Question on single head dosing pump on apex relay outlet

[Jyetman]

I have a EB8 and because the dosing pump pulls such small wattage have to use the relay outlet. I hear that relay click every 2 minutes when it activates is this going to wear out my EB8? Should I do something differently any suggestions?

[E Rosewater]

I have mine wired into the solid state outlets, I hooked up a 7w undercounter LED light to make sure it turns off.

[Jyetman]

I have mine wired into the solid state outlets, I hooked up a 7w undercounter LED light to make sure it turns off.

Just redid mine switched the skimmer to relay and doser on triac. To make the triac work used a extension cord and plugged in doser plus a unused 12 Volt dc transformer worked perfectly.

[Bpb]

I understand the relays click on all eb8. Haven't read any overwhelming disappointing failure stories. I'm at 1 year on those relay outlets with brs dosers. I actually like the sound, I listen for it. Helps me to know they're working. If the :00 minute or :30 minute mark of each hour rolls around and I DONT hear it...that's a problem that needs addressing instantly

[Jyetman]

I understand the relays click on all eb8. Haven't read any overwhelming disappointing failure stories. I'm at 1 year on those relay outlets with brs dosers. I actually like the sound, I listen for it. Helps me to know they're working. If the :00 minute or :30 minute mark of each hour rolls around and I DONT hear it...that's a problem that needs addressing instantly

Would think 30 minutes is a lot less aggressive then 2 minutes on those relays.

[slief]

I have a EB8 and because the dosing pump pulls such small wattage have to use the relay outlet. I hear that relay click every 2 minutes when it activates is this going to wear out my EB8? Should I do something differently any suggestions?

No you will not wear out the relay. I run my ATO dosing pump as well as a solenoid fail safe on the relay circuits. While they don't cycle every 2 minutes, they do cycle a dozen or so times a day. I've been doing it that way for over 4 years now with an issue. Relays are used in our cars by the dozens and last indefinitely despite millions of cycles.

You might consider running your dosing pump for longer intervals less times a day if that's an option. This of course if you are really concerned but in all honesty, you have nothing to worry about. You can add an inline GCFI plug and run it off a triac as that method is proven to work well. Be aware that even with your extension cord and transformer you could still have an issue down the road. It's typically intermittent when the power draw is marginal so keep an eye on it and have failsafes.

[Bpb]

Would think 30 minutes is a lot less aggressive then 2 minutes on those relays.

Very good point. I have been told by a lot of bigtime/longtime sps farmers that running alk and ca dosing 2-3 times a day is perfectly adequate, and every hour is excessive (ca one outlet, alk the other, 2 minute run time every hour, offset by 30 min). Every 2 minutes is definitely more stable than the corals will likely notice. I'd think your outlets would wear out (which they probably won't) faster than you'd see noticeable coral improvement instead of running them every hour or two.