Drain lines are hiccupping? Help please

[ace1204]

Every 30 seconds or so it seems like a bunch of water surges down my drain lines and over flows to the next level in my sump way faster then normal. I tried taking the cap off both of my dursos to see if it was caused by that and i dont think it was. any ideas? Thanks guya/gals yall are great.

 

[xyzpdq0121]

Sounds like your dursos are not in balance, meaning that they are pulling too much air or not enough air. Do you have a controlable airline on them?

 

[ace1204]

nope where can i buy one? should i drill the hole a little bigger?

 

[xyzpdq0121]

I usually drill it big enough to put some airline tube and a valve in there so I can control the air.

 

[ace1204]

where can i by airline tubing and valve at?

 

[xyzpdq0121]

Airline tube can be bought at any place that sells fish stuff. You might have to hunt a bit for an air valve for it.

 

[ace1204]

Thanks ill grab one in the next couple of days this surging is really annoying being in my room lol

 

[ace1204]

mine is about that same size on 2 1" drains

 

[ace1204]

Tried that lastnight and that wasnt working either still getting a rush of water every 20 seconds or so.

 

[george]

Local stores usually have the valves. They come in what's called an http://www.petco.com/product/7492/Profile-Air-Control-Kit.aspx">Air Control Kit</a>

The valves are also very very useful for drip acclimation of corals/livestock.

 

[ace1204]

Ok so i drilled my holes in the cap using a step up in drill bit everytime, and still no dice, next step is nearly the size of a pencil lol will a airvalve really help even though ive stepped up everytime with no change??

 

[johnr2604]

look into your overflow, has there been a change in how high the level is coming up before it surges? any change in duration? Not making sense to me. Does it increase when you plug the hole? my hole is about a quarter inch on top of mine with no valve on it because I need a new one. Do you have some pics?

Basically the surging is caused by not breaking the siphon. The negative pressure created by the weight of the water in the drain makes the drain flow more. This ends up surpassing the amount that the overflow box is capable of flowing and you get surge like a toilet flushing which breaks the siphon and repeats. basically you are adjusting the siphon by opening up the holes. Eventually you should get to a point where there is an equallibrium and it will quit surging. As you increase you should have been noticing a decrease in the duration. If you get too large then the water level in the overflow starts getting closer to the water level in the diplay.