too many low level alerts on osmolator

[AlienSpawn]

I have had an Osmolator 3155 in place now for about 6 months. It has worked great this whole time. recently though the low level alarm goes off several times a day. I have checked the return and it seems to have a good flow from the pump to the overflow. It is a 215 gallon tank with a 50 gallon sump. I have three icecap 4" fans blowing across the water and the MH lamps. There is alot of evaporation. I was wondering if the dry air from the household heating in the winter could be causing it to evaporate faster than the osmolator can replace without sounding a warning. I also have the calcium dispenser 5024 so there has been some kalk exposure to the pump. can you clean it? how? Can I turn it up to 12v to compensate? What do you think?

 

[cryptodendrum]

AlienSpawn: The Osmolator pump is rated for 12+ gallons an hour - I doubt your evaporating this fast.

What I suspect is your experiencing calcium buildup blockage somewhere inline of your osmolator pump.

As I have modified my 3155 to literally inject the kalkwasser into my protein skimmer, I am familiar with the clogging effects about every 3-5 months if I do not perform preventative maintenance on the injector lead.

When it does start to clog, the low level alarms start to sound. Once I clean it, it'll go a few months before it starts again.

Let things soak in pure vinager overnight to really become clean. Drop a powerhead in the vineager bucket for better cleaning.

 

[rvitko]

You can go up to 12V. The pump will only run for 10 minutes, that is a safety so it is feasible given your desciption that you could out evaporate the pumps capabilities in 10 minutes.

 

[cryptodendrum]

rvitko,

Obviously I do not know as much about this as I thought I did - did not realize the max run time was short as 10 minutes.

Were there more features than this? I do not recall any manuals with mine - were these originally shipped with some? I checked the US website, but did not see any there.

cheers

 

[rvitko]

I can email you the manual if you PM me an email address but yes, that is a safety feature, the logic is, if it takes more than 10minutes your tank must be leaking and no point in making the flood bigger, this is always in the advertisements and on the web page in the product description.

 

[AlienSpawn]

I have the manual that came with the osmolator. I just wanted to know if that seemed possible. I did not notice cleaning directions for the pump in it though. Is there any disassembly? What do you do? Thanks!

 

[rvitko]

In general you don't clean it and it can't be disassembled. If you use it with kalk which voids the warranty it may need a soak in vinegar periodically.

 

[AlienSpawn]

I am still getting the low level alerts and the pump is running fine as far as I can tell. Is there any way to hook up a second pump to run simultaneously? I have to leave it off all the time (it seems to like to go off in the middle of the night) and replace my topoff manually. Any suggestions?

 

[rvitko]

I think your evaporation rate is just beyond what it can handle. The first thing I would try is bumping the power supply to 12V and maybe propping up the reservoir to reduce the delivery head. Short of that the only solution will be a switched socket 3150.11 and using a larger pump.

 

[AlienSpawn]

I turned it up to 12v. No luck. The resevior it is in has auto replacement from the RO/DI filter so it is always full. The pump is in the very bottom of the resevoir. It also runs through a Tunze calcium replacement canister with Kalk, but like I said the flow rate seems the same as is always has, which is good. Any other suggestions?

 

[rvitko]

Your evaporation rate is probably just a lot higher given how dry this winter is. Their isnt anything else I can suggest.

 

[AlienSpawn]

ok, thanks.

 

[AlienSpawn]

Sorry to keep bugging you but it went off after just about 3 minutes when i was checking it. The 'too high' light is solid red, and the 'too low' light is blinking red. Could there be some other problem?

 

[rvitko]

Is the sensor dirty or is their any magnetic inteference? Provided the sensors are clean I would say send it in.

 

[AlienSpawn]

I have cleaned the sensor several times and there is no magnetic interference. I will check the timing again. Where do I send it?

 

[rvitko]

Tunze USA
1304 Monica St
Austin TX 78758