Help me plumb my external pump intake.

[bluecord]

Here's my problem. I have a Iwkaki external pump and the room left over in my stand next to my sump is not enough to plumb from the pump to the bulkhead without using some elbows. In other words I have to place the pump parallel to the sump instead of perpendicular. I don't want to increase my head pressure any more than necesary, so what if I drilled the bottom of my sump and placed the pumps under the sump. I could then use vinyl tubing to connect the pump intake to the bulkhead which should not raise my head pressure too much. I might even gain a little intake velocity from gravity feed. This is the only solution I have come up with. Is this good or can someone come up with another? Thanks for your input.

One other question...
Is there any problem using a bulkhead larger that my pump intake and then reducing before entering the pump?

 

[LA-Lawman]

are you talking about not using a 90deg to feed the intake of the pump. This is ok to do. you can also change the orientation of the oulet of the pump to suit your needs....

post a pic of what you are talking about so we can get a clear picture and then u can get a clearer answer.

 

[ReefVan]

The Iwaki pump head can be oriented in different positions. Perhaps one of the alternates would make for a more elgant solution. :wink:

As suggested by LA-Lawman, perhaps posting some pics would be the most helpfull.

Van 8)

 

[bluecord]

I am talking about using the 90 deg elbow to get the water from my bulkhead to the intake of my return pump. I know that 90 degree elbows on a pumps output reduces flow. Does it not cause any problems on the intake? Also, what problems would arise if my bulkhead is larger than my pump intake? My pump intake is 3/4" and I was thinking about using 1" bulkhead. I don't want any cavitation or microbubbles, etc. I'll would post some pictures, but nothing is put together so I am not sure they would help. Thanks for the advice though.

 

[King Jason]

The 90 on the intake will reduce your flow. May not be too bad though. You could use a larger bulkhead, maybe a 1" or 1.5" and then reduce it right at your pumps intake. This would allow more water to get in the intake and may make the reduction from the 90 not as bad.

 

[Robin Goodfellow]

...Does it not cause any problems on the intake? ...I don't want any cavitation or microbubbles....

hi.
You answered your concern above. Cavitation is the main problem with restriction on the input, and it is highly suggest that you use a large input to make sure this does not happen.

If you are worry about the use of elbow, you can use vinyl tubing.
There are a million ways to do it, and most of them will work. However, it maybe better if you can give us a pic so that we have a better idea of what you want to do.