Top Off Pump

[Camps23]

Anyone have a recommendation for a good pump for my ato setup ?
I have been running a maxijet 1200 for the last 8mnths. They really dont seem to last.
I have gone through 2 in the last few months. I use the bracket and dual float switch from
autotopoff.com. Everything works great. Before I go out and buy another maxijet I figured I would ask
around.
Thanks

 

[phi delt reefer]

do you get a lot of waves in the chamber that holds the float switches?

The mj1200 are pretty reliable pumps so I can only guess that they are cycling on an off rapidly every day and thats causing them to burn out. They do have a warranty through Marineland if you have the box and receipt. I can dig up a receipt if you need one 

 

[TORX]

I personally just have a float valve in my sump directly connected to my rodi unit. I will be adding a secondary float shut off and maybe an alarm incase of overfill. Will be interesting to see what others post though. In reading on ATO, pretty sure that most use a maxijet 1200, as they are pretty reliable pumps, or a bubbler depending on what type of ATO someone wants to use.

 

[Camps23]

I did run my last maxijet dry on one occasion so it is mostly my fault.
If this is a commonly used pump for this application I think I will try one more.
Whats a decent price to get these for ? I see jl aquatics has them for 25$ + tax

 

[phi delt reefer]

I personally just have a float valve in my sump directly connected to my rodi unit. I will be adding a secondary float shut off and maybe an alarm incase of overfill. Will be interesting to see what others post though. In reading on ATO, pretty sure that most use a maxijet 1200, as they are pretty reliable pumps, or a bubbler depending on what type of ATO someone wants to use.

bad idea torx...


1. having your ATO drive your RO/DI unit means the RO/DI system is cycling on and off several times a day and only producing a few ml's of water which is very hard on the membrane and resin. The membrane and resin are very expensive (in relation to the prefilters) so you want to minimize wear on those two items.  I would have a large  holding tank filled with RO/DI water hooked up to the ATO and the RO/DI hooked up in such a way where it only comes on to fill the holding tank once its 2/3's empty or more. That way the ro/di is only coming on once a week/month.

2. no secondary protection in your ATO to prevent the RO/DI unit from getting stuck ON and flooding your tank. If you are going to hook up a large source of fresh water to you tank make sure you have three levels of safety. Alarms are useless cause its not going to mean shit if you arent there when it goes off.  Depending on the space you have to work with try to incorporate a few of the following;

-timer attached to feed pump or solenoid to ensure ato only kicks for a few minutes a couple times a day.
-restrict fresh water flow so when ato system is on the most if can pump is a gallon (or any other amount that wouldnt heavily affect your salinity)
-redundant float switches (have it so that two float switches must be engaged before the ATO circuit completes)
-high level switch to kick out ATO pump or close RO Solenoid.
-float valve type hookup for water line into the sump so its squeezed shut when the level is right.

personally i use the Tunze unit with optical sensor - it has a high level float cut off, run time cutout and its hooked up to my RKL so i can turn the outlet that powers it off for most of the day. Expensive so I wouldnt really recommend it for a well built diy unit is just as good IMO.

 

[phi delt reefer]

I did run my last maxijet dry on one occasion so it is mostly my fault.
If this is a commonly used pump for this application I think I will try one more.
Whats a decent price to get these for ? I see jl aquatics has them for 25$ + tax

BRS and JL both had em down to $20 or less at one point or another. Other option is a Tom's Airlifter. Easy to service.

 

[TORX]

I knew I was going to get that reply as soon as I posted it. Thanks there Phi. I will be adding a holding tank to replace the current set up. Then will just manually fill it. Basically all of your suggestions are already in the works. Although I was not aware of all the additional wear on the RODI unit. Maybe the next BRS buy I will pick up what I need. You know what you are talking about and always have some good information to provide.

 

[Blob-79]

The maxijet pumps arent what they once were. Though im still surprised uve gone thu so many. Are you using two float valves? How much water does it fill at a time?

I hated always having to fill a bucket with ato water..imo if you have to do that you may as well not have a ato. i definitely agree that its not a very good idea to have your sump hooked directly to your rodi system. You may want to do a "dual stage" setup like what i did. There are two options,ive tried both. Have your rodi plumbed to your ato fresh water container. You can control you rodi with either a float valve (not recomended), or with 2 float switches wired to a solenoid. This way you never neex to mess with top up water.. YAY!

 

[Zakk]

I use a MJ pump for the ato, and I also manually fill it.  I have a float valve in the bucket that sets off an alarm and disables the pump on the apex unit of it gets down low enough.

I also only let it run at night, too many times I forgot to turn it off when I was doing a water change, and it started filling the sump with all fresh water. 

 

[teebone110]

all good ideas...

In my situation, I use a dual float switch from autotopoff.com connected to a BRS dosing pump (http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/products/pumps-and-plumbing/dosing-pumps-and-auto-top-off-systems/brs-top-off-doser-50-ml-per-minute.html).

The dosing pump is connected to my 25 gallon RO/DI reservior that is about a 20ft horizontal run from my tank/sump.

It works like a champ. Also have it hooked up to my APEX Jr controller for an added level of safety to minimize the times it runs and to help prevent accidents.