Sun Tea Jar Auto Top-Off

[circusordie16]

why are you talking about float switches?

[d0ughb0y]

oops sorry my mistake. I got this mixed up with wet's auto top off (which I also tried and concluded is flawed for the reasons I stated in my previous post).

I did look at this design before, and actually tried it. You will find many theads here of others trying it then giving up because it was simply a good novelty idea, and not practical for actual use. I would not count on a top off like this when I go on vacation.

 

The flaw of this design is, if you do not use a larger diameter tube for the intake, you will get capillary action work against you and is a point of failure for the design. Another is salt water going up the intake tube can cause salt build up if not cleaned periodically and eventually cause the top off to not work.

 

Use a top off that use a float switch, whether you make one or buy one.

 

Don't make the same mistake I did, I tried all the different DIY (including this one), and ending up costing more than if I had just bought the $28 top off switch plus a pump in the first place. You can still come under $20 if you can find a good price on a float switch and have a top off system way superior to a top off based on air tight containers.

[Piro]

It works. a tip I learned: don't have any slack in the air intake hose. If the water is allowed to collect in a bend, it won't work. I had to shorten my vaccuum hose.

 

I will keep a vigilant watch while I'm cycling and see how it goes.

 

Thanks to GreenUku, circusordie, and doughboy for your help.

[Piro]

let the trouble shooting begin. I let it operate overnight and when I checked it this morning... overflow...

 

apparently the silicone doesn't bond well enough to the smooth plastic lid. The pull of the hose broke the seal and released the vaccuum.

[Roc!]

So I am confused.

 

I followed your design and instructions to the letter (sun tea jar, 3/8" tubing used for Air inlet and to create "bulkhead", 1/4" tubing for water tube. I sealed the holes just as you decribed and the top held water so I'm assuming it's air tight.

 

However when I tried to set this up the water never stopped running into the tank even long after it had surpased the Air inlet tube. What could be the issue?

[HankB]

... I'm assuming it's air tight. Uh Oh...

 

However when I tried to set this up the water never stopped running into the tank even long after it had surpased the Air inlet tube. What could be the issue?

 

If the bottle empties, it must be because air is getting in somewhere, right?

 

I looked at this design and ruled it out for my purpose because it had too many connections. I went with something that had fewer connections and it works pretty well.

 

I do have a new rule for operating it, though. Never refill the ATO reservoir unless I can be there to watch it. I loosened the fitting in the bottle cap and that resulted in dumping the reservoir into the tank overnight. Luckily it only dropped SG from 1.025 to 1.023 and SWMBO never noticed the damp carpeting. Other than that incident it works fine.

 

I just need to find someone with macramé skills that can make a decent looking sling for the bottle.

 

-hank

[Roc!]

Thanks for the response.

 

I think I sloved part of my issue by drilling through the rubber stopper and closing up the old hole in the top. In a test it seems to work pretty good but there is always a slow drip. I might be able to slove this by tieing a knot in the water tubing . with a know I don't think there would be enough pressure to push out water and this is going over a 2.5 gallon pico so it doesn't to flow that much anyway

[birdman204]

Greenuku...

 

I know this thread is old...

 

But this topoff is SoPro.

 

I use two in a cabinet above my 2.5. One for fresh, one for weak kalk mix.

22 days they last without refilling. And that is using a large fan for cooling a MH lit pico.

 

If you have the room and the small tank size to accomodate this DIY... you have NO reason not to do it. SOOOO worth it.

[pismo_reefer]

THANK YOU!!!!

 

 

 

ive been looking for a design like this for MONTHS.....so thank you!

[ryanlogic]

gonna do this with my pico

[MGDMIRAGE]

can't get much more simple than this.. pretty cool idea. I may have to try it.

[nova423]

Sun Tea Jar Auto Top-off

 

I promised at the beginning of the summer that I would post a how-to for a cheap gravity-fed auto top-off. Well the summer was busier than expected, and if your lazy like me, that's a death knell to side projects (even easy ones like this). Anyway, here's my how-to and discussion for a sun tea jar auto top-off:

 

What, How, and Why:

This auto top-off is gravity fed and controlled by pressure (no pumps or float switches). I don't know if there is a good, catchy name for it, but it doesn't seem to be a very popular type of auto top-off, even though it is arguably better than the float switch type for smallish tanks. That's why I thought I'd post plans for a cheap, easy version.

 

 

The way this top-off works is pretty simple. The air inlet tube is placed at the level of the desired water line. The drip tube puts fresh water back into the tank. When the water level reaches the air inlet tube, the water prevents air from entering the container and the dripping stops. In practice, water is actually sucked up the air inlet tube until it rises to a level where the pressures in the container offset each other. When enough tank water evaporates, the water level drops below the air inlet tube, letting air into the container, and top-off starts again.

 

I've been using a similar top-off on my main system for about a year and have had very few problems. Here are what I see as advantages (over other auto top-offs):

• Cheap (this one cost me about $10, though fancier versions can use some expensive parts)
• Very low maintenance
• Relatively failsafe (no moving parts)
• Works (maintains your water level automatically)

Specifically, this version that I built was very cheap with (relatively) easy to find parts. (More on this later.)

 

Parts:

• Glass sun tea jar with plastic lid ($4 at the grocery store, a seasonal item)
• 1/4 inch (outer diameter) tubing (standard airline tubing, I got 20 feet of vinyl tubing for less than $2 at Home Depot)
• 3/8 inch (outer diameter) tubing (about $4 for 25 feet of polyethylene tubing at Home Depot)
• Number 4 rubber stopper ($1 at a chemistry supply store)
• Silicone aquarium sealant (a small tube is a few bucks [~ $3])

There are a number of reasons I went with the glass sun tea jar. For this top-off to work the container needs to be very rigid. Besides being cheap, the sun tea jar is rigid, pre-drilled at the bottom, and even comes with it's own bulkhead (sortof). Unfortunately, sun tea jars only seem to be for sale at the beginning of summer every place I've been. I was going to use one a year ago, but I waited too long and they were no longer for sale.

 

 

DIY

[*]Saw off the end of spigot so only a hole is exposed.

[*]Insert a piece of 3/8 inch tubing (a couple inches long) into the "bulkhead". I had to shave my tubing down slightly on the end, but then it went in, providing a tight fit. This part will act as an "adapter".

[*]Place the end of the 1/4 inch tubing into the end of the piece of 3/8 inch tubing. Mine fit snuggly. If it doesn't, you can silicone it.

[*]Make a hole in the top of the lid for the 3/8 inch tubing. I actually hand turned a small drill bit and then used scissors to enlarge the hole. Not very fancy, but it worked.

[*]Insert the 3/8 inch tubing into the hole.

[*]Important: the whole container needs to be absolutely air-tight.

* Put silicone sealant around the 3/8 inch tubing on both sides of the lid.

* Put sealant on the hinges of the handle (on the inside of the lid).

* Put sealant on the inside rim of the lid and carefully screw onto jar.

[*]After the sealant cures (at least a day), mount the 3/8 inch tube so that its tip is at the level where water should be. Mounting can be tricky. I suggest doing something with plastic cable ties.

[*]Place the 1/4 inch tube so that it can drip into the tank. A knot in the tubing can restrict the flow to what ever rate you want.

[*]Fill sun tea jar with fresh water, put stopper firmly in fill hole in lid, and let the testing begin.

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I would suggest letting the top-off run on your "test tank" for at least a week. Any air leaks or blockages in the setup can result in a gradual change in the water level, either too low or too high.

 

Considerations

As I said before, sun tea jars are generally a seasonal item, so it might not be easy to find one if it isn't summer. On my main tank I built a very similar top-off with an acrylic jar/canister that was sold as packaging for pasta. In any event, the container you use needs to be RIGID!

 

The reason for the 3/8 inch tubing as the air inlet, is that water will just stay in tube of smaller diameter due to surface tension, not letting the drip restart.

 

I have noticed that when the water level drops and air first enters the inlet tube, some tank water is sucked into the container. Over time, this leads to a lot of algae bits and such ending up in the container. If this happens, you should occasionally flush the container with fresh water, which may entail removing the drip tubing.

 

A more robust design would probably involve something other than a rubber stopper (my other top-off has a ball-valve), and easily deatchable tubes, for cleaning or replacement. Also you might consider using an IV dripper instead of just airline tubing for better control of the drip rate.

 

Note that in my pictures I was using a 1/4 inch tube as the air inlet, but I discovered that the tubing was in fact too narrow.

 

Well, I hope someone gets something out of this. Let me know if you have any questions. Feel free to copy these directions and improve upon them. I'm freeing it to the public domain.

 

Totally doing this!

[Rollermonkey]

Totally zombie thread!

lol