Tank moved, new journal

[danny zubot]

I can't take the pressure! I'm gonna have to get a resevior tonight!

[Pescador]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

I'm not sure I follow, how does using a reservoir mean wasted water (except for the evaporation from the reservoir, but really this is minimal compared to the tank..) ??

No I didn't mean I was wasting more water using a reservoir I thought I was wasting more water than you. My top off sends about 5 gals at a time from my reservoir and the pass-to-drain flushes it every time it opens the auto-shutoff.

It sure is nice not having to worry about overfilling the reservoir or saltmixing barrel. Like you say when it's full and the float in either container shuts off the solenoid I can shut the valve to either one later without a spill.

[danny zubot]

Please don't yell at me Tony, but ofted not to do the reservior. I just can't bring myself to fill one every week or what ever. I had to go automated.

So I got the sprinkler timer like you said, and found the fittings to reduce it to 1/4"





I have it set to come on every 2 hours for 10 minutes. When I get home from work I can adjust the duration or intervals as required.

This whole thing has gotten completely rediculous. My friend has the identicle RO setup but with the tank, and his came from Aquasafe already set up to shut off when the tank was full. I should have gone that route 2 years ago.

[ClubReef]

Hi,

What is the advantage of the sprinkler timer vs a float valve? Sorry if you addressed this earlier in the thread (I'm at work..didn't read the whole thing)

[Delphinus]

The pressure tank scenario may have the same problem. It may shut off when it's full, but how far will it empty before it turns on again? Unless he's manually turning it off and on as needed. Ohhh wait, Ok that's what he's doing. Yeah, so basically *your friend has a reservoir and that's why it works*.

Filling the reservoir is a pain? I'm sorry dude but .. I'm sorry I think that really is lame. You open a valve to fill it, the shut off kit turns it off when it's full so it doesn't spill, you turn off the valve manually later when you think of it. It is not hard!!!!!!!

[ClubReef]

Ignore my post..just reading the details now...

[danny zubot]

Unless he's manually turning it off and on as needed. Ohhh wait, Ok that's what he's doing. Yeah, so basically *your friend has a reservoir and that's why it works*.

He's not manually turning anything on or off, his float valve does that. Its just that his RO setup came with something that shuts off the waste water when the tank is pressured up.

For myself, having to remember to shut of my filter when the reservior is filled is no different than having to remember to shut it off when my drinking water jugs were full. Even if I had float valves in place in the reservior to avoid spillage, the filter is still dumping waste water down the drain as the water meter ticks away. So this is really the best way for me to save water and for piece of mind.

[Delphinus]

The only way what you're saying would make sense, is if you *didn't* get the shut off kit I told you about 3 pages ago. Is that the case? See, I thought you DID get the shutoff kit, but were still concerned because it was turning on and off frequently, because even though waste water isn't going down the drain when shut off, it was still turning on and off very often.

This is because the float valve only knows when to shut off. The water level drops 1mm, or maybe even less, and that's enough to open the float valve. So the water drops 1mm, the pressure drops in the RO/DI output line, the solenoid kicks off, the RO/DI is on. 10 seconds later, the float valve is back up again, the line repressurizes, the RO/DI shuts off, and we wait until the water level drops again that 1mm.

This is *awesome* for your reef tank, because the salinity doesn't waver by the slightest. But, meanwhile, the RO/DI filter is working it's butt off.

This is why you want a "buffer" between the float valve and the source. A reservoir is this buffer. It releases water as it's needed, so the tank gets it's water on demand, but, the RO/DI doesn't have to do more work than is needed. Ie., the output rate is reasonably steady-state, but the input is on-demand.

What you're talking about what your friend has, he has the shutoff kit, so to speak (it may not be a "kit" per se, it was probably part of the RO/DI package). The pressure tank is the reservoir. It works on a slightly different principle, it has an air bladder inside which compresses as the tank fills, thus storing pressure as it releases the water. What I'm not sure of is, how much water can be bled off before the pressure starts to drop. If it can handle a couple gallons at a time before releasing the pressure, then that might be buffer enough. I once toyed around with a small pressure tank but it could not handle more than about a gallon, possibly even less, before it experienced a pressure drop. So it does depend on the tank a little bit I guess.

So you see, if you had the shut off kit, with a reservoir - what happens is you put a float valve in the reservoir. This float valve shuts off your RO/DI so you don't "have to remember to shut it off". The thing is, you will remember eventually, but in the meantime, your reservoir isn't overflowing everywhere (and you're not dumping water down the drain).

Basically it's a low tech, low cost, fail safe mechanism. No reliance on electricity, and yet, full blown automation. But -- it only works if you have the shut off kit. If you don't have that - well then - yes I agree - you took something that was supposed to be simple and made it completely ridiculous (are you sure you're not an engineer? )

[danny zubot]

Everything you've said is correct. The filter was working overtime because of the overly sensitive float valve. I think I might be misunderstanding the whole reservior concept, perhaps I need to see yours to know how effective it is.

Anyway, whats done is done, and in time for me to go on vacation later this summer. BTW, what are you doing from Aug 24th to Sept 9th?

[Delphinus]

All ribbing aside, the sprinkler valve does have some merit. I wish I had one even though I have a large reservoir.

I'll be around those dates of your vacation, if you need a tanksitter. I actually will be away for 3 weeks (starting next weekend to August 19), my Dad's gonna come feed the fish but I could probably use a backup contact for him if you're around in that timeframe?