Red Sea Peninsula Overflow - pipe supplied too long

[Dion Walters]

Busy assembling a new Peninsula 650. The overflow pipe supplied is the same length as the redundancy overflow. Incorrect as it leaves the main overflow cup about 10cm higher. Means I have to cut a Red Sea pipe!
Q. How much to cut? Should I cut the pipe down so that the cup overflow and redundancy overflow are exactly the same height?
HNY everyone.
Dion

 

[Tastee]

I think you are misunderstanding the RSR plumbing. The main overflow is meant to be higher than the emergency overflow as the main overflow feeds from halfway down, not the top. If the flow is too low and water goes down the emergency overflow the top of the main overflow will still be out of the water, by design.

 

[AZMSGT]

DON’T CUT ANYTHING.

I’m positive your pipes are not to long or to short. Install per the directions and you will be fine.

You should have two drain pipes. Since you have a peninsula system I‘m not positive how the lines are set up. On my tank the main drain is on the right and the center pipe is the overflow/emergancy.
1. shorter and you install a muffler/silencer over it. This is the main drain
2. taller pipe. This is the ”emergency” drain.

The silencer that slides over the main drain extends near the bottom it allows water to go in from that lower level up and into the main drain. The silencer is the same height as the overflow. Since water enters from below it’s ok.

You will adjust the flow down that drain pipe with the valve below the tank. The idea is you will have the water level in the overflow section right at the point where it is near the emergency drain.

This allows for a silent system

 

[Dion Walters]

Thanks AZM, but I was supplied with 2x emergency pipes so I have to cut one shorter otherwise the cup will be way too high.
So my Q is: must I cut so that the cup and emergency drain are the same height?

 

[Tastee]

Apologies, I misunderstood your issue. You could let Red Sea know you were supplied the wrong parts and I’m sure they would send you the correct overflow pipe. The one time I contacted them they were very responsive.

If you do want to cut the second emergency overflow down to size then you want to leave the muffler higher than the emergency overflow. I’m not home at the moment to check but I think the muffler sits about 10mm higher than the emergency overflow so that water can never enter from the top of it. Let me know if you want me to measure it accurately on my tanks (RSR 250 and 525XL).

 

[Tastee]

I just got home and checked. In my RSR 250 the muffler stands 12 mm proud of the emergency overflow.

 

[Dion Walters]

Apologies, I misunderstood your issue. You could let Red Sea know you were supplied the wrong parts and I’m sure they would send you the correct overflow pipe. The one time I contacted them they were very responsive.

If you do want to cut the second emergency overflow down to size then you want to leave the muffler higher than the emergency overflow. I’m not home at the moment to check but I think the muffler sits about 10mm higher than the emergency overflow so that water can never enter from the top of it. Let me know if you want me to measure it accurately on my tanks (RSR 250 and 525XL).

Tastes, thanks so much. You can imagine if I cut this wrong then plumb it could be a disaster to undo... if u could your RSR525XL to see if cup muffler is higher that would be helpful. In the meantime I sent an online message to RedSea. Will only here from them on Monday or Tuesday. Have a great New Years Day.

 

[Viking_Reefing]

Tastes, thanks so much. You can imagine if I cut this wrong then plumb it could be a disaster to undo... if u could your RSR525XL to see if cup muffler is higher that would be helpful. In the meantime I sent an online message to RedSea. Will only here from them on Monday or Tuesday. Have a great New Years Day.

Can’t really see how this could end up in a disaster. Get your hacksaw out

 

[Tastee]

I also checked my RSR 525 and it is reversed there. The emergency overflow sits 7 mm proud of the muffler. Thinking about the design I don’t think the heights matter much. Even if the muffler top is overflowed it won’t change the drain rate as that is limited by the drain valve. So as long as both the muffler and the emergency overflow are within 10 mm so of each other you should be fine. I would personally sit the muffler a little higher as it is in my RSR 250.

 

[AZMSGT]

Thanks AZM, but I was supplied with 2x emergency pipes so I have to cut one shorter otherwise the cup will be way too high.
So my Q is: must I cut so that the cup and emergency drain are the same height?

DOH... Well I’ll be.. that’s a first. Sorry for not understanding. A picture is worth a thousand words.

On my 625xxl the muffler installed is exactly 4mm taller than the overflow pipe. While I can’t give you an exact length on your pipe length Hopfully this will get you close.

I got the 4mm measurment by putting a straight edge across the top of the muffler and extending it over the overflow. I then measured from the top of the overflow to the bottom of the straight edge.

The height of the pipe in question is going to determine how much water will back flow when your main pump shuts off. Your “off” waterline is determined by the length of this pipe. So what ever length you cut it make sure there is enough space in the sump for your water to backflow and fill.

Of course you can always wait and talk to your local shop or RedSea and get an exact length of your pipe.

 

[Dion Walters]

Gents many thanks for feedback on our New Years day. Im determined to setup my new tank correctly. My first Red Sea tank, much design has been considered here so it warranted caution.
Keeping the muffler a bit higher might be to force the water to come from bottom of muffler and not drain over the cup. Im going to cut and assemble this weekend. Will hear from Red Sea on mon or Tues... cant wait. Haha, to stoked to stop now.
Thanks for advice, cool forum, will let you know how it goes.
Dion