Water always humbles me - UV and flow meter

[Krad]

Hi R2R,

Cautionary tale for hobby plumbers lol

I got a Hydros Control X4 from Santa and installed the flow meter today to see what my UV was getting and I was kind of shocked...my Reef Breeders Nautilus DC 2500 at max power was only getting about 200GPH according to the meter. Only 2 90 degree elbows, ~4 feet of 3/4" PVC and 2 feet of head pressure to the meter.

To keep the top of the tank clean I plumbed the UV return INTO my main return pumps return pipes so there's nothing over the rim: (white PVC is UV, grey is included IM plumbing)

I didnt even think about the pressure from that being a factor and it was...turning off the main return pump and my GPH doubled.

I never had the UV pump at max so my UV was getting a sweet 15-20gph for the past 3 months lol...I guess that water was super sterilized!

Either going to redo my plumbing or get a bigger pump on the UV input.

Happy New Years!

 

[Sean Clark]

Well, at least now you know. Happy reefing.

 

[Krad]

Well, at least now you know. Happy reefing.

Yep well, at least now I got the proper flow going through it....then I forgot to clamp the new pump and the hose blew up

Cant win em all

 

[2Plus2]

@Krad what made u decide on 400gph for your UV, what's your target fix or control?

 

[KrisReef]

Looks like the pump was pushing against itself?

 

[Krad]

@Krad what made u decide on 400gph for your UV, what's your target fix or control?

Actually lowered it because I did the math wrong, its about 350 now.

I don't QT and stumbled upon the equation for parasitic control (not elimination) being 1/6th of the UV rated algae control. My unit is a Cat A UV with 2100gph being the flow rate for algae control.

Looks like the pump was pushing against itself?

2 pumps were pushing against each other, I have the UV on a separate pump but essentially yes the return was putting pressure on the UV output and since the UV body is a giant 3 inch PVC housing Im sure that made the UV pump want to cry lol

 

[KrisReef]

Actually lowered it because I did the math wrong, its about 350 now.

I don't QT and stumbled upon the equation for parasitic control (not elimination) being 1/6th of the UV rated algae control. My unit is a Cat A UV with 2100gph being the flow rate for algae control.

2 pumps were pushing against each other, I have the UV on a separate pump but essentially yes the return was putting pressure on the UV output and since the UV body is a giant 3 inch PVC housing Im sure that made the UV pump want to cry lol

If you had a large enough return pump on the main it could have pushed water backwards against the UV pump with that configuration.

I might shut the UV pump off and see how much back flow the main pump would push through the UV? It might be fine in the current configuration?

Sometimes accidents work out fine, and the flow to the DT might also be adequate?!

A gate valve may be all you need?

 

[Krad]

If you had a large enough return pump on the main it could have pushed water backwards against the UV pump with that configuration.

I might shut the UV pump off and see how much back flow the main pump would push through the UV? It might be fine in the current configuration?

Sometimes accidents work out fine, and the flow to the DT might also be adequate?!

A gate valve may be all you need?

I got it working now, pretty much just swapped pumps so the UV one has more head pressure and its working as intended, again was just surprised and figured I'd throw out a post to help others

 

[KrisReef]

I struggle with electrical challenges, I can wire a house but i don't understand much of our controller and accessories technology. Go figure.

 

[Krad]

I struggle with electrical challenges, I can wire a house but i don't understand much of our controller and accessories technology. Go figure.

Ah I have a boat so I’m used to 12v 24v stuff. A lot harder to cable manage

Actually plan on using my old trolling motor batteries as a backup system as I age them out every 3-4 years and have the hydros control that