Cheap Quicky ATO

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#1
Glock asked if anybody had any equipment to build ato & to make a long story short, here's how I did my ghetto ato for under $20.....

Bought the float switch for like 4 for $20 a while back on RC. This is the 4th one I've built, so I'm out of float switches now...... Acrylic was pulled from Paragon's scrap bin........ Pump is an Aqualifter.......

Used a propane plumbing torch to "soften" the acrylic & make a "90" at one end & using a piece of wood as wide as the tank you intend to hang the bracket on, form a "u".....................hold the acrylic down & pouring water on it will help it harden quicker......


Drill the end of the bracket past the "90" & secure your float switch (HD didn't have the right size nylon nut, so I used superglue on this one)...


Don't have a pic of this but wire your float switch in line on the "hot" side of the extension cord.......

Plug whatever pump you want to use into the extension cord & plug the other end into an outlet......I use an aqualifter.............maybe the greatest $15 item in our hobby


When the switch is down, power will be provided to the pump, thereby pumping water into the sump..............




Way ghetto compared to some setups, but it's worked flawless for me for over 3 years........:D

Cheers, :beer:

Steve
 
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#3
The wires are encased in epoxy just like any pump we put in the water, so I didn't think they needed to be.....................If so, please let me know...... :D
 
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#8
Ok I have the float switch, the aqualifter, and a brute.

As I look at this stuff, I cant see how its gonna work, But I will have Steve document a play by play for all of you trying to go the cheap route.
 
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#11
Looks good. Is that a kalkwasser reactor your pushing your ro/di water through?? Id be careful with that! The DIY ATO isn't as sensitive to evaporation and might dump a lot of kalk at once.

Also id worry about not having any type of failsafe on the actual ATO. Its rare but the float valve does it stuck, and if it does all your RO/DI gets dumped into your tank. (if you have a small resevior, not a big deal, if your running kalk then its a big deal).
 
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#12
Cheap, yes - but I thought having a float switch directly actuate a 120v circuit is pretty dangerous for the following reasons:

1) If your float switch leads somehow get exposed to your tank water, then your putting 120v into your tank.

2) A surge on the 120v circuit can fuse/weld your float switch leads together, causing the float to fail on.

FWIW: I've read that the safer thing to do is to incorporate a 12v relay to isolate the float circuit from the 120v source. Also, as the previous poster has indicated, float switches inevitably fail, so having a fail safe switch can be considered prudent.

I'd rather spend the $40-$57 for a Dual 12v relay unit and have the peace of mind.
 
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#13
Cheap, yes - but I thought having a float switch directly actuate a 120v circuit is pretty dangerous for the following reasons:

1) If your float switch leads somehow get exposed to your tank water, then your putting 120v into your tank.

Since the leads are encased in epoxy, theres about as much chance as that happening as a maxijet leads being exposed...............

2) A surge on the 120v circuit can fuse/weld your float switch leads together, causing the float to fail on.

Entire system is on a surge protector, so the circuit will blow if there is a surge

FWIW: I've read that the safer thing to do is to incorporate a 12v relay to isolate the float circuit from the 120v source. Also, as the previous poster has indicated, float switches inevitably fail, so having a fail safe switch can be considered prudent.

I'd rather spend the $40-$57 for a Dual 12v relay unit and have the peace of mind.

What in this hobby doesn't fail at one time or another?? Top off container only holds 20 gallons of water for a 400 gallon system. It's a whole lot safer then having it hooked directly to your RO/DI system (which most do). This has worked for me for over 3 1/2 years........................You do things your way, I do things mine......................

:ciao:
 

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