Tunze Osmolator

[fishgate]

Whenever the ATO is powered on, it runs the fill for 10 seconds as part of its self test. I really don't like this at all and question why Tunze does this. I have to power down the ATO when I do water changes or anything that affects water level and when I turn it back on, I get 10 seconds of water added to the tank. Now this isn't a lot and I typically catch it in a glass and put it back in the reservoir, but I really want to know why the designers felt this was a good feature. I can think of no scenario where this is desirable. If I am getting power blips for storms it also does this which can quickly add up to a lot of fresh water added to the tank.

Has Tunze though about changing this?

 

[Dapg8gt]

I have the older version of the tunze and it doesn't do that. I too would be annoyed.

 

[rvitko]

Actually the older ones had this as well, it is not so much a deliberate design feature as simply the time it takes for the system to "wake up" until a cap charges and the optic sensor comes on line, the system runs a top off, it is true in later units this was incorporated into the self test criteria but it is not avoidable. On the oldest units, if the power interruption was brief, the older paper insulated capacitors would sometimes hold a charge and avoid this, but left unplugged long enough, they do the same thing. It is so little water added, especially if you turn down the pump as shown in the manual, it really should be a moot point. At lowest pump speed 10 seconds is about a 1/4 cup of water.