Question about overflows PLease help

younngballa88

younngballa88

Member
Ok my understanding of an overflow is that you must manually creat a suction from the tank box to the box on the back of your tank correct? Ok so what happens if the power goes out (well it will drain till it cant no more) But when the power comes back on and my pumps pump the water back into the tank the overflow will have to be manually stared again?? This could be a huge problem if the power goes out at lets say 4am and my pumps pump my fuge dry and burn up all my stuff... Any advice or correct me if any of this does not sound right? I just want to make sure ive thought of everything before i start filling with water. Please Help me
 
E

eric b 125

Guest
that's one of the problems with these types of overflow boxes. also, when your return pump turns back on, and the siphon isnt re-started, it could cause your tank to overflow, which: best case scenario will be a pain to clean up or worst case scenario, start a fire if water spills on the wrong things. there's a thread on here that someone made a DIY PVC pipe overflow that is self priming, you could do a search for it. there's also self priming overflow boxes that use an air pump to remove air from the u-tubes when the power comes back on. have you thought of drilling the tank?
 
younngballa88

younngballa88

Member
Ya know at first i was to worried about breaking the tank i just paid 200$ for but at this point its not worth the risk of fire and lossing all my pumps ect ect so i think im gonna drill it. Say a prair for me that the glass is not tempered. Its a 150 with 3/4" glass.
 
naclh2o nut

naclh2o nut

Member
4
Not sure what is different about mine. store bought standard- I thought. When my pump goes out, I have a hole drilled in return line that will break the siphon on it. The overflow box just stops, water stays in u tube and when pump starts flowing again so does u-tube and overflow box.
 
pbnj

pbnj

Member
Power outages are not an issue if your set-up is done correctly.
I use a CPR overflow box. Some people hook the bleed hose from the overflow to an Aqua Lifter pump, this way the overflow will continue to work if it draws some air into it or, in the event of a power failure, it will restart the syphon if it was lost during the power failure. Personally, I have the bleed hose connected to the air intake of a powerhead in the tank. Actually, I've found that simply keeping the bleed hose submerged in the tank will maintain the syphon.
I've had several power failures and I also turn my pump off myself all the time and I've never lost the syphon. In the event that I ever did lose the syphon, the pump is connected to a float switch in the display tank, so it would shut off if the water level got too high. No flooding and the equipment in the sump is always submerged.
 
turningtim

turningtim

Active Member
U-tube OF's will not lose siphon when the power goes out! Its physics! As long as both ends of the U-tube are submerged the siphon will start when the pumps come back on. No aqualifter needed.
The rear box should either have a compartment that holds water or you can use standpipes to retain water in the rear box.
I have used a DIY U-tube OF for 5 years. NEVER broke siphon by itself.
This should go on the Myth thread......
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top