Return & Overflow Sizes

[Irishman]

I've been considering that but I've heard the herbie is hard to maintain as you always need to be adjusting water level etc

Just as long as you have good maintenance practice and use a gate valve instead of a ball valve it’ll make a world of difference.

I just installed dual Herbie on my current build, the only thing I hear is my return pump.

 

[JoshH]

I thought that with the lower siphon it's constantly pulling different amounts of water causing the level to naturally rise and fall causing non stable levels

With a Herbie (Or any other drain for that matter) you have a gate valve on the lower siphon which you tune to the flow your return pump is putting out. This prevents the situation you're describing and maintains a proper water level in your overflow, this water level is usually JUST high enough to send a small trickle down your secondary/emergency drain.

 

[Hallowhead]

With a Herbie you have a gate valve on the lower siphon which you tune to the flow your return pump is putting out. This prevents the situation you're describing and maintains a proper water level in your overflow, this water level is usually JUST high enough to send a small trickle down your secondary/emergency drain.

So in a result with evaporation and having my ATO on a timer rather free range this would become an issue

 

[Hallowhead]

Just as long as you have good maintenance practice and use a gate valve instead of a ball valve it’ll make a world of difference.

I just installed dual Herbie on my current build, the only thing I hear is my return pump.

Do you find yourself constantly tweaking ?

 

[Hallowhead]

I think I'm going to go with 1 inch & 3/4 bulkhead threaded on the bottom so I can unscrew and hard plumbing. Slip on the top so I can just stick the pipe in and glue

 

[JoshH]

So in a result with evaporation and having my ATO on a timer rather free range this would become an issue

If you have a sump, the ATO will only effect the water level in the sump and will have no bearing on the water level in your tank or overflow whatsoever

 

[Hallowhead]

If you have a sump, the ATO will only effect the water level in the sump and will have no bearing on the water level in your tank or overflow

I def don't want to drill a new hole however, maybe I'll plumb two 1 inch lines over the top it'll add extra flow at a cheaper cost

 

[Irishman]

Do you find yourself constantly tweaking ?

No at all. I did go with over the top return line though. Should check out my build thread.

 

[Even Further]

I run a Herbie, I've gone 2 to 3 or so months without touching the valve. The return pump should be able to run at a consistence flow rate. AC is known for that, and personally I would stay away from super cheap low-end DC pumps to avoid fluctuations in flow rate.

 

[Hallowhead]

No at all. I did go with over the top return line though. Should check out my build thread.

I'll give it a look at work

 

[Hermie]

just chiming in as a herbie user... it's great. very quiet once "dialed in" with gate valve. only time it makes noise is when I restart the pump and the main line has to flush the bubbles. Takes maybe an hour at most, but then it goes silent again.

 

[Hallowhead]

just chiming in as a herbie user... it's great. very quiet once "dialed in" with gate valve. only time it makes noise is when I restart the pump and the main line has to flush the bubbles. Takes maybe an hour at most, but then it goes silent again.

Have you used a durso before ? Comparable ?

 

[Hermie]

Have you used a durso before ? Comparable ?

No sorry never used it, Herbie setup was intrinsically simpler to me (and thus drew me to it)

 

[Hallowhead]

No sorry never used it, Herbie setup was intrinsically simpler to me (and thus drew me to it)

I have to give it a good look today. What bulkheads do you use ? Slip on tank size threaded on sump side ?

 

[Irishman]

Have you used a durso before ? Comparable ?

I've used it before on a 60 gallon and 120, never will go back to it.

 

[Hallowhead]

I've used it before on a 60 gallon and 120, never will go back to it.

I just took a look at your build thread for a picture of the overflow so I can get a good idea of how it looks. I am totally for plumbing over the top it looks super clean. I am sure the piping will get super dirty pretty quick though.

 

[Irishman]

I'll try and get pics during lunch for the overflow

 

[Hallowhead]

I'll try and get pics during lunch for the overflow

Thank you my good sir.

 

[ca1ore]

A durso style, single drain is fine on a smaller tank as long as you run modest flow. For a 34 gallon tank, running something in the 250 gph range will work just fine. A herbie IS better, but probably unnecessary on such a small tank. Upsizing pipe diameter above the bulkhead on a durso drain is common practice. It allows more head pressure to build up above the bulkhead should flow become problematic. Reducing the piping to 1” is fine as long as you are not pushing too much flow.

 

[Hallowhead]

A durso style, single drain is fine on a smaller tank as long as you run modest flow. For a 34 gallon tank, running something in the 250 gph range will work just fine. A herbie IS better, but probably unnecessary on such a small tank. Upsizing pipe diameter above the bulkhead on a durso drain is common practice. It allows more head pressure to build up above the bulkhead should flow become problematic. Reducing the piping to 1” is fine as long as you are not pushing too much flow.

Thank you for a thorough explanation. I think for the benefits of plumbing two returns over the top of the tank I am going to try my first Herbie. I will be using a sicce 3.0 for my return so plenty of flow.