Aquarium Engineering-ACR Calcium Reactor

[gdemos]

 

[gdemos]

This might suggest 12 psi is required to push through check valve?

 

[Dennis Cartier]

Ok, can you move the Masterflex to the feed side, and leave the effluent line open? Then we can see if the pocket builds up without any internal pressure.

If that works then we know it is something to do with the carbon doser. It will take awhile to build though.

You can try 12 PSI first if you want. The docs are testing leaks against the normal flow direction to make sure it is working to block reverse flow.

 

[Dennis Cartier]

The crack pressure will only be 2- 4 PSI for the check valve. Anything above that should cause the valve to open.

 

[gdemos]

If i go back to mflex feed ill have to lower gas significantly right?
I can try 12 psi overnight and see how that goes then consider changing mflex again

 

[Dennis Cartier]

No, the pressure will not matter for the Masterflex on the feed side. You will only be running at atmospheric pressure so each bubble will already be at close to zero pressure and displace a bit of water. It should still work, but will be a bit lower of dkh.

Watch your pH for signs it is working. Your pH should drop even before you see a lot of bubbles.

 

[gdemos]

Now its dropping

 

[Dennis Cartier]

Great! Was this at 12 PSI or Masterflex feeding?

 

[gdemos]

Great! Was this at 12 PSI or Masterflex feeding?

12 psi

 

[Dennis Cartier]

Ok, let's see if the pocket builds and bubbles start rising. The falling pH would suggest they will.

 

[Dennis Cartier]

I found some info on the carbon doser check valve. It sounds like it takes a higher pressure to get the valve to crack open.

Back pressure from feed but stopping co2

Hello, I recently purchased a 612x2 reactor. After experiencing a slight leak in the seat of the second chamber to the base (fixed now, thank you for the glue). I'm now experiencing a problem with the co2 not entering the reactor unless set at a higher bubble rate. I notice when i unplug the...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[gdemos]

I noticed carbon doser just depowered either the float switch or apex?

Should i ditch this apex coding for co2 and just keep “always on” now that it os controled by full oat switch?

dont want to emulsify media too much (reborn); what pH you think i can obtain before float swich depowers co2?

 

[Dennis Cartier]

Oh, disable the APEX control. You should not need it The float valve will handle the co2 control.

Reborn will handle the pH that saturation will result in. I run Reborn as well. No issues with degradation.

 

[Dennis Cartier]

What the Apex will be good for, is telling you when you need to vent the reactor. When the pH starts to rise steadily, you will need to vent the stale gas.

I suggest you swap the ball valve and tee fitting on your recirculation line. Put the ball valve where the tee was. To vent, close the ball valve, de-energize the carbon doser so it can't add co2, and then open the ball valve on the tee.

 

[gdemos]

Oh, disable the APEX control. You should not need it The float valve will handle the co2 control.

Reborn will handle the pH that saturation will result in. I run Reborn as well. No issues with degradation.

Well that was foolish- brain dead i left the manifold feedOFF overnight! Air gap ran pump dry etc. however-co2 was still powered. The float switch should’ve depowered it.

 

[Dennis Cartier]

Doh. The carbon doser was still powered even with the water level below the float switch? Ah, perhaps a test of the switch is in order. If you shut the ACR down and remove the lid and then manually move the float switch up and down, you should see the carbon doser toggle on and off. If it does not, then there is an issue with your float switch or the wiring in your adapter.

 

[gdemos]

What the Apex will be good for, is telling you when you need to vent the reactor. When the pH starts to rise steadily, you will need to vent the stale gas.

I suggest you swap the ball valve and tee fitting on your recirculation line. Put the ball valve where the tee was. To vent, close the ball valve, de-energize the carbon doser so it can't add co2, and then open the ball valve on the tee.

Regarding the recirc tee…i figured id have that for ease of purging….especially through all of this trial and error. Prior to the tee i had just the ball valve on the recirc but that was only to see if shutting off recirc had value at any point. Not sure what your saying about venting…how would having the tee where it is complicate the venting? By venting you mean purging the air out right

 

[gdemos]

Doh. The carbon doser was still powered even with the water level below the float switch? Ah, perhaps a test of the switch is in order. If you shut the ACR down and remove the lid and then manually move the float switch up and down, you should see the carbon doser toggle on and off. If it does not, then there is an issue with your float switch or the wiring in your adapter.

Yes ill test this…now correct me here but if i have outlet log enabled on apex and the ‘ co2 outlet” is “always on”, with the way we rigged the jumper from float switch, will apex log the outlet as OFF when/if the float switch cancels power?

 

[Dennis Cartier]

Regarding the recirc tee…i figured id have that for ease of purging….especially through all of this trial and error. Prior to the tee i had just the ball valve on the recirc but that was only to see if shutting off recirc had value at any point. Not sure what your saying about venting…how would having the tee where it is complicate the venting? By venting you mean purging the air out right

Ya, the tee is a great idea, you just want it to be closer to the lid, with the ball valve coming after it. So when you close the ball valve, the CO2 can be pushed out the lid directly through the tee. With the way they are now, with the ball valve closed, the CO2 would not be able to escape.

 

[Dennis Cartier]

Yes ill test this…now correct me here but if i have outlet log enabled on apex and the ‘ co2 outlet” is “always on”, with the way we rigged the jumper from float switch, will apex log the outlet as OFF when/if the float switch cancels power?

Hmm, I am not an Apex guy, so I don't know. I know the Apex can monitor power usage, but I am not sure if it logs it passively. If it does, that would be a handy feature and would apply here for monitoring the float switch activity.