return pump

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Glad to hear your experiment worked. Interesting.

Hope you and your Dad can come to an aggreement. I'd hate to see this turn you to a life of crime...shoplifting kilowatts, mugging meter readers.

A long time ago (to you,seems like last month to me :grinno: ) people used timers on the pumps so as to not run them 24/7. If you have a light bio-load you could try that but don't have the power of for more than 2-3 hrs or you will loose the bacteria in your filter. But now that I think about it, we did run air pumps 24/7 to help with gas transfer.

Keep us posted with your outcome,

Dr Joe

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Ok I'm getting ticked. The magdrive pump is just too many gph for the size of tank I have. THe powerhead provides the right amount. The overflow is 1 inch put there is a place it gets restricted to 3/4 inch then hits 1 inch again when it goes through the tubing to the sump. Any ideas how I can remake the overflow so it works better besides adding a air vent in the top of overflow. I added the vent and found that the overflow elbow is not draining as fast as I think it should.
 
You can partially bypass the output of the magdrive pump (redirect it to the input) and place a valve at the output to the tank to regulate it. Make a test setup and make sure you don't develope a heat problem (hot water).

Why the restriction on the overflow? Can you post pix?

Dr Joe

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Contrary to many fish boards you can throttle back the discharge of a centrifugal pump with absolutely NO harm as long as you are not shutting it completely off. A centrifugal pump will actually consume LESS power if throttled back as it is pumping less fluid.

Put an amp meter on a direct drive centrifugal pump and see how much power it consumes at zero head.
Then see how much power it consumes at 10 foot of head.

I'll bet my paycheck for a year that pumping at 10 foot head consumes less power. I used to work at a chemical plant that used both Positive Displacement and Centrifugal pumps. All pumps had amp meters. Whenever you cut back on the discharge of a centrifugal pump the amps would go down.

Why? Because it is moving less fluid. I wish I was versed enough to explain this but that is how centrifugal pumps work. This is the best site I could find to describe it.

http://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=152951&page=4

Positive displacement pumps are another story.


Bottom line for this thread, don't route water back to the sump, just get a ball valve and throttle back the discharge.
 
Thanks bud8fan. I pmed someone and got some help. I'm going to put a T in the output and direct some of the water onto the drip plate of the filter. That way I can use the big pump for a return to the tank and the drip plate so the drip plate gets completely covered. School is keeping my busy so I will not have time to work on the system much within the next week or so. I will post pictures of this setup once I get it running right. Thanks to all for the help.
 
I'd love to see pictures as I'll be building one soon.
 
Bud8Fan;597276; said:
Contrary to many fish boards you can throttle back the discharge of a centrifugal pump with absolutely NO harm as long as you are not shutting it completely off. A centrifugal pump will actually consume LESS power if throttled back as it is pumping less fluid.

Put an amp meter on a direct drive centrifugal pump and see how much power it consumes at zero head.
Then see how much power it consumes at 10 foot of head.

I'll bet my paycheck for a year that pumping at 10 foot head consumes less power. I used to work at a chemical plant that used both Positive Displacement and Centrifugal pumps. All pumps had amp meters. Whenever you cut back on the discharge of a centrifugal pump the amps would go down.

Why? Because it is moving less fluid. I wish I was versed enough to explain this but that is how centrifugal pumps work. This is the best site I could find to describe it.

http://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=152951&page=4

Positive displacement pumps are another story.


Bottom line for this thread, don't route water back to the sump, just get a ball valve and throttle back the discharge.
Click to expand...



Bud8Fan,

2 questions...Are you over 21yrs old and do you have a good paying job? Before I check this out I want to know it's worth my while...:D

Most aquarium pumps are rotary style until we get up to the pond (pool) size (or the very expensive) pumps.

Good link.

Dr Joe

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I am 36 and am well versed in pumps from my experience from working at Arcadian.
We produced Aqua Ammonia for fertilizer, LOL, kind of ironic. I currently have a pretty well paying job. :)

PS. The rotary you speak of IS centrifugal.

Here is a good link describing different styles of pumps.

http://ewr.cee.vt.edu/environmental/teach/wtprimer/pumps/pumps.html
 
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