Bell siphon test 1

[Jamie Clarke]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf629pDayjE

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[Jason Learned]

Hi Jamie,

A couple things to look out for. I am sure you know these things but I thought I would let you know just in case because we had to work them out as we went.

Make sure that with the weight of the gravel that the stand tube stays plumb. We had a few stop working because they started to lean and the water would then not be able to reach the point where it can cut off the air and start the syphon.

Two having a reduction in the diameter of the stand pipe will help concentrate the water to do this.

Having two elbows will help create back pressure which will help the syphon to burp and stop.

We use a 40 watt pump for a mixture of beds that is equal to about 64 square feet and we get the flow needed/ maybe on the fast side. It is good to have your beds flood and drain at least on a ten minute cycle. longer is better. The best flow rate seems to be 3-5 gallons/minute. I am sure there are metric equivalents but it seems that standard measurements work really well with these systems. One foot is the optimal depth for the gravel etc. Also we have found it is better to have a small pump run constantly than have a large pump turn on and off. They burn out faster when you start and stop them.

Looks good,

Jason

[Jamie Clarke]

Thanks Jason, do you have any video of your system online? I would be very interested to see it. 

Thank you

Jamie

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[Jason Learned]

I will work on getting the cable for my camera this week and post one for you. It will just be of the prototype because we are still building the vertical one.

Jason

[Jamie Clarke]

Okay that sounds awesome, I've re-built taking your points into account and what I had learned from before. 

It's smaller but has a better build quality 

Thanks Jason

Jay

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