Bean Animal questions

[Kens Bees]

I can't get this thing working right and looking for some suggestions. First picture is essentially what the overflow box looks like with the approximate heights of each. The primary drain on the left has a gate valve to adjust flow. The middle drain, I assume, picks up any excess from the primary as sort of a check valve to limit adjustments. The emergency is just that. Both drains have their ends about 2" under water in the sump. The pencil in the second picture is about the water level I think it should be at when running right.

The return pump is DC and adjustable and I have it dialed way down so it won't go over the rating of the overflow. I don't have the hole drilled in the elbow of the secondary, and can't figure out how it would help or if t's really needed.

Earlier in the week the water level came high enough to enter the emergency overflow, but I never adjusted the gate valve and it seems like the secondary drain never kicked in. Today is the water level in the overflow dropped low enough that the siphon was broken. It never restarted and just gurgled all day.

Any ideas from those that run one what I'm doing wrong and how to correct it?

 

[srit1]

I would first start them without the elbows, the left most should be a full siphon that very closely matches your return rate (which should be less than what the e drain can handle alone). (Full siphon just under return rate which is just under what the e drain can handle alone). The second takes the trickle difference between them.

Once you have that, you can add the elbows, however I do think you will need a hole in the middle drain so air does not stop the trickle from getting up into it. I am not convinced you need elbows at all however.

 

[MikeG]

Water level looks a bit too high in the pic on the right.

1) Are you sure there isnt air blocking the far left siphon drain? I normally start this with the gate valve opened way up to let air get through the pipe then slowly close the valve until the flow is above that elbow and is stable.
2) the middle pipe needs a hole drilled in the top otherwise it is going to try to pull a full siphon and you will not be able to adjust it without the water level constantly fluctuating. I try to have as little water going through that second pipe as possible.

 

[Casino]

Lower the main drain a bit. Lower the middle drain. Should just be a couple inches higher than the main. Remove the elbow on the middle drain. I only have an elbow on the main drain. I would also lower the emergency drain a bit. To start, open your ball valve all the way. Start your pump. Give it a few mins. Then slowly start closing the ball valve. Continue until the water lever is almost going over the middle drain. Depending on your pump you can fine tune the level in the box.

 

[highfive52]

I can't get this thing working right and looking for some suggestions. First picture is essentially what the overflow box looks like with the approximate heights of each. The primary drain on the left has a gate valve to adjust flow. The middle drain, I assume, picks up any excess from the primary as sort of a check valve to limit adjustments. The emergency is just that. Both drains have their ends about 2" under water in the sump. The pencil in the second picture is about the water level I think it should be at when running right.

The return pump is DC and adjustable and I have it dialed way down so it won't go over the rating of the overflow. I don't have the hole drilled in the elbow of the secondary, and can't figure out how it would help or if t's really needed.

Earlier in the week the water level came high enough to enter the emergency overflow, but I never adjusted the gate valve and it seems like the secondary drain never kicked in. Today is the water level in the overflow dropped low enough that the siphon was broken. It never restarted and just gurgled all day.

Any ideas from those that run one what I'm doing wrong and how to correct it?

Take those 90s off. Run it open put a GATE valve on it, turn pump up. Those 90s will get ya everytime. I run my 180g wide open, quiet as a mouse, scary quiet.

 

[Bandit13]

Like others have said, think the elbows would cause issues, likely getting a siphon going in the 2nd drain that then breaks siphon as the water level drops, then water level rises, siphon forms then breaks, repeating again and again. The elbows without a airhole might also create airblocks preventing the 2nd from drain from working?

I run a two drain overflow and dont run any pvc on the main drain in the overflow box, (got the main drain outlet circled in red in the pic). lower down i have the main drain connected to a valve to adjust flow.

When running full blast, the 2nd drain has some flow going down it but nothing crazy. on 2nd drain I run a T with a 90 at the end turned up and the top of the T has a cap on it with a hole drilled in it with airline tubing to further silence the drain. i have the airline tubing pinched in the overflow grate too, so if water level rises it will plug and create a siphon in case of emergency.

You could probably do something similar and drill a hole in the elbow on your 2nd drain and stick some airline tubing in it. This will prevent the siphon forming/breaking cycle and let the water naturally flow down, I also ran mine with no elbows on the 2nd drain no problem but it could be a little noisy if not dialed in perfectly

Keep in mind the more 90 elbows and turns your drain lines have, the less flow it can handle

 

[Kens Bees]

Thanks for the suggestions. I ended taking the elbow off the primary and replaced it with a strainer. The secondary I drilled a small hole in and I raised the height of the pipes in the sump to about an inch under water. I also lowered the water height a bit in the overflow box. It worked fine overnight and I'll see what happens during the day.

 

[Syntax]

The original design of the bean animal has an air tube on the top of the open channel to prevent it from becoming a full siphon unless the main siphon is blocked.

The main siphon becomes blocked, water rises and covers the air tube and it now becomes a full siphon.

Here’s the original design.

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