Ideas for DIY auto top off?

Hi everyone. Does anyone have any ideas for a safe, cheap DIY auto top off solution? The JBJ ATO runs about 80 bucks and I will be broke after I move so any cheaper solutions would be great. I watched a youtube video for a DIY ATO and it looked simple enough but a lot of the comments said its unsafe/stupid etc etc. I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to electrical so safety is important =]. The ATO is for an all-in-one system so a siphon based solution would not work. Thanks!

edit: Also, does the JBJ ATO come with everything? Or would I have to buy valves etc after buying the ATO unit? Thanks!

 

FYI the solution that I was looking at on youtube involved splitting the wires on an extension cord and splicing a float valve into one of the wires. People were saying how dangerous it is by having 120v going through a 12v float valve etc etc.

 

http://www.3reef.com/forums/i-made/diy-ato-w-9v-batt-relay-130292.html

Ive been using mine since I posted this and its been working great!
The original 9v battery lasted about 4 months before I needed to replace it!

 

The JBJ requires a small pump like a hydor nano or aqualifter, about $15-20 and the tubing for the pump, and a reservoir.

There are plenty of threads on here;
http://www.3reef.com/forums/i-made/...-electronic-free-p-116714.html?highlight=Auto
http://www.3reef.com/forums/i-made/todds-diy-ato-133471.html?highlight=Auto
http://www.3reef.com/forums/i-made/diy-ato-float-valve-125011.html?highlight=Auto
plus many others

I read them all and decided on the JBJ as its pretty failsafe as compared to most DIY that I've read.IMO

 

Diito. By the time you add up all of the costs vs. the potential problems, DIY falls short. I DIY almost everything, except the ATO. If I were to do it all over again, I would get a controller from the start. The $160 I spent on two ATO's alone is a good chunk of the cost of a controller.

 

Auto Top Off. .com that's where I got nine , cheap, still working great

 

What i did is I used an eshopps float valve connected to a line that was connected to a big tub of ro/di water on a shelf that is higher then the sump/. i let gravity do the work for me....0 failures thus far. Had it up for 6 months or so.

 

I was going to recommend the same thing. Cheap, uses no power, relatively fail safe. I would not recommend trying to make your own powered ATO unless you really know what you are doing.

 

I use my Apex Controller for my ATO system, I know it's a little pricy but I am going to program the controller to only let the ATO system run for no longer than 1 second. If the ATO wants to run past 1 second it will notify me by text message.

Before I had my Apex I was using the JBJ ATO, worked WONDERS.

 

+1. Best and cheapest way to go. If space permits and your not concerned with looks.