ATO Help

[zlwags85]

Hello -

I could use some suggestions on how to set the ATO up correctly. Here is what I have right now....

Container for RO/DI water
Tom Aquatics Aqua Lifter
Lifereef float switch
(this switch goes to an outlet that controls the pump by opening or closing the power to the outlet)

So, what I did was put the aqualifter to the switch to the RKE.

The problem is that the water level has a slight turbulence to it and the pump turns on and off every 15 seconds for a split second. I'm worried that this is going to fail eventually or that the pump is going to take a beating for the on/off function constantly.

One idea was to set it up on a timer on the RKE to ossiclate for 5 minutes out of every 45 minutes. But, even at that I think it will still end up going on/off for part of that time.

Does anyone have any suggesitons for the equip I have currently? How do you do this so that I don't have on/off alllll the time. I also have it going through a kent marine float valve as a second backup in case a siphon doesn't break or something else happens.

Thanks much!!!!

-zach

[andywe]

Zach,

Here is an out of the box approach. Make a snail guard around the float switch.

You take a small plastic jar, old pill bottle, ect..whatever the switch will fit in that is not harmful to the tank. Drill a few small holes in the sides, a few small holes in the lid, and then in the center of the lid a hole large enough to mount the float switch through, and then to the bracket.

Aquahub.com has a snail guard you can look at for reference.

If the sloshing still causes this, then I would look at if your overflows are acutally surging causing levels to go up and down.

[zlwags85]

I see how this would protect the float, but this won't change the water level within the plastic jar if there are holes in it. The system is not surging, it's just the water flow that creates a minor (maybe 1mm) change in the water level because of the moving water. The float switch is very sensitive and turns on and off because of this minor < 1mm change in water height.

It works fine... just seems like the pump will burn out quickly because of the constand on/off.

[andywe]

I would change out float switches then. Mine don't do that. Also, did you set a hysteria, and are you triggering them from an open circuit or closed circuit perspective?

Last, it is doing as instructed. 1mm is an awefully thin switch point, but each switch has it's drift point between meaningful contact and ghosted contact.

I would set my hysteria to .50 and start there. If you did not set a hysteria then you are going to have this behavior as well.

Let me know if you need an example.

[zlwags85]

Thanks for the help.

I will probally end up switching it out for a RKE/DA made float that I can control the the SL1. It's just a finicky setup right now and I will have to work on it. But, it is working for the time being I suppose!

Thanks again... once I get a controllable switch, you might be seeing this thread re-open!

[andywe]

Ok, just let us know. I run 3 switches on my ATO..2 for the sump and one for the resovoir..so I am happy to help.

Andy
-TeamDA-

[ereikes]

I setup an ATO system with exactly the pieces you have mentioned RKL, float switch, etc.

I set it up like this :

First phase was to experiment with total time you need makeup water:

1. I let the aqualifter run until the level hit my float switch.
2. Turn off the aqualifter.
3. Wait 1 day.
4. Turn on the aqualifter.
5. Time how long until it hits the float switch again. In my case it was about 45 minutes continuous.

I then programmed the aqualifter channel to be controlled by a timer : 15 minutes on time every 6 hours (total 60 minutes per day, so the 45 minutes I needed + 15 minutes for extra hot days, whatever). I setup the float switch as an alarm : when the switch is open (water level high, switch unplugged/broken) the aqualifter channel turns off.

This way I have double redundancy : even if the float switch were to get stuck, I'd only get about 15 minutes of extra water per day (1/4 gallon or less with my head). My system is about 160G total, so no biggee. My reservoir is also max about 15 gallons so even if I never checked my level for the whole week or two in between adding RODI to my reservoir (which I plumbed in with a float switch) it wouldn't completely nuke my tank.

I bought parts to add a second high level float switch that would generate an audible alarm, but haven't gotten around to that.

A word of caution : Make sure you plug the aqualifter into one of the relay switched outlets and not the SCR outlets (I really wish they had made them all relay... soft start doesn't really work anyway...). The Aqualifter will not turn off in an SCR outlet.