Electricity help please?

[sharuq1]

I'm a total electronics noob, so I think maybe it would be better (and safer) if I just bought one pre-made. Thank you everyone for your help, I really appreciate it. Had I not been a dummy and fried the switches (lol ) I would have kept at it. Maybe someone else can use that great diagram though. (I don't even understand it , haha!)

[mike31154]

Good idea, here's another circuit, perhaps a little easier to understand with the animation.

[mark]

Mike, that's the one I was asking for on RC.

[mike31154]

Yep, snagged it from the BeanAnimal dude's post.

[mike31154]

Originally Posted by sharuq1

I'm a total electronics noob, so I think maybe it would be better (and safer) if I just bought one pre-made. Thank you everyone for your help, I really appreciate it. Had I not been a dummy and fried the switches (lol ) I would have kept at it. Maybe someone else can use that great diagram though. (I don't even understand it , haha!)

Have you considered a strictly mechanical set up for top up? If you have room for an elevated container above your sump, a simple mechanical float valve will do the trick without all the electrical hassle..... and it will work even during a power outage. I'm thinking of going that way myself when I set up my next tank with basement sump. Keep it simple with a gravity feed, only one component really to worry about failing, whereas the electrical ATO has all kinds of potential failure modes.

[sharuq1]

How does that work? What would I need? What does it look like set up?

[mike31154]

If you have a humidifier attached to the ducting on your furnace (usually forced air gas furnaces), you'll see what I mean by a mechanical float switch. The line feeding this type of humidifier is plumbed right into your cold water supply, usually with a small valve fitting which pierces the pipe. Whenever the water level in the humidifier tray drops, the mechanical float valves opens sufficiently to allow the cold water supply to refill the tray. They usually use quarter inch plastic pipe similar to that used on RODI systems.

Most RO/DI unit vendors also sell mechanical float switches specifically made for that application. I don't have any photos or diagrams handy, but it's simply a matter of having a container with your top off water above the sump. This will have a line plumbed to the bottom of it using a bulkhead fitting or uniseal or even some sort of shut off valve. The line in turn is run down to the sump and to the mechanical float switch which is attached to the sump at the level you want it topped up to. Open the valve at the bottom of the top off container et voila, gravity takes over and the mechanical float shuts down the flow when the desired level is reached.

[mark]

my ATO, furnace humidifier float valve in sump. From HD about $10, 3 years plus and totally no problems.

[sharuq1]

So I just buy the float valve, connect it to the hose, run the hose to a hole in a container of water higher than the sump and that would do it?

[mike31154]

You got it, almost too good to be true no?