slowing down a mag drive 2400...if possible

[wright4lfe]

alright-

just bought a mag drive 2400 for a 240gl i rehab-ed. i've run into a huge problem already with it, it flows TOO much. even with the sump, tank and all of the pipes (into the sump/back to the tank) full of water it is still sucking all of the water out of my 40gl sump. i was able to avoid a major overflow catastrophe by having my wife man the python (no pun intended) and start draining the sump/tank on my command.

it has a 1in inlet and a 1in outlet. i'm running 1-1/4 pipe from the overflows into the sump and 3/4in from the pump back into the tank. anyone know of a way to get this thing to slow down....or is it destined to go on the for sale/trade sub forum......

 

[repair]

Put a T fitting in the output line and run it back into sump. You will want to put a valve on the return line so you can control how much water is going back into the sump.

It's better to bypass the water back into the sump then restrict the pumps output.

 

[CHOMPERS]

Put a T fitting in the output line and run it back into sump. You will want to put a valve on the return line so you can control how much water is going back into the sump.

It's better to bypass the water back into the sump then restrict the pumps output.

 

[wright4lfe]

this is why i love this site. thank you so much.

 

[Aaronhil]

That is exactly what I have done on my 75 gallon. I bought a huge pump, and used the ball valve on a T. In my case, I set it so that one end of the T goes back to the tank, and the other end of the T runs thru the ball valve, and then returns the water to flow thru the drip plate again.

I have no idea if re-cycling the water thru the media again makes any positive difference, but I didn't think it would hurt.

Also, I first put the ball valve between the pump and the tank, but I found that I had to leave the ball valve open to get very much flow at all to the tank. The unrestricted bypass was taking most of the flow due to the head pressure on the return. I moved the ball valve to the bypass side, and it made regulating the pressure to the tank alot easier.

Also, what made a difference was the direction of the T. IOW, I put it so that the pump pushed the water straight thru the T with the bypass coming out the side...

pump--------return
|
bypass

It also helped me regulate the flow to the tank.

 

[Bud8Fan]

It's better to bypass the water back into the sump then restrict the pumps output.

Not true with a centrifugal pump. You can put a valve downstream of the pump with absolutely no harm.

 

[dr_sudz]

"T'ing" is the safe way to go, that way you can add extra filtration to the water as its pumped back.

 

[repair]

Not true with a centrifugal pump. You can put a valve downstream of the pump with absolutely no harm.

It depends on how the pump is made.... any pump will use more energy when they are resticted.

This isn't true if you use a pump that uses a presure releif but I haven't seen any aquarium pumps that are made with one...... like a pump slide on a vane type pump

 

[johnptc]

Not true with a centrifugal pump. You can put a valve downstream of the pump with absolutely no harm.

 

[johnptc]

It depends on how the pump is made.... any pump will use more energy when they are restricted.

This isn't true if you use a pump that uses a pressure relief but I haven't seen any aquarium pumps that are made with one...... like a pump slide on a vane type pump

why would it use more energy if its doing less work ???

centrifugal pumps use the most current when running wide open and moving lots of water and very little when pumping near their max head height and doing very little work.....

there is some wasted energy as heat from viscous friction but i don't believe it will compare to the energy needed to move the water...........

2 cents.