Drain and Skimmer Questions

[AHarp]

So I'm having some trouble with my drain and with my skimmer. I slammed together a nice set up I got from an awesome dude at the beginning of COVID and was just happy to have it up and running. The longer it's been set up, though, the more little issues pop up. I've got two issues that I can't get a handle on right now.

 

My drain "flushes" instead of constantly draining. I have a Durso style drain, and I'm thinking I might just need to make the hole in the top end cap bigger. I've been slowly increasing the size and haven't noticed a difference, so I wanted to double check. In the picture below, the water will come almost up to the weir, then "flush" down below the level it can get into the drain pipe.

 

My other issue is my skimmer. The collection cup is cracked and leaks; I probably cracked it moving or over tightening. I'd love to get a new cup, but I can't for the life of me figure out what brand of skimmer it is. Any ideas?

 

[treesprite]

I'm not the best (or anywhere close to that) to ask about plumbing, but every time I've had that problem, it was because of air getting in the pipe. I had that problem recently because the holes in the tank that flow into the external box, are higher than ideal. I just put an elbow coming out of each hole so the water from the internal box comes out below the water level in the external box. No more flushing, just a quiet, consistent box of water.

[Jon Lazar]

It sounds like what's happening is the pipe can't transport enough water to keep up, until it gets to be a complete siphon.  Then it transports too much water, and rapidly drains the overflow box until the bottom of the tee is exposed, breaking the siphon.  Then it fills back up again.

 

I always see dursos where the tee is on the drain pipe.  Yours has the ell on the drain pipe.  I would swap them first and see if it fixes the problem.  I don't know that it will, but it should be an easy thing to check unless you've glued the pipes.

 

You might also need to use larger pipe to allow more flow.  If your drain pipe extends too deep into your sump, that might also contribute to your problem.

 

 

[WheresTheReef]

I don’t have much experience with a standpipe drain. I only had one tank with one. I did notice that I had to adjust both the water flow and air flow. I was able to tweak the water flow using a built-in adjustment in the pump. You can achieve the same by slowing a DC pump or with a valve on the output side if it’s an AC pump. I had also put a small piece of airline tubing in the standpipe’s hole as a silencer. I noticed that restricting the air too much would cause the same problem you’re having. So increasing the diameter could help.

I can’t see the crack in the cup, but it may be easy to repair. If the crack is still tight you could use Weldon 4 and let it seep into the crack. Weldon 16 can be used to repair larger cracks. Try to clean the crack as best as possible.

[Origami]

As Jon said, your Durso is constructed incorrectly. The tee should be aligned with the down-tube with the vent on top. 

 

The skimmer is constructed a whole lot like a Coralife Super Skimmer (molded gray plastic, red highlights, etc.) in a hang-on-back configuration. Try searching Coralife skimmers and see what you come up with. You may be able to take a rotary tool and rout out a shallow channel along the length of the crack. Then flow some Weldon 4 into the crack and hope for a little capilary action to pull the solvent in and seal off the crack. The only reason for the shallow channel is to keep the water-thin Weldon 4 on top of the crack so it can get drawn in.

 

 

[WheresTheReef]

Yea I didn’t see the pipe. It should look like this 

[Origami]

BTW, the originator of the Durso drain, Richard Durso, was a local that attended a few meetings of ours some years back. I found it kind of cool that we had a quiet celebrity of sorts in our midst.

[AHarp]

Well darn. Two things-- First, I can't believe I looked at as many images of the drain as I did trying to fix it and didn't catch my mistake. Second, y'all are awesome. I swapped the pieces and while it's not perfect, it's SOOOO much better. I'll check out the other ideas (bigger hole, air line, don't put the drain too far into the sump) to get it completely set.

 

The skimmer does look like a Coralife. I'll check out some Weldon, but also looking at some images, I might be able to just stick the skimmer in the sump instead of hanging it on the side, so if it leaks, no big deal.

 

Thanks all! You're awesome.