Ato keeps coming on every ten mintes

[bart84]

Ever since my upgrade my ato has been going off every ten minutes or so. I was wondering is it possible that my water is evaporating that quick? My water surface is 48x18 and 36x18.

 

[pulpfiction1]

mine comes on regular,to about 2 .5 gallons a day,probably squirts about every 15 min or so

 

[TORX]

Every 10 minutes is pretty extreme. Most likely it is the way it is set up now as water should not be evaporating that quickly. How much are you going through a day? What is your set up? A little more info would be great

 

[pulpfiction1]

with my baffless sump i didnt notice the ato come on but with my new sump and an 8" section where my ato sensors are, mine come on fairly regular,i think the smaller chamber is the reason.
where and how large is the section your ato sensor is situated in?

 

[Poseidon]

How high your ato sensor is is very important. If it's just barely above water line then it will come on more frequently, drop it an 1" below the water line and it'll come on once a day (that's what mine does)

 

[bart84]

Here is some pictures of my sump and sensor placement. My return chamber is 9" wide. The sensor is at the top of the water I started with it at an inch below but with it being a sensor the water will never fill up above the float once it has evaporated.

 

[Poseidon]

I'm not sure what the problem is... Maybe monitor how much overall top off water it's adding to your tank, and then compare notes with someone of a similar tank size


That skimmer looks sexy though

 

[unibob]

Is the float in your return or skimmer section? Looks like return when I do believe you want it in the skimmer section; as this is the water level we are trying to keep level.


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[Poseidon]

Is the float in your return or skimmer section? Looks like return when I do believe you want it in the skimmer section; as this is the water level we are trying to keep level.


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yea but the return section is where the evaporation shows ... not the skimmer section
the return section would be completely empty before the skimmer section dropped 1 cm...

unless im confused about his sump design... which is possible lol

 

[bart84]

No you are right. the evaporation only shows in the return.

 

[pulpfiction1]

how much water do you add daily or when?that compartment looks more shallow than mine but about the same size,furnace,air conditioning,dryness will all soak up the water,my 150 opentop uses 5 gallons every 2 days,now the furnace is off it has lessened by about a liter but when the air comes on it will increase a little
i have a 5 gallon resorvoir and filled it last night before bed,you should have your sensor in the return chamber as this is where the evaporation level can be adjusted like you have it

 

[bart84]

that sounds about the exact same. I lose about 2.5 gallons a day. Its just I don't remember it coming on that much when I had the 55G set up

 

[unibob]

I have my float sensor in my skimmer section. When my return section gets lower it pulls water from the other chambers. I have my water level sensor set at same height as skimmer baffle, if falls over into my fuge(liverock and macro), then into return.


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[pulpfiction1]

looking at barts configuration his skimmer section should never drop,dont know what yours looks like jerry but his, like mine the final chamber would be the only chamber to drop, the others wont drop but stay at the baffle height unless a power outage then the sump would fill above the baffles.he could drain the return compartment dry and it wont effect the level in the other chambers

 

[bart84]

that's exactly what would happen

 

[pulpfiction1]

what size tank is that sump bart?

 

[sidewinder]

What type of ATO are you using? I put a Tunze Nano ATO in the chamber on the back of my Red Sea Max 130 and it came on all the time, water level was all over the place, too low too high! I called the place I bought it from and they called the Tunze rep, he advised that if you have it installed on a tank with thinner glass, the magnet for the float valve will actually affect the float valve itself! As suggested, I put a piece of neoprene, from a mouse pad, between the outer magnet and the tank and that solved the problem

 

[walshliam]

I ran into an issue where I had some back pressure pulling water from my sump into the reservoir. My ATO would turn on, fill the sump and then shut off. After a few minutes it would turn on again quickly. I had placed the ATO hose under water in the sump to avoid the noise, but pulling it back to an inch above the waterline solved the issue. Not sure if this will help your situation or not.

 

[bart84]

It`s a 40G breeder. With baffle hight I figure its about 30g.
I have a jbj, the sensor is held on by a clip not a magnet.
I have my line 1 inch above the water.
It has seemed to level out now, so I don't know if it was some sort of a adjustment period but its good now. Thank you guys for your help