Almost Free Silent Overflow !!!

[Greg3333]

Actually, its a rigid line that's supposed to be moved up and down to adjust the water level in the back box, but it's the same principle. Never got it to work right . . .

 

[oyster]

and i thought that i will be getting a free overflow that is silent

 

[Reef55]

I have the tidepool SOS overflow. It has been going for about 6 months now, never failed, even during power outages. It is perfectly silent. The only change I made was to extend the downtubes to my sump so that the tubes end under the water level of my sump, so it is a completely sealed tube (top and bottom), with the exception of the small rigid tube at the very top.

 

[yznhmr]

i have a tide pool POS(piece of sh1T)SOS, I HAVE HAD IT 2 YEARS, ( I HAVE THE OLD DESIGN DARK PLASTIC ,THE NEW ONES ARE CLEAR, DONT KNOW IF IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE)after a while the rigid air tubebecomes clogged with liks calcium deposits and salt muck , i find that i am cleaning that damn thing every few days to once a week, and be carefull, if you adjust it incorrectly it will cause your tank to overflow..did it 2x in the last year.. i dont like it, but it will keep a continus syphon even if the power goes off ..

 

[SPC]

Ran an SOS for about 8 months and never had a single problem.
Steve

 

[Chucker]

FWIW, the CPR hang-on overflows come with a rubber gasket and short length of airline tubing for just this purpose.

 

[Jason Day]

I've been using the Tidepool SOS for over four months. The only problem I've had was when I had the airtube adjusted incorrectly and the water overflowed into the backup hole. Unfortunately my cats had punctured the hose without telling me. It dripped some water onto my electrical stuf.

BTW I ordered a new hose from Marineland $24.00! Seems like a lot for a two foot hose. The opening of the hose is 1 3/8 not one and a quarter or 1 and a half. So I had to go to Marineland.

jason

 

[Hammer]

Ok, first, I might be missing something here. But I think I figured out how to make my overflow SILENT. Or at least close enough to not notice the difference. And for almost FREE!

All I did was take two 12" lengths of air line tubing and put them a few inches down into the overflow tube. Poof, sudden silence!
Actually I tried a large hose first, but it impeded the flow too much. Then I tried a single air line, almost worked. Two airlines and it is silent!

Now I know that there are a few drawbacks already. First, I am obstructing the flow of water into the tube. And second, I have a relatively low flow rate (about 400 gph to 450 gph). So it would seem like it would need more air to keep up with high flow setups. But for the price of airline tubing, I feel that it was all worth it! I have had it running for over 30 minutes so far without incident. I will tape up the airlines just for tonight to make sure they don't go down the tube.

SO, has anyone else done this?
Is there anything that I am missing? Something going to go wrong? Not that I can see what it would be.
I just see this as the VERY poor man's durso stand pipe!

 

[Greg3333]

That's pretty much the same design as a Marinland SOS overflow.

 

[Hammer]

Is that what that is? A air tube sticking out of the sponge/filter?
Of course that looks like it really cuts down on the flow.
And simple air tubes can be rammed down anyone's drain pipe. Still dirt cheap.

Oh well, should have looked at that picture a little closer! Never saw that before.

Win some, lose some.

 

[yznhmr]

seems like no one has had one for over a year yet.. i hate mine, if the thing is adjusted wrong it fills the tank to the top, not the overflow, i have a genx mak4 with a 7-8 lift( which i have to throttle back)
so it( the sos) wont handle my return fully

 

[Hammer]

Ok, so does any one have problems running this setup (air tubing) with the normal style overflow box with a syphon tube?

I can understand how that other box could be problem matic, but in my case, I don't think I have that issue.

And if this was so simple, then why is everyone complaining about noisy overflows? Or using something like the durso standpipe?

That is a great idea. I liked how he did it. Before I ever saw this board, I made something similiar, but instead of using a air valve to adjust the flow, I just changed the diameter of the intake tube at the mouth, to adjust the flow. Man, that took a while to finally get right!

 

[SPC]

If a return pump is oversized for any overflow then there will be problems.
Steve

 

[Hammer]

True, but even the Durso has an air valve because when you create a solid flow of water down the drain pipe, it really creates a strong syphon. Mainly to the degree that the overflow box was never disigned for that amount of flow. I had 3/4" pvc pipe with a FEW 90° bends that was flowing well over 600 gph. Or at least that is my best guess for flow rate. Doesn't seem right, but my return pump had no chance of keeping up until I choked down the intake syphon.

That is the one BIG think I like about the Durso approach, you can easily tune your intake side rather then having to throttle back your return pump. That is just a waste of money to have too much return pump! Besides, more flow it good!

 

[Sea Serpent]

Hi Hammer - I resurected your post of last August after having done a search on quieting overflows. I just re-did my sump and replaced my pumps last weekend and ended up with an incredibly noisy overflow. I am not a plumber or an electrician or even an engineer - but even I could understand your tip on how to quiet the noise. YOUR TIP WORKED! My husband is much happier now . . . Thanks for posting the resolution to my problem. So far, so good.
Thanks again - this board is awesome!
Sea Serpent

 

[Hammer]

Great to hear that you are happy with it. It is very simple, and very cheap.
While I do like the Durso mod, this is one very easy way to quite overflows especially when using small overflow boxes.
I have, since this earlier post, stepped up with both my return pump, and overflow box. And now I have two air lines in each down tube to make it very quite.