Auto Top Off plans ???

[UH_OH_5_OH]

I think my brain is bleeding from trying to comprehend all of these recommendations ! ! !

A few follow up questions:

A glass 10 gallon aquarium or a plastic sump...or is it preference?

It will be sitting about 8 feet off the ground on a shelf in the garage ( the height is not an issue). I want to run the line through the wall in the garage---->through the back of the stand and down into the sump.

I'm going for a gravity feed. Is there a standard sized bulk head that I should use for this that is better than another.....?

 

[Pbrown3701]

plastic is easier to drill - but preference

for bulkhead size, it depends on your float valve. It will have a recomended hole size.

 

[UH_OH_5_OH]

Great....thanks...I'm sure more questions will follow....!

like now....Pbrown...do you have any pics of yours ?

 

[Savatage]

I am trying to figure out why people have their RO/DI running straight to their system considering the fact that everytime the unit is shut off it keeps a TDS buildup and when you turn it back on you end up with a 20sec. or so burst of high TDS. Turn on you RO/DI unit and fill a cup with the first bit of water that is produced and test it. If I am wrong, then tell me, but don't lie.

Pull the tube from your container and place it in a cup and turn the unit one and test that cup of water.

 

[Pbrown3701]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7748890#post7748890 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by UH_OH_5_OH
Great....thanks...I'm sure more questions will follow....!

like now....Pbrown...do you have any pics of yours ?

No, but there isn't really anything to see. The RO/DI tube comes out of the wall and into a Plastic Rubbermaid container located under the tank. THen another small airline tube comes out of the same tub and then back into the wall. Then in the closet on the other side of the wall, the same tube emerges and enters the small dosing pump. The tube exits the dosing pump and goes into the base of the Nelson Reactor. The tube continues from the top of the reactor and into the sump. The float switch in the sump is just silconed on to the side wall.

Regarding Savatage's question - why do I do it? Because its hands off. a little disolved solids never hurt anyone

 

[Savatage]

That is true, but there is a little more to it than that. I'm going to try to make this as easy as possible.

Lets just look at this in a hypothetical stand.....Lets say your initial burst of TDS is 50.......Follow me here.........
1. Your sump lowers and the water turns on to fill it.

2. Your float opens and allows your RO/DI to return th water back to the holding tank. Now remember that your auto top off opens many times a day to keep the level the same.

This means that if your RO/DI opens 10 times in a day....it is putting 50TDS in the bucket 10 times a day because the machine doesn't run long enough to clean out that initial burst.

I know. I'm not that great at explaining things, but I'm sure you see what I'm saying. You never get away from the TDS issue because each time it shuts off, it creates a buildup, which defeats the purpose of the RO/DI.

 

[easttn]

Savatage,

Perfectly explained. All the designs here will in fact cause your RO/DI solinoid to turn off/on many time a day unless you are still manually filling some bucket.

Here is the simple answer, a pump up circuit:

Thanks Runner.

I had all my top off completely automated, here is the more complex answer. If you have questions please ask here.

You can put a diode across the coil of the relay, but I never did. There is is another circuit almost exactly like this one for saltwater additions, but I kept just the one to make it easier to read.

The C, D, E, F, G designators are the above pump up circuit. Clean your floats in viniger 3x a year and you'll have no problems.

 

[Savatage]

Thanks, I understand what you are showing me, but my concern is moreso about the RO/DO unit itself. When your RO/DI is shut off there is a buildup of TDS that sits there. When you turn it on you end up blasting that build up of TDS into your holding tank.

What I am trying to point out is that, if every time we turn on our RO/DI units, we get this small blast of built up TDS. This means, (with an automated system) the RO/DI turns on and off multiple times a day. This also means that you get multiple blasts of built-up TDS each time it turns on. This also means that you eventually end up with higher and higher TDS in your holding tank.

Now, if there was a way to make an automated bleeder system, that ran for 30 seconds down the drain, then switched over to the holding tank, this would eliminate the blasts of TDS.

Is there such a system????

 

[Savatage]

Beter yet. Go to www.thefilterguys.com and ask Jim to explain it to you. I think he could explain it better than me.

 

[UH_OH_5_OH]

Hey guys.......question here......I was looking through a box of stuff from my dad's old fish store and I found a brand new Kent Marine Float Valve Auto shut off !!!! What are the chances !??!


It's a FVKIT (obviously Float Valve)...it has a shut off valve, solenoid, jaco fittings, check valve, flow restrictor all in one box.

In the instruction sheet; it has diagrams for setting up to TFC units and diagrams for setting up to CTA units....!

How do I know which one I have...?

 

[easttn]

CTA membranes are primarily cellulose triacetate; they are used when your source water is chlorinated. It's only advantage over a TFC is being chlorine resistant.

TFC membranes are thin film composites; use these when the source water has a high TDS (total dissolved solids) and/or the source water is non-chlorinated.

TFC's are bacteria resistant and have superior rejection and flow rates when compared to CTAs. They Also need carbon filter(s) before the membrane when used with chlorinated water.

You'll need to look at your RO/DI to see which you have.

Savatage,
My reservoir is 35 gallons, it tuns the RO/DI on about once every 3-4 days. I dont think the TDS had any effect.

 

[Savatage]

EASTTN: That's cool. I have a pretty large resevoir also, but I still keep the concern in mind. As for my tank, I plan to have an automated system for my topoff, but for the RO/DI unit, it will have a float in it, but I will manually turn it on and let the float automatically turn it off. This way I can bleed it and I don't have to worry about overflow problems. LOL. No more water on the floor.

Thank you for the diagrams. I like the double float switches. This is definately the setup I will have on my tank. Thanks again.

 

[Racenrich]

this is how i ran my auto-top off....no electricty required. Works flawlessly and easy to maintain.......

10g acrylic tank, kent marine float switch and tubing....
Couple pics for ya

HTH