Hydros, Pump, Variable Soft Start Time

hkinkade

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Question: Can I set up an extended soft start on my return pumps with the Hydros?

I need my return pumps to ramp up slowly (extended soft start) in two situations:

  • When I manually turn them on
  • When power is restored after an outage
The Problem:My drain system is complex with a long 50-foot line running to the sump room. Because of the water inertia in that long line, it takes time for the flow to fully accelerate when the pumps start.

When the pumps (two varios 6) turn on, the water level in the tank and overflow box rises higher than normal until the flow gets going and the sump level drops. This eventually lowers the sump below the pump inlets, and doesn't overflow the tank.

While this behavior helps prevent overflow, it’s not ideal for everyday operation.


Has anyone successfully set up a longer soft start ramp with the Hydros system? The varios pumps take about 10 seconds to come to speed by themselves, I need something closer to 60 seconds.
 

tbrown

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I'm not positive that that's possible. Have you reached out to CoralVue on their support page? They're usually pretty quick to answer.
 
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hkinkade

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Here's my solution:

Well for what it's worth it appears this is not possible with Hydros. I wish CoralVue would develop a module or functionality to perform some math and other more advanced functionality (similar to this issue), love the product though, but for power users it's got some short comings. Even though power users may be a very limited market, I'm hoping Coral Vue will recognize that many people recognize those who are able to do complex / complicated functionality and buy the product based on their use. It does have large marketing value, although not easily measured.

My solution, not preferred but it will work, I have two pumps. When I turn them both on the inrush of flow overwhelms the system until my drain begins to reach full flow. So I used dependancies and delay the second pump from coming on for 45 seconds. It works for now. I'm not certain how this could have been done with the Hydros if I only had one larger pump :-/
 

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