DIY ATO ideas.

tyler1503 · Feb 25, 2017

Hi everyone. Just throwing together a DIY ATO out of bits and pieces I have laying around the house to tide me over till I get a real one.
I'm thinking a 5gal bucket with a small pump inside with a spray bar attached. A piece of airline is attached to one of the spray bar tips with a tap on the other end.
The pump will be lower than my sump and the tap end of the air line will be held in place above the water of the sump with a suction cap to prevent a back siphon.
I'll have the pump on a timer so it's only turned on for X amount of time a day. The tap is to reduce the amount of water being pumped into the sump to just a few drops a every few seconds.

Does anyone have any concerns about this build? I know it's not ideal and it will take some time to dial in the right amount of water being moved, but it should work right?
I'm open to more ideas and suggestions!

cromag27 · Feb 26, 2017

If the evaporation rate changes, you'd need to change the timer settings. not the safest or most efficient ato setup, but it could work.

saltyfilmfolks · Feb 26, 2017

This will solve a lot of problems for you. Its a simple switch. If you install 2 a simple circuit it work as an auo shut off.
https://www.amazon.com/uxcell-Piece...8&qid=1488130419&sr=8-3&keywords=float+switch
I highly recommend doing it with DC pumps.
Mine use these.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...title_srh_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2R73Q5WDWSLZD
I get these on ebay, about $3 each if you buy several.

tyler1503 · Feb 27, 2017

I'm happy to adjust settings and stuff, just after something I can set and forget for a couple of days while I'm working. I don't mind if I have to change it once or twice a week. Just wondering if there are any issues with the theory.

I'm not confident playing with electricity to wire in a switch like that. I'm sure it's easy as I've seen a lot of people online use that method, I'd just rather not play with electricity especially being so close to water. Perhaps a friend of mine could solder it for me.
Are there any that are already hard wired into a power board? I've looked and haven't found any.

Thanks for the input guys, everything mentioned will be considered