Herbie
Banned
I had a specific issue that I needed to solve so I want to share my solution in case anyone else is faced with the same situation.
My RODI feeds into a 15 gallon Sterilite container that sits on top of a bakers rack about 6 feet off the ground. There is a float switch inside on the back that cuts off the RODI and contains a small power head to keep the water fresh.
View attachment 8057
The small bulkhead on the front feeds the frag tank with a mechanical ATO float in the sump as a quick fix. For my 45 I wanted something a little more trustworthy since mechanical floats risk sticking in the on position (this one has been flawless, but I have heard horror stories), but I need it to feed from the same line out (it's split now to the mechanical float and shut off valve on the line into my 45's sump which I have been manually actuating ((lame))).
In researching solutions, my main concern was that any pump would most likely continue to siphon RODI water into the tank even after the ATO controller turned it off. Air breaks and looping tubes were less attractive for me, so I researched other solutions. A solenoid seemed like an excellent idea, but I could not find a reef dedicated device. I found lots of choices on the web for solenoids, but none seemed reef safe because of metal parts. Fortunately google eventually brought me to www.mcmaster-carr.com. They have EVERYTHING and I was able to locate this:
View attachment 8053.
It's a medical grade low pressure solenoid with the standard 1/4inch push fittings (murlock) that are found on all RODI systems.
Quick trip to ACE today to get the materials to complete
View attachment 8054
And now I have this:
View attachment 8055
I plugged it in to test and it seems to work great (please comment if I need to groud that any better/differently)
I will post more pics of it mounted on the system once I get home and paint the terminals with my fancy liquid electrical tape.
My RODI feeds into a 15 gallon Sterilite container that sits on top of a bakers rack about 6 feet off the ground. There is a float switch inside on the back that cuts off the RODI and contains a small power head to keep the water fresh.
View attachment 8057
The small bulkhead on the front feeds the frag tank with a mechanical ATO float in the sump as a quick fix. For my 45 I wanted something a little more trustworthy since mechanical floats risk sticking in the on position (this one has been flawless, but I have heard horror stories), but I need it to feed from the same line out (it's split now to the mechanical float and shut off valve on the line into my 45's sump which I have been manually actuating ((lame))).
In researching solutions, my main concern was that any pump would most likely continue to siphon RODI water into the tank even after the ATO controller turned it off. Air breaks and looping tubes were less attractive for me, so I researched other solutions. A solenoid seemed like an excellent idea, but I could not find a reef dedicated device. I found lots of choices on the web for solenoids, but none seemed reef safe because of metal parts. Fortunately google eventually brought me to www.mcmaster-carr.com. They have EVERYTHING and I was able to locate this:
View attachment 8053.
It's a medical grade low pressure solenoid with the standard 1/4inch push fittings (murlock) that are found on all RODI systems.
Quick trip to ACE today to get the materials to complete
View attachment 8054
And now I have this:
View attachment 8055
I plugged it in to test and it seems to work great (please comment if I need to groud that any better/differently)
I will post more pics of it mounted on the system once I get home and paint the terminals with my fancy liquid electrical tape.
