If you insist on going this route, make sure you have checks on the outputs of both filters. There is no need for a check on the intake sides.
No room for check valves on the outputs without putting them way further down the line. putting them on the input side, would stop water from actually going backwards through the pipes, but may still cause problems with excess pressure pushing against the pumphead.... i seriously dont see that being a huge problem though, it would take alot of pressure to force water backwards through a pump thats running..... and if it is off, then it isn't putting stress on the motor.
Also, size the 'exhaust' one size smaller than the intake. This will minimize the resistance of the water column and will speed up the exit velocity of the water, thereby preventing the flow from changing direction.
Are you able to find PVC that is SMALLER than 3/8" ... or for that matter, 3/8" period? only thing smaller is 1/4" PVC, which is hard to find, and also WAY WAY WAY too small... that would cause more problems than it would solve.
Try to use street elbows instead of the 90's you have now. Those 90's kill the flow.
an elbow is an elbow, and kills the flow no matter what kind of elbow it is.
You're go to need some sort of gate or ball valve on both sides of each filter. That will allow you to fill each filter with water after cleaning without pulling dirty water from the other filter, as well as giving you the ability to individually clean the filters while the system is running.
Did you not see the double isolating valves?
I wish you luck. I don't think this is a good idea, and is really a waste of good filtration IMHO, but it should be a fun project to tinker with. I don't think it's a waste of time, though. We always learn something from projects, whether they succeed or fail.
Weather I succeed or fail, i sure as hell hope someone learned something from this.... and not the obvious "oh, see I told you so nah nah na boo boo"
This wouldn't be the first thing Ive come up with, that has had people saying up and down that it wont work.... only to prove them all wrong.
Have you considered using tubing and hose barbs instead of hard PVC? Seems like the benefit of ease of movement, smoother transitions (no 90's) and cheaper parts would be compelling. Anyway, just a thought.
Yup, sure have.... please go back and read my posts, where I stated that I didnt want to deal with messy hoses everywhere, and worrying about kinks.
I'm not sure I understand your reasoning particularly well, but here is my suggestion anyway. Quick (and totally sweet) paint representation of how I would do this. The blue lines are filter inputs, the red is output. The large rectables are Eheims, the small ones are the hydors. The green blobs are ball valves. By doing it this way, both filters are running into the same input to help overcome the head height. The ball valves allow you to remove one filter/heater or the other and leave the the second attached and running. You would probably want check valves on the ouput sides, between the heater and the ball valve. I don't think you will need spring loaded ones, since the water will tend to flow downward anyway if a pump fails, gravity will help it swing shut. It will reduce the flow somewhat, but hte problem you are proposing pretty much requires it.
View attachment 24657
ummmmmm.... that is basically EXACTLY how its hooked up, except I dont have 4' of height in order to put the heaters above the filters.
Which is why the heaters are mounted on roughly the same level as the filters.
Also, you can't run water down through the heaters, which is why the filter outputs go down, to the bottom of the heaters.
What pvc piece did you use to attach the Eheim on the pvc and how did you get it on?
These.
818839-073
http://wfsltd.com/windsor/servlet/C...atalog/groupMyPrices.jsp/?mypricescatalog=yes
I would like to add, that I really appreciate the constructive criticism, and help that you guys are offering, but it seems like alot of you are telling me things before even reading what ive written so far.
I know it isnt efficent, but I dont like hoses everywhere, and trying to get a hose to turn 90° without kinking is hard.... and even then there may be times where it just slips anyway, and kinks without me knowing. also, its very hard to keep a Hydor in the upright position to avoid air bubbles, on a length of tubing.
Cleaning isnt hard, because all of the bends and stuff around the filters, will be disconnectable, allowing me to get a hose brush in there, and I will have access points installed that will allow me to shove a hose brush in all the other spots as well.
adding a pump to the output isnt hard, and if I cant find one to match exactly, then I can put a speed controller on it to slow it down .... mag drive pumps are still inductive loads, and Ive got motor speed controllers running out my yin yang.
If I had the space, I would hook these up differently, but Im working in a small space that I dont want to be unorganized and sloppy, trying to mount two Hydors, and 2 filters, in this small space, is impossible with tubing, without it kinking.
Why?
the Hydors cannot sit above my filters in my stand... there isnt enough height, and trying to bend tubing from the output, down and back up into the hydors is physically impossible, I would lose just as much flow using barbed elbows and tubing, as Im going to doing it this way.
Here is the space that the filters will go into.
