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The Better Bell Siphon

This is an explanation of how a traditional bell siphon operates. It goes into some of the physics of how the auto siphon gets started and stops. One of the biggest problems I've run into is getting them to stop properly on large grow beds. I've solved this problem with one simple little piece! It's so simple, I'm kicking myself for not figuring it out years ago!

This grow bed is using 3/4" pipe for the drain and standpipe with a 2" bell. The fill rate is LESS than 1/2 liter per minute and the siphon still starts with no problem. It's been running for about a week without any problems.

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Comment by juan loaiza on May 18, 2012 at 5:33am: good job :) and thank you for sharing, i am starting to have some problems with my bell siphon, and i am definitely

going to try this one out, thank you again ;)

Comment by Rob Torcellini on May 16, 2012 at 8:25am: Hi Bob, Very nice! Not to burst your bubble (as I was also disappointed when I found this information), I found a diagram of a bell siphon that was used in the late 1800's that was used for a sewage dousing system. They had incorporated a small well around the breathing tube to perform the same function.

What I found when experimenting with it is that the cup would still keep filling with water, since it was in a fixed position. It was still problematic with beds that were still filling at a somewhat rapid rate and had a small drain pipe diameter. (Mine is 3/4"). It was even more of a problem with really large beds since the siphon wasn't going down fast enough and there was enough water trickling over the cup and the breather tube would still suck some air.

The part that is a bit different is that I made the cup float. This guarantees that once the water is evacuated from the cup, the lip will float above the water line, making it impossible for any more water to get into the cup until the siphon breaks. It's quite possible that you have already figured this out the floating cup (or some plumber from the Victorian era did). Who knows!

Keep up the good work...I watched a bunch of your videos....system looks good!

Comment by Bob Campbell on May 16, 2012 at 7:36am: http://youtu.be/vOMRfvP78qo

Comment by Patti Taylor on May 15, 2012 at 10:26am: Thanks Rob... nice work

Comment by James Foy on May 15, 2012 at 5:48am: Thanks for the info. I wanted to learn how the bell siphon works. This explains it well.