Question Re: reservoirs vs. inline
 

If you've seen my rig in progress here: http://forums.procooling.com/vbb/sho...&threadid=8086

you'll notice how close the pump inlet is to the rad. That distance will be shorter with the fan/ducting mod I'm working on, and getting the tubing to make 2 tight 90 turns over such a distance is impossible.

Putting a tall, cylindrical reservoir in place (inlet from rad on top, outlet to pump on bottom) would take care of this, although I could face the pump inlet the other way and loop the tube around.

My question: do full inline systems flow more than reservoir rigs? I've read that centrifugal pumps have minimal 'suction', but have also seen whirlpools in pump-mounted reservoirs (such as pH's article). That implies that there is some suction contributing to flow which would be lost in a reservoir. Which is correct?

I don't have a problem waiting a long time to bleed the system through a T-tube.

In the best case scenario, your flow rate without a res will be equal to flow rate of a properly installed res at inlet. At worst case it will be worse. Read up on NPSH; that is what comes into play. Use a T with large connector from T to pump if you do go with T; try to avoid restricting the inlet at all cost.

The res' that hook directly to the Eheim pumps look poorly designed in that regard....restrictive inlets.

Yea the best plan is to use a short run over oversized hose and barbs from pump to res.

I'm considering this:

Remove relatively restrictive intake barb from pump.
Obtain container (plastic Tums bottle perhaps or capped pvc tube that I can thread into) and drill hole same size as Eheim intake 'neck'.
Either o-ring/grommet the intake into the hole, or just cement/jbweld the eheim cover to the bottle side. Intake opening should then project into middle of container bottom.

Add nipple for res inflow.