Aquatronica
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RobbyG
Active member
A TIP FOR SUMP FAN AND CHILLER PROGRAMMING
I know for most of you it is pretty cold where you are so talk of chiller usage may sound secondary at this time of year but you might want to make note of this for the summer time.
I tried to program a sump Fan to come on at 0.2 deg before my chiller would kick in so that I would save on the electric bill, now in theory this sounded great but what happened is the Fan was able to hold the Temperature stable. As a matter of fact it did it so well that the chiller never came on! The down side to this was that my evaporation rate climbed from 1 gallon per day to over 4 gallons per day and greatly hastened the usual salinity drop in the tank.
I tried a few other methods, like making the Fan and Chiller both come on at the same temperature. This worked OK as the chiller would run for shorter periods and the evaporation was not too bad, about 2 gallons a day.
The Best Method I found that both saved the most on power and at the same time had almost the same amount of evaporation was setting the Fan and chiller to come on at the same time but also I programmed a timer on the Fan that ran from 10am till Midnight with a 10 minute on time and a 50 minute off time.
So now the Fan clips on for 10 minutes every hour which cools the water enough to delay the chiller from turning on as often and it also keeps the sump area humidity down. The water being evaporated hardly moved up from the 2 gallon mark. I believe the ambient humidity is about all that gets dried out in that short 10 minutes. The great part is that the chiller runs about half as much by adding that 10 minute interval and I am therefore saving a great deal of power.
Any one trying this can vary the time interval of the Fan to get the optimum performance, I used a Killawatt unit to keep track of the power and a PSI gauge on my RO Tank to judge the water being used, it takes a few days to get the perfect balance but in the end it is worth it.
BTW For testing I shutdown RO production in the mornings and had only the full 3 gallon pressurized tank as a water source.
I would turn it back on at midnight, that way I had an idea of how much water was used during the day.
I know for most of you it is pretty cold where you are so talk of chiller usage may sound secondary at this time of year but you might want to make note of this for the summer time.
I tried to program a sump Fan to come on at 0.2 deg before my chiller would kick in so that I would save on the electric bill, now in theory this sounded great but what happened is the Fan was able to hold the Temperature stable. As a matter of fact it did it so well that the chiller never came on! The down side to this was that my evaporation rate climbed from 1 gallon per day to over 4 gallons per day and greatly hastened the usual salinity drop in the tank.
I tried a few other methods, like making the Fan and Chiller both come on at the same temperature. This worked OK as the chiller would run for shorter periods and the evaporation was not too bad, about 2 gallons a day.
The Best Method I found that both saved the most on power and at the same time had almost the same amount of evaporation was setting the Fan and chiller to come on at the same time but also I programmed a timer on the Fan that ran from 10am till Midnight with a 10 minute on time and a 50 minute off time.
So now the Fan clips on for 10 minutes every hour which cools the water enough to delay the chiller from turning on as often and it also keeps the sump area humidity down. The water being evaporated hardly moved up from the 2 gallon mark. I believe the ambient humidity is about all that gets dried out in that short 10 minutes. The great part is that the chiller runs about half as much by adding that 10 minute interval and I am therefore saving a great deal of power.
Any one trying this can vary the time interval of the Fan to get the optimum performance, I used a Killawatt unit to keep track of the power and a PSI gauge on my RO Tank to judge the water being used, it takes a few days to get the perfect balance but in the end it is worth it.
BTW For testing I shutdown RO production in the mornings and had only the full 3 gallon pressurized tank as a water source.
I would turn it back on at midnight, that way I had an idea of how much water was used during the day.
Last edited:
Treg
Premium Member
Hey I've got a question about these Aquatronica's.
Is it normal for these things to look Used when you get them??
I ordered the Premium package and from aquarium specialty and it was dropped shipped from aquarium obsessed and I'd bout swear I got a used unit.
The box on the power strip is smashed to hell, has crud that looks like pop on the top of it. Has been taped shut and cut back open. The power strip itself has several (minor) surface scratches on the top plug inlets.
The control unit didnt have any protective film (like anything and everything with lcd screens does) on the face, this unit also has a few minor scratches in the face.
Part of the screen is bubbled up, the metal prongs look like they have some corrision on them.
The temp probe is still in the package unopened tho...
The PC interface box has been cut open and obviously removed from the package...
The CD-Rom cover is scratched to hell. thing looks 3 years old, but is still taped shut.
Everything that has a twist tie on the cord has been untwisted and retwisted.
This thing looks USED! Normal???
Is it normal for these things to look Used when you get them??
I ordered the Premium package and from aquarium specialty and it was dropped shipped from aquarium obsessed and I'd bout swear I got a used unit.
The box on the power strip is smashed to hell, has crud that looks like pop on the top of it. Has been taped shut and cut back open. The power strip itself has several (minor) surface scratches on the top plug inlets.
The control unit didnt have any protective film (like anything and everything with lcd screens does) on the face, this unit also has a few minor scratches in the face.
Part of the screen is bubbled up, the metal prongs look like they have some corrision on them.
The temp probe is still in the package unopened tho...
The PC interface box has been cut open and obviously removed from the package...
The CD-Rom cover is scratched to hell. thing looks 3 years old, but is still taped shut.
Everything that has a twist tie on the cord has been untwisted and retwisted.
This thing looks USED! Normal???
Compared to my unit from AO I have to say that this is NOT normal.
My controller package was open as well but the controller was in excellent condition and the package was only open because I had ordered a second Temp Sensor which was then put to the first one into the controller package. The PC interface was still in its pseudo blister box and looked brand new (as did the pH interface) and the CD case was taped to it without damage.... Scratches on juwel cases don't bug me as long as the CD itself is spotless/in working condition.
I would talk to them and see what comes out of it.
My controller package was open as well but the controller was in excellent condition and the package was only open because I had ordered a second Temp Sensor which was then put to the first one into the controller package. The PC interface was still in its pseudo blister box and looked brand new (as did the pH interface) and the CD case was taped to it without damage.... Scratches on juwel cases don't bug me as long as the CD itself is spotless/in working condition.
I would talk to them and see what comes out of it.
Treg
Premium Member
I havnt opened the jewel case yet but I'm talking this thing looks horrible. lol
As does the box the power strip come in. The control unit just looks used, thats all there is too it. Almost nothing looks "NIB". It looks like you would expect one to look like at 6 months old...
I'd have pics already up if I could find the battery charger for my camera.
As does the box the power strip come in. The control unit just looks used, thats all there is too it. Almost nothing looks "NIB". It looks like you would expect one to look like at 6 months old...
I'd have pics already up if I could find the battery charger for my camera.
Treg
Premium Member
That could very well be. Never thought of that but would they cut the plastics open too? If they did open boxes they were pretty ruff about it.
I sent will an email, I'm not opening or plugging in anything til I hear back but the controller and powerstrip are just not what I consider "mint". Nither are any of the packages but those really dont matter...
Are these stamped with a date anywhere?
I see what kind of looks like a date on the back of the controller.
TheMoneyPit
Premium Member
maybe a random search by customs?
Psyire
Premium Member
I'd like to say that I'm very impressed with this Salinity/Conductivity Probe & Interface. It has been working very accurately and reliably for me. I can actually see very detailed and small salinity changes during the day and night as evaporation raises my salinity and my top-off lowers it. (these are extremely small changes, but they get recorded never-the-less) Awesome addition to the Aquatronica Family.
TheMoneyPit
Premium Member
I agree they are very accurate according to my pinpoint salinity monitor. I'm extremely happy with the addition.
skewch
Premium Member
Anyone ever have any issues with multiple powerbars? Yesterday, I moved one of my powerbars, so I disconnected it. Upon reconnecting, the system didn't recognize the powerbar again, and actually disconnected the other one (the one the controller was plugged into).
I kept plugging/unplugging the usb cable, same thing every time. Eventually, I ended up with a bus error on the controller, and then it recognized both power bars again.
Overnight though, it's back to square 1, and refusing to recognize either powerbar when they are both connected. If I unplug the usb cable on the second one again, it sees the first. But when I plug the usb cable back in, it disconnects the first, and doesn't see either.
I kept plugging/unplugging the usb cable, same thing every time. Eventually, I ended up with a bus error on the controller, and then it recognized both power bars again.
Overnight though, it's back to square 1, and refusing to recognize either powerbar when they are both connected. If I unplug the usb cable on the second one again, it sees the first. But when I plug the usb cable back in, it disconnects the first, and doesn't see either.
Armando
Premium Member
The salinity readings seem to work well. Too bad I can't say the same for the pH. I am actually sick and tired of waiting for Aquatronica (or Aquarium Obsessed FWIW) to fix this problem. I've been waiting for 5 months and so far I cannot get the Aquatronica to read pH consistently and reliably. I don't know what is the problem but I know I want it fixed.
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