Need help with pvc overflow!

[slitherbomb]

Hi. I am having trouble with this PVC overflow. It makes a lot of noise and doesnt keep siphon. Should I just get an overflow box or is there another PVC overflow design I can try? Thanks.

 

[francis]

make the one that hangs in the tank a little bit shorter , the A and B piece. Make sure you put a cap on the C piece with a hole in the middle. To start the syphon you suck the air out through the C tube and once it starts you shouldn't have to do it again. I have one of these at home I made recently and works fine, looks identical except those things i mentioned.

And the noise...ahhhh deal with it. LOL just kidding but idk, i got so much noise in my room but i dont mind personally. I sleep with a pillow over my head. I've heard people say if you but a L piece at the tip of your B, it makes less noise (which I have). But I don't mind much about noise so cant help there. I've noticed the most noise comes from the water gushing into the refugium at bursts. Lemme know if you need more help

 

[slitherbomb]

Those pictures aren't of my unit, they're from the Internet lol. Mine has the mods that you have mentioned and they still do not work. What thickness PVC have you used?

 

[francis]

I use a 3/4" but instead of 1 "B" inlet I have two of them next to each other just as a precaution. I am not sure why but I would say....you are not sucking hard enough. Lol. You need to suck on that "C" piece until the water literally hits your mouth and you will get immediate strong siphon that will run to your refugium/sump. I can take a picture of mine but its pretty much like that. And btw I have a 1/8" hold drilled to the top of the C piece cap and suck through there.

Said suck a lot in this post. lets not be children now

 

[francis]

Oh also, the pipe that leads to the sump which would be connected to part "F" would probably need to be submerged. Mine is, because I think if it is not under water the sucking you are doing is not getting the trapped air bubble to start the siphon but rather just sucking air from the outlet. make sense?

 

[slitherbomb]

Lol I've definitely sucked this thing until I got water in my mouth and it works just not well. I might do this again with 3/4" instead of 1/2" lol

 

[francis]

hmm thats strange because if anything I wouldve thought 1/2" would be better. I heard problems only when it gets to the higher diameters. Do you have a cap with a hole in it on your C pipe? If you only have a cap it will not work. Try and upload some pictures I can figure it out a lot better

 

[francis]

and maybe your inlet (the part that water flows into) isn't low enough under the surface? I use a 90 degree pvc elbow so half or more of the pipe is covered with water flowing in

 

[slitherbomb]

Well it all works but now I CANNOT get the overflow/ puMp in sync. ......it's been hours lol

 

[francis]

Well is your overflow draining too fast or is your return pump too strong? If draining too fast then get a stronger pump if the other one then maybe add another ova outlet to drain the water?

 

[slitherbomb]

When everything is open and full speed, my sump gets drained quickly, so I begin adjusting from there and even if I move the ball valve the slightest bit, I cannot get it to stay at the same level

 

[francis]

so you're saying your sump empties too fast meaning youre return pump is out powering your overflow. So just lower the pumps return power and you should be fine. I do not understand what you mean stay at the same level though because the display tanks water will always just remain at whatever the level the overflow is at. You don't need it to stay at the same level I think because as long as your return pump is under the level of your overflow, you should be fine.

And if you want to keep your return pump on full power, add another overflow pipe or add another outlet on your existing one to increase the flow.

 

[David S]

Well is your overflow draining too fast or is your return pump too strong? If draining too fast then get a stronger pump if the other one then maybe add another ova outlet to drain the water?

the overflow rate is only governed by the pump rate,what you have failed to mention is the pump must be matched to the overflow gph rate,or you will have trouble and noise.if your overflow can handle 600gph then the pumps rate after headloss must be slightly lower at lets say 550gph,if you dont match this it will be nand the flowrate going through the overflow will not be strong enough to force any air bubbles around the pipes and so a collection of air bubbles means air break and flood.

 

[francis]

arf? im lost sorry but yeah listen to david it seems like he knows what he's doing