URGENT Help Required! Advice on Return Pump

[planetg]

Here's my situation:

I currently have a 4 x 2.5 x 2.5 tank.

My return pump is an Eheim 1262. Because of my hood and height of the cabinet, the poor Eheim 1262 has to pull water up ard 5.5ft ard 4 elbows. At that height, it's just 'dripping' water! In addition to that, as I pump water from the input compartment of my sump to the chiller, the Eheim cannot keep up with it. In short, I'm in urgent need to change the pump. Redoing the plumbing is not an option.

I would also prefer an Iwaki but my current plumbing conditions allow only a submersible plus I do not have the budget for that right now. I was looking at the options available and came down to crappy choices. What can I do right?

Hailea, Dymax, Weipro or Resun? I was stunned when I saw the Hailea 6550 running at 200W but was told that's why it has an impressive flow rate. Others include Dymax 5000 or some Weipro pump. Remember my head pressure.

Anyone, pls advice me on what my next course of action is to be. Appreciate all your help.

Cheers.

[planetg]

plumbing (4 90 degree elbows in total)

[FuEl]

Get another eheim..preferably one with higher output.

I support Eheim all the way.

[Achilles Tang]

Go to Aquamart and get yourself an Aquamedic Oceanrunner 6500. It's probably the best pump around for that kind of price/performance. The Hailea pumps are copies of the Aquamedic pumps.

Best if you get a black and white guarantee from the new management of Aquamart that you will able to return the pump for exchange within the warranty period. It's just a piece of advice you can disregard at your own risk.

[planetg]

Thanx fuel for that advice. Adding another pump is not an option too.

Hi AT, i heard that Hailea is like AquaMedic OEM. in that case, why not i just get a Hailea instead? but any idea why it's running at 200W?

Thanx for the advice.

[Maxima]

Thanx fuel for that advice. Adding another pump is not an option too.

Hi AT, i heard that Hailea is like AquaMedic OEM. in that case, why not i just get a Hailea instead? but any idea why it's running at 200W?

Thanx for the advice.

The magnetic arm and Ti staff inside is different. The price between a top notch magnetic + coil can be 10X or 100X different from tom, dick or harry product!

Eheim dn't make my day......no SPS reefers with high dkh will use this piece of crap! Chk out RC, you know what I meant

Max

[Joe_P]

Thanx fuel for that advice. Adding another pump is not an option too.

Hi AT, i heard that Hailea is like AquaMedic OEM. in that case, why not i just get a Hailea instead? but any idea why it's running at 200W?

Thanx for the advice.

Hi Planetq,

I'm currently with a 6540, supposlingly running on 100 watts with a 2880 l/hr output....

If you need to test run it to see whether it gives a better flow output, pls PM me ....

You might also wanna consider your pipe work again..... every PVC elbow instlled into the pipework brings down the flow rate by a tremendous lot....

have you consider using flexible tubing instead.....?????

[Coral_ClamS]

try conecting two or three highput pumps together and if possible shorten the distance your water flow has to travel...cos saw your pic that the piping runs from one end to the other! that's why it so slow!!hope this helps!

[chrislwp]

I have the same tank size and return piping similar to yours.

I am using SUNSUN 3000L/H 150W return pump. No problem so far.

[planetg]

hi guys,

i do understand the effects of travel distance plus loss due to elbows but as of now, redoing pipework is not an option. would seriously consider next time.

appreciate all your advice and time.

do keep them coming.

cheers

[Joe_P]

hi guys,

i do understand the effects of travel distance plus loss due to elbows but as of now, redoing pipework is not an option. would seriously consider next time.

appreciate all your advice and time.

do keep them coming.

cheers

Planteq,

from the pictures you posted, I reckon there isn't much of a issue redoing the pipework.....

cut the PVCs before the elbows, install in adaptors for the flexible tubing and you should be ok......

[Achilles Tang]

Try using 45 degree bends and as much rubber hoses as possible to reduce head pressure losses.

90 degree elbows add a lot of head pressure losses.

[Achilles Tang]

The magnetic arm and Ti staff inside is different. The price between a top notch magnetic + coil can be 10X or 100X different from tom, dick or harry product!

Eheim dn't make my day......no SPS reefers with high dkh will use this piece of crap! Chk out RC, you know what I meant

Max

I am using an Eheim in conjunction with my Iwaki chemical pump.

The Eheim is used for my closed loop (tank - chiller - tank), and no problems with it leh.

IMO, its a good brand - just too bad that the flow rate is quite slow compared to Aquamedic's.

[nutx]

Hailea, Dymax, Weipro or Resun?

I've tried a Weipro 5000 (5000l/hr) and a Eheim 1260 (2000l/hr) as my return pump abt 3ft height. Eheim 1260 is better.

using hose rather than L-joint piping can increase the efficiency of the pump a lot.

[dr evil]

hi bro,

my tank is also a 4x2.5x2.5ft.....but using only eheim 1260 as a return pump. as u see from the pics, the return pump is place on the left rather than the right......so that the distance is shorter. and also use a flexible hose......

the current from the 1260 is also quite strong.........

[planetg]

hi all,

thanx for all the input.

the most i can chop is 2 elbows. how much can i improve?

the prob is that there's a huge difference when the output is raised an additional 2-3 inches after 5 ft. i agree it's a good pump but probably best when below that threshold i guess.

*sigh* keep those suggestions coming in please.

[planetg]

after a discussion with joe,

i think i'll heed his advice on chopping as many elbows as possible and use flex pipes. hopefully i'll get a better flow rate. i bet it'll help a little but if it still isn't enuff, i'll then look for another pump.

those piping changes will be good changes anyway! thanx joe.

[Tigger]

To improve the situation abit, try lifting the pump as high as possible. This will reduces head lost also.

Alternatively, u can also rotate yr sump tank 180degree so that the return is pump driectly upwards instead of rerouting the whole distance.

I am using also a 1262 with abt 2.5feet head lost and three elbow, but pump still power full(reckon its abt ~3000L/hr).

Understand yr situation, its a design flaw and u need to live with it(not unless u change the tank so something!)

Cheers

[planetg]

hi tigger,

thanx for the advice.

it will not make much difference even if i turn it ard.

i concluded that it's because of my 2 elbows at the sump area.

horizontal distance do make only a little difference.

i tested with a flex hose direct from the 1262 to my tank at ard 6ft height with a 3m hose. the flow rate was excellent. will fix it up permanently and hope the flowrate will improve. in fact, it shd be improve substantially.

thanx for the thoughts.

cheers.

[dradttg]

hi bro,

my tank is also a 4x2.5x2.5ft.....but using only eheim 1260 as a return pump. as u see from the pics, the return pump is place on the left rather than the right......so that the distance is shorter. and also use a flexible hose......

the current from the 1260 is also quite strong.........

Dr Evil: I got some questions about your sump.

- Is the grey pipe that goes from the left to the right the outflow pipe from the main tank to the sump? If yes, is the reason for doing it this way to slow down the downward flow of the water?

- I read in that the way to prevent the sump from overflowing if the return pump fail is but drilling a hole in the pipe from the main tank to the sump. From that I assume that the pipe should extend quite high up in the main tank. However, if that is the case, is the sump still an effective filter?

- I can also see a green pipe going from the right to the left. What is that for?

Thank for your patient.

[planetg]

an update to those following the thread.

i re-did my plumbing tonight.

a. cut the pvc pipe just before the it enters the overflow box

b. install the 3/4" barb adapter i got from marine depot some time ago

c. install the 16/22mm eheim hose from the barb adapter to my Eheim 1262

d. turn it on and viola! i get more than 3 times the return flow that i remove my nozzle and considering looking for the y-loclines to fit in.

conclusion.

i'm really happy i re-did the plumbing and heeded joe's advice. thanx joe for discouraging me to buy a new pump. as for those who do not believe how much you kill the flow rate with elbows, you gotta try it to believe it! dr_evil may want to consider going hose all the way to the overflow input. here's a pic for you.

cheers

[planetg]

here's how it looks like b4.

in the future, i will change my sump and use an external pressure rated return pump.

[Achilles Tang]

Hmmm... you forgot to thank me also... haha... kidding.

Final tip: ALWAYS use metal clamps to secure the hoses to the piping. Don't give Murphy a chance to flood your house!

[planetg]

of course i respect all our founder's expert advice. always understood right? hehe. thanx anyway.

i will get those clips but since my return pump is submerged, is there other plastic type ones?

btw, i just dumped unrinsed contraphos in for abt 2 hours and my skimmer is doing OT now!!!