New Tank and Noisy Overflow

[chunkysoup56]

Hello!

Just picked up a used 90 gallon tank/stand/sump for next to nothing...

Did a test fill in the garage today to check for leaks and make sure everything works ok. So far so good but I noticed the overflow standpipe is EXTREMELY loud (see video link below) Any tips on how I could quiet this????

Video Link:

 

[Crabs McJones]

It looks like they put a ball valve on the drain line, try slowly closing it until the drain is silent. While not ideal on a setup like this, it should quiet down your drain by creating a siphon

 

[chunkysoup56]

It looks like they put a ball valve on the drain line, try slowly closing it until the drain is silent. While not ideal on a setup like this, it should quiet down your drain by creating a siphon

That seemed to help some! THANKS

Any advice on how I could improve the plumbing setup???

 

[Crabs McJones]

That seemed to help some! THANKS

Any advice on how I could improve the plumbing setup???

Check out this site here, shows you how to create a durso drain pipe, which it looks like the original user attempted, but I see extra holes drilled in the pipe.
https://www.dursostandpipes.com/make-your-own-durso-standpipe

 

[TaylorPilot]

Turn that return line into a siphon line and create a Herbie setup. That is really the best way to quiet down that type of setup.

 

[chunkysoup56]

Check out this site here, shows you how to create a durso drain pipe, which it looks like the original user attempted, but I see extra holes drilled in the pipe.
https://www.dursostandpipes.com/make-your-own-durso-standpipe

Sorry! I meant your reference to the ball valve being "not ideal". Would you recommend I use something different?

 

[Crabs McJones]

Sorry! I meant your reference to the ball valve being "not ideal". Would you recommend I use something different?

Oh! My apologies lol. What I meant was when you only have a single drain, as in your setup here, you don't want anything in the line that can restrict flow as it increases the risk of flooding in the event the pipe becomes clogged. Generally drains with a valve will have a backup drain as an "emergency" drain as @TaylorPilot mentioned above known as the "Herbie" setup.

 

[TaylorPilot]

What @Crabs McJones said. If you tune the single drain to process 100% of the water precisely, there isn't any way to process extra water when there are slight fluctuations in flow. Since that water can't be processed, it will rise in the display and typically rise until your return pump section runs dry and the pump begins to cavitate, then the water will drain and keep surging in an endless cycle. If your ATO tank is large enough, it can add enough water to cause a flood.

With a 2nd drain, the tiny bit of extra water is processed by the 2nd drain completely silently and it really is hands off. I have set them up and not had to touch them for years. I would turn the smaller return line into a drain and put the gate valve on that one. Turn the larger one with the stand pipe on it into your open emergency drain with the valve completely open. Then just plumb a new return line up and over the back of the tank. Whole thing shouldn't cost more than $30 and only take a few hours. It will make your experience much better moving forward.

 

[Brett S]

Like the others said, a herbie is the way to go here. You don’t want to restrict a single drain with that ball valve or you’ll almost certainly have a flood at some point.

The other thing I’ll mention is that fresh water and salt water behave very differently. From your videos it looks like you’re testing with freshwater, which is fine to do, but don’t spend a lot of time trying to tune your system with freshwater.

I did that as I was initially setting up my tank and then I discovered that after I filled the tank with saltwater I needed to completely readjust everything.