Desperate for plumbing help!!!! lots of pics!!!!!

[shogun97]

I actually gave that a shot in hopes that some how I could make this tank quieter. It turns out that creates a full siphon which is GREAT!!! lots of flow and dead silent but if you don't match your return exactly your tank either overflows or the level in my overflow slowly lowers until I hear a slurp and well then we are back to where we are now.

Right now I'm really wishing I had never drilled my tank because this is soooo loud. I'm gonna try running a 45 from the ball valve and running the pipe down the back of the tank and see if that angle lets the air escape. I seem to be having a problem with the water bubbling in the pipe when I tried a straight drop into the sump. Is there a cure for the turbulence in the pipe?

 

[shogun97]

Don can you provide a few tips on how to tune the durso. I'm having a pretty hard time with this....its seems not matter what I try it doesn't change much

 

[DonW]

You should be able to drop straight down a durso with no valve and have it be nearly silent the only noise should be in the sump. That noise can be cured by submersing the drain pipe deep in the sump.

 

[shogun97]

when I tried putting my sump directly below my tank I ended up with a violent bubbling in the pipe....the only cure I found was to throttle back my return pump. Even after doing that its still much louder then I expected

 

[DonW]

when I tried putting my sump directly below my tank I ended up with a violent bubbling in the pipe....the only cure I found was to throttle back my return pump. Even after doing that its still much louder then I expected

What size are the drains and what return pump are you using. Also what size is the hole in durso. How high is the water in the over flow and how high is it as compared to the durso's downward elbow.

 

[shogun97]

Wow that was a mouthful!! Ok here it goes! The drains are 1.5 inch pvc. I'm using a eheim 1262 return pump 900gph. the hole in the durso is 3/8 but is stuffed with an airline and an adjustable valve. So I can make the hole any size I like up to 3/8. The water level in the overflow is about 7/10 of the height of the bulkhead hole. keep in mind I have added that elbow to avoid air being sucked in.

let me know if you need anymore info I really appreciate your help.

 

[DonW]

I went back and looked at your pics. Am I correct that you drilled the back of you tank up high in the over flow???

Don

 

[shogun97]

I'm not sure what would be considered high but yes that sounds about right

 

[DonW]

I'm not sure what would be considered high but yes that sounds about right

Try putting an elbow pointing straight down, you want it to go about an inch or so under the water level below the bulk head. Then take the air hose all the way out of the durso. The air line fitting usually wont flow enough air for 1.5" pipe. My last ones had to be 1/4+ and air line valves are under 1/8.

Don

 

[DonW]

Never mind the hose comment I see you are using 3/8 JG

 

[shogun97]

ok I'm gonna give that a shot right now!!! Thanks for the tips Don. Oh and the airline I have is 1/4 inch inner diameter I'll try pulling it like you mentioned to see if that will help at all. I'll report back shortly

 

[shogun97]

well I tried everything short of drilling a bigger hole. its already 3/8 I can't imagine I need to go bigger.

After an incredible amount of reading I'm under the impression that I may have had my durso tuned just fine and the sound of the water moving through the pipes was just loud in comparison to my previous fresh water set ups. I guess I'm just not used to the sound of a fountain in my room.

At this point I'm really considering using the Herbie method for those of you who don't know its creating a full siphon on one drain and having single or multiple back up drain lines in the case that the tank overfilled or the main drain was clogged.

That being said does anyone else have any other suggestions that I can try before pulling everything apart and drilling a second overflow in the tank? All I can here is water spilling down the pipes!!!! Overflow is fine now its just the water moving through the pipes that is killing me

Once again Thanks for everything guys!!!

 

[dnjan]

Overflows plumbed with spaflex will be quieter than overflows plumbed with rigid PVC. The softer plastic does a better job of damping vibrations (sound).

 

[plack]

If would use what you made in post #18 and put the opening flush with the water ( facing up !! ) and at the water level you want it to be inside the tank. This way it can't drain to low. as it was said earlier any valves ( OTHER THAN FOR THE AIR AT THE TOP) should be on the output of the pump NOT on the input (drain side).

When it gurgles then adjust that with a small amount of air fromn that very top valve you have got there. SMALL AMOUNTS like between a pin head and a straw opening .

I hope this helps.



Paul

 

[Scooterman]

Does it look like mine in this Pic?
No mention on the size pump your using, How much GPH & Head are you trying to drain in that 1 1/2" pipe?
Yank the cap off & throw it away & get you a new one, drill 1/8" holes in it & be done with this problem, unless your trying to pump more water than it can drain you should have no noise issues!

 

[shogun97]

Hey Scooter thanks for taking time to try to help me out. My setup is virtually the same as yours but my extension on my tee fitting are much shorter....I'm not sure if that has an impact on things. I'll include some pics below. The pump I'm using is the eheim 1262 its rated at 900 gph. My sump is about 3 feet or so from the top of the tank where my return is located.

The overflow on the tank is very quiet that is really the least of my problems its an extremely loud trickle sound in the piping. I'm new to this so maybe this is a result of my lack of tuning knowledge of the durso. The only time I can get it silent is when I use the ball valve to restrict the flow then open it slightly to blow out the air and create a full siphon........which is why I considered herbie/beananimals method of a full siphon with a back up drain. Ideally I'd like to avoid having to drill again.

I'm also going to buy a new T fitting and cap, being new to this I glued all those parts together. Take a look below and let me know what you think........I really appreciate you guys helping me out.

Ps there is no a downward facing elbow in my overflow box. I hope these images help you out. thanks again

 

[Scooterman]

Reason why I went tall on the top of the Tee is to allow for any water that may back up, you could increase that height (you can always cut it shorter later) to keep the water flowing in the pipe. I'd loose the ball valve as Don mentioned. I didn't glue on the cap, when you redo that part make it taller than the tank & don't glue it. Start off by leaving off the cap completely, I use the same pump so that should be perfect. I just drilled a bunch of 1/8" & maybe 3/16" holes through the cap, I can check the size I used later.
I need to know, is it a surging sound your hearing or some gurgling? The only water sound I hear is water trickling like in a small water fountain, coming from the overflow & then slight water sound from the piping that leads to the sump, that sound you will hear some. I have my 1 1/2" bulkhead open like yours for the drain, it that a 1 1/2" bulkhead on yours, do you have it all 1 1/2" pipe? I can't see but the end of the pipe where it goes into the sump, is that out or in the sump water? If it is out it will also be louder, by making it drain under water, it will get much quieter.
One more thought as mentioned on your piping, Is there any reason why you couldn't turn your sump around completely, thus shortening your drain?
From the pick I see, you could dump it almost straight down into the sump rather than make a long horizontal run.
On the Eheim pump, I use a reducer & went from the 3/4" threaded fitting on the outlet to a 1" Pvc, then plumbed the entire thing 1" to the return in the tank, this actually gave me more flow.

The trick is to silence this drain system in parts, most likely it isn't just one thing causing the noise.

 

[dnjan]

My setup is virtually the same as yours but my extension on my tee fitting are much shorter....I'm not sure if that has an impact on things.

A side effect of the longer T is reduced potential for salt creep to plug the air hole. I made mine too short, and have to occaisionally "un-block" the hole.