Return Pump is pushing water too fast

[Aztlan]

Hi guys, my return pump is rated at 600gpd. My overflow looks like it is not keeping up, my pump goes dry too fast. I added enough water to the sump. If I add any more it will overflow my sump. Is there a way to reduce the speed of the pump. Get longer tubing or some adapter?

Thanks,
Rogelio

 

[Bearfan]

Put a ball valve on the return side to throttle the control down from the pump. I had to do it also.

 

[Dewey]

I had to do the same with my mag 12 . It worked great.

Good luck Dewey

 

[loganj]

Be sure the valve goes on the pressure side of the pump...don't put it on the intake side as it will cavitate and you'll have a tank full of bubbles.

 

[Aztlan]

Thanks guys I put my order in for a 3/4 barbed ball valve.

One more quick question what do you guys use to keep the return spout from moving around?

 

[Bearfan]

You know you can pick that valve up at home depot for about $2 or so.

As for the return spout, I let it move. I figured if I fixed that end, I would just be bound to have it vibrate loose over time. That's also why I put flex hose in between my pump and PVC. Probably overkill, but I prefer knowing it will stay in place.

 

[TheMadNucleus]

Rogelio,

Not to counter any of the above suggestions - but one other thought for you to consider. Sometimes one might perfer not to cut back on the movement of water and/or increase back pressure on the pump (for a variety of reasons) via a throttling back ball-valve. In such cases you can cut back on the flow rate through your tank but still circulate at 600GPH by using a wye or tee fitting on the output of the pump and send one up to the tank and the other back into the sump.

This will continue to turn your water over at the 600 GPH rate, double filtering part of it and single filtering the other. The overflow will then only handle the portion of the return which is sent back up to the tank.

You can put a valve on the return to the sump to adjust the ratio of how much goes to the sump and how much is returned to the tank, or you can use plumbing sizes to regulate this in a fixed fashion (i.e. 1" output, split 3/4" goes to tank and 1/2" goes to sump).

Typically the greater flow rate is preferable for a variety of reasons including increased oxygenation.

Just some FYI

Tom

 

[Aztlan]

I'll swing by Home Depot to see if they have any, I'll think about splitting the return. Sounds like a cool idea. Maybe in the future I'l ldo that.

 

[Bearfan]

Then you would have to have two globe valves in order to make sure that you were getting full return to the tank and the remainder to the sump, not the primary to the sump, which would be the natural flow.