Ato

So im trying to figure out how to do my ato and looking for some suggestions. Current I have my rodi maker run straight to my tank on a float valve that lets a little water in when need but its in the way and could get broken easily. And its always running on and off all day and night. Iv tried the float setup when I had my reefkeeper and the mj1200 got stuck on and made a mess even though it thought it was off.
So heres my idea can I take a container filled with rodi take one of the pumps thats one of the dosing pumps and set them to run say every 2hrs to top off the tank and then just have it run on the apex so if ph drop it kills the outlet? I dont want to mess with float switchs

 

Pressure switch from avast marine is good and you can get it with apex leads.. As another option.

Ro/di directly is not good for the life of your membrane and short burst lead to high TDS output..

My ato used a float valve fed by gravity. My reservoir is higher than the float valve and its worked great for over a year now. You can have the ro/di fill up that container this way you are turning it one once a week or every few days..

 

Yeah wish I could go gravity but cant. Is using a dosing pump a bad idea? Trying to use what I have available. I know the on off is bad on the rodi but its been that way for 3 years and I want to get away from that. Was looking at those switches but there almost $70each I would need 2 for a high/ low and dont want to spend that much.

 

You dont need a high low with pressure switches...but you could get a $5 float switch to back it up if you want redundancy...

 

If you can DIY, go to autotopoff.com and buy a kit. That plus a $20 aqualifter pump, a container that you install your float valve into, and you are in business.

 

I am not a fan of float valves for various reasons including their failure rate and their lack of adjustment between on and off.
I much prefer float switches and a solenoid valve powered by low voltage DC. You can set the switches any distance apart to eliminate TDS creep issues and the solenoid has a positive shutoff. Switches on DC seem to last forever too.

I also agree it is not wise to hook the RO/DI directly to the sump regardless of ATO style or method, it is far safer to have a ATO storage container between them to act as a buffer. If the ATO fails you have a limited amount of RO/DI you can possibly flood the system with where a RO/DI will continue to run lowering your salinity past a safe point.

 

Like any piece of equipment you need to maintain it to ensure no failures. I clean it regularly and make sure its operating properly. Plus I monitor the rate and level in my reservoir.

Switches and solenoids are also prone to failure. Redundancy in a system is always good to have regardless of what method you choose. My float valve is on an adjustable bracket so I can set my level very precisely.

Many ways to skin a cat and all have pros and cons.

 

I used this for my ATO


Uses a laser to measure water height. The floater is a back up.

That pulled water from a 5 gallon reservoir I have. I filled that reservoir by having my RO/DI directly connected to it using one of these LevelLocs. It is cool because if it fails, it fails in the off position. It has two different kinds of switches to stop it when it is full. It's pretty much 3 layers of safety. Additionally, I had it plugged into an analog timer so at max it could run to fill the reservoir an hour a day. A lot of things would have to fail for there to be any sort of issue.



These things cost money and there are cheaper DIY options - if you are into that sort of thing. I preferred this equipment.