Osmolator 3155 Installation

[Moisted]

I just spent a couple hours trying to set up my new 3155 with no luck, I'm a little frustrated. I wish I knew German, because the english instructions leaves a lot to be desired. Wonder how a company so big can't hire a professional translator.

Anyways, (... I know, I need to cool down, sorry, I'll be okay ). The problem is with the glass in my tan. I need to install the Osmolator on my sumpless tank. But I have a Haegan tank that has a black plastic trim around the edge of the glass all around the tank. The Osmolator's holding device does not sit straight on the edge of the black trim because of the extra thickness of the trim. See illustration below:

The Osmolator's clamp holder that' supposed to tighten the assembly to the back of the glass is too small, it does not reach the glass, it only sits crooked on top of the black trim.

Anyone ever had this problem? Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks

 

[rvitko]

I would just skip the clamps, and use the silicon attachment method. The install kit came with some small fiberglass plates that you can silicon to the tank glass. This is a more professional looking installation. Unfortunately I have never seen such trim, I am sure their is a way but it would be a do it yourself project, I would probably find a shim that could be placed in between the trim and bracket to make it square.

FWIW, i wouldn' consider a company that is family owned with 30+ employees big. We do the best we can and every revision gets a little better, the manuals are professionally translated by a British man who has lived in Germany for over 10 years. The English is British and because the translator doesn't keep aquariums it isn't as smooth as it should be. Now I proofread them as well so any future revisions should be better.

 

[Moisted]

Thanks Roger.
I actually did a bit of surgery on my tank since I posted the last message. I cut off the trim in a 10 cm area of my tank where I was planning to install the Osmolator. This took a bit of work (knife, saw, thinner to losen up the trim glue, etc.), but I was able to relatively cleanly remove the trim.

However, once I secured the two holding devices of the Osmolator, I noticed that my normal water level is too high for the Osmolator system to work. If I push the optical sensor assembly up as high as it goes, it stays way under my current water level. Even if I bring my water level down to provide the 40mm recommendation in the instructions, the position of the safety sensor will not be high enough relative to the optical sensor.

I have to push the optical sensor down a couple of cm's in order to have the safety sensor in a reasonable position to perform its cutoff job. That means my water level has to go down at least 5 cm from its current level. I simply cannot do that, in addition to looking bad it would leave my Powerheads and some of my Xenia half-out of water.

The other problem I noticed is that on the safety assembly if you fasten the bolt reasonably tight, the float becomes sticky and does not freely move up and down (it keeps hitting against the the locking screw in the top assembly). I either have to leave the bolt unfasten, or move the whole safety sensor down even further to avoid hitting the top assembly.

 

[rvitko]

Their is a trick to doing this on a sumpless tank, I apologize as I assumed this was a sump and had to reread your first post. You have to use two rails side by side. You have to ignore the top notch where the clamp nomally goes and install the clamp through the holes that act as stops for the sensor clips. This allows you to install the sensor closer to the top. I know of the problem with the float, you can gently bend the holder downward to fix this problem. The sensors can be placed closer when you use two rails. Just cut off the sections that would stick out.

 

[Moisted]

I was finally able to install my Osmolator without lowering the level of the water in my tank too much. I did have to be creative though, I raised the holders up higher than usual, and took your advice Roger and did not use the top assemblies that came with the unit. However, the part that was supposed to hold the unit from the back of the glass also was too small, so I replaced it with a piece of wood as you can see in the picture.

It's been working fine for a week now.

 

[rvitko]

I got your email, I am sorry I haven't responded, I had 89 emails and 22 phone calls when I got back, plus I had 21 orders to fill and 2 shipments to put away, I am just about caught up. Your pictures didn't come through, can you repost them.

 

[Moisted]

Sorry, had a spelling mistake in the picture name. Corrected it now, (do a Refresh).

 

[rvitko]

That looks like a good install. As far as the board I would try to get a spare rail or maybe use a piece you cut off and replace the board with that.

 

[Moisted]

That sounds good Roger. I just wanted to get this up before going on vacation and make sure it's stable and working (I'm leaving in about an hour ... :rollface: ).

I'll clean it up after I come back...
Thanks for your help.