DIY overflow drain pipe noise reduction

redtailshark1 · Apr 5, 2010

How do you make an overflow less noisey.
mine is made of 1.57 inch pvc drainage pipe, the overflow is quiet but the pipe that delivers it to the sump is the thing that is driving my mum/mom insane.
what should i do?
should I :
1 put a smaller pipe (1 inch) for the pipe away from the overflow?
2 should i adde a couple 1 inch pipes and put taps on the ends so that they can be full of water and not make any sound.

please help me mom/mum is going to the plumbing shop this afternoon and hopefully she will buy all of the parts i need.

chemicall · Apr 6, 2010

Build a second overflow the same, run both, the noise will significantly reduce. Also if one fails the other will take all the flow. Overflows get noise when you are running alot of GPH through them.

On my vent pipe I have reduced it to a piece of airline hose I ran under the stand overtop the sump (but not in the water) so the gurgling is down there in the enclosed stand.
I enclosed my stand, built a canopy (these significantly reduced noise levels)

stopping the vortex on the overflow intake can really help, there are alot of different ways people do this, some people use prefilters, some 90's or T fittings.

Wrapping my plumbing in some grey wool stuffing also helped reduced noise a bit, sheets of cotton, polyester etc would work also.

If you are getting a waterfall sound from your sump you can possibly lower the sound levels by adding a bit more water (make sure no overflows occur)

My overflows outputs to my sump used to be too loud, so i submersed them in their own bubble chamber, quieting them down to no sound.

redtailshark1 · Apr 6, 2010

it seems to be the water swishing around in the pipe to the sump that is makeing all of the noise, i was just wondering if it was full i wouldnt have that sound (aka a tap on the bottom of the pipe to restrict the flow)
i stole the picture from the internet(it shows taps in the drain line)

the_deeb · Apr 6, 2010

The only time I would restrict flow in your drain lines with a valve would be if you were running a setup like this:

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

Restricting your flow so the pipe is running at full capacity will make it quiet, but without having a backup drain you're asking for trouble.

Scorponok · Apr 6, 2010

plug a filter sponge to where the noises are.

ken 429 · Apr 6, 2010

heres my getto fix for my noisy overflows-airline and a gatorade bottle top no more gurguling

redtailshark1 · Apr 6, 2010

here are some photos of what i did after a trip to the irigation section of the plumbing shop.
I used 2, 1 inch pipes a couple of fittings and alot of testing, so this is what i came up with.
i used the "pipe sizing and flow rates" sticky by CHOMPERS http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=205645&highlight=pipe+flow+chart.
if i want it to it can do double the flow rate of the pump.
I turned it down a bit until it is silent did the overflow tests (pump pushes all of the sump water into the tank, and i turned off the pump and as the flow went down it started to make noise, I turned the pump back on and it all started and run silently after a while.
I even run it over night and there was no change to the sump level.

FLEXABLE PIPES AND PLASTIC TAPS ARE THE WAY TO GO!