running return from remote location?

D

DeMarcusR

I was curious if anyone here ran their return pump from a remote location and what the experience has been doing so.

I am getting ready to start on my 215g and I really dont want to run the return pump in the stand because of the noise.

The pump is a Little Giant 4mdqx-sc.

What I'd like to do is keep the sump in the stand and put the return pump, Halide ballast and chiller in the closet behind the tank. There should be no more than 5 - 10ft of pvc between the sump and pump itsenf. I'm not too concerned with the head loss from the pump back to the tank since the pump is currently throttled back 80% to allow the drains to keep up AND so I notice the nice wave motion from the vortecs.

Another reason I'd like to run some of that stuff outside the stand is to make room for other "toys" that I may decide to add later down the road....

Is this advisable or should I consider a smaller and quieter pump?
 
the suction line will be a problem. can you set up a free draining sump (even a second sump) that can be placed near the pump?

pulling long distances on a suction line or even short runs with a lot of elbows leads to pump cavitations and air bubbles
 
what do you mean 'free draining' sump?

I have considered completely moving the sump into the closet however, the sump is too wide for the corner I'm dedicating to the pump and chiller - also, I'd have to worry about condensation in the closet. I have no plans to add any sort of ventilation. The closet is currently home to all of my home's networking gear - 3com switch, voice gateway and my vm box
 
@djr2001 wrote:
what do you mean 'free draining' sump? said:
Even a bucket, just something that pools the water near the suction, so the pump is not trying to pull water through the pipe for very long. Its surprising how much air can be created by having even a little negative pull on a pump impellor. You can also help mitigate this by increasing the suction line size
Click to expand...
 
This is an "in-line" design pump.

It does not pull water, it pushes it. It is not self-priming - if the horizontal run of pipe is empty, it won't "suck" water out of the sump.

In operation the volute MUST be completely submerged or it will not move water.

If I were going to use this pump this way, I would raise the sump such that the centerline of the bulkhead where the inlet of the pump connects would be 3-4 times the inlet pipe size above the top of the pump's inlet centerline.

The pump, I believe uses 1" pipe at the inlet. Assuming the centerline of the inlet is roughly 2 1/2" off the mounting surface, the centerline of the sump bulkhead needs to be 5 1/2"" - 6 1/2" off the same mounting surface.
 
Yep, I do.. my sump and return setup is in a different room with the drains/returns running through the wall.

As Pete mentioned, your concern would be with air in the pipes and getting that thing started again once it has drained back into the sump. You might consider plumbing in a smaller pump as a primer spliced between the in/out and run that before kicking on your big pump. Also keep in mind the distance as that will impact your pump performance.
 
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