Tunze emptied my resovoir

[Alanc425]

So I have about a 2 month old 3155 and came home to about 15 gallons on the floor and the ATO motor whirring dry in my reservoir still trying to pump out more.

What was that my ato line unfortunately shifted and was pointed away from tank and right towards the floor, this was my fault with mounting the line and I have corrected it mow but it definitely was not a siphon issue since the ato line exits above the reservoir. I am more concerned with why tunze did not shut off after 10 minutes nd the motor continued to run dry for who knows how many hours.

Is there something I have to do to turn the 10 min shut off feature on?

 

[Brian Kim]

I have the same ato and here's the problem, at least for me. Sometimes I forget to refill my reservoir and I see the unit constantly trying to run even after that automatic shut off. So I figured, your ato could have stopped at that 10 min mark but it was back to trying to pull water again by the time you came back home and found the problem.

 

[Chac317]

Mine did this too. Except mine pumped a whole container of Kalk into the tank, turning the whole tank into a white milky color and killing a large majority of livestock due to ph shock I'm assuming. Pump was still trying to pump water when I saw the aftermath.

 

[jd371]

Mine did this too. Except mine pumped a whole container of Kalk into the tank, turning the whole tank into a white milky color and killing a large majority of livestock due to ph shock I'm assuming. Pump was still trying to pump water when I saw the aftermath.

This is the reason I don't run kalk in the ATO.

 

[rvitko Verified Sponsor]

The 3155 shuts off after 10 minutes of continuous run of the pump, it then switches to "too low" and this is only reset by cycling the power. If the hose fell off, the most probable cause is a siphon and nothing will stop that, the hose end must always be above the water level in the reservoir, if your reservoir has 18" of water, the hose tip at the sump or tank must be at least 18" above the ground, if it was 16" 2" of water would siphon after the pump turns off. A siphon is the only failure that nothing will stop, otherwise an optic sensor failure is stopped by the float and a leak or dual sensor failure is stopped by the 10 minute timer. Always view the reservoir capacity as the ultimate and final safety and limit it to what you really need.

 

[Alanc425]

The 3155 shuts off after 10 minutes of continuous run of the pump, it then switches to "too low" and this is only reset by cycling the power. If the hose fell off, the most probable cause is a siphon and nothing will stop that, the hose end must always be above the water level in the reservoir, if your reservoir has 18" of water, the hose tip at the sump or tank must be at least 18" above the ground, if it was 16" 2" of water would siphon after the pump turns off. A siphon is the only failure that nothing will stop, otherwise an optic sensor failure is stopped by the float and a leak or dual sensor failure is stopped by the 10 minute timer. Always view the reservoir capacity as the ultimate and final safety and limit it to what you really need.

The hose did fall and shift but it was still a good 12" above the reservoir.

 

[rvitko Verified Sponsor]

The timer requires a 10 minute continuous run, so in some circumstances where there may be splashing or surging, it could run up to 9+ minutes and then detect water and run again. Generally, baring a siphon the limit of what can be pumped in 10 minutes is about 3 gallons.

 

[rvitko Verified Sponsor]

Keep in mind that for a siphon only two points matter, the water level in the reservoir and the end of the hose, many people seem to believe it is where the pump is in the reservoir and you have to be below the bottom, that is not the case, it is only that the hose is below the reservoir water level.

 

[Alanc425]

Well the reservoir was filled to capacity at 15 gallon, the auto hose outputs about a foot above the entire reservoir itself including water level. The sensors are in my sump so there is no turbulence, it just did not shut off after 10 minutes.... :-/

 

[Alanc425]

Found this in the manual, would I have to switch the jumper to position #2 to enable the 10 min auto shut off or is this just regarding the audible warnings?

http://imgur.com/WIiRPtN

 

[rvitko Verified Sponsor]

That is just the audible warning. I can double check the settings if you send it in, we can connect it to a computer and verify all the settings. While I have seen the safety timer get erased, it is then 0 minutes and the controller will never run, it immediately goes to too low.