onther sump question

[mycat99]

i have a 125 gallon tank drilled with inch and half hole .the pluming from tank to sump goes threw 2 90 degee elbows .once in sump first area is 18 inches long then goes over /under /over to return area roughly 7 inches wide last area in sump is for refedem.the water is eight and half inches deep i am useing a mag 18 for return .it goes up has 2 tees then 3 elbows till hits top of tank .theres a ball valve on main line into sump only .i am having a realy hard time to set flow threw sump my ball valve is about 2/3 closed to keep a stedy water lev in sump .is this normal ?or was sump designed wrong

[mr.wilson]

Your return pump is too big. Swap it out for something with an output around 1000 GPH @ zero head.

[superduperwesman]

Steady water level in the first chamber? The level is higher or lower when you open the valve more?

[banditpowdercoat]

I second the pump being to big of you have it throttled back 2/3. A waste of power then. What size plumbing?

[sphelps]

Basically you can pick between the following two problems:

1) As already noted the pump is two big for the sump, solution keep pump throttled back or replace with smaller pump.

2) Sump isn't designed to handle the flow rate, solution redesign sump or reduce flow rate.

I would suggest that until you get a better handle on things and some more experience you simply keep the pump throttled back, there is nothing wrong with this. Very few people have wide open returns.

A picture of the sump and setup will allow for more interpretation of the issue.

[superduperwesman]

If the pump is too big that would mean his problem is that the return chamber level is dropping but the water in his first chamber must be rising b/c the spacing between the baffles is too small

[sphelps]

If the pump is too big that would mean his problem is that the return chamber level is dropping but the water in his first chamber must be rising b/c the spacing between the baffles is too small
I'm guessing it's more related to volume but it's hard to tell with what was given.

[mark]

The valve you mention is it on the output of the pump or return line to the sump (drain line)?

The hole size, 1.5" is the the hole in the tank glass or pipe/bulkhead size?

[mycat99]

i use one and ahalf pipe from my tank to the sump .the ball valve is on this .its 1 inch pipe from return pump up to tank and theres no valve on it .the baffles are one and a quarter inches apart

[mycat99]

my sump is a 3 chamber type .my prblem is trying to keep a steady leval in return area .theres just 1 ball valve on entire plumping system and if i move it just a bit ether the return area on sump runs dry or overflows .right now in about 4 days the return area in sump runs to low .i am trying to move ball valve just a little bit to keep constint level but very hard to do

[banditpowdercoat]

Well, sounds for starters, it's plumbed wrong, a bit You Should have a valve on the return pump line to tank. You leave the Tank drain to sump Open, unless you are working on it and need to shut off for some reason. But you control the flow with the Return pump valve. Also, what kind of drain do you have in your overflow? Just a single line from tank to sump? Durso drain in overflow then, or just a pure open pipe? Pure open pipe will sound like a toilet flushing. You need some kind of siphon break like a Durso, etc.

You should NEVER throttle your drain back if there is only one drain. Herbie style drains throttle the main pipe but have a completely un-restricted emergency drain in case the main plugs up.