Overflow

[bmbpka]

my overflow is giving me a headache. What am I doing wrong?

I have the Eclipse Medium box. Emergency on one side and just the flat bulkhead on the other feeding my sump. This pipe is under water in the sump and the emergency is a few inches off the water so I can hear the splash if it’s being used.

Why do I always have to tinker with it? Some Sundays after I do my water change it starts working just fine, silent and water level is just below the emergency pipe in the overflow box. Next Sunday the water level in the box is low and it sounds like Niagra Falls in my house.

Any suggestions?

 

[Crabs McJones]

Are you using a ball valve or gate valve? Do you have a filter sock on the end of youre main drain pipe? Can you post pictures for us?

 

[WVNed]

Does you plumbing have any horizontal sections that might trap air?

 

[bmbpka]

I think those three pictures answered all of your questions.

 

[bmbpka]

I always do everything in the same order too.

Drain water, replace filter sock, fill back up.

 

[WVNed]

45s are wonderful things. It seems no one uses them though.

 

[WVNed]

There are 2 things that can cause this.
The speed which water enters the front box goes down. Usually caused by stuff in the weir or surface agitation from a pump.

The speed of the main drain goes up. Usually by finally purging the last bit of air trapped in it somewhere.

 

[bmbpka]

There are 2 things that can cause this.
The speed which water enters the front box goes down. Usually caused by stuff in the weir or surface agitation from a pump.

The speed of the main drain goes up. Usually by finally purging the last bit of air trapped in it somewhere.

Do you recommend changing my setup to help with any of this? I’ve been wanting to cut into my drains to add unions higher up. Be a good time I suppose...

 

[WVNed]

I have the same setup as you except the overflow is HOB. I have it adjusted so a tiny bit of water goes down the emergency drain all the time. I made a standpipe for the emergency drain out of PVC to set the exact water level in the back I wanted.

That is because the level in the back box controls the water level in the front box. If it is too low in the front it can be noisy and a source of bubbles in your system.
I have the end of the emergency drain under water in the sump so that tiny bit of water isn't noisy. It also prevents the emergency drain from making a bunch of splashes in the bottom if I want to close the valve and force water down it. Imagine if you are gone all day and your main drain plugs.
I cant tell from your pic but if the lower section in your main drain is horizontal I would redo that to two 45 so the water always goes downhill and air can purge easily.

My union is behind the tank. It is kind of a pain to get it tight enough where it is. I can get large pliers on it but there is no room to swing them.

 

[falc]

I have the exact same overflow and I too seem to have to babysit it more than I would like. Now my most pressing issue is that I have is I have not installed an ATO yet so my water level and flow varies.. But I had an issue with a vortex that would form no matter what the water level was and the micro bubbles would drive me nuts!



So I added a BRS strainer thing to the main drain line

this thing disrupted the vortex and solved the noise issue and the micro bubbles, Added benefit of keeping the dang snails out of the drain line. The whole thing still needs more babysitting than I would like but less issues with the bubbles and noise.. YMMV!

 

[bmbpka]

I have the same setup as you except the overflow is HOB. I have it adjusted so a tiny bit of water goes down the emergency drain all the time. I made a standpipe for the emergency drain out of PVC to set the exact water level in the back I wanted.

That is because the level in the back box controls the water level in the front box. If it is too low in the front it can be noisy and a source of bubbles in your system.
I have the end of the emergency drain under water in the sump so that tiny bit of water isn't noisy. It also prevents the emergency drain from making a bunch of splashes in the bottom if I want to close the valve and force water down it. Imagine if you are gone all day and your main drain plugs.
I cant tell from your pic but if the lower section in your main drain is horizontal I would redo that to two 45 so the water always goes downhill and air can purge easily.

My union is behind the tank. It is kind of a pain to get it tight enough where it is. I can get large pliers on it but there is no room to swing them.

Yes there is a short piece that is horizontal. Think I’ll add the 45s.

Also maybe I’ll just keep the water higher on the emergency line. I always try to keep it a hair below it.

 

[WVNed]

I used a strainer in my box but discovered it was a bad idea if you feed seaweed. The uneaten pieces quickly clogged it up every 3 or 4 days.

 

[falc]

I used a strainer in my box but discovered it was a bad idea if you feed seaweed. The uneaten pieces quickly clogged it up every 3 or 4 days.

You are correct and I forgot to mention that you have to clean it regularly! I added cleaning the strainer to my maintenance schedule when I clean my filter socks! I have a good amount of macro algae in my DT and loose pieces get in there sometimes especially when trimming!!

 

[cracker]

I think the short "ma'n" drain needs a gate valve. to slow the water. The whirlpool is air being sucked in & making noise?
I have wondered how a filter sock can affect the full siphon drain.

 

[WVNed]

I think the short "ma'n" drain needs a gate valve. to slow the water. The whirlpool is air being sucked in & making noise?
I have wondered how a filter sock can affect the full siphon drain.

Well mine redirected the water and shot it over the side of the sump.

 

[ca1ore]

It’s a common problem with herbie style overflows. Any variation in pump flow will throw it off. There were old debates about whether to maintain a dry emergency or allow a trickle. I always did the latter because it significantly reduces tinkering. That’s how I run my eclipse medium box on my QT.

 

[Even Further]

Ditch the ball valve for the siphon line. Ball valves are quarter turn, for quick on/ quick off applications. You want a gate valve or a Y-pattern globe valve. My globe valve turns 3.5 times full open to full close. And, very tiny adjustments can be observed in the external overflow box.

 

[Crabs McJones]

I think the short "ma'n" drain needs a gate valve. to slow the water. The whirlpool is air being sucked in & making noise?
I have wondered how a filter sock can affect the full siphon drain.

This. You need a gate valve to adjust the water flow and create a siphon which will in turn raise the water level in the outside overflow box quieting it down. I have to check mine to make sure it's still working it runs so silent.

 

[ReeferNtraining]

This. You need a gate valve to adjust the water flow and create a siphon which will in turn raise the water level in the outside overflow box quieting it down. I have to check mine to make sure it's still working it runs so silent.

A gate valve does nothing to help with the changing water level in this OF box. The chamber is simply too small. My opinion is that it’s just a bad build. I have a gate valve on my main siphon and you still have to micro adjust it multiple times, daily, to keep it quiet. You also get the tornado air in the main siphon if you leave it as just a bulkhead. To fix the tornado slurp I made a U pipe for my main drain. Then to fix the daily micro adjusting I just changed out my emergency drain to a longer pipe that goes below water level with a 45 on the end. The other issue I had with this OF was that the interior sat too low on my rimmed tank. I drilled as high as I possibly could on the back, but the water level was still below the trim. Another mod I had to make to correct this was to silicone a solid 2” strip of acrylic across the bottom 3/4” of the weir. I finally got it all modded and dialed in to be silent, but I would never buy another one! This is just my experience with it.

 

[Crabs McJones]

A gate valve does nothing to help with the changing water level in this OF box.

a gate valve absolutely adjusts the level in the outside overflow box, as you close the valve the water level in the outer box rises, open the valve the water level lowers. I've had mine running for almost a year and haven't had to adjust it once