Fix My Return Pump Problem

[d2mini]

@justingraham , thanks for all that.

Converting to GPH, my L1 seems to vary about 130 gph give or take. Normally its running around 925 gph but every so often... boom... it's up to around 1080+ gph. And this is around 65% power if I remember correctly.
My tank is 120g and the Elos overflow is small, so it makes a big difference.

Since you have the data available from Apex, would you mind if I put you in touch directly with Ecotech? This is the kind of stuff they were asking me for. If so, pm me your email.
Thanks!

 

[justingraham]

@justingraham , thanks for all that.

Converting to GPH, my L1 seems to vary about 130 gph give or take. Normally its running around 925 gph but every so often... boom... it's up to around 1080+ gph. And this is around 65% power if I remember correctly.
My tank is 120g and the Elos overflow is small, so it makes a big difference.

Since you have the data available from Apex, would you mind if I put you in touch directly with Ecotech? This is the kind of stuff they were asking me for. If so, pm me your email.
Thanks!

Nope pm sent

 

[Stonekeg]

My first thought was to monitor the power usage. It was nice to see a few others echo the same idea. (I'm new here, and new to saltwater.) The trick is going to be to record the data, though. If the controller is causing abnormal spikes at specific times then it might give you a false sense of normal behavior if your just glancing at it now and then. Additionally, iirc, the refugium shouldn't change in water level since the return chamber of the sump is where water level changes happen first.

Have you noticed any unusual sounds lately? Maybe you could actually hear the change in the pump and watch the power for a bit when/if you do.

 

[doughboy]

display level rising with sump return level dropping can be caused by
increase return pump flow or decrease drain line flow.

drain line flow can decrease if you use filter sock and water in the filter sock starts going higher than the water level in the sump.
or if you have flow meter in the drain line, that could be reducing the drain flow.

 

[d2mini]

display level rising with sump return level dropping can be caused by
increase return pump flow or decrease drain line flow.

drain line flow can decrease if you use filter sock and water in the filter sock starts going higher than the water level in the sump.
or if you have flow meter in the drain line, that could be reducing the drain flow.

Yep, but in my case my flow meter is recording INCREASE of flow in the drain line. (I corrected a couple posts up that my flow meter is on my drain line).

 

[WVNed]

Is your drain line flowing any air?

 

[doughboy]

Yep, but in my case my flow meter is recording INCREASE of flow in the drain line. (I corrected a couple posts up that my flow meter is on my drain line).

with drain flow increasing, is the overflow water level going higher or stays the same?
flow cannot increase if the level is constant.
if return flow is constant, and overflow level is rising, that means drain flow is reduced.
since you say drain flow is increasing, then it has to be the return flow is increasing.

It is possible the pump controller is increasing the flow to compensate for something. perhaps a firmware bug.
AC fluctuations will not affect the speed, as the pump operates at regulated 24vDC power.

 

[d2mini]

with drain flow increasing, is the overflow water level going higher or stays the same?
flow cannot increase if the level is constant.
if return flow is constant, and overflow level is rising, that means drain flow is reduced.
since you say drain flow is increasing, then it has to be the return flow is increasing.

If my overflow just decided to start flowing more water for some reason, my sump would FILL and my display water level would DROP. That is not the case.
My display water level rises and my sump level drops. So the pump is still pumping more.
I think what happens is that as my tank fills and gets near the top, the Elos overflow's emergency mechanism kicks in and allows more water to flow down through my drain plumbing.