Auto top off system advice

[Dj Orion]

I am moving into a new house this week and am planning my new RO/DI preperation system. I have a brand new 50 g rubbermaid garbage pail and a 5 stage Air Water Ice RO/DI. I would like to setup an auto topoff system. Does anyone have any advice on which one to get? Is what I am planning sound too over the top? I am being extra carefull because I am scared to come home to a flooded house one day lol.

 

[inkblue]

i use this:

http://autotopoff.com/products.html

 

[Dj Orion]

Ink that site looks really cool. I am still clueless as to how I would connect it to my RODI. I guess my goal here is to have the RO water constantly made and have a heater in the tub so that I will always have the optimal water change conditions. Does the top off system connect to the plumbing on my sink or something? I mean, I know that the top off stops the water from filling when it reaches the desired level, I just dont get how it turns off the water flow.

 

[inkblue]

the top oFF, is connected to your sump, which will get RO from the container that you will warm up. you can use this to control your RO coming in:

http://www.buckeyefieldsupply.com/showproducts.asp?Sub=109&showspecials=109

 

[Tonyscoots84]

http://autotopoff.com/products/solenoid/index.htm read up

 

[Dj Orion]

http://autotopoff.com/products/solenoid/index.htm read up

nice i was actually reading that and checked back. So the solenoid will hopefully attatch to the drain from the RODI and regulate from there. And the float will act like a toilette and turn off when it reaches a certain level. this is a really good website.

So this solenoid tube size fits onto the RO tubing? I couldnt find that info. But from the pix it does look like it does. Now I gotta get more RO tubing also.... :arg:

Thanks for the help guys!

 

[cali_reef]

I would not use just the mechanical float valve to turn your RO/DI off, it WILL fail one day cause damages to your house. You also need a pressure activated solenoid valve on the membrane to work with the float valve in order to shut off the RO/DI, closing just the product water side will still allow waste water to go through the membrane. Another thing to consider is the RO/DI should not operate in short bursts, the first gallon or two are always higher TDS product water.

As for auto top off, use two electrical float switches to turn on a electrical solenoid and drain water from a container is the most accurate and efficient way, I also find it to be the most safe way. Your top water container will need to be higher than the sump for gravity to work the water into the sump, I would not use a top off container bigger than 20% of your total tank water volume for another fail-safe measure.

Warming your top off water is a waste of electricity, even if your water temp is at 50'F.

 

[meschaefer]

I have my RO/DI unit feeding into a rubbermaid garbage can, hooked up to the float valve that was posted above. The RO/DI unit I have has an auto shut off, that turns the unit off when pressure builds up behind a closed float valve. This allow me to turn the unit on and walk away from it, not worrying that it will overfill the garbage can and spill water all over the place. When the garbage can is filled, I manually turn off the RO/DI so that it will not continually replace the water that is used to top off my tank.

I have the same float switch recommended above, and that is hooked up to a small pump with hose leading to my sump. When the fresh water reservior runs low, I manually turn on the RO/DI and fill it back up again, usually overnight, and then turn it off again the next morning.

Worst case scenario, if the float switch failed and pumped the entire contents of my water reservoir, it would only dump about 30 gallons into my system (which is about 10% of my entire water volume).

 

[meschaefer]

You also need a pressure activated solenoid valve on the membrane to work with the float valve in order to shut off the RO/DI, closing just the product water side will still allow waste water to go through the membrane.

The unit that I have shuts down both the product water side and the waste water side.

 

[cali_reef]

The unit that I have shuts down both the product water side and the waste water side.

You'll be surprised how many people don't have the solenoid valve and think just the float valve is shutting the RO down.

 

[bad coffee]

I have a litermeter and a large top off container. All I have to do is remember to fill the top off tank when i do a water change.

B

 

[Brian65901]

If you want to use a float valve on your top off tank add a solenoid valve and timer. The way I have mine set up my holding tank (4 gal) is good for up to 35 hours. I have the timer open for 30 minutes a day enough time to fill the tank but not enough time if the float valve fails to cause a flood.

 

[Dj Orion]

Thanks for all of the tips guys. I ordered a float and single selanoid. I was planning on hooking up the selanoid to the water In line going into the RO form the tap. I gues what I was hoping to shoot for was that when I do a water change, the RO will just refill the 50 g bucket and shut off so that I dont have to worry about watching it. Then once I go back to do my salt mixing and water changes, it will be refilled waiting for me. I dont plan of connecting this to my sump at all, I am only doing this for the convenience factor of not having to keep checking up on my refilling RO water. Do you think that a single selanoid and float would be enough for a small and simple system like that? Or do I need to add to my order?

 

[rjs5134]

I recently hooked up the Spectra-pure auto-top off for $52.99. In the cellar I have a 30 gallon supply of water for water changes and a 5 gallon bucket for top-off. The auto-top off is on the same timer as my lights so it only fills during the day and can only dump about 4 gallons into the system if it fails. Once a week or so I turn the RO/DI and fill the bucket. Pretty easy and very limited risk.