head loss for MJ and RO tubing?

Capt_Cully

Capt_Cully

Active member
Trying to configure a kalk drip system. I want to automate it. Need to get fresh RO from the laundry room over to the tank's stand. I have openings in the floor to run RO tubing from the main RO reservoir to the still reservoir that will hold the kalkwasser. I'd like to use supplies I have on hand. MJ1200 or 900 with standard RO tubing (1/4"?). Can an MJ handle the head pressure? How can I calculate it?

Thanks
 
Fill a bucket with some water at the level of the reservoir, drop the mj in it, turn it on, see how long it takes to fill a 1 gallon milk jug. I'm going to guess about 3.56 minutes per gallon with a 1200, but you should definitely check.
 
You think it will be able handle the head pressure of an 8 or 10 foot run of tubing? Would larger bore tubing be more or less beneficial?
 
Any chance you can spring for a peristaltic dosing pump? The BRS 50ml would be a good fit for this. Not sure I trust a MJ to do this, not saying it can't.

Why not put a Kalk bucket in the washer room and use a BRS dosing pump to push right into the sump? Then you don't have to deal with it under the tank.
 
That's what I've got Pascal. I need to get water from the main RO reservoir to the 5 gallon salt bucket under the tank. This is where I will have an MJ on a timer in the 5 gallon bucket to mix the kalk 12 hours prior to being dosed. Once it settles in the still reservoir, a BRS 50ml/ min doser will dose it in over night.

Its basically getting the RO from A to B that I'm concerned with. I'd put kalk in my main reservoir, but it'd be to much of a PITA to remove it for periodic cleaning, thus the second still reservoir.
 
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Could you tee off the feed line from your ro unit to feed both the reservoir in the laundry room and the one upstairs? The water pressure in the line would do it. I run a tee off mine to an upstairs faucet without any loss. A shut off float valve in the reervoir upstairs would obivate the need to wait for it to fill Don't think the mj puts up much psi; might work though.
 
I don't want to risk an overflow Tom. I've got EVERYTHING backed up in the event of a float valve failure. I'm not sure I could do that with the still reservoir under the tank without risking it spilling over into the tank or drilling more holes in my wall and altering plumbing. If I have to, I'll grab a small Mag. I can minimize risk of It getting stuck on and overflowing by placing it at the very top of the RO reservoir. If it gets stuck on, it'll run dry before it overflows my still reservoir. Obviously everything has potential pitfalls, but you take "acceptable " risks with everything everyday when you have an ocean in your house.
 
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I'm sure the MJ will handle that fine horizontally but it'll probably be kinda slow.

I'm curious about your overall gameplan with this setup. Will you turn that MJ on manually to refill the 5g bucket as needed, or will that be automated too?

The reason why I ask is because it sounds like you have one more pump than you need in the system. If you've got a pump going from your RO tank to the kalk tank, AND a pump going from the kalk tank to the sump, and both pumps will be automated, you might be able to do away with one or the other and either use a pressurized kalk tank or gravity drain from the kalk tank to the sump if it's vertically above the sump. For instance, you could use the BRS doser to push water from the RO tank to the kalk tank, and have a gravity drain line high up in the kalk tank that let an equal amount of water drain into the sump.

Does that make sense? That's basically what I had on my tank the first time it was running. Now I'm using a Brute to store a large volume of kalk so I don't have to have a "reactor" style system where it's constantly mixed.
 
I have 2 separate controllers. One is in the room where my RO reservoir is and controls my tank top off. Runs one minute at a time twice a day. It will controlled the pump responsible for filling my kalk still reservoir under the tank. There are configuration issues with regard to back siphon which have lead me to my proposed layout.

The other controller is for the tank. It will turn on a powerhead to mix the kalk solution 12 hours before it is dosed by the peristaltic pump. That will give it time to settle out into saturated kalkwasser prior to being dosed overnight when pH dips.

Perhaps there is one too many pumps included, but overall run time will be minimal for all of them.
 
Yeah, I'm just wondering from a balance standpoint - that you're adding the same amount of water to the kalk tank as you're taking out in a given day. Are one or both of the pumps controlled by float switches?

I'm just thinking out loud here, I'm sure you've thought this all through. :)
 
that pump wont pump very far uphill Mark you could use a 2 1/2gal or 5 gal bucket for your kalk mix . hell mine only goes through a five gallon jug per month so theres not a heck of a lot of maintence on such a thing .yes this dripping will have to be stepped up when everything starts really growing but my stuff is noticeably growing and i have not had to increase a thing yet . my calcium had dropped from 500ish down ti 450 so i will have to begin stepping up the rising soon but its quite predictable IMO.
 
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der_wille_zur_macht said:
Yeah, I'm just wondering from a balance standpoint - that you're adding the same amount of water to the kalk tank as you're taking out in a given day. Are one or both of the pumps controlled by float switches?

I'm just thinking out loud here, I'm sure you've thought this all through. :)
Click to expand...

Not sure I'm following you here Nate.

Plan is to help maintain DKH by using a multifaceted approach. Kalk and BRS 2 part and potentially a calcium reactor.
 
I mean, if you've got a pump adding water to the kalk tank, and a different pump taking it out, how do you know you're gonna have the same volume through each pump each day? If one or both are controlled by float switches you're fine.

If I continue to confuse you, just ignore me. :D
 
I don't completely trust float switches. I have more trust to controllers that floats. That said, having my sump under the tank allows for constant monitoring by myself. So. It is automated, but closely supervised. All the pumps are really doing is save me from lugging buckets. Sure they provide me with some consistency should I forget to fill a bucket or get caught working late. But overall its a slave set up.
 
I do not think the maxijet 900 will raise the water 8 feet but I could be wrong. Marineland website says max head 4'

http://www.marineland.com/sites/marineland/products/Detail.aspx?id=3421

The reefcentral head loss calculator agrees with 0 gph at 8 feet.

If it is going to be montiored automatic, how about just having an on/off switch in the stand connected to whatever pump is in the basement (or wherever). Then all you need do is flip it on wait the 3-4 minutes it takes to fill the 5g bucket then turn it off. I had a set up similar for water changes.

Dave
 
my friend runs his kalk reactor and his ato through his controller. it's all top notch stuff. i don't trust it. i wouldn't go macgyver on this one. his alk is all over the place and he's still playing the two part game. i'd keep it old school. just when he thinks it dialed in ,wham. a probe drifts,a switch sticks,etc. iv tube and gravity? or just two part and keep up with wc.
 
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