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Air Powered Auto Topoff


willtel

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Just recieved my float switch! Fastest shipping ever!

 

I worry about the suction cup sliding off if a snail goes on it and wieghs it down, though.

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Now that I have all the equipment I think I am going to make the snail gaurd out of the 1.25" cap and plug and then hopefully find a way to make it stay :) Still not sure how to go about this.

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matt the fiddler

there is a place that sells snail gards for a couple bucks online- might be worth getting a real one- so it won't blow up on you...

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  • 2 weeks later...

So I just cut open a small extension cord and wire the 2 float switch wires into it? Then plug the air pump into the extension cord? I have a bad feeling these little float switches can't handle that much power coming out of the wall. My b/f warns me it'll blow up eventually. So let's prove him wrong! Tell me how long everyone's systems have been set up for. ;)

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Undertheradar

You guys are still overloading those float switches with AC current. Those tiny 26ga leads arent designed to handle house current. WARNING: some day, maybe not today, or the day after, the current in the switch will arc (and the saltwater will only help) and make the switch stay on permanently. Dont believe me? Dont know how many stories I have heard saying "my reef overflowed with top-off water and ruined everything!!!", because of one of those little buggers.

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Undertheradar

I boutght one of those battery powered air pumps...like $6 el-cheepo from hagen, right? Cracked it open and cut one of the battery wires. Spliced the float switch in, and made a harness. You would be amazed as to how compact it is...the airpump, outlet nozzle, and float all in one little hang on package...I can post pics tomorrow...

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you will need some thing like a 13 Amp solid state relay because what Undertheradar is saying is true but there can be worse things then it just getting stuck in the on position happen from doing this...

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I nalgene ever since i was 14 when i went hiking and had my first water bottle from nalgene! ugh indestructible....

 

Now i have all sorts of nalgene products even a Nalgene Radiation beta storage box for my radioactive uranium ore samples they are purty under the black light :)

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  • 7 months later...
  • 1 year later...
TerReefic

For those who were wanting quiet, I am using a Tetra Whisper 10 air pump on my 12G tank. This thing is very quiet and is rated at 2.2V. Just got it wired and finished and it is working perfectly how I want it. Pumps up 3-4 feet from jug on the floor up to my tank. The flow is slow so the salinity shouldn't change too fast. If you want it faster try the 20, not sure what the voltage is on that one though.

 

Thanks for this great idea and easy project!

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I've been using these pumpless auto topoffs for years. I use a 2L bottle, it is suprisingly resiliant to KALKwasser. I used to use 5 gallon water drums but KALKwasser kept eating thru them. I keep the 2 liters in a smaller milk jug cut in half just in case the KALK eats thru. I did not run a relay in my float switch. Keep in mind you have 120VAC in your tank in the powerheads. No more of a safety hazzard then those are. Just seal the wires well w/ silicone if your a worry wort.

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  • 7 months later...
  • 4 weeks later...
I've been using these pumpless auto topoffs for years. I use a 2L bottle, it is suprisingly resiliant to KALKwasser. I used to use 5 gallon water drums but KALKwasser kept eating thru them. I keep the 2 liters in a smaller milk jug cut in half just in case the KALK eats thru. I did not run a relay in my float switch. Keep in mind you have 120VAC in your tank in the powerheads. No more of a safety hazzard then those are. Just seal the wires well w/ silicone if your a worry wort.

 

better check the ratings of the float switch. to many folks use 12v dc rated switchs in 120v ac applications. generally of much lower current ratings. but your a electrical engineer, so you would allready know that...

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  • 1 year later...

You need a relay to interpret the signal from the floatswitch. The relay will tell the pump when to turn on and when to turn off based on whether the switch is open or closed. The relay will require some external power to operate and many people use 9V batteries.

 

I wired mine up to a 9V, 500 mA transformer.

 

Found in tylernt's topics (via his profile): http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...c=66752&hl=

 

Not exactly what you were looking for but it may help.

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I use a relay with a timer built in. It works flawlessly and it is FAILSAFE. For example, just the other day my float switch got stuck, normally this would have caused a flood of fresh water into the tank. However, the timer shut the pump down after about 45 seconds so the tank only got a little bit of extra water. Also, I wired in an LED so when I get home I could see that the timer had shut off the relay. I cleaned the float switch and everything is running smoothly once again. I have now built two of these units, here is a link to the thread on the original, check it out:

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=114170

 

And here is the relay that I used:

http://www.sailorssolutions.com/index.asp?...s&Item=EK01

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