I'm having drain problems

[Dj City]

Im having a hard time getting my water as crystal clear as it should be.
I am using a Clarisea SK-5000 filter roller. Can't figure out yet why the display is not as clear as it should be.

I'm still getting a "toilet bowl flush" from the drain every now and then. It takes a while to happen but it happens.
I have a lot of microbubbles in the clarisea and the water level is always right to the top just under the overflow opening. The flushing from the drain takes the water level in the Clarissa over the overflow and triggers the float switch for just a split second.

I'm wondering what I can do about this.
Flow from the return pump to the display is 650gph through 1 inch pvc.
Drain is 1.5 durso.

 

[alysak6075]

The flush is signaling you that there is a constant pressure build up in the drain to the point pressure is LESS than the weight of the backed up water in the pipe and gravity pushes all of it out. That's where the extra water triggers the float switch. The water level at the top all the time is because the return pump is too fast.

Couple of things you can do:
1. raise the pipe out of the water on the Clarisea end.
2. The Durso should have an air hole on the top. See if thats clogged or not and see if partially blocking it will produce desired results (play with it to see how it effects the drain).
3. Honestly it looks like you are circulating the water too fast. Try slowing down the return pump.

I had similar issues. Air hole made the durso far less of a noise generator.
Slowing down the return pump made the pressure issues go away.

Also make sure that the horizontal pvc pipe is actually LEVEL. Nothing will help with pressure issues if the pipe is higher at the filter level vs the other end.

 

[Sdot]

Do you only have the one durso drain and the return line?

 

[Dj City]

The flush is signaling you that there is a constant pressure build up in the drain to the point pressure is LESS than the weight of the backed up water in the pipe and gravity pushes all of it out. That's where the extra water triggers the float switch. The water level at the top all the time is because the return pump is too fast.

Couple of things you can do:
1. raise the pipe out of the water on the Clarisea end.
2. The Durso should have an air hole on the top. See if thats clogged or not and see if partially blocking it will produce desired results (play with it to see how it effects the drain).
3. Honestly it looks like you are circulating the water too fast. Try slowing down the return pump.

I had similar issues. Air hole made the durso far less of a noise generator.
Slowing down the return pump made the pressure issues go away.

Also make sure that the horizontal pvc pipe is actually LEVEL. Nothing will help with pressure issues if the pipe is higher at the filter level vs the other end.

I have slowed the flow down to 650GPH from 730GPH. It helped but did not eliminate the problem. I can slow it down more but I start having a lower water level in the display. Low water line links funny in a 180 gallon display.
I have a large hole in the top of the durst. I might need to make it even larger but I really don't WANT to do that. I think the hole I have in there now is 1/4inch. I have a tube in it to quiet it down. Next size up is 1/2 inch but that's a really large air hole.

Do you only have the one durso drain and the return line?

Yes. My tank was only drilled with 2 holes.
one 1inch hole for return and one 1.5inch for the drain.

I thought about adding a valve to the drain but with no emergency drain, I'm fearful of doing that.

 

[alysak6075]

I can slow it down more but I start having a lower water level in the display.

Slow it down to the point where the water level doesn't rise in the sump. As in: whats the level now, keep going slower until levels start moving, thats when you add a few GPH to get it back to normal. Thats the happy place for the flow.

Whats the tank size. I found 5X turnover for my tank was the happy place.

"Next size up is 1/2 inch but that's a really large air hole."

No don't make it larger. Try putting an air valve on it and adjusting it until you get a positive result. (thats what helped me, YMMV).

"I thought about adding a valve to the drain but with no emergency drain, I'm fearful of doing that."

Thats a good way to flood your house. Dont do it.

 

[alysak6075]

Honestly, looking at the picture I really think its the pipe in the filter IN THE WATER that is creating all that back pressure.

Either raise it out of the water by a few mm or drill a "vent hole" right above the water level.
Thats what I ended up doing. But my drain goes into a sock so the vent hole didnt splash at all.