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stephan 
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 Topic: auto top off
Posted: June 12 2008 at 3:13pm |
Can an auto top off be as simple as running the water line that used to supply my refrigerators ice maker directly to a mechanical float valve (a la Kent Marine) in my sump?
I top off with tap water all the time anyway so no RO tank and all that, nor room under my stand for all that stuff.
Seems to me that as long as I clean it periodically to keep from things growing on from making it stick open or closed I'd be okay.
Anything I'm missing?
Edited by stephan - June 12 2008 at 3:15pm
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Stephan Lovstedt
Camarillo, CA
65 Gallon Glass
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pa_reptileman_4
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Posted: June 12 2008 at 3:30pm |
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nope its as simple as that. you got it figured out.
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pitiful guppy tank.
shane
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Mike Savage
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Posted: June 12 2008 at 5:54pm |
Yes it can be that simple.
Mike
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sanddune600
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Posted: June 13 2008 at 12:25am |
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be carefull if it ever sticks open you will flood your house and turning you sw tank into a fw tank
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Andy Jorgensen
My number is four three 5 7 six four 8 0 three four
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Cameron
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Posted: June 23 2008 at 4:15pm |
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that is the exact reason i dont use an ato
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[COLOR="Red"](801)664-4240
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Seth
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Posted: June 23 2008 at 4:29pm |
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i used to use one but now i cant because my water lvl is higher than where the float valve is. I sure do miss it. My water goes down so fast
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75gal sps dominated reef.
Bigger and better coming soon
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Mike Savage
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Posted: June 23 2008 at 7:26pm |
Can't you just move the float valve and plug the old hole?
Mike
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Seth
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Posted: June 23 2008 at 8:58pm |
i could and will one day. i just did it yesterday and dont want to work on it anymore 
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75gal sps dominated reef.
Bigger and better coming soon
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BobC63
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Posted: June 24 2008 at 1:03am |
Are we all sure that this will be OK running the water line straight from the tap and not through an RO/DI first?
NOT talking about water quality issues - talking about water pressure...
2 reasons I ask:
1) Right now I have just a simple Float valve in my sump; the waterline comes out the business end of my RO/DI unit. The RO/DI also has a built in "pressure valve" that (for lack of a better explanation) is supposed to cut off water through the unit whenever back pressure exceeds a certain psi... so, kind of like having 2 shut offs (1 at the float valve and one on the RO/DI unit) instead of just the single at-the-float cutoff point...to me 2 cutoff points would be (should be?) more reliable than just one...
2) Never measured the actual water pressure in psi but I can say that the water coming out of my RO/DI does so at noticeably less velocity (pressure?) than it does if I run water straight from the tap source through the 1/4" waterline alone - bypassing the RO/DI unit...just wondering if the possibly increased water pressure of non-filtered water might affect the reliability of a single float valve alone...?
???
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- My Current Tank: 65g Starfire (sitting empty for 2+ years) -
* Marine & Reef tanks since 1977 *
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Cameron
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Posted: June 24 2008 at 2:09am |
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What i have learned is that in this business, Automatic actually means "will fail when your not home". Killed alot of FW fish with a so called automatic feeder.
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[COLOR="Red"](801)664-4240
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crjpilot
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Posted: June 24 2008 at 8:29am |
 Cameron wrote:
that is the exact reason i dont use an ato |
They make auto top-offs with dual float switches for backup redundancy. Both of the units I have are dual switch units. There is always a (slim)possibility for failure, but the benefits far outweigh the risks I believe. I travel for days at a time and they're a necessity for me.
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Andrew
Cottonwood Heights
55g SPS/Zoa
60g Frag tank
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stephan
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Posted: June 24 2008 at 9:14am |
The Kent float valve says it can handle regular water pressure (90 psi on the box).
I realize the potential for failure. Maybe I'll add a secondary shutoff solenoid or something in the line. And when I leave the tank for any long period I have the option of turning the tap off and having someone come by to fill it like the old days.
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Stephan Lovstedt
Camarillo, CA
65 Gallon Glass
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crjpilot
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Posted: June 24 2008 at 12:03pm |
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I'm a big fan of redundancy. With a fixed reservoir, you might not have much issue, but if you're running an open line to the float valve, you'd probably be better served in the long run adding a solenoid like you mentioned just for peace of mind.
The float valve itself is really pretty fail-safe, but if you get any snails or debris in there, it could be a problem.
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Andrew
Cottonwood Heights
55g SPS/Zoa
60g Frag tank
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SSpargur
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Posted: June 24 2008 at 1:06pm |
I personally run my ATO with a solenoid and it's flawless. I've been running this ATO for over 5 years now and it's never "stuck" or had any snails or debris in it. I only clean it once a year or so and only because I want to, not because I need to. If you want a flawless ATO, I highly suggest the Lifereef model.
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Sean Spargur
West Valley, UT
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KludgeGuru
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Posted: June 24 2008 at 1:32pm |
carlso63 wrote:
1) Right now I have just a simple Float valve in my sump; the waterline comes out the business end of my RO/DI unit. The RO/DI also has a built in "pressure valve" that (for lack of a better explanation) is supposed to cut off water through the unit whenever back pressure exceeds a certain psi... so, kind of like having 2 shut offs (1 at the float valve and one on the RO/DI unit) instead of just the single at-the-float cutoff point...to me 2 cutoff points would be (should be?) more reliable than just one...
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The auto shutoff valve on the RO/DI is designed to be used with a pressure storage tank. So when the pressure of the storage tank reaches 60% of the line pressure it shuts off the RO/DI unit. It is 60% due to TDS drift. The membrane filters work best with a large pressure difference between the input and output. When the pressure on the output approches the pressure on the input the quality of the RO water goes down. There are devices such as a permeate pump that will allow you to use a 90% shutoff valve but that's another subject. Counting on this shutoff valve as a backup or a failsafe does not work as it only shuts off the RO if there something causing back pressure down the line. If the float valve is stuck open the RO shutoff valve sees close to zero pressure and is open also. As already mentioned above a better failsafe would be to have an inverse float valve or float switch with solenoid valve higher up in the tank so if the water level raises higher it will shut off the supply preventing the tank from overflowing or going fresh water on you. Saying that I don't have a backup for my float valve.  I have it fed directly from my preassure storage tanks. I've thought about putting a float switch in series with it but I've just been too lazy. Hopefully I'll get around to it before I regret it.  -Rocks
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