Sun Sun 55W UV

[zharris05]

Hey All,

I just bought and installed a Sun Sun 55W UV. First UV i have ever installed. Its a cheaper model only available online and made in china but they do have some good reviews out there online so i thought i would take a chance with it.

So i installed it and got it running last night. It says it can hadle up to 4000gph, Im using a 1900gph pump and it is going through a biofilter first. When i hooked it up the water flowed slowly through the UV and the biofilter overflowed. So i cut my inlte house to the biofilter and put a flow reducer on it now it seems to be working...Do i have other options or did i do something wrong?

ALSO: I dont believe there is a "quartz sleeve" protecting the uv bulb. Maybe im just an idiot but to me it looks like its just a dual UV bulb inside a plastic tube...Am i missing something? Of course this company only has email for customer support and i doubt i will ever hear anything back....PLEASE HELP...

 

[koikeepr]

You could divert water to a UV separately. In other words, you split the line. Part of the water flows through your UV, and the other part continues to your waterfall where they both meet again.

The sleeve is that tube, yes.

I hope you have easy access to new bulbs, because you will need to buy one every year for the life of the UV.

 

[zharris05]

ok great. That was my other thought was to put a "t" tube in. Do other people have this problem? Does the UV slow down the flow? I just cant figure why it gets backed up so fast.

I did buy an extra bulb and they do have them listed on ebay so hopefully its not a problem in the future.

So the black plastic tub is the "quart sleeve"? Is the water that passes through the uv unit actually hit the bulb itself?

Thanks again!

 

[bsr8129]

The plastic tube us not the quartz sleeve. The quartz sleeve is basically a glass tube the uv light sits inside so the water does not hit the bulbs. If water was in direct contact with the bulbs they would pop

 

[zharris05]

So even though i did not see the quartz sleeve im assuming it came already assembled because the uv filter is working...When i saw the glass piece i thought it was just the lights but i guess i was wrong...

 

[stroppy]

i think most uvs slow your water down so the light has more contact with the water passing through it mine does but i have mine before my filter so it doesnt interfere with my filter

 

[drew05]

Not all UV's slow the water down.

 

[zharris05]

Well somehow the water is slowing down as it goes into the UV, but i fixed that problem. I just hope its flowing fast enough that the water cycles enough to clear it up. Ive never had green water before.

My main concern is this quartz sleeve....but i guess its already on there because it is still working..i just didnt notice it when i put the light into the plastic tube...

 

[jason081180]

the UV is made to go on a pressurized line. that means it will have to go after your pump, before your bio filter. gravity doesn't have the power to push 1900GPH threw the UV. if you put it before the bio filter you would get much better results. that way all 1900GPH would be going threw the UV. and you wouldn't have to worry about overflowing and diverters.

 

[ginger_biscuit69]

the UV is made to go on a pressurized line. that means it will have to go after your pump, before your bio filter. gravity doesn't have the power to push 1900GPH threw the UV. if you put it before the bio filter you would get much better results. that way all 1900GPH would be going threw the UV. and you wouldn't have to worry about overflowing and diverters.

+1, they are meant to go after pump under pressure!

 

[zharris05]

Should i wait to move my uv before my biofilter until the pond cleans out some. Right now my bio filter is collecting a fair amount of algea and debris.

Im worried if i put my uv before my bio filter it will get very dirty very quickly and i will have to clean it out to often...

Thanks again for all the help. First time with this UV stuff....

 

[ginger_biscuit69]

do you have no normal mechanical filter? it will collect algae if before or if after.... Something has to collect it.

 

[jason081180]

where is your mechanical filter? you said the pump goes to your bio filter is the mechanical in there as well? if your pump is pumping dirty water then yes the UV will get dirtier quicker. but you really have to have them on a pressurized line. what I'm planning for my pond if i get a UV is to run another smaller submersible pump inside my stock tank pump the clean water from the top of the stock tank to the UV and back in towards the falls part of the filter. a lot like the picture Squidhead put up on here. i would just replace the micron filter with a UV. I'm planning to do a micron filter the same way.

 

[zharris05]

The Setup for my uv is a 1900 gph submersible pump to to large gravity fed biofilter that i propped up a few feet with that flowing into a 55watt uv filter. I had to reduce the flow from the pump tp the biofilter because it was overflowing at 1900gph.

I also have a 3600gph pump that is incharge of a pumping water up to the top of my stream. That is also connected to s small filteration system at the top of my waterfall.

 

[jason081180]

so you have no mechanical filter? your UV will be able to handle the 1900GPH easy so i would put it before your bio for faster results. it may work the way you have it anyway. lets let some more experienced members share some ideas.