ATO... suggestions, advice??

[khusson1]

Hey, everyone! Good news: so far all the frags I got at the meeting are still alive!!! woooooooooooooo whooooooooooooooo!!!

I'm looking to hook up an ATO. My RO/DI and trashcans are in the basement almost right underneath my dispay tank. I have access from behind the wall to run the water line. My idea is to use a mag drive 3 or 5 and leave it in my trashcan and have a float in my sump, but where I'm a little confused (i just dont know how they work) is where the water level goes down, then the float switch would "open" to allow the water in a gravity ATO system to flow into the sump and replenish evap. but dont they make one that would turn the pump downstairs on?? I have extra mag drives and would really like to use what I have rather than buy an expensive doseing pump with a head of 10+ feet.

Any suggestions????

 

[lpkenneys]

what you can do if you want to gravity feed it get a 5 gal. bucket drill a hole near the botom install a "john Guest" fitting then set the bucket higher than the sump then run waterline down to the float valve in your sump, you will have to replenish water but that way incase of a problem you only overflow 5 gal not 50.
I assume you are saying you have a manuel float valve?

 

[khusson1]

lpkennys,

no,I dont have any float valve yet. I cant do the gravity fed because of lack of room. Plus, @ about 1/2 gal/ day of evap, I's be filling that sucker more than I want.

My ro and trashcan is in the basement. What do I need to run a pump from the basement up to the sump. approx 10ft vertical and about 3 feet horizontal. What kind of float valve and how/what do I plug the pump into so it switches on when the water level drops?? I just dont know how they work, thats why im asking. As far as overflowing too much, cant I put 2 or even 3 floats in there so I lessen that chance?

 

[volcom69]

Most of your ATOs have a duel float on it so it does not overflow your sump or go past your mark. Just set your float to where you want the water to fill to and when it goes down past that point it will turn your pump on from downstairs or wherever you have it at. Look around but most have duel switches so you never overflow.

 

[lpkenneys]

volcom69 is right, it's a "catch 22" to do it electronically you really should use 2 electronic float valves, they will then have a relay box with a receptacle to plug your pump into. Hope this helps.
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/Auto-...top-off-unit-for-RO-systems/product_info.html

 

[NCNBilly]

FWIW - I built my own, just got the switches from floatswitches.com

The wiring isn't too hard, and it's been running (knock on wood) without incident for almost 5 years.

 

[khusson1]

thanks everyone for your answers. ill be setting it up soon

 

[JDL]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14889239#post14889239 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by khusson1
thanks everyone for your answers. ill be setting it up soon

show pics once you set it up!

 

[khusson1]

will do, as soon as I find the time