ATO Help Needed

[THE ROOK]

I'd like to add an ATO to my system but the only place to store the water is a closet near my display tank. I would need to pump the water from the closet, up thru the ceiling & down to the sump. Is there an inexpensive pump that would pump up thru the ceiling that would work with small 1/4" tubing? I'd prefer to use the tubing used on the RO system, if possible.

 

[runningstix]

to be honest I would step up to at least 1/2" that way you can get a decent pump. I use a maxi jet 1200 with 1/2" tubing and it is about 10 seconds to top off.

the 1/4" aqualifter ran for 10 minutes and would evaporate quicker than it would fill the tank.

I have a 58g+27g tank/sump and go through about 3.5 gallons a day. If you dont go through that much I guess you could use an aqualifter. Personally I wanted to kill myself as my JBJ ATO has an audible alarm when the pump is on.

 

[THE ROOK]

I'd like to use an aqualifter but I'm not sure it can handle the lift to the ceiling.

 

[Drag Racer]

I dont think the aqualifter is rated for more than a 30" upward push. It would either not work or burn out the pump pretty fast.

 

[eznet2u]

The Maxi-Jet will NOT make it to the ceiling either.

 

[kgross]

Neither the aqualifter or the maxijet will work for that much lift. Now once the line was filled it could do it but you will also have to worry about a siphon.

Now could you go down through the floor rather than up through the ceiling? If you can either a maxijet or the aqualifter would work fine.

Kim

 

[THE ROOK]

Unfortunately, I don't have a basement. It's a ranch on a slab. AutoTopOff.com carries a fountaintech 300. They claim it will handle over 8 feet of lift & is only $27.00. I guess I'll try that unless someone has tried it before. Thanks for all the help.

 

[n2585722]

Check out the Hanna BL 1.5 Dosing pump. That may do what you need but you wil still have to make sure the output is at a higher level than the source container. You may need to output into the tank overflow.

 

[stugray]

How about putting the RO/DI resivoir in the ceiling ( do you have an attic ) and top off via gravity & a float valve?

The RO/DI filter can push up that far easily enough ;-)

Stu

 

[THE ROOK]

stugray- I like the idea of putting it in the attic. I'll check tonite & see how cold it gets up there. How would I make sure that I don't over-fill the sump? How reliable are the floats that hook up to the 1/4" tubing?

 

[stugray]

"How reliable are the floats that hook up to the 1/4" tubing?"

I have been using a stainless steel valve for ATO for almost three years now.

I have heard that some of the cheaper ones have floats that can leak & cause a flood. I check mine regularly.

Stu

 

[AZDesertRat]

Spectrapure UPLC-II. It will pump 40 psi so a few feet is nothing. Bulletproof!

 

[THE ROOK]

I'm going to give the gravity method a try for my top-off system. No pump. Just gravity. Any ideas for a reliable float system for the sump? Is it possible to have two floats, similar to the electrical floats? I'm worried about the entire storage tank accidentally draining into my sump.

 

[kgross]

It depends on the float valves you get to be honest. Most of them will not allow you to hook them up in series. But you can use a float valve for the backup and have a float switch/solenoid do the primary work.

Kim

 

[THE ROOK]

Any ideas on where to locate an inexpensive solenoid that connects to the ro/di tubing?

 

[kgross]

http://www.jensalt.com/cgi-bin/ic/standard/00195.html

Kim

 

[stugray]

THE ROOK

It is best to use a DC solenoid because there is no metal exposed inside the relay. Some AC relays ( cheaper ) have a small amount of metal exposed inside. Some people dont care they use the solenoid BEFORE the RO/DI filter.

If you use it as a fill valve, then you definitely need the DC valve.

The best way to do this is with a 24VDC solenoid ( mcmaster carr part # 5489T633 www.mcmmaster.com ) & relay

Then you have to buy a 24VDC wall wart.

Stu

 

[stugray]

Oh....

And if you want the resivoir to be dual purpose ( top off or fill a tank for water cahnge ), then run two separate lines down.

One large ( 3/8 or 1/2 ) for the WC fill up, and one very small ( 1/4 or 3/8 with a needle valve ).

The smaller line you have on the ATO, the longer you have to detect a problem before it is catastrophic.

I have both HI & LOW level sensors in my sump, but I CONTROL the water level with a float valve.

If the valve got stuck it would take a long time to overfill & I would know with a few inches of space in the sump to spare.

Stu

 

[THE ROOK]

Stugray: Thanks for the idea about a water change line. I'll add that for sure. Bulk Reef carries the "level-loc". Would this be a good way to go then? It's a little more than I was looking to spend.

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/Auto-...top-off-unit-for-RO-systems/product_info.html

 

[stugray]

Just buy one of these:

From http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewI...iew~idProduct~KM1675~idCategory~FIRORAFV.html

And build one of these yourself:

That is the float valve I use to this day: RO/DI feed keeps it clean inside, All stainless valving keeps the corrosion down.

I use the Kent Marine as my WC Bucket filler and as the backup shutoff in my RO/DI resivoir and have had good results.

Stu