HELP!!

[Gwenkat]

I am ready to rip apart my sump or flood the house! :mad2: I got it all hooked up, but CANNOT get the syphon to start. The pump works great, but the water doesn't syphon into the sump.... I got a small syphon going, but the pump went faster and almost overflowed the tank. What am I doing wrong??? :wall:
Please help. Hubby did so much work and I really want to use the sump.... Here are some pics of the part I am having trouble with.

On a side note, does anyone use the cut off valve (see pic) to control the output of the pump? If not, how do you regulate the pressure it puts out?

Thanks everyone for your help!!

 

[jm1212]

have you tried using a check valve to keep the water from going back into the tank?

you amy also want to try moving the tube down some...the water has to go pretty high above the initial water line before it gets pulled down into the sump.

 

[OldMan1947]

If the pipe going down to your sump is the white one that I see in the picture, you need to get the siphon tube longer so that it is never uncovered at either end. It looks like if the water drained down to the top of the white tube, the siphon would be uncovered. That would allow air into the siphon and it would stop working.

 

[Gwenkat]

The tube is pulled up in the photo because we had to break the small syphon we had to stop working on it. It was all the way down. There was a large air bubble in it that we could not get rid of and that was causing it to syphon slowly I think. How can I get rid of it and get a strong syphon?

 

[clawlan]

make sure there is plenty of tubing under the water line on both sides. Also might want to spring a few dollars for a siphon starter like this one made by python:

 

[Gwenkat]

Thanks everyone. We got the syphon started and it was working great, but the pump is faster than the syphon. Hubby is going to put a valve in to regulate that. Will it hurt the pump at all to have the output reduced? Then I need a spray bar and I am done. What a project.... But, I have learned a lot, and you guys have been so helpful.... Thanks.

 

[ThePBM]

i don't mean to sound harsh, but your design needs a LOT of work. you shouldn't be trying to adjust your pump to your siphon, it's definitely supposed to be the other way around. you should be able to turn off your pump without any problems, without losing suction, and especially without overflowing.

the fact that you are using a simple sipon from inside the tank to the box on the outside is terribly unreliable. you will easily lose siphon and your pump is not to blame.

 

[ansbfish]

indeed it sounds like your overflow is way too small
I'd work on a new overflow design

 

[J double R]

i don't mean to sound harsh, but your design needs a LOT of work. you shouldn't be trying to adjust your pump to your siphon, it's definitely supposed to be the other way around. you should be able to turn off your pump without any problems, without losing suction, and especially without overflowing.

the fact that you are using a simple sipon from inside the tank to the box on the outside is terribly unreliable. you will easily lose siphon and your pump is not to blame.

why don't you make some suggestions as to how it can be improved?

 

[ThePBM]

solution: drill your tank. that's all i got.
aside from those bulky pvc overflow setups.