Cool, Herbie's Silent Overflow System!
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...5&pagenumber=1
What was that 2004? Back then I remember you didn't use the siphon method.
Quote:
Originally posted by BeanAnimal
I have skimmed through this thread and I think the major aspects of this design are being lost in all of the banter.
ANy time you fully submerge an overflow, it becomes a siphon. If the free flow of the system (air and water) is enough to keep up with the return pump, then this will work. A siphon will pull more water than a pipe flowing with air and water.
The concept is very simple, you start a siphon and dial back the valves so that the siphon is slowed enough to keep the overflow box from draining and sucking air... or overlfowing and causing a flood.
The seperate emergency standpipe Must be there because such a system is not reliable. The "balance" is achieved by chanign the flow with a ball valve. Because this is a siphon, sump level, barometric pressure, specific gravity, slime in the pipes... etc etc will have an effect on the siphon strenght and therefore the postion of the valve.
In other words if you use this method without an emergency standpipe drain, you are asking for trouble. There is no way around it. You also still run the risk of sucking air and making noise..... that is why most of us don't use a ball valve to create a full siphon. Instead we allow air to be introduced to the drain system.
With a standpipe that draws air, there is NO chance of overflow due to sump level, baromatric pressure, pump fluctuations etc. If the air intake becomes blocked the system creates a full siphon and prevents overflow. If one is smart enough to hook airlines to the top of the standpipes and curl them over to the max water level... an emergency siphon is created if the water rises enough to cover the airline openings.
Bean
Bean
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Glad to see you finally decided to use it but you added that 3rd drain, never had an issue with just using two like Herbie mentioned.