Simple auto water change

[a.t.t.r]

Using a cheap dosing pump a few check valves and lines placed in my overflow box(my sump since the tank uses a canister)

pump pumps in fresh saltwater raising the water level in the tank and overflow. Every few minutes dosing pump kicks on and pulls out water from a line that is only slightly above the auto top off sensor. This drain line has a tee in it before and after the dosing pump creating a bridge that a check valve is placed on. This allows the pump to start a siphon and continue it even after the pump turns off. I simply need to add a high water sensor as a back up and all is good! Total cost $80.

 

[Gtinnel]

What a clever way to drain the water back out of the tank.

 

[a.t.t.r]

What a clever way to drain the water back out of the tank.

I knew no way in heck would a dosing pump be exact especially a friction drive one… double so for this brand of one. I am hoping the check valve keeps working and may add a second in series up on it if it doesn’t cause too much pressure loss. As long as the check valve seals enough to block some of the back flow the siphon will start.

 

[a.t.t.r]

Also I only do about a gallon over the course of two hours (5 minutes on 5 off ) to prevent overheating

 

[a.t.t.r]

Ran two test yesterday and trusted it to do it alone this morning. So far so good. Additional good news is even if it fails to drain the water level just hardly reached the rim of the tank giving me 24 hours to manually catch any issues.

Tank is 20 gallon it is changing 0.75 gallons per day for a 25 percent water change weekly. Very happy and this beats both the 400 buck and 200 buck options on BRS

 

[n2585722]

I went a little bit of a different way with my AWC. I use a modified dosing pump connected to a drive port on my controller. I installed a motor with a shaft long enough for two pump heads. The pump with the green heads is the AWC pump. One head drains the water from the tank and the other fills the tank with water. They are controlled as a dosing pump on the controller. It is scheduled for 3 times a day and to dose 2757 ml a day. Thwt is the figure i come up with that matched the AWC when i was just using timers to control the pump. So it runs about 11 minutes each time. The pump is in the garage about 35ft from the tank. The tank with the fresh salt water is also in the garage. The drain pump empties out in the drain for the kitchen sink. The other two pump in use in the photo are the ATO and one for dosing AFR. The forth pump is a spare. I have another spare that has the two pump heads that is not in the photo.

 

[a.t.t.r]

I went a little bit of a different way with my AWC. I use a modified dosing pump connected to a drive port on my controller. I installed a motor with a shaft long enough for two pump heads. The pump with the green heads is the AWC pump. One head drains the water from the tank and the other fills the tank with water. They are controlled as a dosing pump on the controller. It is scheduled for 3 times a day and to dose 2757 ml a day. Thwt is the figure i come up with that matched the AWC when i was just using timers to control the pump. So it runs about 11 minutes each time. The pump is in the garage about 35ft from the tank. The tank with the fresh salt water is also in the garage. The drain pump empties out in the drain for the kitchen sink. The other two pump in use in the photo are the ATO and one for dosing AFR. The forth pump is a spare. I have another spare that has the two pump heads that is not in the photo.

I like that as well however over time the pumps may not pump the same volume esp since these use a slip friction drive and have no actual direct linkage to the shaft.

 

[n2585722]

I like that as well however over time the pumps may not pump the same volume esp since these use a slip friction drive and have no actual direct linkage to the shaft.

I do have a sump high and sump low sensor that will stop the AWC if there is too much difference. I have used it like this since March and keep track of salinity as well. So far it has been working ok.

 

[sundog101]

Using a cheap dosing pump a few check valves and lines placed in my overflow box(my sump since the tank uses a canister)

pump pumps in fresh saltwater raising the water level in the tank and overflow. Every few minutes dosing pump kicks on and pulls out water from a line that is only slightly above the auto top off sensor. This drain line has a tee in it before and after the dosing pump creating a bridge that a check valve is placed on. This allows the pump to start a siphon and continue it even after the pump turns off. I simply need to add a high water sensor as a back up and all is good! Total cost $80.

I think I’m a little confused. So fresh saltwater pumps in and raises the water level… then the siphon removes it?

 

[a.t.t.r]

I think I’m a little confused. So fresh saltwater pumps in and raises the water level… then the siphon removes it?

Correct. And siphon breaks right above the ato water level sensor. Gallon goes in. A few minutes later gallon comes out.

 

[sundog101]

Really cool! Is it still running good?

 

[a.t.t.r]

Really cool! Is it still running good?

Every day

 

[efly77]

I went a little bit of a different way with my AWC. I use a modified dosing pump connected to a drive port on my controller. I installed a motor with a shaft long enough for two pump heads. The pump with the green heads is the AWC pump. One head drains the water from the tank and the other fills the tank with water. They are controlled as a dosing pump on the controller. It is scheduled for 3 times a day and to dose 2757 ml a day. Thwt is the figure i come up with that matched the AWC when i was just using timers to control the pump. So it runs about 11 minutes each time. The pump is in the garage about 35ft from the tank. The tank with the fresh salt water is also in the garage. The drain pump empties out in the drain for the kitchen sink. The other two pump in use in the photo are the ATO and one for dosing AFR. The forth pump is a spare. I have another spare that has the two pump heads that is not in the photo.

Nice! Just curious as to how long you've been running this setup for the AWC with the green pump heads. I have RSR350 and distance seems to be approx the same as you but my mixing station would be one floor below. Looking at doing about 1 gallon a day on 80 gallons system total. Would also like to know what motor you use for the modified pump.

 

[n2585722]

I started using it in March and got the motor and pump heads on Amazon. I cannot tell any difference in the motor except for the longer shaft. The pump heads are a little tight fitting into the holes on the dosing pump though. I did set one up with the standard white dosing pump heads also. I snapped a photo of the one with the white heads. Here is a link to one like the one I got .

Hydros sell a dosing pump now you can use two if them with the auto water change output type. I use one of them as the ATO pump. Unfortunately it will not fit in the shelves I made for the Intllab pumps. I guess I will have to make some new shelves that it will fit into. It is in the garage with the auto water change pump. Photo is below. I did have to change out the tubing after 6 months. make sure the pump is positioned so there is on chance of siphoning in the event the tubing in the pump were to split. That is a common fault on dosing pumps if you wait too long to change out the tubing.

 

[efly77]

About the placement, in my case they would be below sump level so a siphon could occur but only for the pump drawing water out of the system as the line to replenish the tank would not be submerged in water. I would use a dosing size check valve to ensure water can only flow in one direction on both push/draw sides of the pump heads. My concern is the Intllab seems to be able to do max 100ml/min which means that in order to set both units to work at the same speed, unless replacing a motor like you did, I would not dial them to max speed to allow for more adjustments flexibility. I want to change 1 gallon per day let's say at an actual rate of about 75ml/min meaning the pumps would run 51 mins per day approx. I would prefer to change the 1 gallon/day all at once but not sure the Intllab will be reliable and consistent enough to sustain running 51mins in a row... Given the Hydros doser is made by Kamoer, I'm thinking this might be a better option for my situation and leverage the built-in Hydros AWC feature on my X3... Thanks for sharing your setup. Very helpfull!

 

[n2585722]

About the placement, in my case they would be below sump level so a siphon could occur but only for the pump drawing water out of the system as the line to replenish the tank would not be submerged in water. I would use a dosing size check valve to ensure water can only flow in one direction on both push/draw sides of the pump heads. My concern is the Intllab seems to be able to do max 100ml/min which means that in order to set both units to work at the same speed, unless replacing a motor like you did, I would not dial them to max speed to allow for more adjustments flexibility. I want to change 1 gallon per day let's say at an actual rate of about 75ml/min meaning the pumps would run 51 mins per day approx. I would prefer to change the 1 gallon/day all at once but not sure the Intllab will be reliable and consistent enough to sustain running 51mins in a row... Given the Hydros doser is made by Kamoer, I'm thinking this might be a better option for my situation and leverage the built-in Hydros AWC feature on my X3... Thanks for sharing your setup. Very helpfull!

Using the AWC output type on the Hydros also requires you use the ATO in that setup as well. That way it has control of the ATO during a water change. I believe the water change has to have the ATO sensor wet for the water change to start and also stops the ATO until that sensor is wet again with the fill pump. Not sure what ATO you use but the Hydros dosing pump is working well for me as an ATO pump on the Hydros.

 

[TnFishwater98]

I need to smarten up my tanks! ;Writing

 

[efly77]

Using the AWC output type on the Hydros also requires you use the ATO in that setup as well. That way it has control of the ATO during a water change. I believe the water change has to have the ATO sensor wet for the water change to start and also stops the ATO until that sensor is wet again with the fill pump. Not sure what ATO you use but the Hydros dosing pump is working well for me as an ATO pump on the Hydros.

Thanks Danny, I did some more reading on the Hydros site and it seems very well thought. I would use 1 pump to draw to low sensor level, another one to replenish to high/ATO level and third pump for the ATO. I already use the Hydros ATO sensor and pump with a container in my stand but will pump from downstairs... Tired of carrying fresh water from the basement up and with the hydros, wifi strip and "dumb" pump the way the feature is designed no need really to care about the AWC pump to have exact matching flow. Cannot get much simpler than that.

 

[nallured]

Using a cheap dosing pump a few check valves and lines placed in my overflow box(my sump since the tank uses a canister)

pump pumps in fresh saltwater raising the water level in the tank and overflow. Every few minutes dosing pump kicks on and pulls out water from a line that is only slightly above the auto top off sensor. This drain line has a tee in it before and after the dosing pump creating a bridge that a check valve is placed on. This allows the pump to start a siphon and continue it even after the pump turns off. I simply need to add a high water sensor as a back up and all is good! Total cost $80.

Is this dosing pump setup still running well for you?

 

[vetteguy53081]

I at one time utilize kamoer dosers for this purpose