Auto top-off

[Dinky]

I have found a couple auto-top-off plans on the net, but they are
either so poorly written that I cannot follow them, or include the
use of expensive pumps, switches, sensors, and valves. I'm not in a
position to spend much money at this point, but with the switch to a
refugium\sump from my bigass sump I took out has resulted in the need
for such a device.
I'm looking for a very basic system, gravity\siphon-fed. I can
build\fabricate most components myself, and have tubing, acrylic and
many other materials on hand.

tia

--

billy
--
Need tech help?
http://www.winextra.com
news://news.winextra.com

[John N. Gretchen III]

Here is an inexpensive float valve,
http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=KM1675
I used a pump and switch and had a flood when the switch stuck on. Two
switches would have worked better one cut on and one emergency
cut off. For now I just turn the pump on and off manually to top off
which is still better than dipping water out of a bucket. When I get
time I will rig a float valve to my RO/DI unit. Good luck.

Dinky wrote:
> I have found a couple auto-top-off plans on the net, but they are
> either so poorly written that I cannot follow them, or include the
> use of expensive pumps, switches, sensors, and valves. I'm not in a
> position to spend much money at this point, but with the switch to a
> refugium\sump from my bigass sump I took out has resulted in the need
> for such a device.
> I'm looking for a very basic system, gravity\siphon-fed. I can
> build\fabricate most components myself, and have tubing, acrylic and
> many other materials on hand.
>
> tia
>

--
John N. Gretchen III
Port O'Connor TX
http://www.tisd.net/~jng3

[Marc Levenson]

If you want gravity fed, the easiest thing is to get a container that you can
put up on a stand next to your tank. Drill a hole near the base, and insert
some type of grommet or bulkhead that allows you to affix some 1/4" tubing
without leaking. Home Depot sells that gizmo for evaporative water coolers.

Run the tubing to your sump, and affix a float valve in your sump. As
eveaporation takes place, the valve will drop and allow water to gravity feed
into your sump, and the float lifts back up to seal the line until needed again.

Marc


Dinky wrote:

> I have found a couple auto-top-off plans on the net, but they are
> either so poorly written that I cannot follow them, or include the
> use of expensive pumps, switches, sensors, and valves. I'm not in a
> position to spend much money at this point, but with the switch to a
> refugium\sump from my bigass sump I took out has resulted in the need
> for such a device.
> I'm looking for a very basic system, gravity\siphon-fed. I can
> build\fabricate most components myself, and have tubing, acrylic and
> many other materials on hand.
>
> tia
>
> --
>
> billy
> --
> Need tech help?
> http://www.winextra.com
> news://news.winextra.com

--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

[Marc Levenson]

Just in case you care:

http://www.autotopoff.com/

Marc :)


Dinky wrote:

> I have found a couple auto-top-off plans on the net, but they are
> either so poorly written that I cannot follow them, or include the
> use of expensive pumps, switches, sensors, and valves. I'm not in a
> position to spend much money at this point, but with the switch to a
> refugium\sump from my bigass sump I took out has resulted in the need
> for such a device.
> I'm looking for a very basic system, gravity\siphon-fed. I can
> build\fabricate most components myself, and have tubing, acrylic and
> many other materials on hand.
>
> tia
>
> --
>
> billy
> --
> Need tech help?
> http://www.winextra.com
> news://news.winextra.com

--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

[Dinky]

"Marc Levenson" > wrote in message
...
| If you want gravity fed, the easiest thing is to get a container
that you can
| put up on a stand next to your tank. Drill a hole near the base,
and insert
| some type of grommet or bulkhead that allows you to affix some 1/4"
tubing
| without leaking. Home Depot sells that gizmo for evaporative water
coolers.
|
| Run the tubing to your sump, and affix a float valve in your sump.
As
| eveaporation takes place, the valve will drop and allow water to
gravity feed
| into your sump, and the float lifts back up to seal the line until
needed again.
|
| Marc
|

I'd really like to stay away from any more electrical components. I'm
already worried about how much I'm dragging out of this outlet as it
is, (return, tanklights, fuge lights, powerheads, skimmer, heaters)
and like I said, I don't want to buy much. Most of the options I'm
finding require installation of yet another water pump, or electric
valves.

I found this:
http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~cap/raid/topoff/siphon/index.html

and I think I'm going to puzzle this one out. The bloody thing has
the description in the format of a bleeding IRC session, nut it's the
only thing that meets my apparently unrealistic criterion.

tyvm marc, john.


billy

[George Burnt]

I wanted the same thing without spending much money .

What I have is two plastic five gallon gasoline containers (they never had
gas in them) I put rigid tubing in each one with a little bit of the tube
sticking out of a hole I made in the top of them. These tubes go all the way
to the bottom of the tank I then put a lot of silicone at the hole to make
it air tight. Another rigid tube goes into the vent hole of each tank, again
I made the holes air tight with silicone. Then I tok an old air pump that I
had and connected it to one of the riged tubes with standard airline tubing.
and connect one container to the other in the same way. connect the air pump
to a timer and voila.
What happens is that the airpump will pressurize the gasoline container and
send water up the airline into your tank for a set amount of time. By
regulating the time that the timer is on, you can reguate how much water is
added daily. Just make sure that the end of the tube is dripping into your
tank and is not actually in the water, otherwise when it turns off the tank
water will siphon back into the casoline containers. This also works for
watering plants etc.
"Marc Levenson" > wrote in message
...
> Just in case you care:
>
> http://www.autotopoff.com/
>
> Marc :)
>
>
> Dinky wrote:
>
> > I have found a couple auto-top-off plans on the net, but they are
> > either so poorly written that I cannot follow them, or include the
> > use of expensive pumps, switches, sensors, and valves. I'm not in a
> > position to spend much money at this point, but with the switch to a
> > refugium\sump from my bigass sump I took out has resulted in the need
> > for such a device.
> > I'm looking for a very basic system, gravity\siphon-fed. I can
> > build\fabricate most components myself, and have tubing, acrylic and
> > many other materials on hand.
> >
> > tia
> >
> > --
> >
> > billy
> > --
> > Need tech help?
> > http://www.winextra.com
> > news://news.winextra.com
>
> --
> Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
> Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
> Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com
>
>

[Charles Spitzer]

you can use this siphon effect to make an autotopoff without any switches or
floats.

needed:

5 gallon water bottle
plastic waste paper basket
1/2" tubing
small pieces of 2x4 used to make a stand for the waste basket
water crock spigot
small hose clamp

drill hole in side of basket near the bottom
insert spigot
using clamp, fasten hose on spigot
fill basket with water
insert end of hose in sump under water
lift basket until siphon starts
find the correct height of water such that the height of water in the basket
is about 1/2 way
using the wood, make a stand to hold the basket at that height
invert the 5 gallon jug in the basket

when the water level in the sump drops, it will suck water from the basket
through the siphon. when the water level of the system drops enough, the
water will come out of the jug to replace it.

note: turn off the power and watch what happens to the water level in the
basket. ensure it won't overflow.

regards,
charlie
cave creek, az

"George Burnt" > wrote in message
.. .
> I wanted the same thing without spending much money .
>
> What I have is two plastic five gallon gasoline containers (they never had
> gas in them) I put rigid tubing in each one with a little bit of the tube
> sticking out of a hole I made in the top of them. These tubes go all the
way
> to the bottom of the tank I then put a lot of silicone at the hole to make
> it air tight. Another rigid tube goes into the vent hole of each tank,
again
> I made the holes air tight with silicone. Then I tok an old air pump that
I
> had and connected it to one of the riged tubes with standard airline
tubing.
> and connect one container to the other in the same way. connect the air
pump
> to a timer and voila.
> What happens is that the airpump will pressurize the gasoline container
and
> send water up the airline into your tank for a set amount of time. By
> regulating the time that the timer is on, you can reguate how much water
is
> added daily. Just make sure that the end of the tube is dripping into your
> tank and is not actually in the water, otherwise when it turns off the
tank
> water will siphon back into the casoline containers. This also works for
> watering plants etc.
> "Marc Levenson" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Just in case you care:
> >
> > http://www.autotopoff.com/
> >
> > Marc :)
> >
> >
> > Dinky wrote:
> >
> > > I have found a couple auto-top-off plans on the net, but they are
> > > either so poorly written that I cannot follow them, or include the
> > > use of expensive pumps, switches, sensors, and valves. I'm not in a
> > > position to spend much money at this point, but with the switch to a
> > > refugium\sump from my bigass sump I took out has resulted in the need
> > > for such a device.
> > > I'm looking for a very basic system, gravity\siphon-fed. I can
> > > build\fabricate most components myself, and have tubing, acrylic and
> > > many other materials on hand.
> > >
> > > tia
> > >
> > > --
> > >
> > > billy
> > > --
> > > Need tech help?
> > > http://www.winextra.com
> > > news://news.winextra.com
> >
> > --
> > Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
> > Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
> > Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com
> >
> >
>
>

[Patrick]

Billy:

The simplest (and one of the ugliest) automatic topoff systems I ever
saw was on a tank in a dorm room at school. This guy Bruce (physics
grad student) had a sal****er tank with a homemade top-off mechanism -
no electricity needed. As best as I can recall:

He had a water container (it was like a 5 gallon water cooler bottle,
but GLASS!!!). I think he must have "acquired" it from one of the labs
; He had created a funky mounting system out of scrap wood to hold it
upside down on his desk, with the opening about 2 feet off the desk.
I don't know what kind of cork or stopper was in the bottle, but it
had two small tubes coming out of it. One was a J-tube that connected
to some plastic tubing that was taped to the bottom (now top) of the
jar, for a vent line. The other tube went to his fish tank.

In the fish tank (no sump) he had some kind of plastic tube with slots
cut in it that the water line connected to, and he was using a ping
pong ball for a float valve. When the water level dropped, the ping
pong ball sunk a little, and let water dribble out until the level
came back up enough to shut off the flow again.

I do remember that it was pretty finicky - he was always cursing it
out, and it flooded his desk at least twice... But it was certainly
simple!

Patrick



"Dinky" > wrote in message et>...
> "Marc Levenson" > wrote in message
> ...
> | If you want gravity fed, the easiest thing is to get a container
> that you can
> | put up on a stand next to your tank. Drill a hole near the base,
> and insert
> | some type of grommet or bulkhead that allows you to affix some 1/4"
> tubing
> | without leaking. Home Depot sells that gizmo for evaporative water
> coolers.
> |
> | Run the tubing to your sump, and affix a float valve in your sump.
> As
> | eveaporation takes place, the valve will drop and allow water to
> gravity feed
> | into your sump, and the float lifts back up to seal the line until
> needed again.
> |
> | Marc
> |
>
> I'd really like to stay away from any more electrical components. I'm
> already worried about how much I'm dragging out of this outlet as it
> is, (return, tanklights, fuge lights, powerheads, skimmer, heaters)
> and like I said, I don't want to buy much. Most of the options I'm
> finding require installation of yet another water pump, or electric
> valves.
>
> I found this:
> http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~cap/raid/topoff/siphon/index.html
>
> and I think I'm going to puzzle this one out. The bloody thing has
> the description in the format of a bleeding IRC session, nut it's the
> only thing that meets my apparently unrealistic criterion.
>
> tyvm marc, john.
>
>
> billy

[Patrick]

Billy:

The simplest (and one of the ugliest) automatic topoff systems I ever
saw was on a tank in a dorm room at school. This guy Bruce (physics
grad student) had a sal****er tank with a homemade top-off mechanism -
no electricity needed. As best as I can recall:

He had a water container (it was like a 5 gallon water cooler bottle,
but GLASS!!!). I think he must have "acquired" it from one of the labs
; He had created a funky mounting system out of scrap wood to hold it
upside down on his desk, with the opening about 2 feet off the desk.
I don't know what kind of cork or stopper was in the bottle, but it
had two small tubes coming out of it. One was a J-tube that connected
to some plastic tubing that was taped to the bottom (now top) of the
jar, for a vent line. The other tube went to his fish tank.

In the fish tank he had some kind of plastic tube with slots cut in it
that the water line connected to, and he was using a ping pong ball
for a float valve. When the water level dropped, the ping pong ball
sunk a little, and let water dribble out until the level came back up
enough to shut off the flow again.

I do remember that it was pretty finicky - he was always cursing it
out, and it flooded his desk at least twice... But it was certainly
simple!

Patrick



"Dinky" > wrote in message et>...
> "Marc Levenson" > wrote in message
> ...
> | If you want gravity fed, the easiest thing is to get a container
> that you can
> | put up on a stand next to your tank. Drill a hole near the base,
> and insert
> | some type of grommet or bulkhead that allows you to affix some 1/4"
> tubing
> | without leaking. Home Depot sells that gizmo for evaporative water
> coolers.
> |
> | Run the tubing to your sump, and affix a float valve in your sump.
> As
> | eveaporation takes place, the valve will drop and allow water to
> gravity feed
> | into your sump, and the float lifts back up to seal the line until
> needed again.
> |
> | Marc
> |
>
> I'd really like to stay away from any more electrical components. I'm
> already worried about how much I'm dragging out of this outlet as it
> is, (return, tanklights, fuge lights, powerheads, skimmer, heaters)
> and like I said, I don't want to buy much. Most of the options I'm
> finding require installation of yet another water pump, or electric
> valves.
>
> I found this:
> http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~cap/raid/topoff/siphon/index.html
>
> and I think I'm going to puzzle this one out. The bloody thing has
> the description in the format of a bleeding IRC session, nut it's the
> only thing that meets my apparently unrealistic criterion.
>
> tyvm marc, john.
>
>
> billy

[J Codling]

I don't think you will get cheaper than this:

http://www.inreef.com/xcart/customer/product.php?productid=16150&cat=294&page=1



"Patrick" > wrote in message
om...
> Billy:
>
> The simplest (and one of the ugliest) automatic topoff systems I ever
> saw was on a tank in a dorm room at school. This guy Bruce (physics
> grad student) had a sal****er tank with a homemade top-off mechanism -
> no electricity needed. As best as I can recall:
>
> He had a water container (it was like a 5 gallon water cooler bottle,
> but GLASS!!!). I think he must have "acquired" it from one of the labs
> ; He had created a funky mounting system out of scrap wood to hold it
> upside down on his desk, with the opening about 2 feet off the desk.
> I don't know what kind of cork or stopper was in the bottle, but it
> had two small tubes coming out of it. One was a J-tube that connected
> to some plastic tubing that was taped to the bottom (now top) of the
> jar, for a vent line. The other tube went to his fish tank.
>
> In the fish tank he had some kind of plastic tube with slots cut in it
> that the water line connected to, and he was using a ping pong ball
> for a float valve. When the water level dropped, the ping pong ball
> sunk a little, and let water dribble out until the level came back up
> enough to shut off the flow again.
>
> I do remember that it was pretty finicky - he was always cursing it
> out, and it flooded his desk at least twice... But it was certainly
> simple!
>
> Patrick
>
>
>
> "Dinky" > wrote in message
et>...
> > "Marc Levenson" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > | If you want gravity fed, the easiest thing is to get a container
> > that you can
> > | put up on a stand next to your tank. Drill a hole near the base,
> > and insert
> > | some type of grommet or bulkhead that allows you to affix some 1/4"
> > tubing
> > | without leaking. Home Depot sells that gizmo for evaporative water
> > coolers.
> > |
> > | Run the tubing to your sump, and affix a float valve in your sump.
> > As
> > | eveaporation takes place, the valve will drop and allow water to
> > gravity feed
> > | into your sump, and the float lifts back up to seal the line until
> > needed again.
> > |
> > | Marc
> > |
> >
> > I'd really like to stay away from any more electrical components. I'm
> > already worried about how much I'm dragging out of this outlet as it
> > is, (return, tanklights, fuge lights, powerheads, skimmer, heaters)
> > and like I said, I don't want to buy much. Most of the options I'm
> > finding require installation of yet another water pump, or electric
> > valves.
> >
> > I found this:
> > http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~cap/raid/topoff/siphon/index.html
> >
> > and I think I'm going to puzzle this one out. The bloody thing has
> > the description in the format of a bleeding IRC session, nut it's the
> > only thing that meets my apparently unrealistic criterion.
> >
> > tyvm marc, john.
> >
> >
> > billy

[Dinky]

"J Codling" > wrote in message
ink.net...
| I don't think you will get cheaper than this:
|
|
http://www.inreef.com/xcart/customer/product.php?productid=16150&cat=294&page=1
|
|


But will this work in a gravity-feed system? It mentions a working
pressure of 40psi.

--

billy
--
Need tech help?
http://www.winextra.com
news://news.winextra.com

[Marc Levenson]

LOL!

Marc


Patrick wrote:

> I do remember that it was pretty finicky - he was always cursing it
> out, and it flooded his desk at least twice... But it was certainly
> simple!
>

--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

[Marc Levenson]

Actually I ordered 20 of those from USPlastics I think, and got them for about
$6.25 each, including shipping.

Marc


J Codling wrote:

> I don't think you will get cheaper than this:
>
> http://www.inreef.com/xcart/customer/product.php?productid=16150&cat=294&page=1
>

--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

[Marc Levenson]

Absolutely. You could hook up an RO/DI unit to it, but the water coming out would
not be allowed to be over 40psi. However, if it was coming from a container full
of water, PSI would be much much less.

Marc


Dinky wrote:

> "J Codling" > wrote in message
> ink.net...
> |
> http://www.inreef.com/xcart/customer/product.php?productid=16150&cat=294&page=1
> |
> |
>
> But will this work in a gravity-feed system? It mentions a working
> pressure of 40psi.
>
> --
>
> billy
>

--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
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[Marx]

It's the simpliest possible (this bottle)
http://www.kopernik.gliwice.pl/~marx/gallery/sump/IMG_3271
:)
Marx

[Marc Levenson]

I have to agree! :)

Marc


Marx wrote:

> It's the simpliest possible (this bottle)
> http://www.kopernik.gliwice.pl/~marx/gallery/sump/IMG_3271
> :)
> Marx

--
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Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

[CapFusion]

"Marc Levenson" > wrote in message ...
Actually I ordered 20 of those from USPlastics I think, and got them for about $6.25 each, including shipping.
Marc

Do you mean this link, Marc -
http://makeashorterlink.com/?E1FB22558

CapFusion,...

[Marc Levenson]

Model #23099

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=USPlastic&category%5Fname=Float+Valves&product%5Fid=Mini+PVC+Float+Valves&MSCSProfile=95385A1F52DEA1A229D5B3754205446412797A 8BBBC049E58AEB3C32D5CCF7D8070C45D9ABA86322696D1AE3 B36908ACC6EE9B84ADB8D6BD9F9A6E8B14A41B47BFFEAA9D3D DC707A6002F36DF80781E782598571FEE9662FE13F2E68E795 AE2562A64CB0AFFD83A05F8F2368737E210CAC9D254F3DBA7E 1B8ACF0E3ABCC546BEBB9F53FB5BED1411

Marc


CapFusion wrote:

>
>
> "Marc Levenson" > wrote in message
> I ordered 20 of those
> from USPlastics I think, and got them for about $6.25 each,
> including shipping.
>
> Marc
>
> Do you mean this link, Marc -
> http://makeashorterlink.com/?E1FB22558
>
> CapFusion,...
>
--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

[Marx]

Marc Levenson wrote:

> Marx wrote:
>
>
>>It's the simpliest possible (this bottle)
>>http://www.kopernik.gliwice.pl/~marx/gallery/sump/IMG_3271
>>:)
>>Marx

> I have to agree! :)
>
> Marc

I use kalkwasser in this, but have been told, it mix with water in tank
sooner than it drips to tank. Is it true?
Marx

[Marc Levenson]

I would imagine the most concentrated part would pour out the bottle first, and
a weaker solution would drip out as it is needed.

Marc


Marx wrote:

> I use kalkwasser in this, but have been told, it mix with water in tank
> sooner than it drips to tank. Is it true?
> Marx

--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

[Marx]

Marc Levenson wrote:

> I would imagine the most concentrated part would pour out the bottle first, and
> a weaker solution would drip out as it is needed.
Something like diffusion?
Kalkwasser is well mixed, so there is no more or less concetrated part
in bottle.
Marx

[Marc Levenson]

Yes, that is what I was thinking. Even when Kalk is mixed up and left to settle, the
liquid I've added to my top off container ended up leaving a white dusting in the
container and where it poured into my sump.

That is why I would have expected more to settle to the bottom (the opening) when you
first insert it into your sump, and the stuff near the top would be less condensed.
That is merely my theory, and I can't prove it.

You could! :p Do your normal thing, then invert it into the sump. Put your thumb
over the hole, lift it out, and let a little bleed into a clean cup. Test the pH.
Reinsert your bottle, and when the bottle is closer to finished (24 hours later?),
put your thumb over the end, and pour that into a clean cup and test for pH. If the
second reading is lower, I'm right. If it isn't, we'll know for sure finally. :)

Marc


Marx wrote:

> Marc Levenson wrote:
>
> > I would imagine the most concentrated part would pour out the bottle first, and
> > a weaker solution would drip out as it is needed.
> Something like diffusion?
> Kalkwasser is well mixed, so there is no more or less concetrated part
> in bottle.
> Marx

--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

[Marx]

Marc Levenson wrote:

> You could! :p Do your normal thing, then invert it into the sump. Put your thumb
> over the hole, lift it out, and let a little bleed into a clean cup. Test the pH.
> Reinsert your bottle, and when the bottle is closer to finished (24 hours later?),
> put your thumb over the end, and pour that into a clean cup and test for pH. If the
> second reading is lower, I'm right. If it isn't, we'll know for sure finally. :)

Good idea, will test and post results
And i must think about better sysytms beacuse I try to go to holidays :)
M.

[rbudwig]

Dinky wrote:
> "J Codling" > wrote in message
> ink.net...
> | I don't think you will get cheaper than this:
> |
> |
> http://www.inreef.com/xcart/customer/product.php?productid=16150&cat=294&page=1
> |
> |
>
>
> But will this work in a gravity-feed system? It mentions a working
> pressure of 40psi.
>

You can barely see in this picture what I use. it is an all plastic
float valve rated to 40Psi as well, I have about 60 gallons of water
sitting against it and so far 3 months no problem at all. before that I
had a float from an evaproative cooler in there but the brass rod
worried me, copper and all.

Rex
http://www.purple-viking.com/90gallon/Stand/Stand7.html