New Surge Device Idea

[Toast_Man]

I have been trying to think of a way to build a DIY surge device that would not spew a bunch of bubbles in to the tank

I came up with an idea thisafternoon and I would like to post it for everyone to critique.

it is kind of a hybrid vetween the Carlson surge device and the toilet flapper design

the essence of the idea would be that a device would be used to block the inlet side of the discharge of a carlson surge device before air can break the siphon.

when the water level reached a level high enough to lift the float the siphon would start agan.

see the crappy drawing below for a better idea of what I am getting at
http://www.topcities.com/family/jagreef/Surge.jpg

Coments anyone?

tks

Joel

[Snailman]

That is a really cool idea. :) This may give you some aid but the real problem is air in the dump pipe after the cycle ends. I am not sure that the toilet flapper would make an air tight seal in that position. I have built several of the Carlson and toilet valve designs. I am currently running a 20 gallon toilet valve device. What causes all of the bubbles is when the end of the dump cycle comes the water runs out of the pipe into the tank. The the surge device then refills with water. Now the surge pipe is full of air and both ends are under water. When the surge starts the water has to push the air out of the pipe before the surge so you get bubbles. I have tried several different things to reduce the bubbles to no avail. The Carlson device makes a LOT more bubbles than the toilet valve design. By the toilet valve design I mean the http://www.aquatouch.com design not the one with fishing bobbers. I tried that one too. If you could keep the water in the surge pipe after the cycle you would have a bubbless and mostly quiet surge device. Good luck and please let us know how it works. We desperatly need some new ideas in this area.

[Toast_Man]

Thanks for the input Snailman

What I think will happen (of course I will never know untill I build it) is that the plug that I am using to block the intake to the carlson surge (I was thinking of using the flapper of of a toilet valve) won't actually have to be water/air tight as when it closes two things happen:

1) the siphon will actualy act as a suction pulling the plug in tighter

2) the water level would be a good inch or so above the valve so even if there was some leakage the inflow would be greater than the outflow and therefore the water level would rise never allowing the air to enter the siphon.

Thoughts anyone?

Joel

[scs]

Might want to check this out. If you take into consideration cost of material and value of your time along with the possibility of building a project that does not work effectively this may be the answer to our need for surge without air bubbles at an affordable price.
http://www.lavoietechnology.s5.com/
hth
Steve