Electronic ball valve for CO² scrubber

Davisc1293 · Feb 18, 2022

Ive seen ot of people using solenoids to control their ph.... i decided to try it with an electronic ball valve which did help some. But when the valve is open and drawing fresh air. It does still draw a small amount of air through the scrubber. I just found and set up a 3 way electronic ball valve which will block the flow completely through the scrubber when drawing fresh air. I found this would be easier then having two valves (one goes on when the other goes off) will keep you posted if this works better.

arking_mark · Feb 18, 2022

Davisc1293 said:
Ive seen ot of people using solenoids to control their ph.... i decided to try it with an electronic ball valve which did help some. But when the valve is open and drawing fresh air. It does still draw a small amount of air through the scrubber. I just found and set up a 3 way electronic ball valve which will block the flow completely through the scrubber when drawing fresh air. I found this would be easier then having two valves (one goes on when the other goes off) will keep you posted if this works better.

Which 3-way ball valve did you buy?

Davisc1293 · Feb 18, 2022

arking_mark said:
Which 3-way ball valve did you buy?

I found a cheap one on amazon thats a 2 wire control and i bought the 24v wires from brs to connect it to my apex. So far it functions as it should but will let it run few days and monitor the graphs.

arking_mark · Feb 18, 2022

Davisc1293 said:
I found a cheap one on amazon thats a 2 wire control and i bought the 24v wires from brs to connect it to my apex. So far it functions as it should but will let it run few days and monitor the graphs.

Link to the 3-way? I've been look for one....

Davisc1293 · Feb 18, 2022

Amazon.com

arking_mark · Feb 18, 2022

Davisc1293 said:
Amazon.com

Thanks!

shakey · Feb 26, 2022

Watching and waiting for an update. Thanks for your post I've been looking for this setup.

Davisc1293 · Feb 26, 2022

As of now it does seem to hold it tighter to the set ranges then just the 2 way valve. I usually see my ph go as low as 8.28-8.3 with a high of 8.37-8 with the 2 way (set to open at 8.35) but without the valve i was getting closer to 8.45 before i would just shut my skimmer off completely until it dropped so i dont know how high it would acttualy go. With the 3 way so far it hasnt exceeded 8.36. The biggest advantage i found so far is still being able fine tune the air flow with an airline ball valve and not have more air flow then the valve is open.

shakey · Feb 26, 2022

That sounds great! This is definitely a future project for me.

Mbritt · Mar 9, 2022

Davisc1293 said:
As of now it does seem to hold it tighter to the set ranges then just the 2 way valve. I usually see my ph go as low as 8.28-8.3 with a high of 8.37-8 with the 2 way (set to open at 8.35) but without the valve i was getting closer to 8.45 before i would just shut my skimmer off completely until it dropped so i dont know how high it would acttualy go. With the 3 way so far it hasnt exceeded 8.36. The biggest advantage i found so far is still being able fine tune the air flow with an airline ball valve and not have more air flow then the valve is open.

Davisc1293 -

Did you just buy the Apex 2 wire adapter to wire this up. Im trying to do the same thing as I just figured out the Apex Solenoid doesn't work for this.

shakey · Mar 9, 2022

Mbritt said:
Davisc1293 -
Did you just buy the Apex 2 wire adapter to wire this up. Im trying to do the same thing as I just figured out the Apex Solenoid doesn't work for this.

I hope so I’ve already ordered both!

Davisc1293 · Mar 9, 2022

Mbritt said:
Davisc1293 -
Did you just buy the Apex 2 wire adapter to wire this up. Im trying to do the same thing as I just figured out the Apex Solenoid doesn't work for this.

You could either steal a power suply from an old electric device that has similar output but yes i chose to buy the dc24v to bare wire from brs as to not take up an outlet

Davisc1293 · Mar 9, 2022

Davisc1293 said:
You could either steal a power suply from an old electric device that has similar output but yes i chose to buy the dc24v to bare wire from brs as to not take up an outlet

DC24 to Bare Wire Accessory Cable

You can now use the 24vDC ports that are on the 1Link module and the EnergyBar 832. The 24v DC port will give you the ability to run solenoids, pumps, and fans off a single wire, without having to use any standard outlets for power. The 24v DC ports have give you full outlet style control in a...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

Mbritt · Mar 9, 2022

Davisc1293 said:
DC24 to Bare Wire Accessory Cable

You can now use the 24vDC ports that are on the 1Link module and the EnergyBar 832. The 24v DC port will give you the ability to run solenoids, pumps, and fans off a single wire, without having to use any standard outlets for power. The 24v DC ports have give you full outlet style control in a...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

Thank you, and the link earlier in the feed is the valve you are using correct?

Davisc1293 · Mar 9, 2022

Mbritt said:
Thank you, and the link earlier in the feed is the valve you are using correct?

Yes i believe i got the half inch valve but dont think it would make a difference which one because i ended up needing to get three npt to male barb fitting and attached a small section of tube with another valve (one for the scrubber) and another for ambiant air intake to control the ammount of air flow.

Mbritt · Mar 9, 2022

Davisc1293 said:
Yes i believe i got the half inch valve but dont think it would make a difference which one because i ended up needing to get three npt to male barb fitting and attached a small section of tube with another valve (one for the scrubber) and another for ambiant air intake to control the ammount of air flow.

Going to grab the 3/8 since thats the hose size. I have a few of the 3/8 npt to 3/8 male already threaded

shakey · Mar 9, 2022

Mbritt said:
Going to grab the 3/8 since thats the hose size. I have a few of the 3/8 npt to 3/8 male already threaded

I read somewhere that the 1/2 inch was better for this. Something about the 3/8 valve restricted air flow a considerable amount compared to 3/8 straight line. I can’t recall where it was I read it but I definitely did remember this. I’m sure 3/8 would work though.

Sean Clark · Mar 9, 2022

Just an FYI, you can purchase these micro-fit cables directly from Molex at a significant savings with free shipping. Here is a 2 meter cable.

https://www.molex.com/molex/products/part-detail/cable_assemblies/2451320220

Mbritt · Mar 9, 2022

shakey said:
I read somewhere that the 1/2 inch was better for this. Something about the 3/8 valve restricted air flow a considerable amount compared to 3/8 straight line. I can’t recall where it was I read it but I definitely did remember this. I’m sure 3/8 would work though.

Good to know as i havent pulled the plug on the valve yet.

Davisc1293 · Mar 9, 2022

Luckily i got the half inch because i only had 2 barb fitting but the 3/8 hose had an od of 1/2 that made an air tight seal around the body of the ball valve itelse and worked until i got a new fitting... best of luck i found it works great i had to set a bit more of a range like if ph<

Mbritt said:
Good to know as i havent pulled the plug on the valve yet.

It may be good to go with the .5 but in my particular case especially with such a small skimmer i need alot of restriction anyways. Which is why i still needed to use ball valves on the actual intakes. So ild go bigger and have the option to constrict flow as needed with ditional valves i found these pretty cheap on amazon aswell