Tunze Osmolator 3155

[Darth Wader]

Hello everybody. I just bought the Tunze Osmolator 3155 and had some questions if mine is running properly. I hooked it up the best I could according to the instructions however some things seem to be a little off (I think). So I have it setup and honestly the pump kicks in literally every 3 minutes top off the system. The pump will run for about 10 seconds then shut off. Another 3 minutes goes by and it turns on again. Is this really how often this thing is supposed to be running? So if that's how its supposed to run the second issue I have is how loud this pump is. It honestly is the loudest piece of equipment I own. Its louder then my fan, skimmer, power heads all combined. For the price of this top off system I literally expected it to run much more silent and to be top of the line which i feel like it isn't.

[Darth Wader]

Guess I didn't really ask a question. Does anybody on here have any personal experience or can offer me any help or suggestions, I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks

[rvitko]

I can think of two possibilities for the cycling of the pump. When it is doing this cycle do the lights on the controller turn off and then all 4 flash on and this repeats?

The pump is not particularly quiet, but a lot can be done to reduce the noise. It is one of the few options in a low voltage DC pump, that is inexpensive and easily replaced and that is why we use it. It is essentially the same type of pump that runs a cars windshield washers. The key to reducing the noise is to suspend it so it is not resting on the bottom or against the sides of the reservoir, this will greatly reduce the noise. They also tend to be much louder when air is trapped inside, so tipping it upside down when first placing it in the reservoir to purge any trapped air helps alot.

[Darth Wader]

Thanks for the quick response rvitko. When the pump turns on no lights flash it just goes to pump on then when it shuts off it lights up level. Thats it. Seems weird that it goes on every 3 or so minutes.
I do have the pump suspended guess the noise of the pump is just what is expected, guess I was just assuming it wouldn't be so loud.

[rvitko]

Is it possible that due to a wave or a surge in the plumbing the water level is fluctuating a lot? The osmolator waits 5 seconds on a too low (blinking green light) before the pump comes on. My next guess would be either airbubbles are triggering it to top off as it cannot diffentiate between bubbles and being dry, or, some sort of flow surging is happening so the sump runs low and then fills up.

[Darth Wader]

I don't think it's waves bubbles or a fluctuation in the water level because its after my baffles and the water seems very still. This is so weird, the pump has been going on and off literally every 2 minutes today. There is no way that water is evaporating at the rate.

[rvitko]

When it comes on, is the water below the point on the optic sensor where the cylinder meets the cone? Does it overfill? It generally will turn on if the water level drops 1-2mm, it is very sensitive, an overflow that is surging can cause this, for example if the breather is plugged on a durso or stockman pipe or if debris is on the intake grate.

[H.reidi.MN]

I was going to ask the same thing glad you already posted. I just got my 3155 hooked up maybe an hour ago. Now mine isn't going every 2-3 minutes, but.. i have heard it 3 or so times in that hour. I have it on my 120 tech tank and i do have cooling fans so maybe my evap is just that fast...

Edit: Just went off again for about 5 seconds...

[rvitko]

Unless it is overfilling or running low, it is working as it should and the causes are most likely very high evaporation or a surface ripple or fluctuation from a surging drain. You could open the controller and turn up the pump speed as shown on pages 42-43 so more water is added during every dosing but this usually is not necessary on tanks under 200 gallons.

[H.reidi.MN]

Thanks. I don't thinks its malfunctioning, it just crazy to hear it a couple times and hours and realize how fast the evap actually might be

[burban94]

You may want to make sure that your return pump isn't pumping more (faster) than your overflow can handle.

[H.reidi.MN]

Me or him... I have a mag 9.5 3/4 tubing to 2 3/4 returns each with 2 nozzles and it doesn't seem that strong on my oceanic 120 tech... its a calm steady flow.. about 3-5x turn over rate

[Mudbeaver]

Hey another proof that shopping at your LFS helps a lot . I was in the market for an ATO and the Tunze was my fave for lots of reason but the already included pump with its 7 foot line was a bit short for my needs I needed at least 15 feet. My LFS told me he uses a 40 foot line no problem . Powerful little pump!!! But the line no higher than 5 feet. So there you have it for that product. I though I put that here. very impressed.

[Darth Wader]

Hey guys. Thanks for the responses. So I've come to the conclusion that I think I just got a broken osmolator. Honestly this is the one piece of equipment I bought that was supposed to limit the stress and amount of work included with toping off water and it is honestly probably the worst piece of equipment I have owned, and I'm very upset about it. The optic eye officially doesn't work now. So instead it fills up past that until the float valve rises then the alarm goes off. I'll unplug the top off, let it evaporate below the optic eye, plug it in watch the water rise past it and float the valve again and set off the alarm again. Basically I have a pump I plug in for like 5 minutes every other day to fill up then unplug once my water level is good. I've done everything to get this thing to work and it doesn't. For a top of the line $200 ATO i'm more then disappointed to say the least!!!

[Craig Borowski]

Sorry about the trouble you're having Darth. It's clearly not functioning as it should and I can see how that would be frustrating. We should be able to figure this out with just a little more information.

Is the end of the black hose (from the pump to the sump) submerged? Where is the height of the tip of the hose where the water exits in relation to the level of the water in your top-off container?

[Darth Wader]

no, it is not submerged. I know this can cause a back siphon and so I have it about 1/4" above the water level, but currently its before the baffles in my sump because I thought pouring into the return pump section was creating to many surface ripple and causing the eye to malfunction. This is at about 3/4 of the height of the reservoir.

[Craig Borowski]

You're correct that the end should not be submerged.

That the end of the hose is 3/4 the height of the reservoir is probably the problem. The end of the hose needs to be higher than the highest water level in the reservoir. A simple way to do this is to have the hose pour the water into the overflow box of the display aquarium.

[Darth Wader]

Will this fix the problem of the optic eye not working?

[Darth Wader]

The reason I ask this is because right now the water lever is lower in my reservoir then in the tube and the optic eye still isn't working

[Craig Borowski]

Which light(s) are on on the controller?

[Darth Wader]

I just ran the return tube up into my overflow box and still the optic eye isn't working. What happens is the orange pump on light will go and the pump turns on, it will continue past the optic eye and eventually float the switch and then the red light with come on for the too high alarm and then I will have to unplug it.

[Darth Wader]

So even if I was to just use the float valve as my level indicator which would be lame cuz I paid big money to have to optic eye, I cant because it sets off the too high alarm. I've seriously tried everything.

[Craig Borowski]

Ok let's try this. First unplug the control unit. Now move the sensors so that just the very bottom tip (the bottom tip of the cone) of the optic sensor is just barely touching the surface of the water. It's the very bottom point of the optic sensor that does the sensing.

Now plug the controller back in. It WILL turn the pump on. (It turns the pump on every time the controller is powered on as part of the self-diagnostic startup process.) Wait about ten seconds to see if the pump turns off and the green 'Level' light comes on. Please let me know what happens.

[Darth Wader]

Craig, this is what happened.
Positioned the optic eye where you said and turned on pump. the Green level light went on as soon as I plugged it in, then switched to the pump on ornage light. The pump turned on, after about 30 seconds the green level light flashed a few times, then back to just the orange pump on light and continued until the float switched raised up and the red too high light and alarm went off.

[Craig Borowski]

Thank you, Darth, that's helpful. Was this unit purchased new or used? Have you tried soaking the optic sensor in a 50/50 vinegar/water solution for a few hours? The optic sensor can develop a calcium haze which, though invisible to the naked eye, can confuse it.

Another possibility- are there any lights in your sump, like over the refugium, that are shining on the sensor?

I apologize if you've already been over this and please don't think I'm just making you jump through hoops! But the Osmolator is a complicated device with multiple failsafes and many different set-up configurations, so it takes a little effort to narrow down the specific issue. Thanks again.

[Darth Wader]

Purchased the unit new from BRS on May 27th so I assumed that only 2 months later i wouldn't be having these problems. Haven't soaked it in any solutions because again, didn't think that after 2 months I would need to. There is a light in my sump from the refugium, maybe thats causing an issue but that would be strange because that would mean that the optic eye doesn't work it there is light present???
Just frustrating because I have to go out of town at the end of the month and don't trust this ato at all and honestly can't even use it, and the Tunze osmolator its supposed to be the one piece of equipment that allows you to have redundancy and not worry.

[Darth Wader]

Also, the light in the refugium faces away from the optic eye so it isn't shining directly onto it.

[Craig Borowski]

The optic eye will work fine in almost all light conditions, but on very rare occasions it can act up if light is shining directly on it. This is actually extremely rare, but I just wanted to be sure to cover all the bases. Anyway it doesn't sound like it's a factor here.

Please go ahead and clean the optic sensor as described in my previous post. Also, if possible, please post a picture of the sensors and how they are mounted in your sump. Sometimes it's easier to spot an issue that way.

Thanks again.