Help. First time building a sump.

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
How hard is it to clean filter socks and do they need to be replaced often? I don't know if this would complicate things too much but I was thinking about setting up my system in a way that the water first runs through your typical filter media to catch the big stuff and then through a set of filter socks for the finer particles. On that note, do you have a recommendation on which type of filter sock to get, 50mm 100mm?
 
Sock is best first IMO. It keeps the majority of the crap out of the system. This means less cleaning needed to your other media. I use a 100 micron sock on my 180 and change it every 5 days or so. It only takes 30 seconds to take out the old and put in the new. Which sock you choose depends on how often you want to change it. If you dont mind changing frequently you could use a 50 or even a 25. I have some 10s which I use from time to time if I want a little extra polish or its looking a bit murky. 10s only last me a day though. As for cleaning, once I have a few dirty socks (I keep them in a plastic container) I chuck them in the washing machine wuth a bit of bleach and extra rinse cycles. Then let them air dry. I always put the washer on an empty rinse cycle beforehand to make sure theres no soap hanging around the system.

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Also, the more sock you have the longer you can go between cleaning. Just because you have only two drains, doesn't mean you are limited to using two filter socks. There's a guy on here (Kevin, but his screen name is Didysis) who did a real nice job plumbing his drains to fall into 4 socks and that helps prolong time between cleanings.

You can throw them in the washing machine (bleach only) or powerwash them with a garden hose on the "jet" settings. I use a hose and it takes me about 5 minutes per sock (but my socks are huge: 8" x 36"...I think they are the largest they sell); I flip 'em inside out and blast the crud out.

I would start with 100 micron and see how it goes.

These are two good places to order them:

http://www.dudadiesel.com/search.php?query=+filter++bag&i=filterbags

http://www.mcmaster.com/#standard-filter-bags/=nq72qk
 
So, a 1" bulkhead for a 1 3/4" hole. Is this correct? I figured that I would need to go bigger. I thought it would be around 1 1/2" or 1 1/4".
 
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