Sump baffle question

[mmorrison55]

This will be my 1st non glass sump.

In that sump, it has the typical glass panel baffles that are glided at different heights that require the water to flow over or under. In the new sump I had built, the chamber adjacent to the return pumps has two upper and two lower baffles (pic attached).

My question is would I close off the lower or the upper baffles or have one of each like in the photo? Im assuming I would close off the two lower to require the water to rise higher that the return pumps, but im not sure if this is right or just a choice. I’d rather get it right before I fill it with water and have to crawl under the cabinet to change it out.

 

[Asm481]

It looks to me the way it is now the level won't exceed a couple inches, never reaching the higher level weir. Unless you have a ton of flow. Maybe I am not seeing it right. I see 2 returns, are they separate spaces or one area.

 

[mmorrison55]

It’s one long return chamber. I currently have one baffle high and one low, but thats only because I have not changed them out to be either both high or low.

Im assuming I need to put the solid parts low so the water flows up and over them. My question was more of a why is there an open ion to set the open baffles low? Maybe im not seeing why someone would want to do that.

 

[mmorrison55]

Night time bump…

 

[UncommonSense]

Im assuming I need to put the solid parts low so the water flows up and over them. My question was more of a why is there an open ion to set the open baffles low? Maybe im not seeing why someone would want to do that.

The only reason I can see to flip the toothed weirs upside down would be to increase the total size of the return chamber!

The return chamber appears to be rather thin for three pumps… I could see it being tough to get the drain(s) tuned, or pump flow adjusted without running the return chamber dry if the tooth weirs are oriented up! (Toothed weirs up makes the adjacent chamber a fixed water level, but makes the return chamber very small!)

(That is to say, ATO systems benefit from a smaller return chamber, as water level changes more rapidly per-gallon in a smaller chamber, thus sensors can top-off more precisely… however, it might be a nuisance given the scale of the system, so the option exists to flip the toothed weir, increasing the return chamber’s volume by combining it with the adjacent chamber, and just using the toothed weirs as debris screens!)

 

[mmorrison55]

The only reason I can see to flip the toothed weirs upside down would be to increase the total size of the return chamber!

The return chamber appears to be rather thin for three pumps… I could see it being tough to get the drain(s) tuned, or pump flow adjusted without running the return chamber dry if the tooth weirs are oriented up! (Toothed weirs up makes the adjacent chamber a fixed water level, but makes the return chamber very small!)

(That is to say, ATO systems benefit from a smaller return chamber, as water level changes more rapidly per-gallon in a smaller chamber, thus sensors can top-off more precisely… however, it might be a nuisance given the scale of the system, so the option exists to flip the toothed weir, increasing the return chamber’s volume by combining it with the adjacent chamber, and just using the toothed weirs as debris screens!)

Thanks…

So maybe set the two set of “tooth’s” high and low ( on the right side) so that both adjacent chambers are always at the same water level height? The left side will have solid plates top and bottom

By the way, only two of the pumps (far left and far right) will act as returns. The middle return pump will be ran low power to feed a manifold of sorts, that will supply a chiller, my ozone reactor that will be in sump in the middle chamber that is adjacent to the return pump, and then back into the front left chamber that will contain an algae reactor

 

[mmorrison55]

Between the “mr250” (algae reactor) and skimmer chamber is the adjustable baffle for setting the water height of the skimmer.

Behind the mr250 are an upper and lower plate. Currently it’s set to open on the lower side and closed up top.

I could remove the top solid plate or cut “teeth” into it if the middle chamber need help filling up.

 

[UncommonSense]

Thanks…

So maybe set the two set of “tooth’s” high and low ( on the right side) so that both adjacent chambers are always at the same water level height? The left side will have solid plates top and bottom

Assuming the skimmer is water height dependent:

I think it’s worth giving it a try with both sets of weir teeth in the high positions, and the low positions capped, to see if the smaller return chamber will actually work as intended!

Between the “mr250” (algae reactor) and skimmer chamber is the adjustable baffle for setting the water height of the skimmer.

Behind the mr250 are an upper and lower plate. Currently it’s set to open on the lower side and closed up top.

I could remove the top solid plate or cut “teeth” into it if the middle chamber need help filling up.

oh! This explains a lot! — you’ll probably want each of the adjustable baffles in the high position here, too! Otherwise you’ll have an extremely low operating sump water line!

 

[mmorrison55]

Really appreciate the feedback.

So I will leave the wall between the return pumps and middle chamber as shown in the photo on post 3.

And change the algae reactor chamber teeth to be on the top vs the bottom that is currently showing in the photo of post 7

And see how it goes. If the return chamber runs low/dry, I’ll move both open teeth to the right side top and bottom so that the return chamber and the middle chamber will be at the same height