diy overflow and surface agitations

So yesterday i started up my new tank followed bu numerous problems, one being that the diy overflow made from @Dirk s desighn, i managed to get it started up and then after a random interval my sump would start running dry. I then noticed this morning about 1 o clock that if there is too much durface agitation or just a random event in the water that the overflow stops working.

Any ideas or advice?

 

Hi Oupoot,

I cannot understand what you mean about the problem, but I just want to say to you that you must make sure that there are no bubbles that are captured in the upward bend or else this restricts the flow. The pipe must also be thick enough. Perhaps you must most some pics to show us.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

Do a mini pressure test on your overflow plumping ... block the one end and force some water into the other .. sounds to me like you have slight leak that is allowing the siphon to break.

 

I will do prof thAnks. The intake kn the tank basically makes a whirlpool and if it get distur ed it stops flowing.
I have also made sure that there is no akr in the bend by sucking the stArt pype and only getting water. In the beginnong my flkw rate was bad in the system And i picked up a leak that i fixed. Also the sump has no medka in it as well

 

The leak was at the t peace as well, cant find one anywhere else, also what bugs me is the time intervals, it was running for bout 3 hours then stopped and then after that i had anyrhing from 30 seconds of flow and up

 

Oky so i have found the problem, no leajs on any of the joints, the intake of the overfliw starts making a wirlpool and then starts sucking in air until the facuem gets broken, i have tried 4 diffirent intake nozzels with no success, ill upload pick tomorrow as my internet is down atm. Any ideas how so stop this wirlpool effect? My intakes were a end cap with a lot of holes, then one with 3 holes then i tried a t peace and also tried a spray bar like intake and then the pype with nothing and all does the same

 

Hi Oupoot,

Please take a pic of what you are doing as I just cant understand how you are creating this whirlpool.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

@Dirk Morning prof, here is the photos:

1: Overflow without any attachments and still running with a lot on noise



2 and 3: Some attachments i have tried:





I coudnt get a decent photo from the top, but the pipe starts building up a air bubble inside and that gets pulled into the system and then it breaks the vacuum eventually

 

Ag no man, Oupoot,

You have got it wrong. You don't need that pipe going up to draw in the water. You only need the elbow that you show on the right to go down in the tank but it does not have to come up again. No wonder you are getting the whirlpool effect. Take a saw and just cut off that pipe that is coming up, it serves no purpose in any case. Here is the pic again of what the syphon should like.

Hope you get it right now.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

1-2-3 blok myself! lol so am i understanding that i can just about cut off all the piping where the red line is, or must this cut be where i want the water level?

 

Hey there. Before you abandon your diy overflow here is some more info on overflows. It also gives you your flow rate for different pipe sizes and how long your overflow has to be in everypipe size to get optimal flow and no air build up. Hope this helps before you spend on a overflow box. Good luck.

Pipe Sizing Charts and Flow Rates

 

Thanks for the info, will read it again tonight, im just fed up at this point with all of this and last night i coudnt tinker much as work was keeping me busy till i got into bed....

 

Hi Oupoot,

Before I forget, you asked what controls the level in the tank and it is the position of the bend in my sketch marked with a 3 that does this. This join must be high enough, because if no more water is pumped into the tank then the level will drop to where 3 is and no further, but if you fill the tank again it overflows. In your pic,I do not see the bend in your pipe for the level 3 joint and I just hope that you have not made this too low, but that can be fixed quite easily as well.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

I really hope it helps. I build my own one of those plans and I also had no previous experience with diy overflows and mine worked first time and restarts like a dream. It gives you a surface intake and bottom intake plan. Mine is the surface intake one but I will be building a bottom intake one hopefully next weekend. Cheers and good luck again.

 

Yeah i gues im rebuilding then, my bend nr 3 sist at the bottom of the tank...

 

Yes and if you are rebuilding use a3aan's advice and use 30 mm PVC drain pipe, that conduiting is far too thin....

 

Is such a think pipe really needed as this is only a 400l tank i got?

 

Yes unfortunately it is. The thinner the pipe the quicker air builds up in the siphon part of the overflow and the easier you will lose siphon. If you can get 32mm pipe it would be ideal I think for your tank size but make sure on those charts in the link. The profs design uses the horizontal flow chart. Hope this make sense after you had time to read through everything tonight. Cheers.

 

Sorry the prof already said 30mm. I missed that. Cheers....

 

Oupoot, it has got nothing to do with your total tank capacity, it has to do with the flow rate that you want to achieve or aim for. If your pump pumps 400 litre per hour then your overflow must cope with that and then conduiting is not going to work. I use 32 mm PVC overflows on all my tanks with capacities of 250 litres and more.

Kind regards,

Dirk