Air Coming Into Sump

[reef keeper]

Jeff said that he used a ball valve. My bingo was a joke saying "exactly. Wrong thing".

I was just giving jeffo a poked

 

[jeffopentax]

I'll say it one more time... Ball valve is fine!


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[AdInfinitum]

The whole design premise of the Herbie/Bean system is that it is self tuning through a fairly wide range of flow variations. Therefore a ball valve is sufficient. Mine has run silently with a ball valve for years no tinkering or adjustment required. Gate valves are nice but unnecessary overkill in this application.

 

[LIttle Reef Keeper]

The whole design premise of the Herbie/Bean system is that it is self tuning through a fairly wide range of flow variations. Therefore a ball valve is sufficient. Mine has run silently with a ball valve for years no tinkering or adjustment required. Gate valves are nice but unnecessary overkill in this application.

That's what I have been told. I'm not having flow issues. The water level is constant in the overflow box, there's just air leaking in somewhere.


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[zoomster]

I have always used ball valves as well. No issues, set and forget on all my bean animals.

 

[kjardine519]

Maybe I'm unsure of what's going on here but it's my understanding you should close the ball valve completely closed untill the backup drains kick in. Crack it open slightly 1/8th See if the main line still draws air, if it is you have air being pulled in due to a loose connection. Most likely where the bulkhead and fitting meet inside the overflow. If it doesn't pull air at 1/8th of a turn open then slowly open it up and adjust the drain until you see the smallest bubbles and back it off just enough untill they're gone. That should be the setting of the drain. If you have a slight trickle down a backup drain this is normal IMO.
Make sure the drain line is submerged about 6" under the water line. This may be your problem aswell

 

[zoomster]

Maybe I'm unsure of what's going on here but it's my understanding you should close the ball valve completely closed untill the backup drains kick in. Crack it open slightly 1/8th See if the main line still draws air, if it is you have air being pulled in due to a loose connection. Most likely where the bulkhead and fitting meet inside the overflow. If it doesn't pull air at 1/8th of a turn open then slowly open it up and adjust the drain until you see the smallest bubbles and back it off just enough untill they're gone. That should be the setting of the drain. If you have a slight trickle down a backup drain this is normal IMO.
Make sure the drain line is submerged about 6" under the water line. This may be your problem aswell

I have always set mine in the FULL OPEN position on the main drain and then very slowly close it up until level in the overflow is just below the elbow top.
And 6" into the water is a lot, 1"-2" below the running level in your sump is what is recommended I believe. At 6" down that would create a lot of back pressure and impede the flow considerably.
If I am wrong, someone pls jump in and Lmk but this is how I was told to do it and have been doing it very successfully ever since.

 

[LIttle Reef Keeper]

I have always set mine in the FULL OPEN position on the main drain and then very slowly close it up until level in the overflow is just below the elbow top.
And 6" into the water is a lot, 1"-2" below the running level in your sump is what is recommended I believe. At 6" down that would create a lot of back pressure and impede the flow considerably.
If I am wrong, someone pls jump in and Lmk but this is how I was told to do it and have been doing it very successfully ever since.

That's how the creator designed his, and recommends everyone builds it that way!


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[kjardine519]

its worked for me, but I'm interested in a proper method also. I've always adjusted according to noise. Still learning everyday

 

[shamous113]

At 6" down that would create a lot of back pressure and impede the flow considerably.
If I am wrong, someone pls jump in and Lmk but this is how I was told to do it and have been doing it very successfully ever since.

Your correct any thing more than 1" below and the back pressure will cause problems. you can defeat this by drilling a 3/8" dia hole at or just below the water level to help bled all of the air out of the main line.

 

[SpongeAl]

Check for a steady bubbles introduced by the weir in the display section. See if there are any bubbles dancing around in the trough.
If this configuration isn't just right, you will have a steady stream of bubbles being introduced to your main drain, therefor it can't purge itself.