JBJ A.T.O. Help!

[danny13oy]

I just bought a JBJ ATO unit and as I was setting it up, I've noticed that this unit can potentially do more harm than good (ie. overfill = flooding). Under usual conditions, if the water level falls below the predetermined sensor setting, it would trigger the ATO to power on the pump to replace loss water. Once the water is replaced, the pump would then stop. HOWEVER, in my situation, the water would continue to siphon to my sump from the reservoir even with the ATO pump OFF.

Can anybody show me their ATO set-up or tell me what I am doing wrong? My sump and reservoir is currently at the same level inside of my cabinet.

Thanks!

 

[danny13oy]

BTW, I've also set my ATO on a timer, which is on only from 9 to 10 pm, so even when it needs to replace water, there would be someone home to oversee it ... but this is inconvenient ... please help me with the siphoning issue.

 

[Malibu361]

Do you have the tube submerged in the sump water ?

 

[danny13oy]

My vinyl tube is not submerged in the sump water, it is actually 2 inches about the sump water. I attached it above the sump water to prevent back-siphoning. However, my tube in the reservoir is submerged all the way in the bottom with my maxijet 400 attached. Once the pump turns on, then turns off, the water would use natural force to siphon water from my reservoir to the sump ... which is my biggest problem right now. Although it hasnt happened yet, but I would think that the water would continue to siphon to my sump until my reservoir water depletes (causing a major flood) if no one is there watching over it.

 

[Malibu361]

I have an ATO and my tube is connected to a MJ 606 all the way at the bottom of my res.and the feed into the sump is about 6 -8 inches above actual water line with no problem...Has yours kept the siphon going or are you worried about it happening?

 

[junglebase]

what i did with mine is i put small holes on the vinyl tubing so that the air can go through once the pumps stops thereby stopping the back siphon....(very similar to a return pipe hole on the main tank)

 

[danny13oy]

I...Has yours kept the siphon going or are you worried about it happening?

I am just concerned that if I don't have it set up correctly, it would continue to siphon. The whole point of this ATO unit was to prevent my main tank's pump from running dry ... but I don't want a flooding problem from over fill either.

 

[Malibu361]

If the feed line into the sump is above the sump water level and the pump is lower than the feed into the sump I do not see how it can siphon out ...the water will just want to flow back down into the res..

 

[danny13oy]

what i did with mine is i put small holes on the vinyl tubing so that the air can go through once the pumps stops thereby stopping the back siphon....(very similar to a return pipe hole on the main tank)

junglebase, sorry, i got a little confused, do you mean back-siphon from sump to reservoir OR siphon from reservoir to sump? Also, what did you make the small holes with? How small is small and so that the water wouldn't drip out? Sorry for the questions once gain, I am a newbie at this.

 

[junglebase]

junglebase, sorry, i got a little confused, do you mean back-siphon from sump to reservoir OR siphon from reservoir to sump? Also, what did you make the small holes with? How small is small and so that the water wouldn't drip out? Sorry for the questions once gain, I am a newbie at this.

I am talking about from reservoir to sump. Once the pump stops, the water should stop if there is enough holes on the vinyl tubing to let air into the tube and stop the water from continuing to flow. As per the size of the hole, i had at least 2 holes one after the other on different sides of the hose 1/2 inch apart enough not to make the water splash out but big enough to let the air in... i hope that made sense..