ATO issue

Another solenoid in series with the one you have but on a timer so it can only be on for enough time to maintain the water level in your tank?

Or if you have a controller there are other ways of course.

 

What controller do you have? We use an Apex at the shop with float switches and it's pretty reliable. Not 100% of course as float switched do fail over time.

I would think about the only thing you could do is add more solenoids and have them programmed in conjunction with your max water level switch. You could even have one on each side of the RODI if you wanted I guess.

Ever thought about adding a baffle in your sump so water the level in that chamber is more controlled?

 

As Foo suggested to me a few years ago, get a Litermeter III. Best piece of equipment I ever bought. Built like a tank, and reliable as can be. You can use their ATO set up, or just reconfigure a couple times a year when the humidity in the house changes. They hold their value as well, so if your situation changes, you can get a lot of your money back.

 

It's decidedly lo tech, but I use one of these eshopps things plumbed to a 14 gallon reservoir. I fill it up once a week and everything is golden. I suppose there's even a way to get a float valve working so the water automatically refills.


http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_viewitem.aspx?idproduct=QH03531&child=QH03531&utm_source=adwordsfroogle&utm_medium=cse&utm_campaign=adwordsfroogle&utm_content=QH03531&gclid=CMmx3YCLz7QCFYVFMgodJnoAqA

 

I'm using the same thing and it works well, because I topoff with limewater, I need to clean with vinegar every few weeks otherwise it gets a little gummed up.

 

I setup mine like this. Waterline from RO/DI unit to a Solenoid valve that opens for 1 hour a day (just long enough to fill top off reservoir then closes)

Overflow of reservoir is prevented by a float valve which shuts the water off if the reservoir is full before the solenoid valve closes.



The Top reservoir is dosed into the sump via gravity through a float valve at the exact same rate as the water evaporates. Not a single float switch is needed this way. The only way this system could fail is if the solenoid valve stuck open AND the float valve failed that feeds the sump.


You can see the float valve in the top right corner of my top off reservoir and the float valve in the lower right of the sump. I also have a small power head in the top off tank that stirs it for the same hour that the solenoid valve opens. I throw a scoop of kalk in there every day or so to keep it potent. Only the top half of the top off tank is able to be dosed because the float valve is about 9 inches up. The bottom half is just a settling space for the kalk. All of this only requires one channel on my reef keeper or could be done with a simple timer. Even with the use of kalk I have never had one of these kent float valves fail in the 8 years I have used them.

 

I just reread your post, why not instead of a 2nd backup float switch which still relies on your controller why not just add a float valve this will give you mechanical backup on top of the electronic backup and pretty much be failsafe should either fail.

 

Okay, I'm going to ask the dumb question - b/c I've seen it talked about several times and I really don't know what it is...can someone post me a link of a scelenoid they are talking about? I'm not entirely sure what these are, where to get them, and exactly how to connect them to apex. If I saw a picture or link...I could get a better grasp of what folks are talking about as I foresee several useful ideas for these things...