Tunze ATO people

[MrDJeep123]

So for those that have the Tunze ATO, what is your impression of it? How long have you had yours, and lastly how many issues have you had with yours in the time that you've owned one.
My biggest concern right now is when my overflow looses siphon and a whole bunch of fresh water gets dumped in. :sad:

 

[rayn]

I had one and it lasted about two years. I liked it, still haven't figured out why exactly it died. I liked it enough that I bought another for a different tank over black Friday.

Never had a issue with it loosing siphon though or adding a bunch of fresh water to the system.

 

[hybridazn]

I've had mine for going on 5 years now and never had one problem. The secondary sensor is awesome and prevents it from over filling the tank. This ato is a must have imo

 

[reefwiser]

What model do you have and how old? There are jumpers or a potentiometer to control how fast the pump puts water back into the tank.
Do you have a J tube overflow instead of a bulkhead.

Here are a couple of video ideas.
[video=youtube_share;l8IRHv_lOQs]http://youtu.be/l8IRHv_lOQs[/video]

[video=youtube_share;Bd9tPTM7s0c]http://youtu.be/Bd9tPTM7s0c[/video]

 

[MrDJeep123]

I've had mine for going on 5 years now and never had one problem. The secondary sensor is awesome and prevents it from over filling the tank. This ato is a must have imo

I'm not exactly clear with the optical sensor. Should it sit above the water or does it get covered? The instructions aren't 100% clear and the illustrations show it to set above the water. Mine turns on when the water goes below the sensor and stops when it's half-way covered. Normal?

reefwiser, mine is new. The 3155. I also have a PVC overflow.

 

[hybridazn]

I'm not exactly clear with the optical sensor. Should it sit above the water or does it get covered? The instructions aren't 100% clear and the illustrations show it to set above the water. Mine turns on when the water goes below the sensor and stops when it's half-way covered. Normal?

reefwiser, mine is new. The 3155. I also have a PVC overflow.

The tip of the sensor should be underwater when it stops. So it sounds like yours is running normally.

 

[reefwiser]

http://youtu.be/vHHeIE3VdMs

 

[Aquaph8]

I'm not a big fan, in circumstances when my tank takes longer than 5 minutes to top off it completely shuts down. That's great when I'm home but I don't feel comfortable leaving town with this thing knowing if my skimmer dumps a little too much my top off shuts off until someone turns it back on.

 

[MrDJeep123]

Aquarium Auto Top Off System: Tunze Osmolator 3155 - YouTube

I actually just came across this video. lol Nice.
hybridazn, that's exactly what happens. So I guess it's normal. I really like the second safety switch.

 

[hybridazn]

I'm not a big fan, in circumstances when my tank takes longer than 5 minutes to top off it completely shuts down. That's great when I'm home but I don't feel comfortable leaving town with this thing knowing if my skimmer dumps a little too much my top off shuts off until someone turns it back on.

I do agree with this, you can always upgrade to a better pump but the switch that tunze makes to do this is rather pricy

 

[MrDJeep123]

I do agree with this, you can always upgrade to a better pump but the switch that tunze makes to do this is rather pricy

Is there a waiting period for when it does this? How long will it take to restart after it shutdown?

 

[reefndude]

Just bought mine. First ato and really love having one. Can't believe I waited so long to buy one. So far Tunze been great

 

[Aquaph8]

I do agree with this, you can always upgrade to a better pump but the switch that tunze makes to do this is rather pricy

I have upgraded it with a BRS top off pump and it still shuts off occasionally when it has to run for over five minutes. It's just nerve racking knowing that it could possibly shut off and stop topping my tank off while I'm gone.

 

[hybridazn]

Is there a waiting period for when it does this? How long will it take to restart after it shutdown?

I've never personally had this happen. I was simply agreeing with that it does take a bit to top off a good amount of water in larger systems. The only time mine has shut off and has needed to be restarted was when I left the reservoir run low and it stopped pumping water because the pump was running dry.

Mine is clearly past the warranty so I wonder if I could just splice in a new pump by cutting the wires.

 

[MrDJeep123]

Just bought mine. First ato and really love having one. Can't believe I waited so long to buy one. So far Tunze been great

My hydor smart level ATO kicked the bucket after 6 months of use. It went berserk. Alarm was going off when it wasn't supposed to, spent many times jumping out of bed at 3 or so in the morning hearing it beep to only find nothing happened. The pump would turn on when ATO was switched "off", it was possessed. I'm going to warranty replace or repair and maybe keep it for another tank. IDK.

One of my concerns happened earlier. I was Doctor Who with the kids. I come through the den and found my skimmer going bonkers. It had flooded the overflow jug and was a puddle of water in the floor. The good news is the ATO worked liked it supposed to. Thankfully, I actually turned down the potentiometer to "NANO" earlier today. There wasn't much fresh water dumped in to lower salinity too much. I'm going to check it again 30 minutes. This is skimmer is driving me nuts. Actually, I'm going to put the overflow line back in the sump... *sigh* I need a controller.

 

[KorL]

About 3 yrs at least. No issues other than user error. Forgetting to refill the ATO fresh water reservoir

 

[MrDJeep123]

About 3 yrs at least. No issues other than user error. Forgetting to refill the ATO fresh water reservoir

That's good to know. The more I read the better I feel about the purchase. One of the reasons I did buy it is all the rav reviews. Seems it will be a good investment.

 

[jeremy]

I bought one about a couple months ago. I really like it. Way better than the tsunami that it replaced. Keeps my water level consistent in my stock tank sump. I really like the back up float switch for just in case the optical sensor fails.

 

[skidrow52]

Running since 4 years in my tank with no problems , the pump resides in a container with only RO/DI

 

[saltyhog]

19 months, no issues. I would get rid of my skimmer before I would give up my ATO.