Overflow out of horizontal PVC Pipe

[ken123]

uhuru, this may be the thread you originally were looking for...

Spraybar thread

You have to go to the end of the thread to see pics.

[ken123]

My bad, that thread for was for water return, you where looking for skimming the surface. Oh well, interesting read anyway.

[redfrogtango]

Been around awhile, but new to Reef Central.

Anyhow, why couldn't one use an external durso to raise the water level above that of the bulkhead fitting to quite things down?

My plan is to connect a "T" to the bulkhead fitting (outside the tank). The bottom of the "T" would drain to the sump and serve as the main drain, with flow controlled by a gate valve. The top of the "T" would connect to a second "T", which is designed as a durso (also draining to the sump). The bottom of the second "T" would be positioned above the top of the bulkhead fitting. The gate valve would be closed just enough to force some water out the top of the "T" and through the durso, thereby raising the water level above that of the bulkhead fitting. This should liminate air being sucked through the bulkhead fitting, and also quite the durso - which will have very little flow through it.

Any reason why this wouldn't work?

By the way, this thread has been great and prompted me to think about the above design.

Mike.

[Malifluous]

Sounds great Mike!

[Siffy]

I don't understand why a Calfo-like overflow would even need a durso. It's not coast to coast, but it's bulkhead in the back design. Those are typically virtually silent sans the water splashing. At least mine has been. 1" bulkhead, water level just over 50% up the bulkhead, Mag 5 return on 3-4 ft head & 3/4" hose and 3 90's, otherwise unrestricted (to give idea of flow, ~300-350gph I'd guess).

Sizing your drain bulkhead properly to the size of your return should result in never causing a siphon.

I DO have a Tee rather than a 90 on the outside of my bulkhead, but it's wide open and still can't be heard over the sump/pumps.

[das75]

These designs all look brilliant but they all seem to have some noise associated.

If noise is a concern check out Herbies. A local reefer has built a 120g with a Herbies and is running ~2000gph (Dart as return) and it is truly silent with no bubbles or gurgling in the sump

[uhuru]

Originally posted by Siffy

I DO have a Tee rather than a 90 on the outside of my bulkhead, but it's wide open and still can't be heard over the sump/pumps.

Ditto.

[Darroll]

Originally posted by das75
These designs all look brilliant but they all seem to have some noise associated.

If noise is a concern check out Herbies. A local reefer has built a 120g with a Herbies and is running ~2000gph (Dart as return) and it is truly silent with no bubbles or gurgling in the sump

Herbies a user? Can you paste a link please?

[das75]

Originally posted by Darroll
Herbies a user? Can you paste a link please?

From RC here

If running in a conventional overflow tower, you have two stand pipes one higher than the other. The lower one is considered the primary drain, the higher a backup (emergency). With the return pump running, and ideally a gate valve on the primary drain line below the tank, you start to close the valve until the top of the primary stand pipe is below the water level in the overflow and not drawing air. In the event of a blockage in the valve restricted primary, the backup drain (no valve) handles the excess flow until you clear the blockage. Also works on external drains.


There's also a picture in post 29 in this
thread

[redfrogtango]

Originally posted by das75
From RC here

If running in a conventional overflow tower, you have two stand pipes one higher than the other. The lower one is considered the primary drain, the higher a backup (emergency). With the return pump running, and ideally a gate valve on the primary drain line below the tank, you start to close the valve until the top of the primary stand pipe is below the water level in the overflow and not drawing air. In the event of a blockage in the valve restricted primary, the backup drain (no valve) handles the excess flow until you clear the blockage. Also works on external drains.


There's also a picture in post 29 in this
thread

Sort of. My plan is adjust the gate valve until a small portion (maybe 10% of the total flow) is forced through the higher back-up drain. And since the back-up drain is a Durso, it should be silent (particularly since so little flow is running through it). It still serves as a back-up in the event that the main drain gets clogged.

The other advantage of the back-up Durso is that it allows me to easily devirt a small percentage of water to a refugium, which will then drain into the main sump.

[redfrogtango]

Originally posted by Siffy
I don't understand why a Calfo-like overflow would even need a durso. It's not coast to coast, but it's bulkhead in the back design. Those are typically virtually silent sans the water splashing. At least mine has been. 1" bulkhead, water level just over 50% up the bulkhead, Mag 5 return on 3-4 ft head & 3/4" hose and 3 90's, otherwise unrestricted (to give idea of flow, ~300-350gph I'd guess).

Sizing your drain bulkhead properly to the size of your return should result in never causing a siphon.

I DO have a Tee rather than a 90 on the outside of my bulkhead, but it's wide open and still can't be heard over the sump/pumps.

The Durso in combination with the gate valve on the main drain, is intended to raise the water level above the bulkhead fitting - thereby eliminating the chance that it will "gurggle".

[Siffy]

My point was, bulkheads placed in the back rather than the bottom glass and sized correctly don't gurgle.