Wiring float switch to AC Jr.

stu2028

New member
Last night I came home to a nearly empty sump and the shower pan liner in the bottom of my stand with about 2 inches of standing water. I wasn't really sure how it had happened at first, but soon realized that it was due to the skimmer overflowing.

Something made my skimmer go nuts and overflow down the connected tube, into my little waste collector outside the sump. Once this collector was full, it just overflowed out of that into the bottom of the stand (and thankfully stayed there because of the shower pan liner).

I have an Aquacontroller Jr. that controls my tank. I would like to wire a float switch to the ACJr. so that it will shut down the skimmer if it overflows again. It looks like the AC3, Apex, etc. have a breakout box for float switches, but the ACJr. doesn't accommodate a breakout box. The ACJr. manual says you can wire one float switch to the serial connector point. Has anyone done this or know how to do this?
 
Does it matter which wire goes to which pin (between pin 1 and pin 2)?

No, you are just wanting to be able to see contact vs. no contact. I suggest hooking up the float to be normally open (breaks contact when in the low position). That way if the switch gets disconnected by accident, it'll trigger the alarm as well.

Here's the programming for how I have mine set up on the AC3 (language should be the same for you on the Jr):

Dummy timer called "LOW" so I know from the e-mail that the low sump warning triggered the alarm.

If Time > 00:00 Then LOW OFF
If Switch1 OPEN Then LOW ON
If Switch1 CLOSED Then LOW OFF
If Timer LOW = ON Then ALM ON (this one activates the e-mail alarm based on the switch)


I then have another dummy timer called MNT for when I do a water change that I use to shut off the alarm for low sump, but leave temp/pH alarms in effect (also use it to shut down air pump to the skimmer and the chiller/heater and turn on the big vent fan in the attic)

If Time > 00:00 Then MNT OFF
If Timer MNT = ON Then LOW OFF
 
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