tunze auto top off

[hredder]

I just got my ato and wow its working great...just one issue..the piece that holds the outtake tube where it fills the sump with water..its hard to really tighten that screw so it fits securely onto the rail..any advice..anyone else have that issue

 

[rvitko]

Personally I drill the hole in the hose clamp slightly larger so it is not so tight on the screw, basically just loose enough that it barely slides through without threading it. Then it is pretty easy to use. Otherwise I would thread the screw through the clamp while holding the two ends together so they don't get spread out by the threads of the screw. I use needlenose to hold the nut while I tighten the screw and secure it to the holder after that.

 

[hredder]

ok things not working so great..i left for maybe an hour. came back the 4 gallon i put in the bucket..all of it was in the sump..i have the sensor on the bottom right where i want the water level to be and i have the high water in the right spot..i watched the sensor turn on then turn off before i left, then it turned on again then it turned off again then it stayed off so i went out for about an hour and came back to a dry bucket..so im thinking theres a sesnor issue..duh lol...has anyone had this experience as well

 

[rvitko]

First, make sure that the hose end point is above the top of the water level of the reservoir or else it will siphon the reservoir into the sump or tank after shut off. The hose should in general be routed up to the tank to avoid this. Sensors in the sump, hose to the tank.

Second, the sensor cannot differentiate between bubbles and being dry. When new it has a strong affinity for air, plastic repels water and attracts air. Be sure it is in a calm area free of microbubbles. It can help to rinse the sensor with hot, soapy water when it is new to help reduce the attraction of bubbles but this will not make up for a lot of bubbles being present.

 

[hredder]

Yeah I had the sensor too close to the outtake valve of the protein skimmer. All is good. Thank you

 

[hredder]

wait not too good...i heard a strange noise and ran to my tank just now and the 5 gallon bucket was again empty...i moved the sensor away from the protein skimmer water outtake valve.at first for the first hour or so it worked great,,now the sump is way too high with RO water..what is going on here? i unplugged the ato and will bring it to the LFS tomorrow to see what is goig on here. any ideas?

 

[rvitko]

I would have them test it on a tank but the osmolator goes through 3 seperate quality checks. The optic sensor is checked, the board is checked and the final assembled unit is checked. A bad osmolator is a very rare occurence. It is usually a particular quirk with the installation, bubbles, EMF interference, etc. Do you use any sort of X-10 or wireless circuitry with the tank? Is the controller near a ballast? What I generally do to trouble shoot is put the sensor in a bowl of water, away from the tank, in the kitchen for example. This way you can determine whether it is the controller or the install and work from there.