pump for jbj ato suggestions

[Tabasco]

I'm looking for suggestions on a pump to use with a jbj ato. My system is about 35 total gallons and I lose about a gallon a day. I got it through Dr. F&S and the person I talked to recommended an auqa lifter... well, that is not working. I got a back up pump at the same time and that one doesn't work either so it is not a lemon, just they way they work. Where my resovoir is I will have about 2ft of verticle head which is what I think is giving the aqualifter problems.

TIA!

 

[Donkeykong]

The problem with using a pump that is stronger than the aqualifter is that you end up dumping a lot of water into that small of a system before the switch is kicked off. I would look into the BRS doser pump, it is $80 so definitely more than other pumps but it is a slow controlled flow and will handle up to 20ft of head pressure.

 

[Tabasco]

Thanks DK. I was really hoping to avoid that kind of $. Would the aqualifter be reliable if the head was only 12". I could probably make that happen.

 

[Mekanic]

I use the JBJ and an aqualifter on my open top 90g under halides.

Just open up the JBJ and there is a pot you can turn to adjust the max time it will run the pump before the safety kicks in and turns the pump off.

I have mine set to about 7 minutes. All the way COUNTER CLOCKWISE is 14 minutes

 

[Tabasco]

Thanks Mekanic, I don't think it is the ato that is turning the pump off. The light for the pump indicating it is on is lit up but the pump isn't running. It will run for about a minute then turns off. So it seems that it is pump that is not handling the head.

Do you think if I reduced the head the aqua lifter would work? How much head do you have on yours?

 

[Mekanic]

The light for the pump will stay on but be dim when the safety cuts it off, to turn it back on lift and drop the float switch to reset it.

I have about 2' of head on mine

 

[dan-in-gr]

Hi, I use an Aqualifter, but have the pump sitting on top of the Kalk reactor, and it pulls up the liquid from top off sump about 18 inches. Try putting your pump at the highest level with sump, etc. They say max is about 30 inches or so, you did not mention if you are trying to push water higher than that.

 

[Donkeykong]

Max head pressure is 30" so you should be good at 24". You say it runs for a minute but shuts off, when it is running how much water is being pumped? a minute should be close to 3.5 gallons, that would be a lot for just top off.

 

[Tabasco]

Thanks all for helping me figure this out. It is not having to pump higher than 30". The resivoir is about 24" tall and the pump set on top of the resivoir. From there to pump into the sump is about 24" across, but the line slopes down and does not have to pump up at all. It is not pumping anywhere close to 3 gallons of water. I've hooked up both aqua lifters and they both perform the same. It is pumping a little more than a trickle for about a minute and then stops.

 

[Donkeykong]

So when it stops I am guessing the water is still low? I had a very simliar setup and it did the same thing, sensor would indicate low and then a slow trickle for 30 seconds then off when float indicate high. A slow trickle is all these ever produce, they are rated at 3.5 gallon an hour.

 

[Tabasco]

ah, I thought in your previous post you were saying 3.5g/minute. It would probably be putting out 3.5g/hr. Yes, correct, the water is still below the sensor when the pump stops. The light for the pump is still on the ato controller. I am scared the pump will burn out or something so after a minute of not pumping water I unplug the controller. Am I just doing something wrong? I have never set up an ato before.

 

[Mekanic]

When it turns off reset the float switch (manually raise and lower it) if it comes back on its working as it's supposed to. Just crack open the jbj and turn that adjustment screw to increase the max run time

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk 2

 

[Tabasco]

I will give that a try. Question, I am concerned about burning out the pump if I leave it on when the pump light is on but the pump isnt running. Should I just let it go and see what happens? I usually unplug it cuz I don't want to burn it out. Another detail when the pump stops and the light is still on, when I touch the pump the motor is not running. It is still. So it isn't TRYING to pump but not pumping. It is just off.

Thanks so much for help!

 

[Mekanic]

The JBJ has a feature that turns off the pump if the float switch stays open for more than X minutes, to prevent running the pump forever in the event of a float switch that's failed open.

The pump light WILL stay on when it goes into safety mode. I ran into this problem when I set mine up in that the Aqualifter pumped so slow, that with the JBJ default setting, if my sump was 1/2" or more low, it would shut off and have to be reset (raise and lower the float switch)

Answer ... Open the JBJ and lengthen the amount of run time from the default 3 minute 45 seconds (yours may be less if you bought used and someone was using it with a large pump) to about 7 minutes (halfway).

Hope that helps more

~Rich

 

[Tabasco]

Absolutely! I am really hoping that is the issue. I bought mine new so it should have the preset. I don't think it is for 3 minutes though. I was testing it out on my sump that was about 3" low in water.

Thanks so much!

 

[Mekanic]

No problem at all. Once you set it you'll have to either manually to off to get rid of the 3"disparity or keep restring the float switch.after that shouldn't have to mess with it again.

unless you're like me and forget to fill the top off container lol.. I'm which case just rest the switch to get her pumping again

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk 2

 

[Tabasco]

Mekanic-It seems like that was the issue. I messed with it last night and manually filled the disparity and then tested with raising and lowering the sensor manually to trigger the pump and it worked 10 out of 10 times. I didn't completely set it up because it was kindof late and I want to be there for a couple hours the first time I let it go completely automatic.

Thank you SO much for your help in getting this figured out! And thanks to the other responses as well!

 

[gweston]

I have a JBJ ATO and aqualifter combo. It works ok, but make sure everything is working right before leaving the ATO running with a large reservoir of RODI. If things aren't set or positioned right it could just keep on pumpin'. I had that happen once... but the 5gal reservoir it dumped into a 245 gal total system didn't affect salinity much. If it had dumped 5gal into my 29gal display, then that'd have been a bit more of a worrisome situation.

I will soon be relegating the JBJ to quarantine tank ATO.I'm planning to pick up some quality float valves and then wire everything into a controller (Apex - w/break-out i/o box). That in of itself isn't a complete fix though. I'd still need a quality pump. Initially, again, I'll stick to the aqualifter. The hope is to eventually put in a dosing pump.

 

[RL321]

I have a brs 1.1 ml doser with the jbj ato on my 45 cube with no problems.

 

[napsterMS]

I have the best results with an aqualifter as well. They just work and are easy to replace.