Loud Drains

So, I turned my pump off to do a water change. When I turned it back on, my drains are very loud. They are making a slurping sound and sound like there is an occasional surge into the sump. They used to do this occasionally. Just a few times an hour. Now it is almost constant. It look as though the water in the overflow box is only coming up to the top of the slots on the drain. The turn down is 1" PVC with slots cut about 3/4" up. At the bend it goes to 1.5" PVC all the way to the sump. I made them like a beananimal overflow. The only thing I changed was that I have a middle drain the does not turn down into the overflow, it looks like the others, just without the turn down. It's a last resort drain in case of over fill. I also have the tubing coming out of the top of my left drain and going into the overflow box, but the left drain doesn't actually do much draining most of the time. I'll try to get a pic later if needed, or a video so you can see and hear it. Any advice or suggestions.

 

an air tube/straw/any hollow tube (nothing huge in diameter) if you can get a way to stick it 3-4" into the middle of your drain and make something to hold it out of the top of the drain will stop that slurping....it will let air escape and keep a constant draining....on my old tank i had this issue...i took a piece of plastic (just big enough to make a bridge over the middle of your overflow box) drilled a hole in it tight enough that a straw could be shoved in but not fall back out...centered the straw in the center of my drain....no more slurp.

 

Ok, here's some pics so you can see the setup.

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5





The first 5 links aren't working so you can copy and pste them into your browser to see them.

I'll post a video shortly so you can hear it also.

 

Here's the Video Link.

I tried something. I turned off the right drain and sucked all the air out of the tube in the left drain. That made the left drain start draining and when I turned on the right drain it did not drain. That helped some, but not a lot. The left drain is draining now, the right isn't, but it looks the same where the left drain enters the sump(air bubbles).

 

Well, it didn't take long and the noise is back just as loud as before. I'm almost at the point of turning the pump off at night but I know that's not best.

 

In photos 4 & 5, it shows that you didn't use "T" fittings on the standpipes, just 90* elbows. With this type of setup, the standpipes will never vent properly, which is why you're getting the "flushing" sound.

Take a look in this article and see how we do our standpipe caps. Sometimes it takes multiple vent holes to dial them in:

Building Your Own Standpipe

If you build the caps in that fashion, you use the air valve(s) to dial-in the proper amount of venting.

 

It looks like the photos didn't upload right. There is a T on the other side of the tank. Here are 2 pics that didn't upload last night. You can see that there is an air line coming out of the left drainpipe's top. If I don't leave that airline in the water, it stops working.

http://s1248.photobucket.com/albums/hh489/joeymanning/?action=view¤t=6C89B8B2-C16D-4B93-8FCA-0758131CFAFB-22112-00001B6CFB986E46.jpg

8318F1F0-3EBD-4EBC-AD87-01D8B1D4C6F1-22112-00001B6CF59C10C5.jpg picture by joeymanning - Photobucket

 

You have a Bean Animal, but it does not look like you built a true BA... do you have valves on the drains? Is it adjusted properly.... somehow you are not regulating it right. It is going to the point of siphon then surging and allowing air... there is not supposed to be any air.

 

Valves? As in ball valves just before the sump? Yes

 

Gete valves are better for fine control. Ball valves can be frustrating to get dialed in. The flow is not linear. But you have to adjust the main drain to do most of the flow and not surge. Then you have to let it overflow in the open channel just a tad. I'm really sorry if I am telling you the obvious... do you know how a Bean is supposed to work?