I am running a 55 gallon drum fluidized bed with an ap60 air pump and a single 5" air stone. The pump has 14 air line connections and I'm only going to be using 1 line. I was just going to go to the hardware store and find something to cap it off. I tried to search for an answer and don't see any. Any suggestions?
Question about caping off extra air lines
- Thread starter Niners4952
- Start date
The issue you are going to run into is making the pump work too hard. Most pumps can handle being a few short, but capping off 93% of your pump's output with most certainly damage the pump. You will need to bleed off some of the air to protect the pump. Granted, there isn't a simple ratio or solution to know how much to bleed off, as it is more of a trial and error thing.
It would probably save you a bit, in terms of electrical cost, to run an efficient smaller pump then one that is designed to run 14 individual lines
Yeah I just bought what was recommended for this fluidize bed, I had no idea itbhasb14 outputs but I can run some air stones in the waste water barrel and the main tank so I don't have to cap all but 1. Here's a couple pics, hoping to have running tonight, just have tobrun the return lines
could also run a couple small circle air stones in the k1 barrel. How many can I cap off and be safe is the real question, I can just run air stones in my pump barrel
It's really a hard number to guess on. Probably somewhere between 2 and 5, but there's no definitive answer in that guess. Just listen to the pump, it will tell you when it is struggling. Then open up a line or two.
I guess I should of read the directions first lol cause all I had to do was run 3/4" hose to the outlet on the air pump