ATO Build

phljess

phljess

New member
For those who are interested in taking part in the auto top off build, I am checking on how much it will cost to buy the parts for the build. I plan to buy the parts from aquahub.com and we will put them together at the meeting after next. Everyone will pay for the parts at the June meet.

Here are links to the kits they have: http://www.aquahub.com/store/product27.html
I suggest using the kit in the above link but if you want to go with the cheaper kit you can get this one http://www.aquahub.com/store/product26.html
You can also buy a JBJ ATO from this site and would not have to put it together. However there are some limitations to the JBJ unit it only has two switches and cannot be ran to a remote area without splicing its wires and rewiring it. http://www.aquahub.com/store/atoreadytouse.html

I have contacted the website owners and waiting to see if I can get us a discount by buying a few packages. This will also save us some on shipping. As soon as I find out something I will post the prices here.

We will also need to buy some wire to connect the ATOs so there will be a $5.00 additional fee added to the final cost to cover wiring. We will put any surplus money from the build into the general funds of the club to purchase items in the future.
If you think you will need more than 10 feet of wire for you ATO then you will need to add an additional $5.00 to the cover the build.

I will let you guys know as soon as I find out prices from the supplier.

Thanks,

Phillip
 
Hi Philip,

Thanks for your message. If you purchase a few kits and exceed
$100, you can get free shipping (to one location). If you plan
to purchase more than $300 of kits in one transaction, let me
know and I can send you a coupon code for 20% off at checkout.

The JBJ ATO unit is excluded from this offer and volume pricing
for individual float switches is shown on the product detail
pages.

Thanks for your interest,

Patrick
Manager
aquahub
http://www.aquahub.com
service@aquahub.com
 
I would like to see enough interest to get $300.00 on this project. Please respond to this thread if you plan to take part in the ATO build:
 
Phil I think you will get more active participation and sign ups at the meet its self as long as we get those new faces in there and they see what this is and how much the alternative can cost them. By alternative I mean both price of a commercial unit and the risks involved with not running one at all.
 
yes, letting people know a total price would possibly help in generating interest... just a suggestion...
 
This would be a great DIY for someone. Stability is the key and it sure does help alot of those skimmers out there work alot better to have a consistant water level in the sump... not to mention it beats 200 bucks for an osmolator...
 
not to mention it beats 200 bucks for an osmolator...
Click to expand...

Actually it doesn't. but it's a good cheap hold over better than other commercial float switch units and it should last until someone can save up to get an osmolator or some other future photo-optic sensor driven top off device. I think Matt can back this up, the level of safety is unmatched in an Osmolator due to the sophisticated fail safe circuitry and the actual optical sensor. That said I would indeed expect to see more participation in this project for such a low cost, I think more will volunteer at the meet after seeing an actual unit demonstrated, lots of newbies have no idea until they see something in operation.
 
I wasn't saying it beats an osmolator, just the savings over the 200.00 it costs.... I do use one myself and my only gripe with an osmolator is I wish it had an off switch or a silence timer for the float overflow alarm. Other than that it is flawless and probably one of the most essential items for my reef... IMO
 
It is very close to what an osmolator will do. Both of them have fail safes and a low water cut off. You easily add an alarm to the DIY version. The laser eye is probably the only real difference between the two.
 
This is an old story but it seems as though the group here changes about every 12 months.

I have been using a homemade system similar to the above for a couple of years now (2 floats). I evaporate 3-5 gallons per day and in a 260g system replacing 1/4 or 1/2 gallon at a time is not an issue.

My resevior is in the garage, 50ft away and I need a larger pump to move the water. I burned up my first float switch likely because it was turning on/off constantly as the water evaporated. I added a digital timer to the system above so that the pump would only come on for 5 minutes every couple of hours / opposite the mixing pump on the neilson reactor. This helps because.....

1. relay and float switch are not activated as often = longer life.
2. if float or relay fail, you get only 5 minutes of pumped water - although there is a second float (higher).

If the pump you are using is small = lower wattage/less current through float switch, maybe the timer is no issue.

Once you add the digital timer the Tunze system becomes a little closer in price (but still $70 vs. $200) although I was not certain that the Tunze unit could handle a higher wattage pump required to move water from my garage > 50w.

I have not seen a reason to "upgrade" but perhaps there is.
 
Looks like we have three so far, to get the discount we will need at least seven people buying the deluxe model to qualify.
 
Lloyd actually they do make an upgrade for the osmolator that allows it to switch on larger pumps but it is pricey IMO.

lets get some more signed on for this guys! This is the first DIY class if it does well there will be many more.
 
I really do not want to handle the money. What I plan to do is find out how many people plan to do the build. After that I will contact Aquahub have everyone pay for their own units and have them shipped to one location to get the group buy discount.
 
Ok, I think we have four people. I would really like to have eight to secure a discount with the supplier. If your interested please respond here. I will wait until July 1st then those who are in can pay. I will try to make arrangements so the items will be shipped to one location. I also do not want to handle money so I will make arrangements with Aquahub to take various payments but ship to one location so we can receive the discount.

Here is the list I have:
Spinnerbait
Apapas
Phljess
Xavior 64 (CVRC forum)
 
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