u shaped pipes on the overflow box

B

bpseoe

my overflow has two of these u shaped pipes. one draws the water from back to front of the overflow just fine but the other catches alot of air and will stop siphoning water after a couple hrs. my question is this: is it really necessary to have both of em siphoning or will one do just fine. (i forgot to mention that it also has two openings in the back of the overflow with flexible pvc directing the water down to the sump.) thanks in advance
 
Not an expert here but... if your overflow box has two drains it most like needs the two U tubs to get enough water into the unit for it to function properly. On the U tube that is getting air bound check for a crack in the U joint somewhere as a possible cause. The other thing you can try and do is lower the box in the tank a little lower to allow more water to flow into the box and see if that resolves the issue. Sometimes its just a little fine tuning to get it all to work right.

Good Luck!!
 
Try increasing the flow rate into your display tank air bubbles accumulate when there is not enough flow to push them down the tube. There are always some bubbles that are generated by the tanks side overflow box you just need enough flow to push them down the tube before it becomes a big bubble.

I'm no expert on overflows but if it runs fine with one tube use one tube, just make sure that it can keep up with your pump or you may end up with water on the floor.
 
Like mentioned before thhere is 1 U-tube per bulkhead in the overflow. I dont see it running to long without a lifter pump
and will make more noise than it should.
 
Thanks for everyones advise. so far so good. i took away one and left the other siphoning. no problems as of yet and the gurgiling noise went away. :D
 
it is good to keep the two u tubes in even if you dont need that much flo. if something get stuck such as a snail in one then the other one will picup the slack . if you are geting bubbles in one just tilt it so the flow will push it out and if it dont have the flow to perg the bubbles then just put something under the second u tube rasing it so not as much flow gos in that u tube but its still there whin you need it. rasing the box just rases the water level in the tank.
 
Another thing that would help, even for both U tubes, is to get a small dosing pump, like the Tom's Aqualifter (around $15-$18) and attach a piece of air line hose to the input side. On the end of the line, install an airline T fitting and a piece of hose on each end of the T. Put those hoses up into each of the U tubes so the end of the air line is at the apex of the U tubes. Put the output of the pump going into the sump, back to the tank or into the overflow - it really dosen't matter.

The idea is that the small pump will pull air and water out of the top of the U tubes and keep the siphon running. If you have a power out and your siphon break holes do their jobs, the pump will start working to get your siphons back running when the power restores.
 
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