Automatic Water changes. It doesnt get any better then this.

ddavies564 · Dec 23, 2013

Here's the rest of my set up with the new wiring harness to make sure there is water in my salt bin before it starts pumping.

AquamanE · Dec 23, 2013

ddavies- interested to hear how your using that float switch?

ddavies564 · Dec 24, 2013

I wired a relay in to the pump so that when then float is in the up position the pump works and once the level in the sump is low the pump turns off.

The float switch is siliconed in to the acrylic tube and sealed up that way the wires aren't in contact with the water. The acrylic tube also holds the intake for the pump

Sacohen · Dec 27, 2013

Would PVC Tubing or Polyethylene Tubing work for the pump?
It's softer and a lot less expensive.

lmhufty · Dec 27, 2013

Thank you for the GREAT idea. Bought the Stenner Dual Head Pump from Locke Pump and Well company here in Orlando. Cheapest price I could find, anywhere!!! 100DMP4 - Buy Stenner pumps chemical feeders - $273.00
I actually talked to the engineer at Stenner about the accuracy of both heads pumping at the same rate. He assured me that this is a high quality commercial pump used for pumping chemicals, etc, and is very accurate. Mine runs at about 2 gallons per hour. Set it up today, and although it is a bit early to tell, so far, so good.

AquamanE · Dec 27, 2013

lmhufty said:
Thank you for the GREAT idea. Bought the Stenner Dual Head Pump from Locke Pump and Well company here in Orlando. Cheapest price I could find, anywhere!!! 100DMP4 - Buy Stenner pumps chemical feeders - $273.00
I actually talked to the engineer at Stenner about the accuracy of both heads pumping at the same rate. He assured me that this is a high quality commercial pump used for pumping chemicals, etc, and is very accurate. Mine runs at about 2 gallons per hour. Set it up today, and although it is a bit early to tell, so far, so good.

Keep us posted Imhutty.

Mines been working for a few weeks now flawlessly. Next project this week end is to set up a float switch in fresh SW bin to shut off Stenner if bin goes dry. That way if its dry, im not pumping OUT water while none is coming in. If i dont do this weekend its because im taking advantage of finding a bigger bin for SW and do all the plumbing at once.

Right now i have a 35G Brute which gives me ~15 days at 2.5 G/day, but recently saw a post for a 70G at Western Beef (sp) for $34. If dimensions are right might bite the bullet.

ravi197699 · Dec 31, 2013

Really nice I am trying to find similar pump but I cant find with 2 heads.....

Sacohen · Dec 31, 2013

The Stenners come with 2 heads, but the Cole Palmer MasterFlex come as a single head pump but you can stack them (up to 4 if I remember).

ronnie · Jan 4, 2014

Here's mine running. Note it is using a 500mA power supply. It's an old 12v radio shack wall wart I used on some fans about six years ago.

No issues starting up. And it's still running now. Motor and wall wart are cool to touch.

[video=youtube_share;kD7snTl_qkk]http://youtu.be/kD7snTl_qkk[/video]

Sacohen · Jan 4, 2014

Great. Where did you get the MasterFlex pumps?
Everyone else that has tried this with the MasterFlex pumps has had problems getting it to spin 2 pumps.

ronnie · Jan 4, 2014

Got them on ebay. Can I post the link?

ronnie · Jan 4, 2014

I let it run for about twenty minutes. The wall wart was warm, but is think far from hot. Same with the motor. It warmed up some, but I could easily hold it and it was far from hot.

Sacohen · Jan 4, 2014

ronnie said:
Got them on ebay. Can I post the link?

PM me the link.
How much did they cost?

ronnie · Jan 4, 2014

$53 shipped for the pair. PM coming. Looks like he sold out or pulled the sale, though.

Sacohen · Jan 4, 2014

Thanks for the info. This is the same place I got mine from as did the other people I know that are having problems. Very strange. I even used the same Norprene tubing from McMaster, then I tried the softer clear tubing that someone else was using.

Glad it's working for you.

ronnie · Jan 4, 2014

What year is on the motors for you guys?

Mine are 2006 on both.

Sacohen · Jan 4, 2014

The one I have hooked up has nothing on it. It's all worn off, but my spare says 2006 also.

ronnie · Jan 5, 2014

Just did a flow test with the 500mA power supply and some airline tubing.

In 30 seconds the pumps moved (equally I might add) 5oz of water. Extrapolated, that is just over 4.68 gallons per hour. My goal is to change out about a gallon per day. So I'll need to run the pumps for almost thirteen minutes a day. I'll likely break that up into four sections and run them for 3.25 minutes each time.

That will give me roughly a 30 gallon per month water change in about 60-65g total volume.

What do you guys think about breaking them up into smaller changes? I'll lose some efficiency of water changed out, but I feel that would be a large enough water change per month to negate any efficacy lost.

Sacohen · Jan 5, 2014

Agrede. That looks like what I'll need to do. I have a 55 galpÃ³n tank dnd a sump. I always figure 60 total gallina.

AquamanE · Jan 5, 2014

ronnie said:
Just did a flow test with the 500mA power supply and some airline tubing.

In 30 seconds the pumps moved (equally I might add) 5oz of water. Extrapolated, that is just over 4.68 gallons per hour. My goal is to change out about a gallon per day. So I'll need to run the pumps for almost thirteen minutes a day. I'll likely break that up into four sections and run them for 3.25 minutes each time.

That will give me roughly a 30 gallon per month water change in about 60-65g total volume.

What do you guys think about breaking them up into smaller changes? I'll lose some efficiency of water changed out, but I feel that would be a large enough water change per month to negate any efficacy lost.

I cant see any issues with loosing a little efficiency on what amounts to close to 50% WC/month.

Good job.