Flow monitor on return

[Rubblereefer]

Hey guys,
I’m running an eshopps overflow, and although I haven’t had a flood yet, it makes me nervous. What I am thinking of doing is putting a flow monitor on the main drain hose, and configuring the apex to kill the return pumps if flow drops to zero so as soon as the siphon breaks I get an alarm, text, and no more water goes to the display tank. I’m still new to the apex. Is this a viable solution and what would should the code be?

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

No, the apex flow meters are not reliable enough for this, especially on a drain line which could have debris etc.

 

[ca1ore]

Frankly, you are better off using level switches for something like this. I do use flow meters on my drains, but they only alert me of a potential problem. Nine times out of ten its a stuck flow meter.

 

[Rubblereefer]

Thanks guys, sounds like it would be better to use a float switch or optical sensor in the sump that kills the pumps if the water level gets too low.

 

[foxt]

Thanks guys, sounds like it would be better to use a float switch or optical sensor in the sump that kills the pumps if the water level gets too low.

Yes, as others have said, the flow meter would not be as reliable as a water level sensor in the sump. I mainly use my flow meters to tell me when my UV flow has slowed down, or my return pump screen is getting clogged.

Do you have an ATO set up that is already monitoring the water level in your sump?

 

[Rubblereefer]

Yes, as others have said, the flow meter would not be as reliable as a water level sensor in the sump. I mainly use my flow meters to tell me when my UV flow has slowed down, or my return pump screen is getting clogged.

Do you have an ATO set up that is already monitoring the water level in your sump?

Right now I have a simple float valve and relay setup with no redundancy. My ato reservoir is only about a gallon, so I wasn’t worried about it overdosing kalkwasser, as worst case scenario it would just be a relatively minor swing and shouldn’t kill anything. I did just purchase a Neptune atk, so I guess I’ll just add a third optical sensor to the fmm, mount it just above the usual water line in the display, and figure out how to write the code accordingly.

 

[Reefcowboy]

I have a flow meter on my emergency drain in my synergy overflow(3rd drain). Being it is always dry, I've set it so if it ever becomes active, to shut the pump and alert me.


I wouldn't recommend it if you plan on setting it on the primary as the meters will be prone to slowing down or even stop working through long periods with possible debri build ups.

Here's a pic of mine

 

[Rubblereefer]

I have a flow meter on my emergency drain in my synergy overflow(3rd drain). Being it is always dry, I've set it so if it ever becomes active, to shut the pump and alert me.


I wouldn't recommend it if you plan on setting it on the primary as the meters will be prone to slowing down or even stop working through long periods with possible debri build ups.

Here's a pic of mine

Wow, Nice looking plumbing! In my newbie rush to get set up I used braided nylon tubing and a siphon overflow box. A year later I would have done things very differently, but I guess that’s what second tanks are for!

 

[Sherman]

Can a active flow meter be use to stop the pump without the apex?

 

[foxt]

Right now I have a simple float valve and relay setup with no redundancy. My ato reservoir is only about a gallon, so I wasn’t worried about it overdosing kalkwasser, as worst case scenario it would just be a relatively minor swing and shouldn’t kill anything. I did just purchase a Neptune atk, so I guess I’ll just add a third optical sensor to the fmm, mount it just above the usual water line in the display, and figure out how to write the code accordingly.

That will work. You can also mount it in your sump, so that if the water level gets below a certain point, your return pump shuts down.

 

[Rubblereefer]

That will work. You can also mount it in your sump, so that if the water level gets below a certain point, your return pump shuts down.

Do I need a breakout box or just the fmm with an optical sensor? Stick an apex noob.

 

[foxt]

Optical sensor connects to fmm, no breakout box needed. If you were to use float switches, you would need a free i/o port on the apex and a breakout box.

 

[Rubblereefer]

Ok got it, I already have the atk so all I really need is another optical sensor which is cheaper and more reliable than the flow meter so that works out well then. Well that and I need to figure out how to tell the apex to shut off the pumps if the water gets too high in the display. I think I’m better off with the display too high trigger than the sump too low trigger. If my ato ran dry, and the sump level dropped, I don’t want it killing the flow. I can’t think of a false trigger like that in the display.

 

[foxt]

Directly measuring the DT level is better, if you can mount the optical sensor there. Just a thought on the sump option: if the drain is clogged and the return pump is pushing water to the DT, which will happen first, DT overflows or return pump sucks air?

The water level in my sump is set in a way that the DT can’t overflow, the return sucks air first. I have a float switch set at the level in the return section at which point that happens so that I get an alarm. I also have a float switch set in the return section to tell me when the sump level is too high, in case the ATO went whacky on me. If that did happen, it would lower my salinity and also put enough water in the system so that if the drains clogged the DT might overflow before the return pump sucks air.

All overkill maybe, but I have a lot of breakout boxes and float switches, and I like to over engineer things.