Bean Animal drains not draining properly

[braid11]

Yes, they are above the water level. I will have to retest with them below the level. I thought it did not matter.

Tom

[unclesalty]

Originally Posted by braid11

Yes, they are above the water level. I will have to retest with them below the level. I thought it did not matter.

Tom

Bean animal has no chance whatsoever of working if lines aren't under approx 1" or so. Don't go too far in either with them.

[unclesalty]

I am not sure about all the horizontal footage and total length of lines but definitely fix the lines in sump for starters.

[whatcaneyedo]

Is all of the plumbing 1.5" or just the flex hose? The PVC fittings in the first picture look really small but maybe thats just because everything else looks so big.

[braid11]

Yes, they are all 1.5 flex, but reduced to 1" at the bulkhead. I think that is the original Bean Animal design. My used tank came with pre drilled 1" where I have the drains.

OK, hopefully putting them under water 2" in the sump will do it.

That is a bit scarey, as the main display will overflow at a high rate of flow if they were to somehow come out of the water in the sump.

Also, I thought I read of some people placing the safety emergency drain above the sump water level, so they could hear when it kicked in. But then it would not handle all of the flow by itself, which it is supposed to do?

Tom

[whatcaneyedo]

How much flow is your hammerhead giving you after head pressure has been taken into account? Have you used this calculator to figure it out? http://reefcentral.com/index.php/head-loss-calculator The bean animal system says that it can handle up to 2000gph if done properly and a hammerhead should still be producing over 3000gph even at 17' depending on the model.

[braid11]

I figure close to 16ft of head. But then I dialed the pump down with the 1.5" gate valve just above the pump. It's only open about 3/4 of a turn (It's 8 turns lock to lock). I need to calculate the flow.

I submerged the lines, and tried again. It will run with the way I have it dialed down. The height in the overflow box changes a lot, even after ten minutes. The saftey drain kicks in now and then.

It also makes more noise than I had hoped for.

I turned it all off, tefloned the caps, tightened the bulkheads some more.

I just think it needs way more flow. I will calculate the flow next, based on how fast it fills a volume of water in the DT.

Tom

[Proteus]

Yeah u need lines in water to make it air tight. Won't siphon right if airs traveling up
I run this style and it's a little tricky getting all air out

[braid11]

It took 1.5 mintues for the pump to drain 3.625" from my sump up to the DT. The sumps internal dimensions are 71*23.25 inches. So that is about 26 gallons in 1.5 minutes, or about 1040 GPH.

The problem is that on start up it almost overflowed before the drains properly kicked in. I had to turn the pump off briefly, 20 seconds, then plugged it in again. It is now running again.

I dialed in the main drain. It took many trips up and down the stairs. It is now dead quiet. Silent. No noise: wife is happier now

So it's running at about 1000GPH, dead quiet, and stays at the same level.

Now I need to re try a power on/off.

I would like to see the flow a little more, but I suppose it is enough as is.

Tom

[Daimyo68]

Your drain lines need to be just below the level of the water in your sump. 1" below is optimal. The ensures a fast take up if the siphon needs to be restarted (if the power goes out and back on, or you shut the return pump off and restart it).

Once you have the set, then leave all 3 gate valves wide open. Turn your gate valve 1/4 closed on the return pump line. Don't be scared of it overflowing, this system is designed with that possibility in mind. The first time I turned mine on, I thought for sure it was coming over the edge of the DT, but you will get used to how it works and never have another worry again

Now you will start to fine tune the siphon/return together. I tune mine using the siphon channel gate valve. once you have that set, then see how much flow you have going into the tank from your return lines. If it's too much, then you will turn the valve to restrict the pump a little, and close the siphon line valve a little. If it's not enough, then open them both a little.

The Return and Siphon valves are directly related. You adjust one, and you must adjust the other the same way. it's a bit of a PITA at first, but you will get the hang of it.

You will also notice that the water level in the overflow will even out too. I run mine right at the bottom corner of the elbow, this way 99% of the flow is going through the siphon channel.

Also make sure that your open channel air line is just above that level, this way it doesn't fight to be the siphon.

It takes some time and patience, but once you have it set, your going to be a happy camper.