Ato
- Thread starter Tim A
- Start date
Copperkills
Member
- Joined
- Nov 8, 2015
- Location
- London
I prefer an ATO with an optical eye over a mechanical float switch. Im sure the nano would work just fine but i also like the added protection of the float switch on the 3155 should the pump stay stuck on.
WiredWeasel
Member
- Joined
- Feb 29, 2016
- Location
- Canada
I always like to go a fair bit larger in case I want to upgrade in the future. Buy once, cry once.
Copperkills
Member
- Joined
- Nov 8, 2015
- Location
- London
Ive had my 3155 for 10 years, u will get ur moneys worth
If you are spending that kind of cash...and now you have the Apex Jr, you definitely should go for the ATK. It is only $10 more but comes with a pump already (although some have had issues with the pump, most are fine). It has multiple levels of redundancy to save overflows. It can be used whether you have an Apex or not. The advantage of having an Apex is that you can set up alarms and control it through the Apex. If you add a Break Out Box (BOB), then you can even add level sensors to tell you when your ATO container is getting low. Much like every ATO, there are horror stories out there, but that would be the way I would go if I still had an Apex
With that said, you can also do one yourself with just a BOB, a pump and a few good float switches. You could build a good one for less then $100. I would use 3 floats. One that when the water gets low it turns on the ATO pump, the second will shut off the pump when the water gets high enough, and the third would be above that to set an alarm if the water gets too high. If you DIY everything, you can probably do it for less then $50. The Apex BOB can be built vs buying it. Heck, I am pretty sure I can 3D print you the brackets even.
With that said, you can also do one yourself with just a BOB, a pump and a few good float switches. You could build a good one for less then $100. I would use 3 floats. One that when the water gets low it turns on the ATO pump, the second will shut off the pump when the water gets high enough, and the third would be above that to set an alarm if the water gets too high. If you DIY everything, you can probably do it for less then $50. The Apex BOB can be built vs buying it. Heck, I am pretty sure I can 3D print you the brackets even.
I honestly dont find the build quality is there with the ATK. The pumps are brutal quality. The manual float shutoff is mounted on a magnet that isnt strong enough and will twist the whole float. When my tank overflowed my ATK float was sticking straight up in the air with the magnet having twisted 90 degrees.
If i could go back i would go with the tunze, the added functionability with the apex does not make up for the quality of the atk. It is such a good design on paper, just everything is garbage quality
Was a real let down.
If i could go back i would go with the tunze, the added functionability with the apex does not make up for the quality of the atk. It is such a good design on paper, just everything is garbage quality
Was a real let down.Not the flow no, as the water rose instead of the float shutting off the float just twisted slowly until it was pointing straight up, and yeah i have 1/2in glass which is thick for a sump. If i had on thinner glass i think it wouldnt have done this however too little too late. Doesnt change the fact that a quick google search will show they have massive pump failures. Anyways im done ranting about it lol think im still a bit sour.
The pump failed so i tried to reprogram it to run off an toms aqua lifter temporarily and i hooked it up to the atk float. However i programmed it incorrectly and the pump stayed on. The sensors work just fine. Pump stayed on and instead of the manual shut off killing the water it twisted and the float was pointing straight in the air and it overflowed.
Its definitely frustrating because i know ultimately this on me, crappy part is the fact that i was put in this position to fail because of bad build quality. Maybe the ATK works out for you... Just know if the pump fails you have to RMA it to factory for them to check it over before they send you one out. My atk pump lasted ~2-3 months run time and never ran dry. The module locked up 2-3x for no reason (showed no alarms). 1 nice thing is you can add flow sensors to the module if you do go that route.
I plan to make a mount to permanently keep the float secure, i would not rely on the magnet. If the pump fails just make sure you program a new one properly, me being new to apex screwed that up and had the false sense of security with the float shutoff
Its definitely frustrating because i know ultimately this on me, crappy part is the fact that i was put in this position to fail because of bad build quality. Maybe the ATK works out for you... Just know if the pump fails you have to RMA it to factory for them to check it over before they send you one out. My atk pump lasted ~2-3 months run time and never ran dry. The module locked up 2-3x for no reason (showed no alarms). 1 nice thing is you can add flow sensors to the module if you do go that route.
I plan to make a mount to permanently keep the float secure, i would not rely on the magnet. If the pump fails just make sure you program a new one properly, me being new to apex screwed that up and had the false sense of security with the float shutoff
No losses and it leaked on a floor with a slanted downward drain so it wasnt a huge deal i just honestly expected more from it, i bought it with pretty high hopes