Red Sea Reefer 170 drain adjustment solved

[Dub]

After a year of adjusting the Red Sea drain knob trying to eliminate the gurgling sound of water draining into the sump I accidentally discovered an easy adjustment and it is now quite.
After turning off the return pump and allowing the display tank to drain down into the sump I took the drain off and took the assembly to the sink. I removed the 4 neoprene plugs at the 4 corners of the adjusting knob (they just press in) then I removed the Allen head screws that hold the cover on. This allowed me to remove the cover with the neoprene gasket. After a through cleaning of all snails and gunk (be sure the adjusting knob is turned fully CCW to retract the large gasket ) I reassembled the unit and replaced it onto the drain.
Now came the adjusting part. With the adjusting knob being turned fully CCW for reassembly I turned on the return pump and let the water levels stablize. I then proceeded to turn the knob CW until water started to overflow into the overflow pipe in the over flow box. I actually had to add water to the system as the sump was drawn down so that the return pump was sucking air. After adding enough salt water to stabilize the system I then turned the adjusting knob CCW one click at a time til the water stopped overflowing into the emergency overflow. I let the system stablize and made one final adjustment to the drain knob so the water was barely below the top of the emergency overflow pipe. Remember turn the drain knob CCW to lower the water level and CW to raise the water level in the overflow box. I now have a SILENT Red Sea system!!!

 

[Max_nano]

Nice! It’s good that there’s a Union so that piece can be removed to clean. But I’m surprised they haven’t switched it to something like a gate valve

 

[Dub]

Nice! It’s good that there’s a Union so that piece can be removed to clean. But I’m surprised they haven’t switched it to something like a gate valve

I’m sure a gate valve would encounter the same problems of stoppage. If the valve is adjusted properly all water going through the sump passes through the valve and carries with it all the excess food, poo poo, waste and other gunk one finds in the sock and/or skimmer. Then how do you clean a gate valve?

 

[Simply__J]

Thanks but didn't work. Within two days the overflow box/weir is flooded again and draining down the emergency again. Adjusting this is a never ending war with many battles.

 

[Quietman]

With any herbie (full flow pipe with emergency) set up as the pipes and valves develop a film or sediment it will change the flow characteristics of system over time. The diaphragm valve maybe more susceptible to that build up...no data but that large surface area has to have higher impact. So more adjusting over time is needed.

The good thing about the diaphragm is it's low profile and easy maintenance. I do that cleaning in place every 6 months.

It does seem limited by higher flow rates and gets noisy. I have to clean valve before upping flow for high flow UV algae treatment. Where a gate valve can support higher flow longer. Gates will still need adjusting as system ages between and because of cleaning. Just less often.