Nice Cheap DIY Overflow

[Gabriel]

hello again.i have a question:is enough for a 90g aquarium overflow tube of a 1 inch? would have enough flow for a proper filter?

[Gabriel]

help please a need a answer

[chrisnif]

Just to report back I removed mine and went over the joints that were outside of the water with some silicone as there were some minor air leaks, and now I must say it runs PERFECT (I think). I have a pump pushing around 300 gph head adjusted and it keeps up. One thing I notice and I'm not sure if its normal or not, but my DT water level is about 1/2 inch above the top of the pipe, but I've adjusted the pipe height for that, so now it's all "hands off"

[Donkey]

Originally Posted by chrisnif

First post, but I've read this whole thread

I built the overflow as Covey instructed, I used 3/4 because I don't need much flow, 200 gph would suit my needs frankly.

I didnt put the check valve in but I get the siphon started by adding water to the stand pipe and sucking, it siphons just fine once I start it.

There are 2 problems I'm having though. After a power failure (simulated) it will restart but I get a trickle, not much flow at all, and my pump runs dry after about 2-3 minutes. To fix this I have to suck on the stand pipe breifly, once I do this it flows like no one's business.

Second problem, if I get the water flowing really good by sucking on the standpipe after the power failure, i get a surging flow instead of a stable flow, and the standpipe makes on and off gurgling/slurping sound. I dont mind the sound of the whirlpool in the tank, that's no issue at all, but the standpipe noise is annoying at best. I've solved the slurping by stuffing a sponge prefilter from a power head into the output in the sump. This slows the flow down a bit and makes it a steady flow, probably in the 200 gph range, and its right on par with my pump.

I'd appreciate anyone who can give me some info on getting it to restart the siphon at full blast instead of a trickle

Thanks
Chris

Ok i went ahead and built this. But i am getting the same problems as chris. After a power failure its not starting back up at Full flow its more like a trickle and it takes its time to catch up again. Also i am getting the slurping sound as well. I will check all my joints out for leaks but so far i cant see any. Should i also add a the air valve at the top of the pipe as well ?

Thanks guys

[Pepere]

Hello everybody, I`m new here and this thread is what give me the chance to discover that site on the web

Just a little question, anybody got an idea if it makes any difference if the outlet of this overflow is over or underwater or not ? I`m thinking about noise from falling water here ?

Any reduction of flow if underwater ? By the way my drop will actually be about 3 feet

Thanks for answering and congrats on the thread

Pepere

[Donkey]

Hi pepere

Not sure how much help you will get from the others on this thread. Most of them dont seem to talk about the overflow very much on here now. But for me it seems to work better if the outlet is just above the water. Just try and get it as close to the water as you can without putting it under.

[Pepere]

Originally Posted by Donkey

Hi pepere

Not sure how much help you will get from the others on this thread. Most of them dont seem to talk about the overflow very much on here now. But for me it seems to work better if the outlet is just above the water. Just try and get it as close to the water as you can without putting it under.

Thanks Donkey,

I know it's a thread that lived quite long !

Anyway thanks for the answer Do I understand you are running one yourself ?

I`ll design my sump and syphon as you said

Regards,

Pepere

[Donkey]

Originally Posted by Pepere

Thanks Donkey,

I know it's a thread that lived quite long !

Anyway thanks for the answer Do I understand you are running one yourself ?

I`ll design my sump and syphon as you said

Regards,

Pepere

Hi Pepere

Yes i have just built mine but i was having a few problems with it starting up again after i turned the power off to the pump. I then resealed all my joints on the outside and i have been testing it in two buckets. Its working great now. The only time i get a start up problem now is if i put the out pipe that comes from the tank under the water. But if i have it just above the water in the sump then it starts up fine everytime

And i think by having it just about the water in the sump this will give a better GPH so theres more water going through the sump

[Gabriel]

a question about this overflow.i build a overflow by 1 inch pipe diameter i put a check valve to trigger overflow but is dont work and i dont know why?

the only way we found is to aspire to pipe the water comes to my mouth and then primed.

Please do not laugh but I have done so.overflow works well even when the pump stops overflow remains primed.valve that we put in the middle above the pipes combining is somehow a place where you put that valve? to work correct.here I refer to priming overflow with a air pump


can you help me with this?


regards Gabriel

[Pepere]

[QUOTE=Gabriel;821592]a question about this overflow.i build a overflow by 1 inch pipe diameter i put a check valve to trigger overflow but is dont work and i dont know why?

the only way we found is to aspire to pipe the water comes to my mouth and then primed.

Please do not laugh but I have done so.overflow works well even when the pump stops overflow remains primed.valve that we put in the middle above the pipes combining is somehow a place where you put that valve? to work correct.here I refer to priming overflow with a air pump


can you help me with this?

Just may be not enough vacuum from the air pump to fight the check valve spring ! Just an idea if I understand your question well !

Pepere