been reading through this old thread...thinking of giving it a go.
http://www.3reef.com/forums/i-made/nice-cheap-diy-overflow-29396.html
anyone have any comments on this type of overflow?
remember I cant drill my tank due to the all-tempered glas panels.
This is the guy that "designed" it and gave the OP his idea
http://www.3reef.com/forums/i-made/nice-cheap-diy-overflow-29396-9.html#post328759
here is a nice diagram, of course the tubes/elbows would be positioned to hug the tank inside and out.
http://www.sirensongboutique.com/animals/images/overflow.gif
I think i would use 1 1/4 inch tube to get approx 600 gph flow on my 55
Back to the game...bbl.
i'm likeing this idea and may go out and buy the parts this weekend.
I just need to figure out my baffles in my sump.
I built the same one from 1" pvc, worked good but a little noisey and didnt handle 600gph but I am sure 1 1/4" will. I would put 2 of them on so if 1 clogged the second will handle the flow on its own and with the 2 running it would be quieter.
good plan and for the price of the pipe/glue it will still be cheap.
any idea what type of glue to use that would be aqua-safe?
the PVC glue sold at the hardware store is safe once it has dried. Just look next to the pipes when you buy them ;-)
Anyone else see any issues with the design? the thread i am looking iat is HUGE but the design seems sound, only concern is the opening in the tube.
I wzs thinking of putting a longer capped peice and drill many little holes into the overflow, or chopping it in half creating a trough for the water to flow into and then screening the trough. does that sound safer? I will make 2 of these, as you suggested.
Quote from: groan on April 03, 2008, 09:36:00 PM
been reading through this old thread...thinking of giving it a go.
http://www.3reef.com/forums/i-made/nice-cheap-diy-overflow-29396.html
anyone have any comments on this type of overflow?
remember I cant drill my tank due to the all-tempered glas panels.
This is the guy that "designed" it and gave the OP his idea
http://www.3reef.com/forums/i-made/nice-cheap-diy-overflow-29396-9.html#post328759
here is a nice diagram, of course the tubes/elbows would be positioned to hug the tank inside and out.
http://www.sirensongboutique.com/animals/images/overflow.gif
I think i would use 1 1/4 inch tube to get approx 600 gph flow on my 55
Back to the game...bbl.
i'm likeing this idea and may go out and buy the parts this weekend.
I just need to figure out my baffles in my sump.
Marc, I did play with these pipe overflows and they do work sorta, but getting all the air out of them is a pita. I would not consider them as reliable though. If you are doing this... go with 2 overflows both made from 1.5" PVC. Until you get all the air out they don't flow very well... and they can occasionally loose their siphon.
For baffles in your sump, I'm sure I have some glass I can give you, or you can come out and I can even cut it for you.
Bruce
Groan,
Great thread.
I'm thinking of the same thing, I'm sure there are many people like myself who would want to see how this goes.
Could you keep us updated on your progress.
If your interested.I sell the overflows for $65 taxes in.
They will handle 800gph.
Like has been said.I would go with 2.
I will sell 2 for $100.
Oh Jim, you make things too easy! I may try this anyways but I'll keep your offer in mind if i fail miserably. (what model are you selling?)
Bruce, according to the designer this should not lose siphon due to the large U in the center.
Having the airline check valve is supposed to allow you to release all the air out of the top of the u.
Quote from: groan on April 04, 2008, 02:38:48 PM
Oh Jim, you make things too easy! I may try this anyways but I'll keep your offer in mind if i fail miserably. (what model are you selling?)
Bruce, according to the designer this should not lose siphon due to the large U in the center.
Having the airline check valve is supposed to allow you to release all the air out of the top of the u.
Theory and real life are different... I ran a 1" version at home for a while for a test and it would eventually loose it. the micros bubbles would build up inside it and then sometime release all at the same time in a simulated power failure when the temperature would change and it would not recover from the power failure always. I thought it would work great too and was going to use it on all my fry tanks, but tested it first... The first issue was 1" was way too small and did not flow enough... second.... I decided drilling the tanks was better after a few minor messes.... You can accomplish an almost fool proof overflow box setup using J tubes, but as I said use 2 over flows..... and even beter both with 2 J tubes, then you have to have 4 failes before water goes on the floor.
If you run a powerhead on the airline value it will make it more reliable though..
Always make sure 1 overflow box will handle the full flow for a tank.. this is done to ensure no problems and extra redundancy.
Bruce
Bruce, maybe the one you had was drawing too slow, this guy
http://www.3reef.com/forums/i-made/nice-cheap-diy-overflow-29396-8.html#post328595
says he had the problem when he was only doing 80 GPH and had to draw air out all the time.
i think the idea is to make sure youa re pumping back into the tank with enough volume to keep the siphon acting well.
so below you are saying have two intakes connecting to one tube after the U over the tank?
do you have a link to the desin you are suggesting?
Here is a link to it.
Its a bit different now.They added a lid to the outside portion of it that makes it a bit less noisy.I havent got a picture of it yet.Same idea as the one shown.
http://fortyfathoms.10.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?t=33
Thanks Jim, you sent me that before i remember now.
I'll keep it in my back pocket for now while i decide what I'm going to do.
Look at this design, this would look cleaner and hide the pipes in the tank.
http://www.3reef.com/forums/attachments/i-made/5936d1160115249-nice-cheap-diy-overflow-overflow.jpg
Quote from: groan on April 04, 2008, 03:00:45 PM
Bruce, maybe the one you had was drawing too slow, this guy
http://www.3reef.com/forums/i-made/nice-cheap-diy-overflow-29396-8.html#post328595
says he had the problem when he was only doing 80 GPH and had to draw air out all the time.
i think the idea is to make sure youa re pumping back into the tank with enough volume to keep the siphon acting well.
so below you are saying have two intakes connecting to one tube after the U over the tank?
do you have a link to the desin you are suggesting?
Marc I was trying to flow 600 GPH as per the spec of 1" but coulf not get it to do that. I was using a Mag 7 pump for my test. I expect I was doing about 400 GPH MAX before having problems.
TSC in kemptvill does have PVC... I was there the other day and they had some smaller stuff as well as 1", 1.25" 1.5" and I think they might have 2" too. I was looking at the 1" and 3/4" for plumbing my 125 when it comes time after building the tank stands
Bruce
Bruce.
if i do 2 i will do 1" sets. I think having 2 1.5" sets would produce WAY too much flow. I dont want the water flying through the sump. I found this image of a guy's sump and this looks sweet.
http://www.3reef.com/forums/i-made/nice-cheap-diy-overflow-29396-21.html#post374607
the placement of the baffeles is good. here it is in use.
http://www.3reef.com/forums/i-made/nice-cheap-diy-overflow-29396-22.html#post374847
This link has several great ideas for DIY overflow, sump etc.. It may have been posted before I don't know.
http://www.melevsreef.com/links.html
It's actually called Marc's Hidden Treasure
i've seen that but working with Acrylic to make a Weir style overflow box is a little beyond my skil level, and all teh equipment i'd need to get to build one would probably amount to more thatn it would cost me to buy a professionally made one.
http://www.melevsreef.com/acrylics/overflow.html
went to Home Depot to buy parts but all they had was ABS and i want PVC.
Gave my list of parts to Pat...he's going to place an order with his PVC guy for me. YAY!