DIY Auto-Top off with Solenoid
- Thread starter Zephrant
- Start date
Lunchbucket
Premium Member
the NPT shouldn't leak anymore than a female to male 1/2" PVC fitting would. i would use some teflon tape on it to make sure though
Lunchbucket
Lunchbucket
Zephrant
Premium Member
In theory it weakens the acrylic to tap it, as the threads create an area where the stress is higher (stress points.) On a 3/8" inside baffle, I felt comfortable with it. For the outside of the tank, I would drill a smooth hole, and use a bulkhead. They don't cost too much, and it is a pain to try to thread the float switch in to a tank with those wires in the way anyway. 
Zeph
Zeph
manderx
New member
is it ok for the wired end of the float to be submerged? i have a glass sump, and would like to partition off the return pump and mount the floats on that partition. i plan on using a low-water float and a high-water float, each with their own solenoids, dripping through a kent float valve.
I wired up the solenoid as above and it works fine. However, I notice that it gets very hot after being plugged in awhile. Is this your experience as well? I don't really like the fact that this thing gets so hot, primarily the metal and red pieces, not so much the black part and speed fittings.
manderx
New member
i got mine all hooked up. i have 2 float switches in series and 2 solenoids in series. i wired it through a lightswitch w/ pilot light.
the problem is that my solenoids seem very unreliable. they only open about 2/3 of the time. one works a bit better than the other, but i can't trust either of them to open. if i flip the lightswitch a few times, it eventually opens. when it does not open, i still hear it click, and about 5 drops spurt through the solenoid but then it stops. i've dropped it down to 1 solenoid for now while testing. is the big brass screw on the red side for adjusting? could my solenoids just be out of tune? the incoming water is ~20psi from a pressure tank and i made sure it's going into the 'in' side of the solenoid. also, when it's off and closed it leaks 2 or 3 drops a minute, even through both solenoids. is this normal?
the problem is that my solenoids seem very unreliable. they only open about 2/3 of the time. one works a bit better than the other, but i can't trust either of them to open. if i flip the lightswitch a few times, it eventually opens. when it does not open, i still hear it click, and about 5 drops spurt through the solenoid but then it stops. i've dropped it down to 1 solenoid for now while testing. is the big brass screw on the red side for adjusting? could my solenoids just be out of tune? the incoming water is ~20psi from a pressure tank and i made sure it's going into the 'in' side of the solenoid. also, when it's off and closed it leaks 2 or 3 drops a minute, even through both solenoids. is this normal?
manderx
New member
i ordered the exact parts you listed. could it be that i have a crappy splice somewhere and there's only a trickle of current making it to the solenoids? i'm just using wire nuts. i'm going to shelve it till this weekend and start over from scratch, and test the heck out of each individual component. i also want to put some extension wires on the switches so my control box can be mounted to my stand.
Hey, wait a minute, I've been using a Kent float switch to control my Kent Maxima RO/DI unit without any problem for more than 5 years. The RO/DI fills a wastebasket that the float is installed in. The float shuts off the input to the RO/DI. The wastebasket has never overflowed.
Kevin,
The Kent float valve can be purchased seperately or also as part of a Kent float valve kit that include a pressurized solenoid to shut off the RO/DI unit.
The quote is probably referring to the Kent float valve only.
The Kent float valve can be purchased seperately or also as part of a Kent float valve kit that include a pressurized solenoid to shut off the RO/DI unit.
The quote is probably referring to the Kent float valve only.
That sounds right. The one I have is about 8 years old and includes some sort of backpressure sensor that shuts off the input to the RO/DI. Its not a solenoid because no electicity is involved, probably more like a scuba valve. It came as a kit that cost about $50 at the time.
That's what I am talking about. It does operate on the backpressure.
Sorry if solenoid wasn't the right word.
You can buy the float valve seperate ( about $16 ) which causes confusion when talking about them......
Sorry if solenoid wasn't the right word.
You can buy the float valve seperate ( about $16 ) which causes confusion when talking about them......
Zephrant
Premium Member
Well, that was a little bit of a trick. I used double-sided foam tape, and it held for about five minutes, (long enough for the picture) then fell off.
It is still hanging, but the thought was to get some cable-clamps and clamp the line on each side.
Good timing on bringing this to the top today.
I did have an issue with the float today. As mentioned (somewhere) above, the only fail-safe the shown design has is the ball valve on the input line. If the float sticks, the ball valve limits how fast the water runs in to the tank. That is what saved my tank today. At some point this morning, a snail sat on the float between the base and the moving part, pegging the float in the "fill" position. I had the ball valve open further than I should have, and over the next four hours that I was out of the house, it added at least 15 gallons of fresh water to my system. I say at least, because I have an "emergency" overflow on the sump that goes direct to the drain. Water was flowing over it when I got home (slowly).
The salinity in the system (about 200 gallons) went from 35ppt to 33ppt.
I knew the above was a possibility, but I had not added another fail-safe. Guess that is on the list for tomorrow. At the time I installed the above, I did not have snails in the system. I have tons now, courtesy of local reefers. They do a great job on cleanup, but they reproduce like crazy, so there is always some small ones running around. All it takes is one in the perfect place at the wrong time, and my fish get a fresh-water swim.
It's been about 3 hours since I discovered it, and everything looks perfectly fine. The leather is still open, the corals look great, the fish are fine... except for the snail that got smashed when I fiddled the float, it looks like I may have escaped without casualties.
Not wanting to shock them any further, I drained 5 gallons to get the water level in the sump down a little. I disconnected the power to the solenoid, and well let evaporation take the excess water out of the system over the next several days. When it gets to normal level, I'll top off with salt water until the salinity is back to 35ppt. By then, I will have installed the second back-up float switch that will turn off the solenoid if the water level ever gets an inch higher than "normal".
Zeph
It is still hanging, but the thought was to get some cable-clamps and clamp the line on each side.
Good timing on bringing this to the top today.
I did have an issue with the float today. As mentioned (somewhere) above, the only fail-safe the shown design has is the ball valve on the input line. If the float sticks, the ball valve limits how fast the water runs in to the tank. That is what saved my tank today. At some point this morning, a snail sat on the float between the base and the moving part, pegging the float in the "fill" position. I had the ball valve open further than I should have, and over the next four hours that I was out of the house, it added at least 15 gallons of fresh water to my system. I say at least, because I have an "emergency" overflow on the sump that goes direct to the drain. Water was flowing over it when I got home (slowly).
The salinity in the system (about 200 gallons) went from 35ppt to 33ppt.
I knew the above was a possibility, but I had not added another fail-safe. Guess that is on the list for tomorrow. At the time I installed the above, I did not have snails in the system. I have tons now, courtesy of local reefers. They do a great job on cleanup, but they reproduce like crazy, so there is always some small ones running around. All it takes is one in the perfect place at the wrong time, and my fish get a fresh-water swim.
It's been about 3 hours since I discovered it, and everything looks perfectly fine. The leather is still open, the corals look great, the fish are fine... except for the snail that got smashed when I fiddled the float, it looks like I may have escaped without casualties.
Not wanting to shock them any further, I drained 5 gallons to get the water level in the sump down a little. I disconnected the power to the solenoid, and well let evaporation take the excess water out of the system over the next several days. When it gets to normal level, I'll top off with salt water until the salinity is back to 35ppt. By then, I will have installed the second back-up float switch that will turn off the solenoid if the water level ever gets an inch higher than "normal".
Zeph
Zephrant
Premium Member
I just wanted to mention- I had removed the black kent float valve when I installed a kalk reactor earlier this year, so I had removed part of my original fail-safe that would have saved me in this case.
The problem with a Kalk reactor is that they can't take much water pressure. Leaving the kent float valve in would have meant that my reactor flooded... which might be a better idea than having the water dump in my tank.... maybe I'll re-think that one.
But the best answer is another float valve, mounted above the other one. Since it is out of the water, not much chance of a snail sitting on it, so pretty safe.
More pictures when I get it installed.
Zeph
The problem with a Kalk reactor is that they can't take much water pressure. Leaving the kent float valve in would have meant that my reactor flooded... which might be a better idea than having the water dump in my tank.... maybe I'll re-think that one.
But the best answer is another float valve, mounted above the other one. Since it is out of the water, not much chance of a snail sitting on it, so pretty safe.
More pictures when I get it installed.
Zeph
NoFear29
New member
Zeph,
Thanks for the reply. I ended up hanging my solenoid by using zip ties and a nail. Seems to work fine. By the way, thanks for posting this DIY project. It is working great on my setup... Excellent job. I am waiting until Monday to order my float valve, seems like that is the way to go.
NF29
Thanks for the reply. I ended up hanging my solenoid by using zip ties and a nail. Seems to work fine. By the way, thanks for posting this DIY project. It is working great on my setup... Excellent job. I am waiting until Monday to order my float valve, seems like that is the way to go.
NF29
NoFear29
New member
Zeph,
Thanks for the reply. I ended up hanging my solenoid by using zip ties and a nail. Seems to work fine. By the way, thanks for posting this DIY project. It is working great on my setup... Excellent job. I am waiting until Monday to order my float valve, seems like that is the way to go.
NF29
Thanks for the reply. I ended up hanging my solenoid by using zip ties and a nail. Seems to work fine. By the way, thanks for posting this DIY project. It is working great on my setup... Excellent job. I am waiting until Monday to order my float valve, seems like that is the way to go.
NF29
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