diy auto top off

[SuperDodge]

For all the guys that were asking me for a diagram, I apologize as I have been out of town and didn't see this thread progressing. You can get a picture of how to wire it up and see a few pictures of my setup at:

http://www.reefmonkey.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=518

 

[Stile2]

billag,
Thanks for catching that 12v ac problem. I didn't read the fine print on the transformer close enough.

I will add the rest of that circuit to the plan.

Again thanks you saved me from some problems later.



SuperDodge,

Thanks for the link.

Keith

 

[Stile2]

Well, I had to add the bridge rectifier to the circuit, but as you can see it has getten rather complicated.

So I dug around my old computer stuff and found this

I cut it open and found

So now the circuit looks like this

I am headed to Radio Shack to pick up the rest of the parts right now and will let you guys know how it goes.

Keith

 

[smooth_9]

Hello all I just finished my auto topoff. Remember all to add a fuse inline for safey.

SMooTH

 

[smooth_9]

SuperDodge, Bad link

 

[bstear]

Any pictures smooth? I find schematics a little hard to follow

 

[jay24k]

Man all this stuff is confusing. No wonder I stopped my engineering degree lol. You guys got any pictures of it being built cause all these lines are confusing as hell.

 

[Stile2]

I'll get pictures tonight of mine, it's almost done. But not in the power center.

But believe me the pictures will be harder to follow than the schematic.

Keith

 

[Stile2]

BTW there are a few problems with my schematic (this is my first electronics project).

The LED's only go in one way. Flat side toward the negative side.

Keith

 

[smooth_9]

Hello, I will post some pictures later this afternoon. I am still working on something to attach float switch to sump.

SMooTH

 

[gdavis17]

I saw this thread and decided to give it a try. I am either going to build Fonchy's pressurized auto topoff or the one from http://www.melevsreef.com/plumbing/auto_topoff.html . Does anyone have any pro's or con's for which one to mold it off of. Also, where how reliable are the float switches from http://www.floatswitches.net/floatswitch.html ? Lastly, someone stated that you need some sort of guard to keep wandering snails off of the float switch, what material do you think would work best because the switch will be going in the corner of my main tank (I do not have a sump)? Thanks in advance for all the advice.

 

[smooth_9]

Those are the float switches I bought I will let me know how good they are in a few months.

http://www.floatswitches.net/floatswitch.html

 

[Stile2]

If you read earlier in the thread, don't use Melev's float switch to 120v system. The 120v and current is too much for the switch, you will be killing the life of the switch. That is why we are using relays.

I don't know about reliability of the switch I will let you know when they fail.

As for keeping snails etc off. just put the switch into a length of PVC with caps and small holes in both caps.

Keith

 

[bstear]

I wonder if Melev is aware of this discussion. PErhaps he could add something about the life of his switch. I would assume he has had it running for quite a while now. I am waiting to see how to hook all this up before I get a float.

 

[Fonchy]

I got the float from a friend and if im not mistaken that float is the same as floatscwitch.com. My top-off has been working for a while now and I havent had any problems with it. As a matter of fact Im going to put a pump on the side and make it a kalk reactor, that is why i have that easy spout lid. My pump is a battery pump and I have not change the battery yet (1 "D" cell battery. No need for all this fancy relays.

 

[ctxmonitor]

I want to join in on this thread as well. I am also in the process of building one of this. I got two float switch from http://www.floatswitches.net too.

I am still a little confuse from all these diagram..

My question is why you need a relay for ?? Can't you just plug a DC adaptor into the wall like one Keith found laying around and hook that up with the pump and switch??

 

[Stile2]

The relay allows 12v to be going through the switches and near the water. And the relay will switch the pump (or in my case RODI solenoid) on and off.

The other major thing that the relay does is prolong the life of the switches. As someone pointed out earlier in the thread, 120v and regular house current going through the switches can cause them to weld together in the on position.

I will try to draw a more understandable diagram this weekend. I stalled on doing mine for the last few days.

HTH
Keith

 

[ctxmonitor]

The 12v going through the relay is AC or DC? If the relay is just to lower the 120v AC to 12v AC, then what you need the 12v DC for?

What I am asking is could you use a 12v DC and connect a pump to that? Would that work?

 

[smooth_9]

The 12 vdc (I used a old cell phone charger) turns the relay on when the floatswitch is on. The coil of the relay needs 12v to switch contacts from 110vac to the feed pump. I will post mine soon.

 

[Stile2]

I suppose that you could use 12v dc for the switch and the pump, if and I think a big if, you could find a pump that works on 12v dc.
All my pumps and my soleniod works on 120v ac. The 12v transformer converts the 120v ac to 12v dc, which is what the coil on the relay needs.

Here is a more basic diagram of the system. This has no led's to tell you if the power is on, if the pump is on, or if float switch #1 has failed.

Hope this helps.

Keith