The water in my over-tank wet/dry constantly changes...WHY! (pic)

[l958010]

Most systems are "overflow based" because the overflow from the tank always exactly matches the output of the pump, which is at the level of the sump.

Your system is not overflow based so the water going into the sump and/or tank does not match the outflow - this mismatch is causing the oscillations you are seeing.

My suggestion is to view the sump as the "tank" and the tank as the "sump." By that I mean, change the output from the sump to an overflow. More specifically, place the output connection from the sump at the level that you want the water level to be. If you have already drilled a hole near the bottom of the sump, you could easily add a stand pipe to raise the level of the sump water level to where you want it.

Good luck.

 

[thecoolguy]

ok, i think i finally get it.....

a 1.25" at full siphon will drain more water than your pump can circulate - so the sump will drain rapidly once the full siphon begins, and then slow way down as air enters the system due to a empty sump and slowly speed up again as the pump fills the sump again....

how to stop this? pretty hard i think....

there just seems to be problems with this setup in general....

1) what happens if something clogs the outflow from your sump? will the sump flood? pump drain the overflow box then run dry and burn out?
2) what happens if something clogs the overflow in the tank? i assume pump drains the box then runs dry as well as sump emptying out?

yup...basically its all backwards...

you could:

- drill another hole into the sump and setup an emergency drain
- add standpipe (up extension of any sort) into the sump as the main drain
- gate valve / ball valve the main drain to slow it down and control water level

at least this way, if the main drain clogs, water will rise to the emergency drain that has no valve - at this point, water level will only fluctuate between the two drains as long as you valve it correctly...

i could be all wrong on this...

 

[aleok]

Yes, if the sumps outlet where to clog (not possible) the pump would drain the overflow and overflow the sump, then suck air and burn out.
I have a oversized pump, so pumping water into the sump isn't the issue because i have a valve already restricting it. this valve helps me ensure that the pump doesn't suck too much water, drain the tanks overflow and burn out the pump. The only way i could open up the valve more would be to add more water into the system, but if the power went out the tank would overflow.

Here are actual picture:

does anyone need explanations of what they are seeing?
btw the power is off in these pics

 

[aleok]

My suggestion is to view the sump as the "tank" and the tank as the "sump." By that I mean, change the output from the sump to an overflow. More specifically, place the output connection from the sump at the level that you want the water level to be. If you have already drilled a hole near the bottom of the sump, you could easily add a stand pipe to raise the level of the sump water level to where you want it.

Good luck.

This something like this what you mean by a overflow setup? and a stand pipe?

 

[deeda]

Thanks for posting the pictures, I find it much easier to understand what you are trying to describe.

Yes, I think the last picture you posted in Post #14 with the added riser pipe in your wet/dry filter, will help to solve the surging issue you are having. If it works properly then, you may want to consider raising the media tray with the scrubbies unless you want to have some of them submerged.

I did notice that you do not have a media pad above the scrubbies but do have it underneath the scrubbies. It would help keep the scrubbies cleaner if it was above them.

 

[l958010]

Yes, that is exactly what I meant. Let me know how it works out.

 

[aleok]

will the water level in the sump not go over the top of the stand pipe and essentially do the same thing?

what if i was to cut the drain pipe so it empties into the tank above the water line, like so:

what would be a better option?

 

[l958010]

Where the pipe enters the tank does not really change anything.

You need an overflow system and you can only do that with the sump since it is higher than the tank. Give the standpipe you showed above a chance. It should work because the water pumped into the sump will exactly match the water that flows into the standpipe and from their into the tank.

Good luck.