Double return pump plumbing q’s

[srobertb]

Hi! Lots of pump and hydrodynamic questions here for someone smarter than me.

I’ve zeroed in on a Jebao return pump. I know. I know. But I’ve done the work and think this is a good decision.

I’d like to plumb one + a second that will take over in an emergency. Ie: if return_flow=0 for > 10 mins then pump_1 off, pump_2 on. Programming TBD. That’s a later post.

How do I plumb this? I have 10’ of head height to get by and I’d like my return to do double duty on the refugium and main display. I could plumb in both pumps with check valves right after the pump but check valves are a no-no in this hobby (for most).

I could use 1.5” solenoids on both pumps but that’s a spicy price.

What am I missing here?

 

[christwendt]

Hi! Lots of pump and hydrodynamic questions here for someone smarter than me.

I’ve zeroed in on a Jebao return pump. I know. I know. But I’ve done the work and think this is a good decision.

I’d like to plumb one + a second that will take over in an emergency. Ie: if return_flow=0 for > 10 mins then pump_1 off, pump_2 on. Programming TBD. That’s a later post.

How do I plumb this? I have 10’ of head height to get by and I’d like my return to do double duty on the refugium and main display. I could plumb in both pumps with check valves right after the pump but check valves are a no-no in this hobby (for most).

I could use 1.5” solenoids on both pumps but that’s a spicy price.

What am I missing here?

I choose 2 cor return pumps. They have built in safety features if pump runs dry, if it isn’t pulling proper volts, if it’s clogged , if temp gets high. It will alert me via apex and shut off. I choose to have both running at same time. If one shuts off the other still has enough flow to circulate things. One goes straight to my return. The other feeds a manifold for my carbon and then leads to the other return. I have two return nozzles each fed by one return. They both have check valves.

 

[KStatefan]

My opinion would just have two pumps running all the time. I think one setting in the tank not running leaves more risk with not starting when you want it to.

 

[RedoubtReef]

Personally, I feel like the 2 pump thing is marketing. Maybe that's just because I've never had my return fail in the almost 14 years I've used it.

I get the reason for it and even considered doing it for my current build. I'll just throw this out as an option for using a single pump to 2 returns:

Product Listing 672-8020 PVC-Fittings-Wyes-Manifold-Wyes at FlexPVC.com

672-8020 PVC-Fittings-Wyes-Manifold-Wyes %%name%%

flexpvc.com

 

[srobertb]

I choose 2 cor return pumps. They have built in safety features if pump runs dry, if it isn’t pulling proper volts, if it’s clogged , if temp gets high. It will alert me via apex and shut off. I choose to have both running at same time. If one shuts off the other still has enough flow to circulate things. One goes straight to my return. The other feeds a manifold for my carbon and then leads to the other return. I have two return nozzles each fed by one return. They both have check valves.

This is what I had (and still have I suppose); 2 COR-15’s at 40%. If one died, the other kicks up to 80%. I also put them on independent 1link modules after I had my return die on vacation.

My new setup only has 1 return line due to the length of run.

I have about 10’ of head height to contend with as well. I could maybe plumb 2, COR-20’s in but I think they’d need to run at > 50% in order to get the GPH (1000gph to the DT plus 250gph to refugium). If one died, I could kick the other one up to 100% just to keep things limping along but the water would flow back thru the T and then back into the sump via the dead pump rather than up to the DT. So…check valves would need to be installed right after the pump.

 

[christwendt]

This is what I had (and still have I suppose); 2 COR-15’s at 40%. If one died, the other kicks up to 80%. I also put them on independent 1link modules after I had my return die on vacation.

My new setup only has 1 return line due to the length of run.

I have about 10’ of head height to contend with as well. I could maybe plumb 2, COR-20’s in but I think they’d need to run at > 50% in order to get the GPH (1000gph to the DT plus 250gph to refugium). If one died, I could kick the other one up to 100% just to keep things limping along but the water would flow back thru the T and then back into the sump via the dead pump rather than up to the DT. So…check valves would need to be installed right after the pump.

Do you manually have it kick to 80% if one goes out? Wondering how you program to have it increase in speed if one does automatically.

 

[srobertb]

Do you manually have it kick to 80% if one goes out? Wondering how you program to have it increase in speed if one does automatically.

I don’t recall. Neptune helped me I think. The tank sprang a leak a few weeks ago and so I’m not using any return pump right now. …and I deleted the programming.

It’s easy enough to do manually. Once you get the error just a few tweaks and away you go.

 

[srobertb]

Personally, I feel like the 2 pump thing is marketing. Maybe that's just because I've never had my return fail in the almost 14 years I've used it.

I get the reason for it and even considered doing it for my current build. I'll just throw this out as an option for using a single pump to 2 returns:

Product Listing 672-8020 PVC-Fittings-Wyes-Manifold-Wyes at FlexPVC.com

672-8020 PVC-Fittings-Wyes-Manifold-Wyes %%name%%

flexpvc.com

Hate to put this evil in the world.

I was using a single COR-15 on my previous setup. Really loved the pump. Ran for 3 maybe 4 years no issues. It ate nassarius snails and spit out calcium. Just a beast.

In Disney when I get a return pump error the morning we were flying home. The EB832 1link port blew. So when I got home I added another pump plus 1link modules for each pump and dispersed my 1link connections across several Apex products. Set them both to 40% so if one died, one would bump up to 80%.

Due to the length of run, my new tank only has 1, 1.5” return to the tank. Although I am starting to rethink that based on this thread.

Redundancy redundancy and…redundancy. Every system except lighting has a backup system and sometimes a backup to that for me. If something fails, it lets me know and whenever possible switches over or at worst, I switch it over remotely. Even generally considered “the best” equipment breaks….and it’s always an hour before a flight or when I’m on vacation.