Osmolator not working right

[Shooter7]

Just installed my osmolator into my sump and turned it on earlier today. Water in my sump was a bit low and needing topped off, so it ran and ran until it got to the bottom of the sensor at the level I wanted it to be and stopped. Cool. Walked off to do some other stuff and check it later. Checked it a couple hours later and the water level was a bit higher. hmmmmm

Checked it now, about 4 hours after turning it on, and the sensor thing is completely submerged. Light on the controller is green, showing level, but it's at the top of the sensor thing, not down at the bottom like it was when it stopped the first time. Can someone tell me what I've either done wrong or why it's not functioning properly? I'm going on a bit of a trip soon and was counting on this popular topoff unit to take care of things for me while I was away. thanks

 

[dragon_slayer]

you have a siphon drawing the water into the sump, the best way is to have the osmolator pump up into the tank and have it above water level so it won't back siphon.

kc

 

[spleen93]

I have my osmolator set up to pump the water into my overflow. Therefore, I avoid having high pH kalkwasser dropped directly into the tank and as dragon_slayer said, I avoid developing the siphon which would continue to draw water out of the freshwater reservoir.

Also, did you clean the sensor before installing it? It's good practice to wash the optical eye with soap and water before installing it because initially it can have problems reading the water level properly. (can't quite remember the exact reason why Roger's recommended this in the past)

Spleen

 

[Shooter7]

Ok, trying to see if this is the case. The way I have my system set up is that my sump is in the room behind my tank, sitting on the floor. It is a homemade acrylic sump, I have the brackets for the osmolator clamped onto the reinforcing trim around the top of the sump, in the return pump area. There is a shelf about 8 inches above this sump. I have a 20g glass tank sitting right by this sump as the reservoir of RO/DI with the osmolator pump in it, this tank is almost exactly the same height as my sump. The water tube from the pump goes up out of the 20g reservoir, goes up to the shelf above the sump where the extra tubing is coiled (temporary setup while testing the system), and then is directed down to the sump where the end of the tube was about 2 inches above the sump water line.

The 20g tank was almost full to the top. The sump maintains a water level that is about 4 inches down from the top. So you're saying that even though the tubing from the osmolator pump is nearly a foot above both tanks, that because the end of that tubing is slightly below the water level in my reservoir tank that it's still able to siphon and try to reach an equilibrium between the two? Here's a pic of my sump when it was first set up. There's now a shelf over it and the skimmer is in the middle compartment. The 20g reservoir is on the end where you can see the fan laying on the floor in the pic. You can see that the water level in the sump is a few inches below the top of the sump, if this helps any at all.

thanks

 

[dragon_slayer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10055385#post10055385 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Shooter7


the end of that tubing is slightly below the water level in my reservoir tank that it's still able to siphon

YES that is exactly how a siphon works

kc

 

[rvitko]

Route the top off hose up to the tank and the problem should be solved.

 

[Shooter7]

Thanks kc, yeah, I understand how a siphon works, I was just surprised that there would be enough pressure from the RO/DI reservoir to push water up nearly a foot above the tanks and back down again. Guess I didn't give physics enough credit here.

Thanks Roger, I'd rather just keep the tube in my sump area if possible, much easier to work with. I would figure if I just raise the output of the tube above the level of the water line in the reservoir, that should eliminate the problem, no?

 

[rvitko]

I cannot say for sure but we always recommend going up to the tank as it is the safest way.

 

[dragon_slayer]

as long as the output of the pump hose is higher then the water line inside the reservoir and it's in the air (not submerged) it'll break siphon from the reservoir when the pump turns off.

as mentioned run it up to the tank, it's not difficult at all, just snake the tube up the back side of the tank and secure it with a zip-tie inside the canopy just above the water line or to the center bracing/euro bracing above the water line, problem solved.

kc