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Thread: Help - can't get more than ~400 gph flow

  1. #1
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    Help - can't get more than ~400 gph flow

    hello all. I'm using the Apex and a Varios8 on a 150 gal tank. I haven't yet hooked up the Varios via the 0 - 10v connection, just using the Octo controller and the float switch. My setup has a 3.5 foot rise from the return pump. At the top of the rise, the pipe splits into a 'T'.

    Half the water goes to another sump used for skimming. The other half goes to the display tank (dt). I can control the amount going to sump 2 via a ball valve.

    Here's the problem: If I push the pump up past '2' on the octo controller, it empties Sump 1 before any water gets going through the system. If I use the float, it turns on and off and on and off, creating a weird cycle of water flow that makes my sump 1's water level fluctuate in rhythm with the on/off triggered by the float switch, but delayed by however long it takes for the water to make the loop.

    I've tried opening all my valves (1" pipes all around) and pushing the pump to move water more quickly, but I just end up with an empty sump. It's weird because my DT and my Sump 2 drain into Sump 1 using gravity and a siphon (the latter pipe from Sump 2 dumps back into Sump 1, where it goes to the split and 50% goes to the tank each loop), and their drain rates should be roughly 1800 gph (I think it's 900 gph per 1" pipe).

    Still, my Varios can empty Sump 1 before enough water makes it back to the Sump. What am I missing??? I thought about water volume.

    - Should I just increase the amount of water in the entire system? DT is 150 gal, Sump 1 is 40 and Sump 2 is 50... total volume is about 240 gal. Both Sumps are about 60% full. Tank is up to the weir.

    Also, my FMM says my horizontal (after the split) return to the tank is averaging about 400 gph. That might make sense since 50% of it is going to the other sump, but even if I close off that valve and isolate the DT and Sump 1, I still can't get more than about 500 gph... again, though this might be because my sump gets emptied so quickly.

    Sigh, very frustrating.

    Thoughts??? Should I just hook up the Varios8 to the Apex and program it for a specific percentage?

    Any help would be most welcome.

    Thanks,

    V

  2. #2
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    Pics of setup?

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  3. #3
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    one sec... hold on, getting phone.

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  5. #5
    Frequent Contributor zombie's Avatar
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    I'm still not entirely sure how that system is set up even with the pictures. How is water level being maintained and regulated between the two sumps? I couldn't make out any piping connecting the two.

    Could you perhaps supplement this with a piping diagram?

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  6. #6
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    diagram.JPGNote that the word 'gate' refers to a gate valve. Sometimes the word is next to another, like 'siphon'... these are not connected. So my system has three gate valves, a gravity drain from the DT to S1, and a siphon drain from S2 to S1. The RetPump pushes water up to a T that then splits the flow. I can turn off S2 by using the gate valve, thereby isolating S1 and putting 100% flow through to DT (or almost 100%).
    Attached Files Attached Files

  7. #7
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    The two things that I see that may be causing a problem is the water level in the sump 1. You need somewhere between 2 and 6 gallons (depending on how your overflow is set up) if reserve water above the return when it is off in order to maintain full flow. The other issue is the gate valve on sump2 might not be allowing enough flowback and break siphon.

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  8. #8
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    I think I have it dialed in, now... I went ahead and hooked up the 0-10V on the Varios to the Apex Fusion. Then I SET 24 on the pump and it seems to be maintaining level with a think trickle downward. My flo is 320 gph, but that doesn't account for the other half of flow going through Sump2 and into the Sump1. The 320 gph only refers to the flow INTO the DT.

    Now I have a question about programming the Varios in Apex Fusion. New thread?

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