Fx5 Owners: Flow Testing @ Different Heads?

[fishman646]

Im interested also

 

[svtim]

im useing the black ruber pond tubeing each side is about six and half foot long filter is on the ground. my flow meter maxs out at 500 gph and never falls.

 

[Jgray152]

What is the height between the middle of the pump on the fx5, and the top of the tank where the hoses bend over the ridge?

The Length of the hose is doesn't provide much restriction.

Also, I was thinking about those flow meter too and how I can only find them up to 500 GPH. I thought about spitting the flow through two 1" tubes and have 1 flow meter on each tube, getting the flow through each tube and adding them together to get the total flow.

 

[CHOMPERS]

To get the flow rate, time how long it takes to fill a one gallon milk jug (better to use a graduated container such as a measuring bowl). When you have the time, it is just a matter of a little math.

Seconds / 60 = minutes

Seconds / 360 = hours

1 gallon / (enter minutes or hours) = flow rate in gpm or gph

 

[CHOMPERS]

by the way, the head should be measured from hose to hose. The loss in the hose going up is countered by the gain in the hose going down. In standard canister applications where both hose outlets are at the waters surface or just below, there would be zero vertical head. In other words, it won't matter if the canister is in the tank stand or in the basement. If the application draws out of a sump and returns to the tank, then that is another matter.

 

[Jgray152]

it won't matter if the canister is in the tank stand or in the basement.

So a canister with the same hose length at 4' flows the same at 15'?

The loss in the hose going up is countered by the gain in the hose going down. In standard canister applications where both hose outlets are at the waters surface or just below, there would be zero vertical head.

This would mean that there is no head restriction at all. Im not sure I believe this to be true because you will not have positive pressure through the intake like you would if it was gravity fed, you will have negitive pressure due to the pump forcing water through it. There is less negitive pressure in the intake due to the gravity helping compared to pumping from a sump that is at the same level or below the pump.

The pump will still have to pump against the head pressure in the output.

 

[svtim]

Ill measure it tonight

 

[Dr Joe]

Barring frictional losses, yes

 

[CHOMPERS]

So a canister with the same hose length at 4' flows the same at 15'?

The simple answer is yes. But if you wanted to split hairs, the answer is no. There is still flow loss due to resistance. It works out to about one foot of head per 100 feet of run in low flow / low pressure applications.

This would mean that there is no head restriction at all. Im not sure I believe this to be true because you will not have positive pressure through the intake like you would if it was gravity fed, you will have negitive pressure due to the pump forcing water through it. There is less negitive pressure in the intake due to the gravity helping compared to pumping from a sump that is at the same level or below the pump.

The pump will still have to pump against the head pressure in the output.

You are making it more complicated than it really is. The pressure has nothing to do with it because water does not compress. If you have ever had a physics class, this is entirely a static potential energy problem. After the pump has been in operation, the kinetic engergy will cancel out and it will be the same equation as if the system were at rest.

Do the flow test using two people, one to fill a gallon container and the other person to time it. Do three trials with the canister on the floor and then three more with the caniser as close to the surface as you can get it.

 

[svtim]

What is the height between the middle of the pump on the fx5, and the top of the tank where the hoses bend over the ridge?

The Length of the hose is doesn't provide much restriction.

Also, I was thinking about those flow meter too and how I can only find them up to 500 GPH. I thought about spitting the flow through two 1" tubes and have 1 flow meter on each tube, getting the flow through each tube and adding them together to get the total flow.

It is five and half feet the intake goes down 15 inches and the out put goes down 6 inches. I really wish i had a meter that went over 500 gph so i could help out more.