Bean animal issue

[Claus84]

Hi all,

First time using a bean animal overflow and i'm having some issues! I have set it up almost exactly as per the below diagram from Beananimals website except I only have a ball valve on the main drain and not on the open channel or emergency.

The issue I'm having is that the open channel is currently taking all of the flow and aspirating a lot of air with it. I think I may have messed up as the main drain and the open channel pipes are at the same height and they are downturned sitting just above the bottom of the overflow so there is little I can do to tweak this. I've used herbie style overflows many times and in retrospect it seems pretty obvious that the open channel inlet should be higher than the main drain but that doesn't appear to be the case in the images below.

Am I missing something or is the only solution to try and make the open channel inlet higher?

Thanks in advance.

 

[WvAquatics]

Do you have a gate valve on the main drain?

 

[iamacat]

Must have gate valve

 

[Gablami]

If it's all setup correctly, sometimes when just starting up, the main drain fails to start a siphon. Sometimes that's because the plumbing diameter is too large relative to the return flow, or because the plumbing extends too far under the sump's water level (ideally it should not extend very much under water). Even with that all setup, sometimes when my pump resets, it all goes down the main drain, and I need to pull up the PVC in the overflow to get the siphon in the main drain started again. Hope that helps.

 

[Claus84]

Do you have a gate valve on the main drain?

No just a ball valve.

Whether I have this fully open or fully closed it makes no difference to the water height in the overflow, all of the flow is going down the open channel.

Thanks

 

[Claus84]

If it's all setup correctly, sometimes when just starting up, the main drain fails to start a siphon. Sometimes that's because the plumbing diameter is too large relative to the return flow, or because the plumbing extends too far under the sump's water level (ideally it should not extend very much under water). Even with that all setup, sometimes when my pump resets, it all goes down the main drain, and I need to pull up the PVC in the overflow to get the siphon in the main drain started again. Hope that helps.

The plumbing is way larger than it probably needed so I guess that might be it!

I have a 7200lph fluval SP4 but the flow is split to the 55g (with beananimal) and my 90g with the bulk of the flow going to my 90.

Would sticking a valve on the open channel compensate for this? I realise it wouldn't technically be an open channel anymore if I did this though...

 

[Gablami]

The plumbing is way larger than it probably needed so I guess that might be it!

I have a 7200lph fluval SP4 but the flow is split to the 55g (with beananimal) and my 90g with the bulk of the flow going to my 90.

Would sticking a valve on the open channel compensate for this? I realise it wouldn't technically be an open channel anymore if I did this though...

No, a valve on the open channel won’t fix it. You can reduce the diameter of the plumbing to make it easier to clear the air. Let’s get some more view on this. I’ve setup several bean animals and herbies, but I wouldn’t say I’m an expert. It might be helpful to take photos of your actual setup and provide measurements of your tank size and PVC diameter.

 

[Gablami]

What I’m interpreting from you is that there is no flow going through the main drain which has the valve, and the flow going into the open drain which is unrestricted. Is this correct?

 

[SMSREEF]

The main drain with the valve needs to be lower than the backup. The backup needs to be lower than the emergency drain.

the main drain should be below the water level (which is managed by closing the gate valve until you no longer hear the air going in.

 

[Claus84]

What I’m interpreting from you is that there is no flow going through the main drain which has the valve, and the flow going into the open drain which is unrestricted. Is this correct?

That's correct yeah

 

[Claus84]

The main drain with the valve needs to be lower than the backup. The backup needs to be lower than the emergency drain.

the main drain should be below the water level (which is managed by closing the gate valve until you no longer hear the air going in.

In hindsight that makes perfect sense but I went off the diagrams linked above which to me look very much like both the main and the backup are at the same level.

Guess I might just have to put up with the gurgling as I can't think of a way of rectifying this with my setup short of turning the downward facing elbow of the backup so that its facing upwards instead, I'd have to redo the whole backup line to do this which isn't a problem as such but cutting the elbow off in the confines of the overflow could be tricky.

Thanks

 

[SMSREEF]

In hindsight that makes perfect sense but I went off the diagrams linked above which to me look very much like both the main and the backup are at the same level.

Guess I might just have to put up with the gurgling as I can't think of a way of rectifying this with my setup short of turning the downward facing elbow of the backup so that its facing upwards instead, I'd have to redo the whole backup line to do this which isn't a problem as such but cutting the elbow off in the confines of the overflow could be tricky.

Thanks

That’s a bummer. It does look like they are the same level In that pic.
So the pieces are glued in?

If you snap a pic of the actual overflow, maybe someone will have another idea...

Adding another valve to the backup may be the only option without cutting anything.

 

[Claus84]

Unfortunately yeah it's all glued, was just a little bit of too loose not too.

Pics of the overflow attached (hopefully). The water level is really low in there. The saving grace is that this tank is in my garage so if I need to I could just put up with the noise. It would be good to get it running properly though if I can.

Thanks

 

[cboylan1606]

Can you not loosen off on the bulkhead nut and turn the hole thing.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

How far below the surface does the full siphon terminate?

 

[tripdad]

Sometimes drilling a 3/16" hole about a half inch above the sump water level on the main drain pipe, the full siphon, will let it expel the air more easily without affecting siphon or making noise. I run a valve on this one too as a tuning aid just in case.

 

[Claus84]

Can you not loosen off on the bulkhead nut and turn the hole thing.

Unfortunately not, it's a slip bulkhead but the pipe is glued into the t-piece on the standpipe

 

[Claus84]

How far below the surface does the full siphon terminate?

There's around 2" of water in the overflow and the inlet sits about 1/4" off the bottom

Edit - misread the question, it terminates about 1" under the water into the sump, but the secondary is only 1/4" under the water.

Maybe shortening the siphon line might relieve alter the pressure enough to make it function??

 

[schuby]

I think @cboylan1606 was asking if you could turn the whole bulkhead, thus turning the pipe in your overflow box.

 

[Claus84]

Sometimes drilling a 3/16" hole about a half inch above the sump water level on the main drain pipe, the full siphon, will let it expel the air more easily without affecting siphon or making noise. I run a valve on this one too as a tuning aid just in case.

That's got to be worth a try, thanks