Neptune Apex ATK (Auto Topoff Kit)

chgoblknazn said:
So if we already have an Apex and FMM, the ATK will be powered by that and we can ditch the outlet power cord? It will open up the outlet that is currently occupied by my Tunze's power cord?
Click to expand...



My understanding is that the FMM needs the power supply for the 24V outlet used for the PMUP pump. The FMM power supply could be plugged into a regular outlet, freeing up an outlet on you EB8 or EB832. Alternatively, if you have an EB832, you could plug the 24V PMUP cable into that and ditch the cord for the FMM completely.

If you have the FMM connected to your Apex and supplied by the power supply, in not sure what would happen with the ATK if the Apex were to loose power or otherwise stop functioning. Would the ATK continue to function normally or not at all?



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Does anyone know about IQ-Fill? Neptune web site states "stand alone mode only". Why wouldn't this work with an Apex?
 
I just confirmed with Neptune that if you have an Apex, you can re-program which 24V port the PMUP uses and run it off of the EB832, meaning you could run the FMM and sensors off the Aquabus alone and skip the separate power supply.

Good question on the IQ fill. I assumed it works the same whether you use it with an Apex or as a standalone unit, but I haven't seen anything confirming or denying that. I wonder if it was connected to the Apex if it would send an alarm if it timed out while filling?
 
IQ fill is only in standalone mode. It learns how long it takes to fill then alerts you if it passes. This is because in standalone there is no way to program the FMM to tell it how long it should pump for.

In Apex, you can time your fill and set an alarm or shut off it it exceeds that time. I'm pretty sure the standard code already has code for extended on times but you can fine tune that.


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I want one because it integrates with the Apex, but for a $20 price difference over the Osmolator, I don't really see the advantage either.
On the other hand the FMM has 4 ports and you're only using for this so you could definitely do more with this at a later date.
 
I would say then tunze and the ATK are similar in terms of quality. ATK has an extra level of safety with the float vale and the bonus of custom programming if you hand an apex

The other plus for the ATK is the extra sensor ports for leak detection or low level ATO bucket sensor. I believe you could also plug a flow sensor into it when apex connected




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shiftline said:
I would say then tunze and the ATK are similar in terms of quality. ATK has an extra level of safety with the float vale and the bonus of custom programming if you hand an apex

The other plus for the ATK is the extra sensor ports for leak detection or low level ATO bucket sensor. I believe you could also plug a flow sensor into it when apex connected

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Click to expand...

Just posted a review of my initial experience with the ATK.

The float valve is nice, I guess, but likely ends up being of limited value for many. in my case, even if the entire ATO reservoir dumped into my sump it wouldn't flood and the drop in salinity, while suboptimal, would not be catastrophic. After that, the Tunze has essentially the same safeguards, just implemented slightly differently.

A big downsides of the ATK used as a standalone system is that the high level sensor is so close to the low level sensor and that it won't reset itself after an alarm.
 
I do agree with you on that last point I would have liked the high level to be half an inch higher... or maybe adjustable


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You could always dremmel the hole taller to make the second sensor adjustable


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How far away can my reservoir be from the tank? Is the PMUP capable of pumping from a 15-20 foot distance? Can I use the ATK with my existing Peristaltic pump and still retain the features of the ATK?

Thanks
 
The cable on the pump was 6-8' maybe? Can't recall but I bought an extensions since it's pretty far away in my tank


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Distance isn't an issue. Just head height. I'm fairly sure someone said they were pumping it up from the floor below


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TerenceF said:
I am going to disagree with you here on the "limited value" statement. For many, 10g of RODI in their 40-60g tank while away for the weekend would not be optimal.

Also, only in standalone mode, and with feed modes >10 minutes, would covering the second sensor cause an alarm and a condition requiring a reset.

Also, if one wanted to have more of a gap on the two sensors, the bracket could be flipped over and the sensors rearranged.
Click to expand...

Yes, it obviously depends on the relative sizes of your tank & ATO reservoir.

The most common feed mode I've seen has been 30 minutes, and even 10 minute feed modes do not instantly drop the water level down. If you have a controller, you could program a 9 minute feed mode, but having a controller negates the alarm issue anyway.

shiftline said:
You could always dremmel the hole taller to make the second sensor adjustable
Click to expand...

Yes, I thought of that, but I would still end up with issues at startup (my average fill time was 15-20 seconds, and it takes > 1 minute for my beananimal overflow to equilibrate at startup, so the ATK IQ Fill would cause an error then.
 
FWIW, I have a PMUP about 40 ft in the shed to pump fresh RODI water to my ATO container. The tank is 50" high and then it's pretty much a horizontal run to my ATO container. The water pumping in is a pretty slow drip and takes about two hours to fill the container with 20 gallons of water.
 
I installed the ATK yesterday on my tank. I decided to use it the first few days in standalone mode and then connect it to my apex.

My first thought is that if you have a Tunze Osmolator, there is no need to spend $200 on this. The Tunze worked for me for years. I dropped the control box in saltwater more than a year ago, it had rust and was starting to fail so I needed a new ATO.

Here are the differences so far.

  • Takes up more space - this might or might not be a problem for some.
  • I like the float valve that won't just alarm but it actually stops the flow of water.
  • The alarms aren't at loud as the Osmolator - not even close.
  • With the Osmolator, i had the freshwater going into a different area of the sump than the sensors. I'm going to need additional hardware to do that with the ATK - to be honest I don't even remember why I did this in the first place, probably because I didn't have enough of the Tunze black tubing that came with the Osmolator.
  • Because I had the freshwater going to a different area of the sump and it takes a few seconds for the frshwater to reach the sensor area, I adjusted the distance between the primary optical eye and the float valve on the Tunze, this stopped the alarming when the eye shut off the pump but there is still some water to reach that area of the sump. - Because everything is in the same area with the PMUP this is not an issue.
  • I wish the cable lenght of the PMUP was longer - It was a pain to get the FMM module where I mount my Apex equipment. If I moved the module closer, then I have an issue with how short the supplied aquabus cable is to get back to the Apex

All in all these are really small things and I'm just griping. I needed an ATO I got this one and its just been a day but it's performing.

My Osmolator pump was really loud, even thought I replaced it still loud. But I'm not sure if it's because my control box was messed up but the PMUP is quieter - I wouldn't say dead silent.
 
I had the same observations regarding the Tunze pump vs the PMUP. The PMUP is quieter, stronger and more solid; overall it just seems like a better pump. That said, the Tunze pump on my osmolator is still going strong after 5 years... The float valve on the ATK also restricts the flow a lot, so you need a stronger pump just for that. If you configure the ATK without the float valve I bet you'd see quite a bit of flow.

Apex makes an extension cord for the the 24V power cord, so you could get one of those, otherwise it's a plain 2 wire cord that would be easy enough to splice yourself.

The holder for the ATK makes set up easier but definitely limits the flexibility. It would be nice if they could do both.
 
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