Help! *paging plumbing gurus and non-gurus*

saltwater_wannabe · 06-15-2006, 11:02 AM

Well, I have finally put water in the tank and turned on the pump; it's a thing of beauty. I am so impressed with the fact that I did all on my own (almost). The problem only lies in the drain tubing. Here's what I have so far:

The problem I am having is that the right side overflow (left as we're looking at it) is draining for a minute or two and then burping huge bubbles into the sump. This thing is LOUD! The other one is straight down into the sump and is working beautifully, but I think the angle of the drain pipe is what's killing it. The actual drain is made up of a modified Durso; I have tried the Stockman style, but it doesn't seem to help. Here's a better pic of the drains:

I need to get this thing fixed or it's not going to make it into the house

Please ask me some questions and hopefully we can some up with something.

BGJ223 · 06-15-2006, 11:12 AM

Can you show us a picture of your Stand pipe?
There is a chance that you are providing too much air to the stand pipe or not enough air.

saltwater_wannabe · 06-15-2006, 12:29 PM

sure, as soon as I can find more stupid camera batteries!!

FWIW - I just went out and turned the outlet pipe almost vertical and it brought the water level down in the overflow level almost 2 inches (about where is should be). It still burps real bad, but I think it has something to do with the angle of the drain going into the sump. You can hear it gurgling about half-way down the pipe. I'm going to get more pics later on, but I', also going to peruse the member section for some more ideas.

ReefNeck · 06-15-2006, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BGJ223

Can you show us a picture of your Stand pipe?
There is a chance that you are providing too much air to the stand pipe or not enough air.

Off topic I know but I just wanted to say that I love your Avatar BGJ223!

YWG's are my favorite. I just wish mine was a little smarter....He paired with a mushroom.

fchidsey · 06-15-2006, 03:22 PM

Ya need pics of the stand pipe but it sound like you need to put some HD gutter guard in the stand pipe to help control the "burp".

BGJ223 · 06-15-2006, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ReefNeck

Off topic I know but I just wanted to say that I love your Avatar BGJ223!

YWG's are my favorite. I just wish mine was a little smarter....He paired with a mushroom.

I am a huge fan of the YWG's also, I think they are great. Pretty funny that yours paired with a mushroom.

If you are getting alot of burping and gurgling from your stand pipe, then the odds are that the air water mix ratio is off. What happens when you restrict the air more in the overflow? Does it gurgle more or less?
Also does the water constantly go up and down in the overflow?

motorslave · 06-15-2006, 06:58 PM

Air hole not big enough. Also something else you can do is to place a "T" in the drain just above the water line. Add a length of pipe so is has a good vertical rise. This will act as an escape for traped air before it gets to the sump and burps.

Robert

saltwater_wannabe · 06-16-2006, 08:19 AM

Well, I think I have figured out what the problem is. I have to figure out how to 'dial-in' my Stockman standpipe. If I remove the vent cap and put my finger in the drain, the gurgling stops and the tank goes silent; yet the flow doesn't change. I have been searching for the remedy, but haven't run across it yet. The biggest problem I'm having is knowing how large the holes need to be on the standpipe. Right now i've got 2 squares about 1" x 2" on each side of the standpipe and a 1/8" hole in the vent cap. Water flows in well, but it gurgles real bad and it sends lots of bubbles into the sump.

We'll see; I need to find the remedy very shortly or it's going to hold up my tank transfer

motorslave · 06-16-2006, 08:36 AM

You can make it quieter but the bubbles will always be there. There is a fix using a small valve, I think a guest fiutting, to adjust the air flow. PM Geoff or Tdwyatt (Tom) as I think they know exactly the parts. Also the addition of a "vent" as I talked about above will help with the bubbles in the sump.

Robert

motorslave · 06-16-2006, 08:39 AM

Something else you do for the bubble issue, where the drain hits the water level in the sump, T off and add a bushing to increase the pipe diameter. Say from 3/4" to 1 1/2". You want the pipe to run paralell with the water line and the water line to be right in the middle of the pipe. When the drain water hits the larger pipe it will slow down and the air gap in the larger pipe (running horizontal) will allow bubbles to escape so you have less in the sump.

Robert

BGJ223 · 06-16-2006, 08:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saltwater_wannabe

Well, I think I have figured out what the problem is. I have to figure out how to 'dial-in' my Stockman standpipe. If I remove the vent cap and put my finger in the drain, the gurgling stops and the tank goes silent; yet the flow doesn't change. I have been searching for the remedy, but haven't run across it yet. The biggest problem I'm having is knowing how large the holes need to be on the standpipe. Right now i've got 2 squares about 1" x 2" on each side of the standpipe and a 1/8" hole in the vent cap. Water flows in well, but it gurgles real bad and it sends lots of bubbles into the sump.

We'll see; I need to find the remedy very shortly or it's going to hold up my tank transfer

An easy way to dial in the air flow through the stockman is to drill a hole through the cap and the PVC on the side. This way you can turn the cap from all the way open or cover it up partially.

You could also attach air tubing with a ball valve to the hole, this will help to regulate how much air can be sucked in.

saltwater_wannabe · 06-16-2006, 09:14 AM

The problem I'm having with the Stockman is that I'm not sure how big the square holes should be and I'm not completely sure how far below the water line the holes should be.

Should the Stockman act as a 'semi-siphon'? I think I have the holes too big which just lets the water fall into the pipe, instead of the pipe pulling the water into it. Does that make any sense?

motorslave · 06-16-2006, 09:17 AM

Do you have a hole in the top of the stockman?

Robert

saltwater_wannabe · 06-16-2006, 09:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by motorslave

Do you have a hole in the top of the stockman?

Robert

Yeah, I do. I actually have about 4 PVC caps with different sized holes in them. I've been reading up this morning and it seems that I may have built the Stockman wrong; I think the holes in the standpipe should be about 1" square. I think mine are too large so I'm unable to dial them in correctly. We'll see; I'm still trying to figure out what I'm going to do.

The funnier part is that I'm only having trouble with one of my overflows; the other one's doing great. Of course the problem child has a much longer drain pipe, but that's another variable I have to solve.

buoymarker28 · 06-16-2006, 10:08 AM

I had this same issue. Happened when i changed out my pumps. This all sounds pretty techincal to dumb me but all i did was install a ball valve in my drain pipe to the sump. then slowly close it until there is a constant level in the over flow. You get the same flow rate but it's just steady instead of "flushing" every 5-10 seconds. Worked for me...pretty simple