Gate valve adjustements when and why

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
If you keep a piece of tap on the tank/sump it can be used to mark the water level so you can tell if it's changed much.

It can be possible to have to adjust the valves after a water change because you might change the balance of the head height. Say you remove 90 gallons from the tank and then you put 100 gallons back in. You now have ten extra gallons in the tank and sump that will change the water height in either, or both places. This will change the head height that the pump has to pump the water up, only slightly, but when you're talking about such a fine tuned setup, it can be enough to cause the pump to push too much water and increase the flow in the emergency overflow, or push too little and cause the siphon to be lost on the primary overflows.
 
Fish Tank Travis said:
If you keep a piece of tap on the tank/sump it can be used to mark the water level so you can tell if it's changed much.

It can be possible to have to adjust the valves after a water change because you might change the balance of the head height. Say you remove 90 gallons from the tank and then you put 100 gallons back in. You now have ten extra gallons in the tank and sump that will change the water height in either, or both places. This will change the head height that the pump has to pump the water up, only slightly, but when you're talking about such a fine tuned setup, it can be enough to cause the pump to push too much water and increase the flow in the emergency overflow, or push too little and cause the siphon to be lost on the primary overflows.
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Makes sense thx

Was gonna use a suction cups to mark the water level as i wont have a view into the overflows unless looking down into them
 
jaws7777 said:
What causes the gate to need tuning ? How do you know the level in the overflow rises/falls
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For the most part, it really needs very little tuning. I'd say most any tuning comes from slight build up in the pipes over time. You can tell where the water level is in the overflow just by sound. If level is low in overflow, you'll hear the water "crashing". If it's too high, you'll hear it going through the emergency drain.
 
slippery slimecoat said:
For the most part, it really needs very little tuning. I'd say most any tuning comes from slight build up in the pipes over time. You can tell where the water level is in the overflow just by sound. If level is low in overflow, you'll hear the water "crashing". If it's too high, you'll hear it going through the emergency drain.
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Thx man makes sense
 
jaws7777 said:
What causes the gate to need tuning ? How do you know the level in the overflow rises/falls
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The rise and fall of water level of my interna overflowl isnt signicant, I'm just picky and at times just adjust the gate valve within no more than an eighth of a turn in either direction. I have a lid on the overflow with a quarter inch gap and can see the level up close.

IMO, the changes are attributed to a few more snails latching on the the strainer of the main drain and/or build up in the plumbing that clears itself by continous flow.

I rarely ever adjust affer a water change, unless for reasons I noted above. Related note, I'm curious why having dual Herbie in a tank with separate valves would be that harder to tune. But that's a different topic ;-)
 
I would think that over time pump wear might have an affect as well. I can't imagine that a 5 year old pump pumps as much as a brand new one, but again, that would be very rare that the valves need tweaked for this reason.
 
To be clear....in case it's not, although I think it is but I want to be really sure......we're not using gate valves on the return lines to the display to dial back pump output. I'd probably just use a ball valve for that, or just let it all flow into the display and rely on my WAY oversize drains to drain it all. :)

We use gate valves on the drain lines so we have totally silent drains.

I never really figured out all the reasons why my gate valve needed adjusting, I just adjusted it when the drains didn't run silent. The first few weeks I set up my tank, I was adjusting the gate valve everyday to get it silent again.

After a few weeks, it would just run silent, and I haven't adjusted the gate valve since. Like maybe once a year I'll just test the E-Drains and shut the gate valve, or move it so it's not stuck, or something silts it up a little bit so I move it to clean off the crud.

I don't remember if this fixed it, but I think what may have straightened out the whole system for me was putting the carbon drip and the overflow drain in the sump. I always have the same water level in my sump, so maybe that's why I never need to adjust my gate.

So, get a drip and an upturned elbow in the sump, then you'll have constant water level, and your Herbie will run silent with little or no adjustment of the gate valve....and don't forget to put a rubber duck in the sump. If you don't have that, you're not doin it right.
 
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DN328 said:
The rise and fall of water level of my interna overflowl isnt signicant, I'm just picky and at times just adjust the gate valve within no more than an eighth of a turn in either direction. I have a lid on the overflow with a quarter inch gap and can see the level up close.

IMO, the changes are attributed to a few more snails latching on the the strainer of the main drain and/or build up in the plumbing that clears itself by continous flow.

I rarely ever adjust affer a water change, unless for reasons I noted above. Related note, I'm curious why having dual Herbie in a tank with separate valves would be that harder to tune. But that's a different topic ;-)
Click to expand...
Dont know why seperate valves would he harder. Did read that somewhere as well. Both of my sumps are hob overflows so i dont know what to expect
ragin_cajun said:
To be clear....in case it's not, although I think it is but I want to be really sure......we're not using gate valves on the return lines to the display to dial back pump output. I'd probably just use a ball valve for that, or just let it all flow into the display and rely on my WAY oversize drains to drain it all. :)

We use gate valves on the drain lines so we have totally silent drains.

I never really figured out all the reasons why my gate valve needed adjusting, I just adjusted it when the drains didn't run silent. The first few weeks I set up my tank, I was adjusting the gate valve everyday to get it silent again.

After a few weeks, it would just run silent, and I haven't adjusted the gate valve since. Like maybe once a year I'll just test the E-Drains and shut the gate valve, or move it so it's not stuck, or something silts it up a little bit so I move it to clean off the crud.

I don't remember if this fixed it, but I think what may have straightened out the whole system for me was putting the carbon drip and the overflow drain in the sump. I always have the same water level in my sump, so maybe that's why I never need to adjust my gate.

So, get a drip and an upturned elbow in the sump, then you'll have constant water level, and your Herbie will run silent with little or no adjustment of the gate valve....and don't forget to put a rubber duck in the sump. If you don't have that, you're not doin it right.
Click to expand...

Rubber duck....but of course obi wan
 
jaws7777 said:
Dont know why seperate valves would he harder. Did read that somewhere as well. Both of my sumps are hob overflows so i dont know what to expect


Rubber duck....but of course obi wan
Click to expand...

Nope i just recalled what you had shared Jaws, and questioning why folks had issues.
 
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