Benefits of a Manifold

[under10minutes]

Curious how a manifold works and the benefits.

Thx

 

[JimmyR1rider]

It works off of residual pressure resulting from the return pump being gated back and allows you to run other pieces of equipment such as media reactors without using additional pumps.

Multiple benefits- no added heat from multiple pumps, less electrical consumption as well as retaining more water volume and available space I your sump due to the absence of multiple pumps.

 

[under10minutes]

Is it a matter of directing pressure with valves to operate equipment? I'm not sure i understand the mechanics of it. I'm very curious. Thx

 

[JimmyR1rider]

Yeah. You downsize the plumbing slightly which also helps with gaining pressure. You feed the manifold off the return pump between the pump and the ball valve controlling the flow to the tank. That charges the manifold and you open the valves to feed what you have hooked up to them.

The only thing to get used to is if using multiple valves when you open or close one of them you have to slightly readjust the others- if you open one more there's a little less pressure to the others, if you close on there's more so you have to fine tune them again. No biggie.
Here's pics of a single valve one I did recently, hope it helps:

 

[thirty6]

jimmy that the new place, all plumbed and running?

 

[JimmyR1rider]

Nah man. Was a house here on Long Island. My last install for the shop. I won't have a tank in the new place for a while.

 

[under10minutes]

Do you recommend the quarter turn valves or the .....turn style (round handle). Wouldn't you get more accurate control of flow from the later?

 

[edd]

Do you recommend the quarter turn valves or the .....turn style (round handle). Wouldn't you get more accurate control of flow from the later?

the round handle is a gate valve and yes you get more precise adjustment.
the one with a straight lever is a ball valve, really for turning on or off.
but gate are more expensive, so if you need a few they add up.

 

[JimmyR1rider]

the round handle is a gate valve and yes you get more precise adjustment.
the one with a straight lever is a ball valve, really for turning on or off.
but gate are more expensive, so if you need a few they add up.

There are 2 reasons I use ball valves- 1) they're not challenging to get the flow correct(nothing you'll run off a manifold is so sensitive that if you give too much flow for a couple of seconds it will cause harm) and 2) they're readily available at any lowes.

When you do installs and don't have somewhere to stockpile gate valves as well as the customer pays for the plumbing parts I like to give them itemized receipts so they know with no doubts that they didn't overpay for a single thing.

If I purchased 50 gate valves I'd have to hold on to that receipt until theyre all used and break it down what each one cost with shipping and tax. That's too confusing for them and too much of a pain in the neck for me.

If it wasn't a pain to explain and I has had a place to stockpile them sure I'd use them. For my own ill most likely be using them, not sure yet. I've never had a issue with or disliked ball valves.

 

[under10minutes]

I have a very touchy system (and i'm looking forward to replacing it when the time presents itself). I believe the return pump is much too powerful for the system. Without controlling the flow it will overflow my skimmer cup immediately. I had to install a ball valve to slow down the flow and then add a line that dumped back into the refugium. It required very find tuning to get everything perfect. The gate valves would of been extremely beneficial with my set up.

Everyday I learn something new. Thanks Jimmy, this was a big help.

 

[troywalkerphoto]

Im curious on how you would run a needle wheel style skimmer on a manifold. Also I have heard that a backup pump should be included so if one fails you turn the other to full to keep the system running. Or be sure to have a backup that you can swap out on hand.

 

[under10minutes]

Educate me Troy. Why would a needle wheel need different requirements then a paddle wheel or mesh pad?

 

[lnevo]

Because the needle wheel generates the bubbles on the skimmer. Without an impeller feeding air which you cant do with a manifold then normal skimmer doesn't skim. Now a recirculating skimmer can connect to a manifold. This type of skimmer has two pumps. One feeding water to the skimmer and one feeding air. I believe this is the type you can run off a manifold. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong...

 

[under10minutes]

The impeller doesnt feed air. The impeller mixes the water and air together creating bubbles. I think the air from a skimmer works off a vacuum. Manifold is on return side only so i dont see how this impacts a skimmer. Skimmer gets its water directly from the overflows on the dt.

Maybe I'm being naive, This is simply how my system operates. Im sure theres many ways to skin a cat.

 

[lnevo]

Thats correct. But some skimmers have separate pump for water and some for air. If you have a single pump skimmer you can't feed it from a manifold. If you have one with two pumps (recirculating) then you can replace the water feed pump with an input from the manifold.

 

[troywalkerphoto]

Inevo is correct. This is one of the reasons that I don't go Manifold, Yet. I will be adding more reactors in the future so at that point it might workout.