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  1. #1
    Senior Member Rank = Jussai Spongebob's Avatar
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    Spindrifter bottom drain

    Just trying to get my head round how these work? Presumably the airline pipe isn’t filled with water as it would go stagnant? So is it blanked of at the bottom drain and filter housing end with a length of airline running through?



  2. #2
    Senior Member Rank = Nanasai GadgetBazza's Avatar
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    No you don’t put airline through the pipe, you should use 1” pipe between the bottom drain and your filter room. There is a pipe kit that you buy separately from the bottom drain itself which contains a fitting that goes in the socket inside the bottom drain, has a section of pipe that connects to the stem of the air dome. It also comes with another piece that goes in your filter room on the end of the 1” pipe that has a hose connector on and you connect that to your air pump.

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  4. #4
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Yonsai dshaw63's Avatar
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    One of my biggest regrets when built the pond not fitting one of these, was put off by my local dealer saying that the muck dont get chance to settle out. Am considering fitting retro conversion with running air feed up 4'' pipe to air pump, also means major drain down to fit is it worth the agg ???????

  5. #5
    Senior Member Rank = Jussai Spongebob's Avatar
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    Bazza many thanks makes sense now (sort of!) So is there an airline that runs through the 1” pressure pipe? And do you think it effects the purpose of the bottom drain, as post above ie solids settling out?

  6. #6
    Senior Member Rank = Nanasai GadgetBazza's Avatar
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    So there is no separate airline running through the 1" pipe, the 1" pipe *is* the airline. Basically at both ends you fit the two bungs with pipe adapters that I sent the link to that connects the 1" pipe to the 6 or 8mm (I can't remember) airline at either end.

    As for effect, I've not used one without air before. Personally I do believe that the air does give the mushroom effect and create circulation up, then outward, then back down the outer edges and lastly back along the bottom towards the bottom drain. I can see the flow in particular on my quarantine / grow on tank which has a window in the side clearly.

    One point to note is that some feel that they don't allow the muck to settle into the drain, in my opinion that's caused by too much air being pushed through the bottom drain, creating too much current. 20 lpm should be plenty, I guess it depends on the size / layout of the pond around the drain.

    Hope that helps.

    Cheers
    Barry

  7. #7
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Kyusai Pomster's Avatar
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    When spindrifters first came out it was pretty common to carry a air pipe through the bottom drain pipework. This was tee'd before the drain valve so the airpipe could then go to the air pump
    Not to read a newspaper makes you uninformed. But to read a newspaper makes you misinformed

  8. #8
    Senior Member Rank = Gosai Jampot's Avatar
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    When spindrifters first came out it was pretty common to carry a air pipe through the bottom drain pipework. This was tee'd before the drain valve so the airpipe could then go to the air pump
    I am still contemplating using this method to retro fit the spindrifter dome - the alternative being airline trailing through the pond and dictating the gap under the edge of the dome. Of course it's important that the T is long enough to exceed water level:-)

    In Spongebob's case (or any new build) I would definitely go for the solid pipe with the adaptor kit.

    The amount of air that can be pushed through these doesn't seem to be mentioned much but photos on here seem to indicate quite a lot. Is there a firm recommendation anywhere?

    Jim
    I don't keep fish, I keep water. I don't keep fish, I keep water. I don't keep fish I kee........

  9. #9
    I have 2 x spindrifter bd’s but one stopped emitting air in a matter of weeks. I’ve a feeling it’s the flex pipe fitted below the dome that’s somehow ‘Kinked ‘ so that’ll need me to swim down to investigate when the pond temp improves a bit : grrrr

 

 

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