Hydros ATO Issue, Help

[DHill6]

The Hydros ATO emptied a 5g reservoir into my sump. Obviously it didn’t stop pumping. Close to a disaster on hardwood flooring.
Pumped water well past the eye. Anyone else have this issue? ATO failure? Now It is turned off, running Hydros4. I have to do a quick water change, salinity is down. It did alarm a couple times yesterday, I should’ve checked it. Lesson learned there. I’m used to hearing it when it pumps water so it didn’t phase me.

 

[n2585722]

Can you post a screenshot of you ATO output settings? Also what pump are you using for the ATO pump? What type of output is it plugged into? I have used a dosing pump on the drive port for over a year without any issues and it has a 20 gallon storage tank as a source. The tank is only a 42 gallon tank.

 

[DHill6]

It's the Hydros ATO and their pump into drive port 1. The ATO been flawless up until now. The Hydros4 was replaced it had an issue, the wifi bar had an issue but it's now connected. The Hydros app has an issue confirmed by Carlos. They're aware of the inputs and output not showing any info for a small group of people and are in the process of pushing a new app. In the meantime use the web app if needing to make changes. For those of you reading this and have the same problem. The tank/sump is 43g without any displacement, Reefer 170. The extra gallons threw off the salinity and dkh. Water change is going to take place tonight to try and correct. Now it's 1.025 and 6.1 dkh, tank has been running 6.7dkh.

 

[DHill6]

Running Hydros since December.

 

[n2585722]

What are the advanced setting set to on that output. A screenshot of mine is below. Mine uses a dosing pump so you will want to set yours differently. You minimum on time will need to be more like 2 seconds and maximum on time more like a few seconds. It all depends on how fast the flow is on the pump you are using. My pump has a flow rate of 42ml a minute. Make sure run past max on time is off. That will limit the maximum runtime to what ever you set for maximum on time. If it runs that long it will turn off and send a alert if you set it up to do that.

 

[n2585722]

Don't make the changes too fast. Quickly changing parameters are worse than them being off to begin with.

 

[n2585722]

I forgot to mention to set a minimum off time also. I set mine to 30 minutes. That way it can only run for the maximum run time every thirty minutes. This will limit the amount of top off over time.

 

[DHill6]

Is the power safe range correct? The pump runs at max 4.5 watts according to website. That line is pegged blue to 20 watts.

 

[DHill6]

Advanced setting isn’t enabled

 

[Sean Clark]

I'll just add that my Apex is constantly alarming to the point that I have become complacent. I do not pay attention anymore because I assume that it is just a boy tending sheep crying wolf.
I know this is a personal problem but I can relate to dismissing alarms.

 

[n2585722]

The power safe range will depend on the pump you are using. Mine is a Hydros dosing pump so it is not the same as the pump you are using. Enable your advanced settings. For ATO you want to set those to make sure it does not overfill if something happens to the water level sensor.

 

[DHill6]

Okay, the advanced settings are enabled now. Minimum on time 5 seconds, max on time 15 seconds. No run past time. When I went in to check the maximum on time was 2 minutes. I never programmed this, no wonder it emptied the ATO. Thank you for all the help. My test will be 1 gal to make sure it’s working correctly. I’m still working with the salinity, dkh correction.

 

[n2585722]

Those times may be high depending on the size of your tank. You may want 2 seconds on the minimum time to start with. Check the ATO output log to see what the normal on time is and how often it comes on to get your final settings for normal operation.

 

[DHill6]

It only has 5 second intervals available to choose and I didn’t see any way around it.

 

[DHill6]

I went back and figured it out , thanks.

 

[DHill6]

Those times may be high depending on the size of your tank. You may want 2 seconds on the minimum time to start with. Check the ATO output log to see what the normal on time is and how often it comes on to get your final settings for normal operation.

It had an issue where it stopped pumping water when it called for it. I was in the room, the pump started and immediately turned off. I spoke with Carlos who stated my run time is t long enough. My run time was working perfectly at the set time of 8 seconds I think it was. Okay I increased it to 13 seconds or so, was doing fine and here we go again, water level dropping in sump. I get many messages stating the off time has been exceeded. The max off time is 4 hours. The minimum on time is 30 minutes. It was keeping up nicely until yesterday again. What should I do, buy another? This one is only 4 months old. The pump is very strong and pumps a lot of water within 10 seconds. It’s a RedSea 170 sump and I don’t need an overflow.
stumoed with this one. Previously I had an Auto Aqua Smart ATO, never a problem, ran flawless for 6 years.

 

[n2585722]

I don't think a minimum on time of 30 minutes is right. That would make the pump run for 30 minutes before shutting off. Did you mean 30 seconds. If it exceeded the maximum off time that mean you are dispensing to much water and it is taking more than the minimum off you have set to evaporate. Below is a screenshot of my ATO setup but I use a dosing pump for a ATO pump. It is the Hydros dosing pump that pumps 43ml a minute so it is slow compared to your pump. When I get maximum on time exceeded I will look for blockages at the overflow weir and a possible issue with the AWC before looking for an issue with the ATO. And even then I check the pump and things like that since the settings have been working for me for quite a while.

 

[DHill6]

I just checked the settings, minimum on time 3 seconds, max on time 8 seconds. Maybe I should increase that to 11 seconds? I think I had it there but lowered it since the pump really puts out the water. Minimum off time is 30 minutes, maximum off time is 4 hours. Or I could change the minimum off time and maximum off time? It seems to be working again.

 

[n2585722]

To set minimum off time keep track of your logs and see how often it is turning on. if it is turnin on every 45 minutes as a minimum then increase you minimum off time. The max on time is there to keep it from over filling the sump or making a drastic change in salinity. As long as that is not an issue you can increase that time some. I would make small changes each time and see how it goes,

 

[DWill]

I’ve not had problems with my Hydros. My Apex is a different story. I have multiple fail safes on my Apex ATO. A solenoid that’s always closed unless the pump runs and then will only stay open a few seconds. A small runtime window on the pump. Three optical sensors (4 if you count the one that shuts the entire system down if water closes it) one for the level, two set at different height’s for fail saves. Apex optical sensors are no exactly high quality. They fail often. Hence the reason for all the fail safes.