*** Note, I posted this under someone else's thread on a similar topic, but am adding it as a new thread to keep it separate.*** Scroll down to the blue text if you want to skip the details.
Well, I bought a JBJ ATO and attempted to set it up to prevent my skimmate collection container from overflowing. The container can hold about 4 gallons, and it normally never gets over a couple inches in volume since I empty it often. However, my skimmer can randomly go crazy and just start pumping liquid into the collection cup, which drains into an acrylic container I made. Since I recently added a Tunze Osmolator ATO, with a 5 gal. reservoir, the potential for overflowing the container and flooding my floor just went up dramatically. So you can see why this is needed.
This is the entire system I am using to accomplish this.
This is my skimmate container, my sump, and the location of my skimmer. Notice the drain tube from the collection cup to the acrylic container I made. This does not show any sensors/controllers installed as it's an older pic... just a reference to show what I'm dealing with. (Sorry it's a bit blurry.)
My plan was to set one sensor in my container (the clear acrylic box standing next to my sump in the pic above), and set it as a "high-level" sensor. When water reaches a level high enough to lift this float up, the pump is supposed to stop. This would be the same as putting it at your "normal" level in your sump if you set it up as an ATO controller... where the pump would kick on until the water lifts the float at the desired level, then shuts off the pump. I wanted my skimmer pump to run until the acrylic container got close to full... aka constantly... since I would normally empty it before it ever got close, unless the skimmer went crazy when I'm not around.
I would then set one sensor in my skimmer chamber of my sump (the front-left corner of my sump in the pic above is where it was mounted), and set it about an inch above my skimmer pump (mag 7) intake as a "low-level" sensor. If the water level drops below this sensor, it should shut off the pump. This would be the same as putting it in your ATO resevoir to stop the pump if you run out, thereby preventing a run-dry situation. I probably didn't need this since my regular ATO should keep my skimmer chamber full anyway... but I got the extra sensor and you never know what could happen.
A backup to shut my pump off if there's not enough water seemed like a good idea.
OK, so before mounting everything, I wanted to make sure my plan would work. I tested both sensors manually. I took the high level sensor and kept it out of the sump. Then I took the low level sensor and just let it hang in the sump underwater. The pump ran when I turned the power on, then it stopped shortly after I pulled the sensor out of the water. So low level was a check. Then I put it back in, turned the pump back on, and then slowly lowered the other sensor into the sump. When the float was submerged and lifted, the pump stopped. High level also check!
Confident that the plan would work, I then mounted the sensors at the proper levels/locations to stop the pump when it's supposed to.
I then started it up assuming that as long as the sensors aren't tripped, the pump will run and it did! So the system worked perfectly... except for one thing...
.
.
.
Apparently, there is a "float failsafe time duration" on the circuitboard of the JBJ ATO controller. It's normally set at a max 3.5 minute pump runtime duration, but it is adjustable to up to 14 minutes of runtime. What this feature does is basically cuts power to whatever is plugged into the controller if it runs for longer than the set time period, regardless of the float sensor readings. There is no option to disable it though. Well, this basically kills my whole plan of using this controller for this task. I can't have any time limitations on the pump running, because it's supposed to run 24/7 until/unless the container is full or if the skimmer chamber is low. So, I need some help in figuring out a way to disable this feature on this controller.
For reference, the link below is the instructions on how to adjust the failsafe timer and pics to show what the circuit board looks like... but maybe someone with an electrical background can take a look at it to see if I can just remove the lil blue piece or do something else to disable this thing?
http://www.jbjlighting.com/pdfs/ATO_ht_adjust_float.pdf
I sent an email to the manufacturer asking if this is possible, but it's the weekend and I don't expect to get a reply any time soon. Any help would be appreciated.
Well, I bought a JBJ ATO and attempted to set it up to prevent my skimmate collection container from overflowing. The container can hold about 4 gallons, and it normally never gets over a couple inches in volume since I empty it often. However, my skimmer can randomly go crazy and just start pumping liquid into the collection cup, which drains into an acrylic container I made. Since I recently added a Tunze Osmolator ATO, with a 5 gal. reservoir, the potential for overflowing the container and flooding my floor just went up dramatically. So you can see why this is needed.
This is the entire system I am using to accomplish this.
This is my skimmate container, my sump, and the location of my skimmer. Notice the drain tube from the collection cup to the acrylic container I made. This does not show any sensors/controllers installed as it's an older pic... just a reference to show what I'm dealing with. (Sorry it's a bit blurry.)
My plan was to set one sensor in my container (the clear acrylic box standing next to my sump in the pic above), and set it as a "high-level" sensor. When water reaches a level high enough to lift this float up, the pump is supposed to stop. This would be the same as putting it at your "normal" level in your sump if you set it up as an ATO controller... where the pump would kick on until the water lifts the float at the desired level, then shuts off the pump. I wanted my skimmer pump to run until the acrylic container got close to full... aka constantly... since I would normally empty it before it ever got close, unless the skimmer went crazy when I'm not around.
I would then set one sensor in my skimmer chamber of my sump (the front-left corner of my sump in the pic above is where it was mounted), and set it about an inch above my skimmer pump (mag 7) intake as a "low-level" sensor. If the water level drops below this sensor, it should shut off the pump. This would be the same as putting it in your ATO resevoir to stop the pump if you run out, thereby preventing a run-dry situation. I probably didn't need this since my regular ATO should keep my skimmer chamber full anyway... but I got the extra sensor and you never know what could happen.
A backup to shut my pump off if there's not enough water seemed like a good idea.OK, so before mounting everything, I wanted to make sure my plan would work. I tested both sensors manually. I took the high level sensor and kept it out of the sump. Then I took the low level sensor and just let it hang in the sump underwater. The pump ran when I turned the power on, then it stopped shortly after I pulled the sensor out of the water. So low level was a check. Then I put it back in, turned the pump back on, and then slowly lowered the other sensor into the sump. When the float was submerged and lifted, the pump stopped. High level also check!
Confident that the plan would work, I then mounted the sensors at the proper levels/locations to stop the pump when it's supposed to.
I then started it up assuming that as long as the sensors aren't tripped, the pump will run and it did! So the system worked perfectly... except for one thing...
.
.
.
Apparently, there is a "float failsafe time duration" on the circuitboard of the JBJ ATO controller. It's normally set at a max 3.5 minute pump runtime duration, but it is adjustable to up to 14 minutes of runtime. What this feature does is basically cuts power to whatever is plugged into the controller if it runs for longer than the set time period, regardless of the float sensor readings. There is no option to disable it though. Well, this basically kills my whole plan of using this controller for this task. I can't have any time limitations on the pump running, because it's supposed to run 24/7 until/unless the container is full or if the skimmer chamber is low. So, I need some help in figuring out a way to disable this feature on this controller.
For reference, the link below is the instructions on how to adjust the failsafe timer and pics to show what the circuit board looks like... but maybe someone with an electrical background can take a look at it to see if I can just remove the lil blue piece or do something else to disable this thing?
http://www.jbjlighting.com/pdfs/ATO_ht_adjust_float.pdf
I sent an email to the manufacturer asking if this is possible, but it's the weekend and I don't expect to get a reply any time soon. Any help would be appreciated.