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Thread: Need help with AWC setup

  1. #1
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    Need help with AWC setup

    I’m having issues here that I’m hoping all the smart folk here can resolve.

    I have a pump in my sump that is plumbed to a drain.

    I have a pump in my salt water container that is plumbed into my sump

    I have a pump in my freshwater container that is connected to the apex and operated normally by a float valve in the sump. This is my ATO.

    I have a low level panic float in the sump
    I have a high level panic float in the sump
    I have a low level float in the new saltwater container.

    This is what I did and I ran into a problem.

    ATO pump off
    Sump drain pump on for 10 seconds
    Sump drain pump off
    Sump fill pump on
    Sump fill pump off when ATO float triggered.
    When the low level float switch in the new saltwater container is triggered both sump drain and sump fill pumps are set to off.

    This is run once a day which exchanges roughly 1 gallon of water.



    Here’s the problem I ran into.

    Sometimes depending on the volume of water in the NSW container, there will be 1/2 or 1/4 gallon of water in the NSW container before the float is triggered. So the sump drain pump runs for the standard 10 seconds, then when the sump fill pump comes on, it doesn’t fill the sump up the ATO float switch like normal. Which leads to the ATO not turning on.

    How can I remedy this?

  2. #2
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    I don't know what went wrong because you did not provide your code.

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

  3. #3
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    The issue isn’t with the coding, the coding works as written. The issue is with the timing and my ignorance of a method to prevent the sump from draining when there isn’t enough NSW to refill it back to normal operating levels.

  4. #4
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    For one, you need the height of the low level float in the NSW container to be high enough that it can do at least one complete fill when it's triggered low.

    Assuming your code stops correctly for low NSW that should be all you have to do, but I can't say for certain without actually seeing the code.

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

  5. #5
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    It does stop correctly, that isn’t the issue. I have no problems with the code. The issue lies in exactly what you stated. I need to devise a way to do one of two things:

    Either stop the sump drain when there is not enough NSW to fill the sump before the float switch is tripped, or...

    Devise a way to figure out exactly how much NSW the container needs to prevent the problem AND fill it that way every single time.

    It would be nice if there was a graduated switch that would read the water level in stages, like a gas tank, instead of just flat out open or closed circuit.

  6. #6
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    raise the NSW float so that as long as there is water above it the cycle can start and finish completely. But if there is not any water above the float the drain pump won't start.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Frogfish View Post
    raise the NSW float so that as long as there is water above it the cycle can start and finish completely. But if there is not any water above the float the drain pump won't start.
    That’s great in theory and sounds so easy, but how would you know where that level would be?

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by BenT View Post
    That’s great in theory and sounds so easy, but how would you know where that level would be?
    Fill it to the top. Run a cycle (or just check the next day) and measure how far down it went. Multiply that measurement by a margin of error like 50% extra and set the float so the bottom of it is at least that high above the bottom.

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

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by zombie View Post
    Fill it to the top. Run a cycle (or just check the next day) and measure how far down it went. Multiply that measurement by a margin of error like 50% extra and set the float so the bottom of it is at least that high above the bottom.

    You might be an engineer if...You have no life and can prove it mathematically.
    That’s a great idea.

    Also I was thinking of taking the float switch off and placing it on a magnet so I can move it.

    By Jove sir I believe this may be solved.

    Thanks so much for helping me.

  10. #10
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    Ok so I redid everything hoping to use a virtual outlet to Delay the sump fill pump from turning off until the sump was filled completely. I’m going to post the entire code here, and if someone could look it over for potential errors I think I will be G2G.


    Outlets:
    ATO_Pump
    Sump_Fill
    Sump_Drain
    NSW_E_Delay

    Inputs:
    NSW_Lo
    ATO_NL
    SumpHi
    SumpLo

    All inputs are normally open. Triggered state is closed.

    Here’s the programming for each outlet

    ATO_Pump:

    Fallback OFF
    Set OFF
    If ATO_NL CLOSED Then ON
    If Time 11:46 to 11:56 Then OFF
    If Time 11:57 to 11:59 Then ON
    If SumpHi CLOSED Then OFF
    If Time 12:00 to 12:01 Then OFF
    Defer 002:00 Then ON
    Min Time 010:00 Then OFF

    _____________________________

    Sump Drain:

    Fallback OFF
    Set OFF
    OSC 000:00/000:10/000:50 Then ON
    If Time 12:01 to 11:59 Then OFF
    If NSW_Lo CLOSED Then OFF
    If SumpLo CLOSED Then OFF
    if Output ATO_Pump = on then off
    _____________________________

    Sump_Fill:

    Fallback OFF
    Set OFF
    If Time 12:01 to 12:02 Then ON
    If ATO_NL OPEN Then OFF
    If SumpHi CLOSED Then OFF
    If NSW_Lo CLOSED Then OFF
    If Output ATO_Pump = ON Then OFF
    If Output NSW_E_Delay = ON Then OFF
    _________________________________

    Virtual outlet NSW_E_Delay

    Fallback OFF
    Set OFF
    If NSW_Lo CLOSED Then ON
    Defer 001:00 Then ON

  11. #11
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    Looks fine to me.

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

  12. #12
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    Alright thanks. Hopefully this works.

    If I Delay it from shutting off when the NSW float switch is triggered for a few minutes and put the float high enough, then it should fill the sump all the way after the switch is triggered and then not come back on again.

    Right?

  13. #13
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    The amount of delay won't make a difference since what you added with the VO essentially just added an extra 10 seconds of waiting before it starts filling. The only part that matters is how much water is remaining once it hits that float.

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

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