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Thread: ATO Programming

  1. #1
    Regular Vistor
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    ATO Programming

    I'm changing the pump in my ATO and since it is larger I need it to run less, how do I program it to turn on once a day and run for 30 seconds?

    My current pump program is this, it runs for 3 minutes once a day:
    Fallback OFF
    Set OFF
    If Time 15:00 to 15:03 Then ON

  2. #2
    Frequent Contributor zombie's Avatar
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    Do you not have any float switches? Very dangerous if you dont.

    You might be an engineer if...You have no life and can prove it mathematically.

  3. #3
    Regular Vistor
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    I do not, why? In case the pump gets stuck on? Isn't that what the fallback is for?

    The way it is set now, it fills just a tiny bit less than I evaporate daily. It's been running this way for months, no issues.

  4. #4
    Frequent Contributor zombie's Avatar
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    It becomes dangerous because if you miscalculate the evaporation (which varies tremendously depending on the varying heat and humidity of your home and airflow across the tank) and you don't check it often enough you can skew your salinity enough to cause a tank crash very easily (especially in the overfill scenario that could also spill tons of water on your floor and cause thousands in damage)

    Conversely if you have a couple floats at the normal water level then you can use a simple program like this (this assumes 30 seconds a day is your typical evaporation rate so 1 min a day is used in osc)

    Fallback OFF
    OSC 000:00/000:10/119:50 Then ON
    If ATOnormal = OPEN Then OFF
    If ATOhigh = OPEN Then OFF


    You can add additional alarms with VOs as well to alert you if something is wrong and you can feel good inside knowing your tank is safe from ATO related crashes and water spill disasters for a tiny investment in 2 float switches and a break out box if you don't already own one.

    You might be an engineer if...You have no life and can prove it mathematically.

  5. #5
    Regular Vistor
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    I get it. Can you tell me how to turn on the outlet in seconds?

  6. #6
    Frequent Contributor zombie's Avatar
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    To use seconds you have to use the OSC statement as I showed above (that one did 10 seconds every 2 hours to get 60 total per day). For 30 seconds once per day would be

    Fallback OFF
    OSC 720:00/000:30/719:00 Then ON

    This does 30 seconds at noon.


    It can also be done like this

    Fallback OFF
    Set OFF
    If Time 15:00 to 15:01 Then ON
    Defer 001:30 Then ON

    Does 30 seconds at 3pm (note your previous code actually did 4 minutes not 3. Your previous one was if time is 15:00 and 0 seconds to 15:03 and 59 seconds.)

    You might be an engineer if...You have no life and can prove it mathematically.

  7. #7
    Frequent Contributor zombie's Avatar
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    Also side note: If you can return your pump and get a smaller one like a peristilic dosing pump or an aqualifter, that is much safer regardless of whether you use floats or not. I try to size my ATO pumps so that they take about 1 hour per day to fill evaporation so it takes a looooong time to overfill and crash the tank if the outlet itself fails and gets stuck in the on position. It's also more stable for sensitive corals like SPS.

    You might be an engineer if...You have no life and can prove it mathematically.

  8. #8
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    I had a DOS and was going to do that, but to run it 4 times a day, 1L at a time, seemed like it would put a ton of stress on that expensive piece of equipment. I have since sold it, went to a CaRx, so I didn't need a $300 ATO. I have a few BRS pumps, but I bought a small eheim, just so it would work faster.

    The tank is at my office, so I have the ATO run while I am here (during the week). If the outlet sticks on, I don't see any other fail safes you can add that would help, besides an alarm to let me know.

  9. #9
    Frequent Contributor zombie's Avatar
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    One failsafe you might be able to use is to add a physical float valve to where the ATO adds water to the tank so it breaks the flow completely if it overfill.

    These also make great ATO pumps and are super cheap.

    http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/aqua-l...BXnRoCZHrw_wcB

    At 2gph at zero head these would fill your 1 liter of evaporation in like 15 min to 1 hour depending on height instead of 30 seconds.

    You might be an engineer if...You have no life and can prove it mathematically.

  10. #10
    Regular Vistor
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    Yeah, I have one of those. Used it with an old JBJ ATO on an older tank. Worked great for a couple of years. Hooked it to my Apex and it died in a few months. The other tank was much smaller & it only had to pump a little bit to fill it. At a gallon or so a day, it couldn't handle it I guess.

    My Small eheim was less than $20 and pumps quick. You do have me thinking of ways to catch an over fill though.

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