Return Pump Plumbing?

[Cole_lol]

Hey Guys, I am in the process of redoing my sump and up till now I have always just had hard ridged sch 40 pipe for my return. This time I want to make it a little more flexible. What is the best way of doing this? Everyone suggest spa tubing but for my setup I don't think I can get the spa tubing to bend to the point I need. I have seen some like corrugated pipe that is way more flexible but I am not sure how to set it up for fittings to the pump and or the return outlet. Any suggestions would be awesome. It would be even more awesome if the parts are available at local places. Thanks, Cole

 

[oscarinw]

Corrugated pipe is recommended for drain lines as their pressure rating is low compared to PVC or reinforced hose. I fit a piece of hose from the pump and then a barb fitting to a pvc fitting to thread adapter.
Good luck with things

 

[AZDesertRat]

I use the reinforced vinyl tubing on all my systems. It bends in a fairly tight radius without kinking, expecially if you hold it under some hot water to soften it up before forming the bends.
One thing I do when using tubing though is to step up one size when possible so the restriction caused by the barbed nipples smaller inside diameter is not an issue.
Lowes, HD, Ace and True Value all have both the tubing and the barbed nipples.

 

[evolved]

You can glue in regular PVC 45's and such with spa flex, if you need some tighter bends.

 

[TJ's Reef]

You can glue in regular PVC 45's and such with spa flex, if you need some tighter bends.

+1 this allows some very easy bends without 90's, the only caution I have for those working with Spa-Flex is that you really need to prime first and glue well for secure attachment. I used as much as possible in my plumbing to eliminate 90's for increased flow rate as well as reduce noise. Here is a few pics below of my plumbing.




Cheers, Todd

 

[AJsTank]

You can get spaflex to bend where you want it to if you heat it up with a blow dryer and then hold it into place when it cools. You do have to be super careful with spaflex if you are bending out of the bulkhead at a sharp angle though. I had to redo all 4 of my returns because the spaflex was putting so much pressure on the bottom of the bulk head. I ended up coming straight down, putting on a 90, then coming straight over into my run.