So instead of taking the OE tank out, coat it for E85, running external surge tank, decided to get the Fuel Safe cell and Radium Engineering fuel cell set up with dual E85 pumps. I took the measurements for FD specific spare wheel well and Fuel Safe custom made this for me. If you are an FD owner and thinking about running E85 and or to track your car, this might be a great option for you!! Approximate fuel capacity 10-12 gallons. @fuelsafe @radiumengineering #fuelcell #surgetank #fd3s #rx7 #rotary #13b #20b
I have been planning this 2″ pipe as the surge source, but now that I’ve realized I will only have about 1′ of drop from the fuge/surge water level to the display water level, that means it won’t flow very fast. My math says the theoretical surge rate would be about 20gpm and I really wanted it to be more like 50gpm.
I could make the 2″ pipe bigger, a 3″ pipe would carry the water about as fast as I’d like. but then I need the u-tube over the edge of the fuge’s overflow wall to be 3″ or it will restrict the flow to the 20gpm anyways. I could buy an electronic ball valve and just take the flow right out of the fuge (not over the overflow) instead. This would 100% work and would totally do what I want. But that 3″ electric ball valve is well into the thousands-of-dollars price range...yikes!
So, I think I might try a modified borneman surge device (mBSD) here. In the fuge, outside the overflow that carries the normal fuge overflow, and on the non-macroalgae side of the egg crate/aquamesh.
Firstly, the drain in the overflow will probably just be 1″, it never carries more than a few hundred gph. It will Tee into the mBSD outside the fuge, before it enters the display. The emergency drain in the fuge will be placed above the overflow’s weir and drop straight into the sump.
Now, the plan:
Put a 3″ (or larger) schedule 80 bulkhead on the floor of the fuge with a threaded fit inside the fuge.
Outside of that bulkhead, Tee into the fuge overflow’s drain pipe and send that into the display, well below the water level, preferably very-near the bottom of the display. This brings the normal fuge output (pods/etc) in near the rockwork (not over the display’s weir) and when creates an upwelling current that I really want, especially during a surge.
Inside, fit a ‘standpipe’ in the 3″ bulkhead to the height desired as the low point during the surge, I’ll set this so there’s 50 gallons above this standpipe that is below the fuge’s weir. I want the standpipe threaded into the bulkhead so I can change the max-surge when I want to.
Fit a 3″ toilet flapper to the top of the standpipe so the rubber flapper seals against the top of the standpipe (note: account for the added standpipe height when planning the standpipe length).
Connect the flapper chain to a toilet float ball.
Note: If you stopped here, you’d have a pretty normal borneman except it’d be in a fuge. One added note. I’m expecting the fuge’s water level to be about a foot above the display water level, but its floor to be below the display’s water level. I’m actually planning that the 50 gallon surge will be the height difference in the two water levels such that the two tanks will have exactly the same water level when the fuge has dropped about 50 gallons. All this means the standpipe can be a tad short and it will never actually run dry; I’ll never have any noise or bubbles. Downside is the float may need to be made heavier so it actually seals in this case.
Scrap the toilet float ball, get a plastic rod long enough to extend well above the water from the toilet flapper
Connect the plastic rod to a linear actuator. Exact actuator spec shouldn’t be too critical, but you may need to compensate for the total lift height with a fulcrum.
When the actuator lifts the seal, the surge starts. flip the voltage and the actuator seals off the surge.
Needs: I really want an answer like a ‘normally-closed’ solenoid for this such that it opens the flap only when it is powered. I could accomplish this with a hydraulic piston married to the linear actuator, but what a more elegant solution...
Anyways, I am working on drawing up the plans in the room I’m planning to build. I realized the fuge’s bottom will be below the display tank’s top (more importantly, it’s water level). This was unexpected and it took me a bit to think through the impacts. I realized it would be easier to run the pipe from the fuge’s overflow across the bottom and up through the bottom of the display tank, kind of like some people have done closed loop inlets.
This means the the water level in the fuge’s overflow box will never drop all the way (unless the display tank’s water level drops well below the weir), which in turn means the pipe will be always full of water, never losing it’s ‘siphon’ because it really isn’t much of a siphon since no part of it is ever above the water level. I was planning to have a pipe going up into the overflow box so the level didn’t drop below the u-tube’s outlet, but that’s not necessary since the water level can’t drop anyways. I just make sure the u-tube outlet (in the overflow box of the fuge) is below the display tank’s water level. the ‘surge’ pipe can just end in bulkheads on either end and will never have air in it, therefore no bubbles and no sound. I may get a little air/bubbles from the u-tube as its siphon starts/ends, we’ll have to see about that, but it must be better than what I was expecting.
I’ll still put it in a bubble tower to mitigate bubbles we may get, and to prevent sand and critters from going through the pipe.
