Adding float switches to existing ATO

cyber_ecco

Member
I'm wondering if anyone knows if I can add a couple more float switches to my older Autotopoff.com unit. Been using it for years and still going strong but I want to add a couple more float switches for redundancy. This unit looks like the relay and AC adapter are in one unit. Does anyone know how I would wire it? Thanks.


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Sure....how do you want to build in the extra redundancy? Switches in parallel?.High/low setup? Etc...
 
Yeah I want to add a higher float for the sump so it will shut off if over fill and one to the reservoir so if its too low it will not run dry. I understand how to invert the floats but not sure how to wire it since all the videos I've watched on youtube have a relay thats not part of the AC adapter.
 
It's pretty easy to do. Just remember adding more float switches adds more points of failure. Although, in this situation it's worth the risk - You will have a situation where a single failure can take your ATO offline, but it would require two failures to overflow your sump.

Instead of just telling you what to do, I'll try explaining it so you have a better understanding of the reasoning.

I'm sure you know how your existing ATO system works. The float switch activates the relay which activates the pump. Switches are either NO (Normally Open) or NC (Normally Closed), which means that in it's normal mounting position, when not being acted upon by an external stimulus the switch is either open circuit or closed circuit.

Now think about what you want to accomplish; You want the pump to run IF there's water in the reservoir, IF the sump isn't overfilled already and IF the sump level is low. You want the pump to stop as soon as any one of these conditions is not true, so you need to wire your three float switches in series.

Start at your reservoir; you're obviously going to mount it at the bottom. Remember what I said about NO vs NC? While the reservoir is full, water will be acting on the float, so you need your float to be open circuit when water is NOT acting on it, which means your reservoir float needs to be NO.

Next, look at your current ATO float. When water is low and NOT acting on the switch, you want to allow the pump to come on, so obviously you need your main float to be NC.

Your high level float is easy. You want to allow the pump to always run unless the water gets too high and acts on the float, so again, that would be a NC.

While you're wiring all that in, I'll make a suggestion. When doing maintenance on the tank, you'll sometimes do things that will bring the water level lower, but you don't necessarily want your ATO coming on. You can add a simple On/Off switch to your float switch chain that will stop your ATO from coming on without having to unplug it.

Limit switch logic is pretty simple and you can do a lot with it. The most important thing to remember is that when wiring switches in series, you are creating an AND circuit - the circuit only goes live when X AND Y AND Z are true. When wiring switches in parallel, you are creating an OR circuit - the circuit will go live if X OR Y OR Z is true.
 
Right...I think I get what your saying. So I should be wiring in series? If I'm understanding correctly, reservoir float first from the relay, then to the upper sump float and then the lower sump float. So if my reservoir water is under the float switch would cut off anything further. If the reservoir float is good and then the upper float is good the lower float would work normally as it is now. In the event the lower float switch fails and doesn't turn off it will activate the upper float switch which would then cut off the lower float switch. Do I have that right? Or does the order in which you wire the floats even matter? If in series the circuit goes live when X and Y and Z are true? In that sense the order shouldn't matter because all would have to be true for it to go live.

Thanks again for the help. Appreciate making this clear for me. Want to avoid potential disasters.
 
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