air valve on submersible pump

[mogsie]

hi,i am new to fish pond keeping and i have just finished building my pond, and i am still busy setting it up, i have purchased a lifetech ap5200 3200l/h pump, the pump has arrived this morning, it doesnt have a manual with it, and comes with an air valve and tube included, the pump has a nozzle at one end where this tube would connect, can anybody please tell me what this is for?? thanks

 

[DrDave]

The manual doesn't cover it?

 

[mogsie]

thanks for the reply drdave, it didnt come with a manual ! at first i thaught it is a built in air pump but where would it get its air from ??

 

[mogsie]

ok so ive just done a little experiment to try and find out what the airvalve is for, i filled up my bath with water placed the pump in and turned it on !! thank god for the shower curtain or my bathroom would have been flooded as there was a 3 ft high fountain coming out of my bath !! anyways there was no bubbles of air coming from the air valve but when i raised the valve up out of the water the pump sounded differant and the water fountain redeced right down in size ! tried turning the valve underwater open and closed but didnt seem to have much effect ! so still baffled ??

 

[shakaho]

This appears to be primarily a fountain pump. Perhaps the air valve is involved in controlling the fountain function. You should be able to go to the company site and find a manual.

 

[mogsie]

tried lookin for a online manual with no success ! i have messaged the shop i baught it from and asked them ! waiting for a reply

 

[DrDave]

It is probably an air inlet tube for a venturi on the fitting. The water passing by the opening draws air from the tube, the inlet must be outside the pond.
have your tried it?

 

[mogsie]

no i just tried the pump in the bath as i posted above, when the valve was outside the water the flow reduced,
this is the pump in question, you can see the air tube and valve in one of the pictures,

http://www.flowerhornkamfa.com/life-tech-ap5200-water-pump.html

 

[j.w]

Mogsie I hope you can figure out what that thing is for on your pump. Sorry I can't be of any help on this one

 

[mogsie]

thanks for the replies, i tried it again in the bath with the air intake tube out of the water and when i opened up the valve it pulled in air and the water flow reduced, when i closed the valve it returned to full flow ! so maybe it is for one of these venturi things (dont know what they are ! will google it) thanks again and thanks for the welcome j.w

 

[mogsie]

It is probably an air inlet tube for a venturi on the fitting. The water passing by the opening draws air from the tube, the inlet must be outside the pond.
have your tried it?

i do believe you are correct drdave, so is this venturi worth using ? i understand the benifite of aerated water but it does reduce the flow by about 2/3, and it is only a 3200 ltr/hour pump and my pond is approx 4000 ltr capacity ? also does this built in venturi have an effect on the life of the pump ? would i be better not using it and making a homemade venturi after the pump right into my filter ?( i am planning on building a reed bed filter) so a slightly reduced flow may be benificial ! but i dont know if i want to reduce it that much, any information/opinions you guys could share on this would be appreciated, thanks

p.s sorry if i have misspelt anything but my 2 yr old son has pulled half the keys off my keyboard so i have to remember where each letter is then go back and do a spell check ! must get a new laptop soon

 

[DrDave]

I would not be concerned over a slight reduction in flow. Depending on your arrangement, it is better to have more than 1 pump. 1 for the filter and another for circulation. The air is healthy for the fish. I don't have one but I do have a 10' cascading waterfall that areates my water. I also have 4 pumps running 24/7.