not working like i planned

[ecobalance]

Best description i can come up with is a ''red neck wave maker''.The 6 gal bucketis equipted with a 2 inch bulk head,with a abs pipe and elbow that is suppose to create a surge of water when the pump in sump bellow slowly fills the bucket untill the water leval gets above the elbow,and starts a syphan that empties the bucket.Well all it is doing is flowing like any stand pipe would do,even though it curves all the way down to with-in 3 inches of the bottom.The only thing i can think is that there is a smalll leak in my u tube that is acting as a syphan break.Any thoughts or past experance's will be graciously accepted.Idea came out of a coral book.The Carlson surge devise is what they call it.

 

[logiktest]

Maybe the bucket is filling to fast?

 

[trido]

My guess would actually be the opposite. I think its filling to slowly and not maxing out the 2" pipe. Id bet you will have to put over 2000GPH of flow to essentially max out the stand pipe and purge all of the air from inside it to create the siphon.
Stand pipe Size Gravity Flow Rating
3/4" 330 gph
1" 600 gph
1 1/4" 910 gph
1 1/2" 1300 gph
1 3/4" 1800 gph
2" 2350 gph

Otherwise its just acting like an underfed durso.

 

[danno14]

Bruce Carlson is the former director of the Waikiki aquarium.... very nice man, and tremendous to the hobby. His protege may be more familiar to some- Charles Delbeek.

Check this for the surge info:http://jean.yen.tripod.com/id71.htm

I would use a bucket instead of the box (!) and a toilet valve instead of your DIY plumbing. Eric found this to be more than adequate for home systems, and I have seen them work flawlessly for years. Good luck!
D

http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/surge_device.html

 

[ecobalance]

Thanks

Thanks for the site danno,or dumas lol

 

[RandyStacyE]

ecobalance, I believe you're on the right track, but with the wrong size plumbing.

trido is right depending on what gph rate is feeding the bucket. A 2" bulkhead/plumbing is huge and would require a ton of flow in order to be used in this type of surge device.

In order to be sure it would be necessary to know what gph rate is feeding this bucket or at least what pump you are using.

 

[kgross]

It sounds like you are filling to slow. You need to have the water level build up above the top of the U to flush out all of the air and create a complete siphon. I have made quite a few of these in the past, and I would say that with a 2 inch pipe you are going to need more than 1000 gph (I haven't made one with a 2 inch, but one that used a 1.25 inch pipe needed about 1200 to run correctly).

I would suggest that you switch over to a toilet flapper design, like Eric Borneman has talked about. They are a lot easier to get working since you don't have to worry about getting the flow rate just perfect.

Kim