Herbie Help

[The Guy]

Originally Posted by HaZRaTTy

Looks like your not running any water through your emergency drain.. I don't care what anyone says you should be running a slight trickle through your emergency.. It will keep your overflow box at a constant height.

1'' is more then enough to handle flow.

There should be approx 6'' between your main drain and your emergency.

+1 to the slight trickle down the over flow, I was having level trouble until I started do this, otherwise it's too hard trying to match your return pump output with the gate valve.

[spit.fire]

are you running an ato?

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by spit.fire

are you running an ato?

That would be my first guess too , an ato is a must as the water level in the return has to be stable.

I never run my Hebrie with a trickle down the drain.

Filter socks , water levels in the return pump are the usual causes of fluctuations.

[The Guy]

Originally Posted by reefwars

That would be my first guess too , an ato is a must as the water level in the return has to be stable.

I never run my Hebrie with a trickle down the drain.

Filter socks , water levels in the return pump are the usual causes of fluctuations.

Filter socks are good as long as there kept clean otherwise I think there a PITA. I run an ATO using the double float system into the return pump area, which gives me constant level accuracy for the pump.
I use filter floss in my bubble trap area just before the return pump chamber for cleaning and don't use socks anymore, and always trickle down the emergency overflow, It works well for me. I just maintain a clean Herbie strainer in the overflow box.

[reefwars]

too much noise for me , a trickle down my emergency would drive me nuts....and i dont submerge my emergency as i like to know when its going off so i can fix it , if its submerged you may not know if the main is clogged unless its creating bubbles

[The Guy]

Originally Posted by reefwars

too much noise for me , a trickle down my emergency would drive me nuts....and i dont submerge my emergency as i like to know when its going off so i can fix it , if its submerged you may not know if the main is clogged unless its creating bubbles

My water level is the same level as the top of my emergency pipe so I only get a few drops down the pipe, can't even hear it at all until it starts running out faster, then I clean the herbie strainer and it's fine again.

[gregzz4]

Hey Dunc

I know you said this setup is fairly new, but could there be something in the drain ?

I have the same problem with my 'fuge from time to time. It'll climb to overflowing and I try to open it up enough to lower it. But then it just suddenly drops as if I opened it wide

I find the only way to reset it is to open it all the way to flush out whatevers in there and then I can reset it just fine. And it lasts for months after a flush

Another thing
Is your plumbing under water in the sump ? If not air in there will mess with your levels

Oh, btw, I haven't had to tune my setup since my build over 2 years ago (except if the pump strainer gets clogged), and I don't purposely run anything down the emerg

[KLUW]

Originally Posted by The Guy

+1 to the slight trickle down the over flow, I was having level trouble until I started do this, otherwise it's too hard trying to match your return pump output with the gate valve.

+2. Same here, nice and silent!