I need to know more about this! Redundancy... I like it!! I am moving the RO to the stand shortly. I have a ten gallon Brute, I have the float. I need more info on the solenoid and controller.If your RODI has an ASOV valve you can get a brute trash can and cut a hole it the top and add a float valve to shut off the flow when it is full. If you have a controller you can also add empty and full sensors to turn on the RODI and turn it off using solenoid valves. On most controllers you can also add leak detectors to shutoff the valves if a leak is detected. Below are photos of the DI storage tank I use. The float valve is in the center of the lid. It is just for backup since my controller turns on and off the fill solenoid and uses the float switches to do that. My ATO pump draws directly from the tank.
Yikes .... my brain is overloaded on all of that. Honestly, I have not dove into the Apex, Hydros level of reefing. I'm at the smart power strip level... I'll do some digging tomorrow and see what is compatible with the AutoAqua AWC that I have. I did not even think about needing a solenoid to connect the RO to the float valve. I love the idea of a safety flood sensor. I just don't know that I am ready for all that specialty stuff yet. Baby steps. You are definitely giving me something to consider though... thank you!Any controller can probably do what you want. I currently use the Hydros to do it. Before that it was an Archon. I use three solenoids they are at the top of the photo. The one on the right is tap water going to the input of the RODI unit. The middle one is for filling the DI tank. The one on the left fills the mix tank. Both are 20 gallon Brute cans on their dolly's I keep them under my work bench in the garage. The board in the photo is on the wall behind the workbench. The two solenoids on the left are Hydros solenoids with the connector to connect directly to the controller drive ports. The one on the right I got with a 12v supply that is plugged into the power strip for the controller. There is a leak detector on the floor below the RODI unit. If it is activated the controller closes any open solenoid valves automatically. It also stops any of the dosing pump that are running. The bottom photo shows the complete control board with the controllers used in the garage.
Check out BRS I think they got one that just plugs in and screams when it detects water. You could lay it on the floor right by your tank. I for one am not sold on ATO, seems like an oops looking for a landing zone. Haven’t decided how I will deal with it in my build yet but watching, and learning
Not all the stuff in the photo has to do with the auto fill of the DI tank. I have three storage tanks. One is the DI tank, one is fresh saltwater tank and one is a mix tank. They are all 20 gallon brute cans. Also there are three dosing pumps and a mix pump in the mix tank that are controlled from the controllers in the garage. The dosing pumps are for ATO, AWC and dosing All for Reef. I did not get to this complex a system overnight. Also some of the stuff is the old Archon modules and pumps. I also had relays I was using to pass signals from the Archon to the Hydros while I transitioned from one to the other. Only one signal between them is used now. That is a leak detected signal. The Archon still has the leak detection sensors and the lighting control. The tank has been setup for 5 years now. I actually have two tanks. One is not up and running at this time so that is the reason for the extra slots for the pumps in the garsge. The DI tank will auto fill once the low level sensor activates. It stop the fill process one the full sensor activates. The fresh saltwater tank and the mix tank are a little more complex the AWC pump uses fresh saltwater from the fresh saltwater tank. Once the fresh saltwater tank low level sensor activates it will transfer the contents from the mix tank to the fresh saltwater tank. Once the mix tank low level sensor activates it stops the transfer and starts the refill of the mix tank with DI water. All I have to do is add the salt mix and once it is Ready to use press a button to let the controller know it is ok to use for a transfer when it is needed. There is also a scope and a computer on the work bench that has nothing to do with the aquariums.
That's what we used to call our daughter when she was 2.
