automatic water change
- Thread starter DRThompson
- Start date
AquamanE
Active member
Dread- i know your trying to decrease RPM's somehow. Beyond my knowledge how but..... how will you test for both pumps being same, and how will u determine volume per time???
Run the pumps into a graduated cylinder. Pretty easy.
Slowing the motor down does not change the 1 to 1 relationship of the pump heads by any means. They run off the same shaft, and are identical dimensions/tubing.
So you have a 1 gallon graduated cylinder (it's what we have at my work) and you run a tube from each pump head into a cylinder, turn on, and time how long it takes to hit a gallon.
Once you know the flowrate of your pump, you can program an OSC or setup a timer to let it do it's thing for throughout the day
Edit:
And for controlling pump speed I'm planning on using pulse width modulation. It's a very simple way to control the speed of a DC motor. Basically you're cylcling the power on/off to it hundreds of times a second. You setup a duty cycle (amount of time the voltage is on per a cycle) and that controls the speed without drawing more current.
So if you take a 12v 200rpm motor, and you run a 100% duty cycle 12v pwm signal to it, the pump runs at 200rpm
If you take a 12v 200 rpm motor, and you run a 25% duty cycle 12v pwm signal to it, the pump now runs at 50rpm
50% would make it 100rpm, yadda yadda
Slowing the motor down does not change the 1 to 1 relationship of the pump heads by any means. They run off the same shaft, and are identical dimensions/tubing.
So you have a 1 gallon graduated cylinder (it's what we have at my work) and you run a tube from each pump head into a cylinder, turn on, and time how long it takes to hit a gallon.
Once you know the flowrate of your pump, you can program an OSC or setup a timer to let it do it's thing for throughout the day
Edit:
And for controlling pump speed I'm planning on using pulse width modulation. It's a very simple way to control the speed of a DC motor. Basically you're cylcling the power on/off to it hundreds of times a second. You setup a duty cycle (amount of time the voltage is on per a cycle) and that controls the speed without drawing more current.
So if you take a 12v 200rpm motor, and you run a 100% duty cycle 12v pwm signal to it, the pump runs at 200rpm
If you take a 12v 200 rpm motor, and you run a 25% duty cycle 12v pwm signal to it, the pump now runs at 50rpm
50% would make it 100rpm, yadda yadda
Sacohen
New member
I was thinking that too.
I have not tested in and out yet to make sure they are the same, but I don't see why not since both pumps are running the exact same speed.
To determine volume/time I was going to time how long it takes to fill 1 gallon.
Either that or run it for 1 min exactly and have the out put go into a measuring cup, but I'm leaning towards time/gallon.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/15A-6V-90V-...888?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item51b6c8d098
With our pumps being DC Voltage instead of AC Voltage one of those simple uber cheap boards will do the trick for slowing it down and quieting it up
With our pumps being DC Voltage instead of AC Voltage one of those simple uber cheap boards will do the trick for slowing it down and quieting it up
http://www.ebay.com/itm/12V-40V-10A...922?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a86017642
this one is a lil more compact, but tons of options out there for them
this one is a lil more compact, but tons of options out there for them
jg93
New member
I got my Stenner, hooked it all up, it's working great.
Couple of questions:
I'm reticent to have this on a daily timer as I'm concerned that if my reservoir runs dry, I'll still be pulling from my tank and that could be catastrophic. Can anyone recommend a course of action to remedy this? Where my reservoir is situated i'm not able to hook it up to a controller - so I was thinking about an ATO switch of some kind, but the brute can is deep and these are sort of pricey. Again, any recommendations would be fantastic.
Also - since this thing is pretty slow - is there any concern your just diluting the water change? Did you increase your water change to account for this?
Thanks a ton, I'm really happy to finally have this as a solution to lugging buckets up a flight of stairs.
Jeff
Couple of questions:
I'm reticent to have this on a daily timer as I'm concerned that if my reservoir runs dry, I'll still be pulling from my tank and that could be catastrophic. Can anyone recommend a course of action to remedy this? Where my reservoir is situated i'm not able to hook it up to a controller - so I was thinking about an ATO switch of some kind, but the brute can is deep and these are sort of pricey. Again, any recommendations would be fantastic.
Also - since this thing is pretty slow - is there any concern your just diluting the water change? Did you increase your water change to account for this?
Thanks a ton, I'm really happy to finally have this as a solution to lugging buckets up a flight of stairs.
Jeff
@JG93 one idea is to place the pickup tube at your minimum sump level. If the pump pulled water out without replacing it then it wouldn't cause a problem. For example, in my sump, if I put the tube below the max water level by 1" my system would still run fine even without the that 1" of water being replaced. This would also trigger my low sump alarm on my APEX and low SW tank alarm should have been triggered long ago.
DRThompson
2018 FMAS President
these ideas wont work if you have an ATO, your going to need some kind of float switch. Try autotopoff dot com for a low cost solution that will turn off the stenner pump when your water is low in the fresh saltwater container
DRThompson
2018 FMAS President
The difference between 1% per day and 30% per month is about a 5% loss overall. If you want to compensate you could do a little more than 1%; generally it is insignificant.
mrx66699
New member
yes if an ato is present placing near the top will not matter and a float switch will not work either as it will never go off........whatever the draw is removing the ato will now compensate and fill with ro .....you would need some kind of pressure switch that can read the outgoing and ingoing lines and if pressure is lost it kills the pump and sends out an alarm
DRThompson
2018 FMAS President
I ordered one of these on ebay
http://www.ebay.com/itm/131051696064?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
if link doesnt work do a search for "Vertical /Horizon Magnetic ABS Water Flow Switch" on ebay. I have not received it yet (slow boat from china) so I'm not sure it will work. This would go in-line to detect water in the line. Assuming it works, it will tell me when no water is in the line and work like a switch to turn off the stenner pump.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/131051696064?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
if link doesnt work do a search for "Vertical /Horizon Magnetic ABS Water Flow Switch" on ebay. I have not received it yet (slow boat from china) so I'm not sure it will work. This would go in-line to detect water in the line. Assuming it works, it will tell me when no water is in the line and work like a switch to turn off the stenner pump.
DRThompson
2018 FMAS President
I'm having problems finding one that will reach the bottom. My barrel is 4' tall; I cant find a switch with wires that long.
DRThompson
2018 FMAS President
float switch has to go in the bottom of the water change barrel, not sump.
For ATO situation, most probably have controllers already whom are doing the auto water change. You could always program the return pump to shut off as well as the ATO while the water change kicks on.
As for the mixing barrel running dry, SOL... keep a watch on it. Dave maybe you can extend the wires and use silicone to encase/cover the wires. That or get a Uniseal and use a float switch like this, it's HVAC stuff and cement the slip fitting so it doesn't pop out and spill the salt water all over. Not a bad idea huh? LOL
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HVAC-Primar...995?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ac245089b
As for the mixing barrel running dry, SOL... keep a watch on it. Dave maybe you can extend the wires and use silicone to encase/cover the wires. That or get a Uniseal and use a float switch like this, it's HVAC stuff and cement the slip fitting so it doesn't pop out and spill the salt water all over. Not a bad idea huh? LOL
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HVAC-Primar...995?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ac245089b
AquamanE
Active member
To clarify am not hooking up an ATO, but a floatswitch from autotopoff.
Dr- a had similar concerns as my Brute is like 3 feet tall. I odered a horizontal floatswitch, that i will drill into my Brute, at the bottom approx 2-3 inches from bottom. So wires will be outside, and line run to a Breakout Box, to APEX. When that switch turns on Stenner will be shut down.
