Beananimal Siphon Start Problems

[Neopimp]

Well I got the pump all hooked up and the everythign plumbed and leak test but I am running into issue with getting the siphon to start on the over flow.  I kinda figured I would run into this with the 20 ft of horizontal ish pipe but there was also a good 13 ft vertical drop as well.  So  I was kind of hoping it would work but als I was not so lucky.  I have noticed that the open channel move alot more water initally and is not hard to make siphon if I cover the air breather hole.  I was thinking of basically making all three the open channel initially to get some water movement in the pipe work  and then as the water rises a little more it will close off the air tube making it air tight and a full siphon. 

And worst case scenario if the wate rget high enough I will have 3 siphon running until the water lower and then it will probably oscillate back and forth. 

My main issue is that I cant get the siphons to start before I over flow the DT upstairs.  At least it doesn;t look liek it, I have not overflowed the tank .. yet

 

[shayneh]

Pics would help since I'm not seeing this in my mind....too much Guiness last night!

 

[Neopimp]

http://www.beananimal.com/projects/silent-and-fail-safe-aquarium-overflow-system.aspx

The one with the red tube is the open Channel ... If the water rises to cover the opening of the red tube it becomes air tight and the overflow turns to a siphon.  Will this situation start a siphon faster since there is movement in the pipe already?

 

[marks69]

on mine i have 1 full siphon and 1 open emerg.  it is set so there's 1" above the open to the trim so i have some room.  the siphon one starts with the water pressure so it needs to be up a bit.  I'm just using a 90 turned down, and the water gets up to the emerg then starts.  I'm running almost the same lenght of pipe as you.
maybe post some pics.  you could also dial back the pump and get someone to stand upstairs to tell you when to cut the pump.  it should kick in before the tank overflows.  or pull the 90 and let it run off the bulkhead while you play with it.

 

[Cal_stir]

did you use pvc or hose?  is there any place in the run that could be acting like a trap?

 

[phi delt reefer]

do you have a ball valve or gate valve on your siphon?

You need to close it up quite a bit unless you are running some serious system turnover. On mine i have the siphon may 15% and thats the only way i can get the siphon. You may need to slightly raise your open channel if its getting to close.

if you have a 90 on you open channel and its setup EXACTLY how bean has it done on his site then you need to turn that 90 so its not turned up but not turned sideways. should be in a diagonal. THe emergency should be turned all the way up.


pics of your setup would help.

 

[Neopimp]

I am trying to get as much turnover as I can at the moment to find out what the limits of this system are . I have been messing with the flex pvc section to see if there is a trap happening and I can get the siphon to start the majority of the time before overflowing the tank. bu thte majority of the time isn;t good enough. I have started an stopped the system at 10 times and everytime the siphon kicks in at a different time and usually on the open channel first but not all the time.  All ten times it has worked fine but once the water was about to overflow up stairs and I had to stop the pump.

The Pump is probably cut back to half.. I am thinking I will have to try the other impellar since this is to omuch for 1" drains.  Other option is to run 2 Siphons and an Open channel.... Doulbe Siphon Herbie not ideal, but an option if I want more flow.  Of course I am having trouble with one siphon I doubt 2 woudl go easier

Siphon Drain: 1"  all through, inside has street 90 turned down, Outside has a regular tee with about 5" of pipe up where is is capped and sealed.  I think I am getting air locked in the throat of the tee and its taking too long to get blasted out. I am at a loss as too how I can fix that issue.

OPen channel is the same except I have a cut off 90 on the inside turned straight up.( will try the diagonal)

Emerg - same 90 turnined full up.

In the end I think I may have screwed myself by drillign the holes too high in the tank .  I may need to just use a pump to kick start the siphon . not sure yet.

Ball valve and yes I knwo that the ball are very senstive, the issue isn;t steady running. Once this is all started up it is balanaced exactly the way it needs to be.  Just the start up is causing water to rise too high in the tank .

Been messing aroudn all day .. going to watch the new true blood show.. cheers , hopefully you can make sense of this in coherent post

 

[Blob-79]

sounds like something is definitly not right. With a beananimal setup, you should never be having any of those issues. Your tank is almost overflowing on startup, but is fine once it gets up and running?..what happens if you siphon gets clogged?

As mentioned before, we can only give blind advice without pictures of the setup.

 

[Cal_stir]

i see that beananimal used 1 1/2" pvc with sanitary tees, reduced down to the 1" bulkheads, did you do this? if not, i think this may be your problem, the piping, along with the lenghth of run, may have to much resistance to get the siphon started quickly