DIY top-off??

[Gietz]

Just wondering if anyone ever made one?? Or has a good website, I'm research stuff now so I wanted to see what other did.

 

[Zakk]

I am making one up for my apex unit, got these in the mail today, and what do you know, they work:  http://www.ebay.ca/itm/New-Liquid-Water-Level-Sensor-Horizontal-Float-Switch-/250857517423?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a6845f16f#ht_3853wt_905

However, at less than 2 bucks each, I ordered a pile of them, and plan to have at least 1 of them as failsafe switch.

My setup is pretty simple, this hooks up to the switch module of the apex, then a pump in a bucket of top up water turns on when the float sinks.  The failsafe will send a kill order to the pump outlet, just in case the first float sticks.

Hope that helps a bit. 

 

[phi delt reefer]

other failsafes you can program into the apex

-set the outlet to pump for a max of 2-3 minutes

-only allow the ato pump to pump water at specifc intervals 4 times a day

-if you have a salinty probe - dont allow ATO to activate if salinity drops below 1.022

- only activate ATO if float is triggered for more than 10 seconds- this prevents false positives incase there is a wave that keeps triggering the switch accidently.

 

[Zakk]

other failsafes you can program into the apex

-set the outlet to pump for a max of 2-3 minutes

-only allow the ato pump to pump water at specifc intervals 4 times a day

-if you have a salinty probe - dont allow ATO to activate if salinity drops below 1.022

- only activate ATO if float is triggered for more than 10 seconds- this prevents false positives incase there is a wave that keeps triggering the switch accidently.

Whoosh, I wonder what a salinity probe would cost

These are great tips.  I think one of the probes will also be in the topoff container, and one low in the sump connected to the email alarm system. 

 

[Neopimp]

I made salinity probe..... Just operates on conductivity and an rc time circuit ... Obviously it's not professional and has it's quirks,  I have the circuit repeating and I take an avg result with in 30sec to come up with a pretty close number.  The value of the number is proportionally related to saltbcontent in water.....plus whatever other stuff is in the water asvthe sensor is not selective

No idea how to move it to an apex controller though... So My bs2 pic is much experimenting platform

My top off is justba float valve with a rubbermaid tub propped up higher then the sump and the water just runs by gravity

 

[Boga]

I made salinity probe..... Just operates on conductivity and an rc time circuit ... Obviously it's not professional and has it's quirks,  I have the circuit repeating and I take an avg result with in 30sec to come up with a pretty close number.  The value of the number is proportionally related to saltbcontent in water.....plus whatever other stuff is in the water asvthe sensor is not selective

What materials did you use for the probe? Can you give us more details, pls?

 

[Krazykarl]

I did this....

Ro unit- auto shut off valve-float valve installed at top of a 20 gallon food grade jug-float valve in sump that maintains appropriate water level.

This works like a charm. Let's pretend my 20 gallon jug is empty. I open the valve on my ro unit and flush the line into a laundry tub for about 5 mins until my inline tds reads 2-3 ppm. Reattach the line to the jug and let it fill. The float valve in my jug auto shuts off the water supply thus turn my auto shut off valve off on the ro unit. Once it's full I manually close a valve between the ro unit and the jug to ensure it doesn't keep running. The float valve in my sump maintains the water level. As evap occurs my 20 gallon jug supplies my tank with ro water. Now what I do is on a fresh COMPLETE fill of the 20 gallon, once full I make up my kalkwaser mix and let It settle for 3-4 hours before I open the valve between the jug and sump. This is how I dose kalkwaser. I alternate between a 20 gal kalkwaser ato and once it empties I manually dump out the residual and bottom water, rinse, and refil. Now once full I make a saltwater batch for a water change. I alternate this every time it empties. Usually every two weeks. I have good success with this so far.

 

[Petercar (RIP Dec 2017)]

I read at another forum  that they have a container above the sump  with a hose and valve from a hospital  they use from blood or plasma bags and just set it to drip into the sump  No auto top off valves.    Just the drip method thru the day and night...so many drip per minute

 

[Krazykarl]

Only prob with that is evaporation fluctuates daily so dripping the top off water would be inconsistent and require daily tinkering. Use a jug (holding tank of rodi) and place it above your sump. Run a line from jug to a float valve in the sump. As the evap takes place the float lowers and the rodi water gets fed by gravity into the sump bringing the level back up until the float closes. It's very simple. When I get home tonight I will post a picture and you can get a better idea

 

[xxmurrxx]

Yeah, depending on the time of year evap rates will be different.

I have the jbj unit, little more costly than a DIY but its also a lot less hassle. I tried a DIY and was not a fan of splicing into a power cord, and the cheap floats I ordered I did not trust.

 

[Krazykarl]

You do not need to run Electrical floats. Who says the water has to be pumped into the sump? If you place your ato reservoir above the sump and run a line from the res to the sump with a manual float from even a toilet, as it lowers it will use gravity to feed the water. If the float is at the desired level and closed water will not enter the sump. It's flawless for me. And because it's rodi water you get no salt build up around the float causing it to remain open.

 

[xxmurrxx]

Good point in my case though I don't run a sump and placing a reservoir above my tank would be a little crazy.

 

[Blob-79]

yea just think in most cases going gravity fed isnt an option. I mean i have lots of room above my sump for ato resevoir, but im not about to hang my big vat above it, when it fits so nicely underneath

 

[Petercar (RIP Dec 2017)]

I was thinking.  If yu filled some kinda bottle like a 2 liter pop bottle with top off water    Ad stick that bottle  in the sump tank then  when the sump gets low. Some water runs out of pop bottle    Us the bottle is still, full of air ...I forget how it works ..

 

[TORX]

I was thinking.  If yu filled some kinda bottle like a 2 liter pop bottle with top off water    Ad stick that bottle  in the sump tank then  when the sump gets low. Some water runs out of pop bottle    Us the bottle is still, full of air ...I forget how it works ..

That will technically work. As water level lowers, then air is aloud into the bottle allowing a small amount of water out.

Issue: the flow of the air and water will potentially pull salt water into the bottle. Therefor the top up RO/DI now has some salt in it.

 

[Zakk]

My tank would go through a pop bottle a day easy.  In fact, I can go through 5 gallons a day when the fans are going and it's warmer. 

 

[phi delt reefer]

My tank would go through a pop bottle a day easy.  In fact, I can go through 5 gallons a day when the fans are going and it's warmer. 

thirsty like its owner eh  ;D

 

[Zakk]

[quote author=Zakk link=topic=1373.msg14806#msg14806 date=1326836347]
My tank would go through a pop bottle a day easy.  In fact, I can go through 5 gallons a day when the fans are going and it's warmer. 

thirsty like its owner eh  ;D
[/quote]

Nicely played.