Red Sea Reefer 200 xl ATO

[kstaley12]

Hey guys! So my ato hasn’t been working well. I set up the tank 3-4 weeks ago and since then I have removed the small valve between the reservoir and the float valve, and I removed the float to make sure it was functional. That helped a bit, but I CAN NOT seem to get it dialed in. The sump is either low, or the ATO is running and the float valve is almost completely covered with water. I feel like there has to be a happy medium. Any tips or tricks? Should I just scrap it and get something else?

 

[blaxsun]

I wonder if your return pump and gate valve is dialed in, since all you need to do is really click the float down to the desired level and it will kick-in when the water drops down.

 

[kstaley12]

I wonder if your return pump and gate valve is dialed in, since all you need to do is really click the float down to the desired level and it will kick-in when the water drops down.

The level in my overflow box fluctuates at times, and I‘m not sure why, but I’ve been managing it with very small adjustments to the gate valve. Maybe the adjustments I’m making are actually too big causing the level between the overflow box and the sump to fluctuate.

 

[blaxsun]

On my Red Sea I set the pump to the volume I wanted, opened the gate valve all the way then gradually closed it (just a few mm every few minutes) until the water was right at the edge of the emergency overflow. Then waited a few minutes for everything to stabilize in the sump and set my float valve a little lower than the water level in the return.

This way I'll get the occasional trickle - but nothing more. And if for any reason I do hear water running down the emergency overflow I know something is amiss. Note that when you clean your pump every 3-6 months you'll pick up some bonus flow that may require you to close the gate valve every so slightly to keep the overflow level maintained at the emergency overflow height.

 

[kstaley12]

Ok, I will give that a try. Thank you!

 

[Jeffcb]

Second that. After you get the flow as to were the over flow is just below the emergency overflow pipe with the gate valve, adjust the float. The float height is adjustable up or down. From time to time the float dose need to be cleaned. Just pull the pin and it dissembles easily. Take note how how you disassemble because it can go back together upside down. Yes I did that lol.

 

[kstaley12]

Second that. After you get the flow as to were the over flow is just below the emergency overflow pipe with the gate valve, adjust the float. The float height is adjustable up or down. From time to time the float dose need to be cleaned. Just pull the pin and it dissembles easily. Take note how how you disassemble because it can go back together upside down. Yes I did that lol.

Lol thank you for the tip. Putting it back together upside down is definitely something I would do!