Surge tank experience?

[danny zubot]

That design would solve the problem of the air bubbles. But the down fall would be that you loose the siphon "actuator" and thus run the risk of a slow drain instead of a sudden flush. Its a bit of a trade off I guess.

Noise might not be an issue because I debating putting the tank in the basement of the new house. If I decide to keep it upstairs I won't want a noisey setup. Will a lid dampen the noise significantly on these things?

[Pescador]

Yeah I guess it would be like a toilet lid.

Speaking of lids he talks about a forced CSD where the top is sealed with an air vent with a check valve to build up pressure so you can use a bigger output pipe. But it's on a 100g reservoir with 4" pipe.

[danny zubot]

I was thinking of trying at least 1.5" to 2" for mine for maximum flush velocity. I hope that size will work.

Also, I was thinking of using a Maxijet 1200 to fill it up to the 3.5 gallon point. (approx 45 seconds)

[Pescador]

As long as it doesn't fill so quick that the siphon doesn't break at the end of the cycle. Then it just goes up and down without completely emptying or filling.

Again I have no experience with these, I'm just passing on the info.

[SuperFudge]

Ive built and used a few of them over the years,almost all were carlson type.

The last one Jamie and i put together, wich consisted of 2-5 gal buckets, plumbed together at the base, for almost a 10 gal surge on a frag tank.

That one in particular worked a little too well, i was trying to keep 200 frags from piling up at one end...

These buckets bases were about 40" up from the 1.5" output...the resulting surge was enouph to push the length of pipe sideways 2" during discharge.

I have also built a four stage one for a wholesale distributer for use on their SPS holding system, using a 100g arylic tank divided into 4 sections, each of these delivering a huge 25 gal surge...at the end of each cycle you actually FELT the siphon break.
I bet this could easily be done with a smaller tank delivering consistant but smaller surges.

I have noticed they are Very reliable, i dont think ive ever seen one stop working or fail to restart...something i cant say for flapper methods.

Bubbles and noise are their downfall, and ive tried the airline, aswell as angled siphon end....they work to a degree OR for a length of time before becoming clogged.
On the 5 gal buckets, lids were used to help, but still very loud at the end of a surge.

Like mentioned, probably better off to save for a tunze, but you still will never beat a surge like that while only using a small powehead to run it.

I kinda miss watching it actually....wheres those old pics.

Cheers, Marc.