1]

DarG....you wouldnt happen to have the part number or item number for that slip fit strainer form aquaticecosystems would you,I cant seem to find it searching the web site........it only shows the threaded strainers

 

[DarG]

I dont see them there either. Not sure I got those there, I just knew they had some. Not a problem though. Just use a coupler with female threads on one side and slip on the other and get the threaded ones. Or, the threaded ones would probably just slip into a slip coupler anyway. You are probably better off with the threaded strainers and threaded coupler anyway because unless you use a sponge prefilter on them, the slips probably wont stay on the coupler too well. Mine don't fit snug at all, they are pretty loose. Threaded wont reduce the flow any.