Sump in garage, worried about fumes from car

[sreed07]

About to upgrade my tank and move it to a shared wall to the garage. I’d love to plumb it through the wall and have the sump on the other side in the garage, but I’m worried about the little bit of exhaust fumes from my wife’s car that stays in the garage. Thinking if I were to enclose it in a cabinet that creates a decent seal, maybe that would be safe enough. Thoughts? In Florida so I’m not worried about cold weather. And it doesn’t get stupid hot in my garage either. Any thing else I should worry about?

 

[snorklr]

i hope its not an issue cause my entire tank's in the garage...

 

[fishguy242]

hi,i would just cover as best as can,keep bugs,critters out

 

[sreed07]

i hope its not an issue cause my entire tank's in the garage...

I have no idea. New to all of this. Just something that crossed my mind when I started hearing about candles and air fresheners ya know.

 

[snorklr]

the hardest part is" training "the wife to not sit there idling

 

[Dan_P]

About to upgrade my tank and move it to a shared wall to the garage. I’d love to plumb it through the wall and have the sump on the other side in the garage, but I’m worried about the little bit of exhaust fumes from my wife’s car that stays in the garage. Thinking if I were to enclose it in a cabinet that creates a decent seal, maybe that would be safe enough. Thoughts? In Florida so I’m not worried about cold weather. And it doesn’t get stupid hot in my garage either. Any thing else I should worry about?

The average garage stores a lot of things and isn’t typically clean. Outside dirt and chemical dust and fumes might be an issue.

Try eating your meals in the garage for week and get a feeling for the aromas and dust that are out there and might end up in your water.

 

[Dkmoo]

The content of car exhaust fumes are mostly the greenhouse gasses, ie, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide. And just as in nature thats causing global warming and ocean acidification, exposing ur sump in the garage could potentially affect your PH and nitrate levels depending on how much of that dirty air is sucked in by your skimmer and gets air exchanged into your system.

Other minor content of fume include hydrocarbons and uncombusted particles like soot. If you sealed that cabinet then likely the soot won't make it in there so I'd just worry about the greenhouse gasses.

 

[Joe31415]

I'd think if everything were sealed from the outside environment, it wouldn't be a whole lot different than just having it inside. I'd probably foam up all the holes in the wall with Great Stuff though.
Something else you could do is add a trap (like you see under a sink) to the plumbing. Your overflow and return pipes should always be full of water, but at the very least a trap on the emergency pipe. The slug of water will keep all the outside air outside and the inside air inside. You can probably fit a regular P trap in a straight run of the pipe or you can get pre-made traps from an HVAC store, meant for refrigeration drain lines.

But in the end, I think the best solution is going to just make sure no one is sitting the garage with the car idling for extended lengths of time.

 

[tehmadreefer]

Not only exhaust, but dirt, dust, hair, animals, insects, everything in your garage will begin to rust eventually, temperatures

 

[rmay6850]

It’s a pros cons thing.....
I had mine in the garage on a prior setup and it was fine you just have to be cognizant with what you keep inside your garage..... chemicals, yard/garden items, etc....

 

[CMMorgan]

About to upgrade my tank and move it to a shared wall to the garage. I’d love to plumb it through the wall and have the sump on the other side in the garage, but I’m worried about the little bit of exhaust fumes from my wife’s car that stays in the garage. Thinking if I were to enclose it in a cabinet that creates a decent seal, maybe that would be safe enough. Thoughts? In Florida so I’m not worried about cold weather. And it doesn’t get stupid hot in my garage either. Any thing else I should worry about?

I have had my sump in the garage (in Florida) for about 3 years. I am moving my tank - sump and all to the inside. I will never do that again. It was a huge mistake. No matter how hard I have tried to keep that sealed, we have had sawdust, bugs... you name it get inside the cabinet. I can't say that I have ever crashed my tank with exhaust fumes but I have done a number on what is in my garage.
My air handler, which is also 3 years old is rusting. My husbands tools ... rusting. I've definitely had temp swings and evaporation issues.
Best advise... don't do it. You are more than welcome to come by and see mine before I break it down. Learn from my mistakes.

 

[CMMorgan]

Not only exhaust, but dirt, dust, hair, animals, insects, everything in your garage will begin to rust eventually, temperatures

Ah @tehmadreefer ... you have been in my garage! LOL This is why mine is getting relocated.

 

[CMMorgan]

The content of car exhaust fumes are mostly the greenhouse gasses, ie, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide. And just as in nature thats causing global warming and ocean acidification, exposing ur sump in the garage could potentially affect your PH and nitrate levels depending on how much of that dirty air is sucked in by your skimmer and gets air exchanged into your system.

Other minor content of fume include hydrocarbons and uncombusted particles like soot. If you sealed that cabinet then likely the soot won't make it in there so I'd just worry about the greenhouse gasses.

I have been fighting high nitrates for about a year, in spite of sooooo many water changes. My LFS thinks the garage has nothing to do with it but I do wonder. We'll see after the new build is finished if that was the root cause.

 

[sreed07]

I have had my sump in the garage (in Florida) for about 3 years. I am moving my tank - sump and all to the inside. I will never do that again. It was a huge mistake. No matter how hard I have tried to keep that sealed, we have had sawdust, bugs... you name it get inside the cabinet. I can't say that I have ever crashed my tank with exhaust fumes but I have done a number on what is in my garage.
My air handler, which is also 3 years old is rusting. My husbands tools ... rusting. I've definitely had temp swings and evaporation issues.
Best advise... don't do it. You are more than welcome to come by and see mine before I break it down. Learn from my mistakes.

Thanks for word of caution. I actually just put all the holes in the wall and did the plumbing yesterday. We’ll see how it goes. I’ve got it inside an old kitchen cabinet with the countertop still and plan on sealing it pretty tight with the top on a hinge. So, we’ll see.

 

[Twitchy]

What I did with my garage setup to help ease similar worries was to plumb the protein skimmer air intake outside. I also added a exhaust fan that I could turn on when I needed to clear out more dangerous stuff like welding fumes.

 

[Joe31415]

My air handler, which is also 3 years old is rusting. My husbands tools ... rusting. I've definitely had temp swings and evaporation issues.

Does the tank in the garage really add that much more humidity to the already humid air (in Florida)? I'm way up in Wisconsin so putting a sump in a garage wouldn't even be considered unless you took some extreme measures to keep it insulated. Even with an attached garage, it's common to be well below freezing out there during winter and just as hot and humid in summer as it is outside.

But all that talk of the evaporation causing rusting tools and HVAC units makes me wonder about all that humidity inside the house. My tank loses, if I had to guess, a gallon or so each day, it's gotta be going somewhere. My house doesn't feel like a swamp, so maybe the air is dry enough that I don't notice the difference. I have clock in my house that tells me the indoor and outdoor temp and humidity. I'll have to see what it says for humidity, though I have no idea what it said before I started the tank a few weeks ago.
At least in summer the AC will be running and can remove the excess moisture from the air.

 

[sreed07]

Does the tank in the garage really add that much more humidity to the already humid air (in Florida)? I'm way up in Wisconsin so putting a sump in a garage wouldn't even be considered unless you took some extreme measures to keep it insulated. Even with an attached garage, it's common to be well below freezing out there during winter and just as hot and humid in summer as it is outside.

But all that talk of the evaporation causing rusting tools and HVAC units makes me wonder about all that humidity inside the house. My tank loses, if I had to guess, a gallon or so each day, it's gotta be going somewhere. My house doesn't feel like a swamp, so maybe the air is dry enough that I don't notice the difference. I have clock in my house that tells me the indoor and outdoor temp and humidity. I'll have to see what it says for humidity, though I have no idea what it said before I started the tank a few weeks ago.
At least in summer the AC will be running and can remove the excess moisture from the air.

I really don’t see how it could cause rusting inside they garage. How do people prevent rusting inside the house? It’s not like all of the door hinges and knobs are stainless steel. Also, the salt doesn’t evaporate right? Just the water. Not saying this because I know just genuinely curious.

 

[Twitchy]

I really don’t see how it could cause rusting inside they garage. How do people prevent rusting inside the house? It’s not like all of the door hinges and knobs are stainless steel. Also, the salt doesn’t evaporate right? Just the water. Not saying this because I know just genuinely curious.

Your houses A/C usually keeps the humidity in check when inside the house. If you notice moisture problems in the garage, a dehumidifier can be had for a few bucks at a pawn shop.

 

[sreed07]

Your houses A/C usually keeps the humidity in check when inside the house. If you notice moisture problems in the garage, a dehumidifier can be had for a few bucks at a pawn shop.

Makes sense. Being in Florida, with a garage that is operated sometimes several times a day, there’s no way of keeping the humidity out haha. And I’m thinking that will help keep the air fresh anyway. My garage rarely goes a full day without being opened.

 

[Joe31415]

Your houses A/C usually keeps the humidity in check when inside the house. If you notice moisture problems in the garage, a dehumidifier can be had for a few bucks at a pawn shop.

But some of us only run our AC a few months out of the year. Mine will be on, more or less, all the time from about June through August and then a month or two on either side of that, it can easily go a few days without running.

I've only had this tank set for a few weeks now and like I said earlier, I haven't (physically) noticed a huge increase in humidity (though it is the dead of winter right now and the air is dry). But I also haven't seen any excess condensation on windows either, which kinda surprises me given how much water escapes the tank every day.