Surge Device Thread

[Anonymous]

:lol: Yeah, it seems like it'd be a really simple device to make. I think this is sorta what I need...

http://www.omega.com/ppt/pptsc.asp?ref= ... Nav=grej05

$200 though. Kinda ridiculous. OTOH, I did shell out that much for a wave2k...

FWIW, a 1" hole dumps a 5 gallon bucket in about 2 seconds. This is a surge equivalent to about 9000 gph. Plus, no air bubbles or noise. The ideal surge device!

 

[Anonymous]

An eductor. Sort of. Yeah that should work. Okay, but this isn't really the issue with this thing. Sucking the water up is easy, getting it to fall is the complicated part. The sprinkler valve doesn't work. Not enough of a pressure differential. Basically I just need a solenoid that will open up a 1" hole very quickly.

Kevlouie is right. Venturis with large diameter induction holes work extremely well for this application. I like PVC spa venturis.

The rate your water drops is limited by the size of the hole you open. A one inch hole will pretty much suck on any larger application.

 

[Anonymous]

Pretty much suck as in not work? Huh? When I lift my hand off it (maual style) it dumps very quickly. EDIT: Never mind, you changed your post...I see what you mean. You'd probably need to have a mechanical flapper open up to let in enough air on big ones right?

So with the right solenoid valve this should work though, yeah? I wonder why more people don't do this. There aren't any bubbles or noise created, which are the two biggest things people complain about with surge devices.

Another guy with basically the same exact idea....

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthrea ... +AND+surge

 

[Anonymous]

Pretty much suck as in not work? Huh? When I lift my hand off it (maual style) it dumps very quickly. EDIT: Never mind, you changed your post...I see what you mean. You'd probably need to have a mechanical flapper open up to let in enough air on big ones right?

So with the right solenoid valve this should work though, yeah? I wonder why more people don't do this. There aren't any bubbles or noise created, which are the two biggest things people complain about with surge devices.

Another guy with basically the same exact idea....

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthrea ... +AND+surge

Yes, a solenoid should work (this is what Seaworld uses on theirs). We use a 3 " bulkhead with a homemade flap that is lifted by a cam gear attached to a motor drive.

 

[Anonymous]

Cool deal. So how do you have it plumbed to tanks? What dimension plumbing? Any pics?

 

[Anonymous]

Cool deal. So how do you have it plumbed to tanks? What dimension plumbing? Any pics?

It's built into the tank. I think it's about a 50 gallon wave. The opening where the surge exits the box is several inches tall and the width of the tank. 3/4" spa venturi, Iwaki 100. Doesn't surge often enough for me. Plans for larger pump/line for air removal are in the works. I have no pics.

 

[Anonymous]

Matt

I don't understand how you can have no bubbles with this system when you are sucking the air out of the container with a pump. Doesn't that add a whole bunch of bubbles to the system?

 

[Anonymous]

It'll create a lot of bubbles in your sump or wherever you decide to put that pump, yeah. I guess you could put a filter sock over it, or just use the baffles in your sump to get rid of the microbubbles.

Chris, ya got me thinking. I have a light mover motor. I could probably just use that to pull a flapper up intermittently rather than use a solenoid valve. Thanks for the idea![/i]

 

[Anonymous]

If the motor was strong enough you could just lift the whole container up and down. With a valve at the top to let air out on the down stroke but seal the vacuum on the up stroke. And a hole to break the vacuum when it gets to a certain height.

 

[Anonymous]

If the motor was strong enough you could just lift the whole container up and down. With a valve at the top to let air out on the down stroke but seal the vacuum on the up stroke. And a hole to break the vacuum when it gets to a certain height.

Infinitely more complicated. You would need to clear out enough space in your tank to accomodate a huge bucket moving up and down. You would need to find a valve that you could somehow turn on and off intermittently at just the right time (the problem I had in the first place!). You would need to get a VERY strong motor. Plus it would be incredibly noisy. Why do all that when you could just lift a flapper and accomplish the same effect?

 

[Anonymous]

Bump. I'm finally going to build this damn thing. Hopefully with a cheap way of lifting/opening the air relief valve.

Will post pics/diagrams when finished, but don't hold your breath. Will probably be a couple weeks.

 

[Anonymous]

A light mover motor works. Only problem is I'm not getting a really good air tight seal at the flapper. I'm using a 2" toilet flush valve with a rigid rubber flapper. Chris, any ideas on what I could do differently? Do you get some air leaking in at this point, or does the venturi just suck quickly enough to overcome the air loss?

 

[gregx]

Would it sound like an astronauts toilet? Suck & wooshshsh.