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ATO is Over Floading My Fuge - HELP! (1 Viewer)

deneed4spd

deneed4spd

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Every 2-3 wks, my ATO seems to dump so much water in from my top off container that my fuge gets overfloaded and my skimmer starts overflowing etc! My SP drops from 1.025 to 1.023 which doesnt make my corals happy.

So I am trying to figure out what is causing it.

I have a RO/DI hooked up to my 20g jug which has a float valve. Inside the 20g jug, I have a mag 3 that is hooked up to a JBJ ATO. The JBJ sensors are both placed in the 40g sump. I used the option where both sensors have to be triggered for the ATO to turn on the mag 3 and then it pumps up to the 2nd sensor. I check for the sensors if they are broken but they arent since it works fine and the unit is only 3 months old.

So I am wondering what is causing the flood. When I turn on the RO/DI which starts filling the 20 g jug which I just let fill up to the float valve which should turn off the ro/di. I am wondering if that is creating pressure along the mag 3 and the outline that is then causing that to fill up the sump??

Any thoughts?
 
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Always best to use a slow flow pump. If the resevoir is side by side with the refugium where you don't need much head pressure, go pick up a aqualifter. If the fuge is more than a few feet higher than your resevoir may need to go with a MJ 400 or something. Mag3 is much too big for a topooff pump.

I would not hook the ro/di directly up to your resevoir and just leave it on. Small burst through your ro/di will burn up your DI pretty quickly, every time it cuts on the TDS from your membrane is high then after a few minutes goes down. If always cutting on/off then you as effecient. Fill it up, turn it off, fill it up again when nearly empty so that it can make close to 20g at a time.
 
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Yup, i turn on the ro/di when the 20g jug is empty so i dont run the ro/di all the time. But im wondering when i turn it on, it is somehow creating pressure amongst the lines that causes the water to be pushed into the fuge. Odd.

Ill switch out the mag3 with a mj400. I might have to do some testing to see why the water is flowing. Maybe the mag3 isnt even the issue and its some pressure issue.
 
Sounds like theres a syphon effect taking water from your jug after you're done wanting it to...hmm. Is your plumbing from your jug to the sump under water where it drains into the sump? Maybe let it free fall into your sump...
 
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The resevoir shouldn't be under pressure. There should be no reason to keep it airtight.

As Brent mentions, be sure the line going to your sump is slightly above the water line in your resevoir and is not submerged so it doesn't continue to add water via a siphon after pump shutoff.
 
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Yep I'd say it's a siphon issue as well. I ran into this in mine too for awhile. The pumps are basically open to siphons. To prevent it make the output of the ATO tubing higher than the top most level of the ATO container.

Also could your float valve for the RODI be failing? This would cause the container to fill up then build enough pressure to keep the water flowing out the ATO tubing. If the flood occur when you turn the RODI on, that could be the cause.
 
The ato bucket is not under pressure. The top is on loose so the hose from the mag 3 can run out to the fuge.

I was thinking about the siphoning issue but i am a bit perplexed with it. The bucket is higher than the fuge that is for sure but the hose that is connected to the pump comes out of the jug and hits a high point where water shouldnt go above that level. Picture it as a S, the pump in jug is the lowest point. Then the hose goes to the top of the jug and then flows back down to the floor which then goes back up to the top of the fuge. So if its a siphoning issue, its amazing how the water can go up, down, back up and then into the fuge.
 
as long as the water level in the bucket is higher than the water level in the fuge (and the bottom of the hose) it will siphon.
 
you do have a point but the other end then would be 1.5 feet above the fuge! Doh.

worst part is, the skimmer threw up the skimmate since it started flooding. awesome...

Ill have to get this all cleaned up before i pickup those jawfishes/skunks on sat.
 
thats ok. jaws are doing good. crew won't be in till next week due to the large numbers ordered.

When I called I heard "how many?!??!?!?" at least 5 times.

Run the hose up to a pipe with a hole at the top.

Cap (drill hole in it)
4" pipe
T (put hose barb here and connect ATO hose
1.5feet pipe to sump

Much like a durso drain pipe :)
 
Mystery solved.

Since the jug is 1.5' higher, instead of using a pump, just use gravity and a float valve. For redundancy can add a solenoid to a timer/controller so you can control the max amount per day gets added. $15 for the solenoid, about $10 for the float valve from BRS.

http://www.autotopoff.com/solenoid/

Shouldn't need the float switches at all. Sell it for something more useful.
 
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Well the jug technically isnt higher. its on the ground but the jug is approx 2.5 feet tall and the fuge is 1.5 feet tall. So i would have to build a base for the jug to sit 1 feet higher. Guess that wouldnt be to hard.
 
If I were to raise the hose at a point higher than the jug, say 1 feet but have the exit still down by the fuge, will it still cause a suction?

If I were to build a -platform about 1 feet taller to get the whole jug above the fuge, but then the lines that connect the jug to the fuge at some point will be lower than both and then come up to the top of the fuge. Do you think there is enough pressure in the jug to push enough water into the fuge?

Im thinking if I were to do this, I would have to get a brs float valve that I currently use in my jug?
 
Those solenoids are very realiable but good news when they fail, they fail in the off position instead of on possition so little chance of it causing overflow as long as the timer is set at reasonable interval and/or amount of time. Float switches ( which I refuse to use ) fail on and are more prone to failure.
 
I figured it out! My 3 month old JBJ auto top off is broken! One of my sensors is broken. My sensor registers even though its under water. Like everyone said, the float sensors break sooner or later! Sucks that it broken in 3 months. So i read the back of the manual and it says if I didnt register the product within 14 days from purchase warrenty is considered void. Of course I didnt fill it out and send it in. You think I can call them and they will honor the warrenty?

Dumb dumb dumb!!
 
So if JBJ doesnt honor the warrenty, here are my options. What you think?

1. Buy another float valve from BRS, get a horizontal one so one is a float and one is a horizontal float for redundancy. Jimmy rig the horizontal float valve. Dont know if that would work or not.

2. The ato jug is in a closet which I could build a platform that its higher than the fuge. Use a DI float valve from BRS and hook it up to the jug and let gravity do its magic. Buy a selonoid from autotopoff.com and hook it up to my RKL so I can time release the selonoid.

3. Buy a different ato system. Maybe a tunze but i dont know if the pump that it comes with can push water from the jug in a closet to the tank. Maybe the autotopoff kit?

Thoughts?
 
You just measure how much you evaporate each day and then use the dosing pump to pump that amount every day?
 
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