I got one of those Eco air pumps, 38 Liters per min. The commercial one that the guy at the hydro store said would do all the dwc totes I needed. Well now that I started a second DWC tote it doesn't push barley any bubbles out of the two air stones in the new tote. I hooked up a splitter on the main pump running two hoses....one to each tote and split to two air stones in each tote. When I took one hose off the pump the other one ran great and did the same test on the other tote and it ran great. So basically I only get one tote/2 air stones out of the pump. Does any one else run the same pump on more than one tote/bucket?
Yeah the air lines are same length. I wonder if maybe the air sticks in the one tote are bigger than the other tote, so maybe more air is being pumped into those and not enough to get to the others?
How many outputs do you have on your pump? Mine has one on the pump, a 1/4" line going to a 6 way splitter. If any of the lines on the splitter is open it dramatically reduces the flow thru the others. Like, if I run 4 out I have to loop a short hose between the other 2. Another thing I realized is that splitting a single line into two at the res reduces the flow. Because the inside of the splitter is much smaller than the inside of the hose itself. Take a look at hole inside the splitter and compare it to the size of the hose. Smaller ho less flow. Good luck!! Be Cool, CG
Yes it has one output from pump, I have the 4 way splitter with shut off valves on it. I keep two of them switched off. So I have the two switched on to the two totes. The one tote with the smaller sticks barley bubbles unless I turn the other tote air off, so some reason I am not getting enough air pressure to run both totes. I just had a thought, maybe if I try to turn the one tote air flow at like 75% and the other all the way open? I will try it and get back. Would it matter if I use a long stick stone (more bubble coverage) or two small round stones, for the totes getting plenty of air?
Just play with the adjusters/valves. That's why they are adjustable. I also think/feel that they never fully close so I just run a one inch long hose with a screw in it to help if any air leaks from the ones I'm not using.
I tried adjusting the valves, I have to turn one almost all the way off to get the other going. It seems like it's not putting out what it should be. I have no real way to test it. I think it's $40 piece of junk. Lol. Well it does one tote good at least.
Man I throw a pump away because it was making some god awful noise once. well seriously the day after garbage picked up I found the box in my garage. I looked inside and there's this little piece of rubber gasket to replace if that happened with directions. $40 lesson
JCIO when I was running an 8 bucket RDWC system I had airstones to all of them, pumps splitters, etc. One bucket was always chronically underbubbled no matter what I did with the splitters etc. When I eventually broke the system down I found a deformity in one of the connectors that narrowed the air passage for that tube.
You know, that's the only thing I didn't try, the main 4 splitter piece. Tomorrow when the lights are on, I will take it off and try another one. I will bet it's that or maybe I got something in the pump intake that is not allowing big air flow. How about, maybe water got in pump? Hell I don't know shit about pumps.
One other thing to consider... The air stone that is deeper in the water will put out less air, as the farther down it is, the more pressure it has to fight against. If your liquid levels in the totes aren't exactly the same, the shallower one will have more flow. OS
I didn't see a cotton filter, it just has a hole for the intake, But I will check to see if it comes off or something. I still have to check the 4 way splitter also. Oldsmokey:.... the shallow tote has less air going to it but it has smaller air sticks, but there is only a couple bubbles coming out of the end, unless I turn the other tote off and it works good.
The back piece with the hole for the air intake should have a screw in the middle of it. My pumps have a sponge like filter just like a bike's carb filter. Clean any gunk off that and make sure that the intake hole isn't gunked up. You'd be surprised how much shit gets in there and it will limit your air. That pump should be plenty big.