3155 ATO troubleshooting

[BradB]

I bought a 3155 almost a year ago and it worked flawlessly until this weekend. I came home to the alarm going off with the water level at the high water mark. I unplugged it for the night, then drained my sump to the proper level, cleaned everything off and plugged it back it. It turned on, added water, and shut off at the proper level and I assumed it was fixed - but then the same thing happened about an hour later.

Any advice?

 

[rvitko]

I would clean the sensor by a couple hours soak in vinegar and wiping with a soft towel and mainly did anything change before the unit acted up, any new or relocated hardware or changes to plumbing or the reservoir/ tubing routing? Did you use a new additive that may have resulted in a skimmer putting out a lot of bubbles?

 

[BradB]

Nothing has changed with the setup in 6 months.

I will try a vinegar soak, but am skeptical as there is no visible crud for it to remove.

 

[rvitko]

If the sensor is clean, and there is no source of bubbles or infrared light (grow light) that could affect the sensor, I would assume their is a sensor issue and it either needs a new sensor or a recalibration or both. We can do both here and it would be a warranty issue.

 

[BradB]

What do you mean by "We can do both here"? Where is here? Do I need to mail it somewhere?

No lights were on either time it failed, and there are no infrared lights in the set up. The sump is not completely bubble-free, but no more bubbles than over the 9 months it worked flawlessly. It is a 100 gallon rubbermaid, with returns on the other side from a frag tank and skimmer that both have lots of bubbles, but they don't travel far.

 

[rvitko]

At Tunze USA, yes, if there is a sensor issue it would need to be mailed in as it would likely need a new sensor and recalibration to the new sensor and the calibration requires a special cable and software to connect the controller to a computer. I would try the tests for bubbles though first-


A sensor issue. The first test is to use the self diagnostic test on the Osmolator to verify the sensor is in working order.
1) With the sensor completely wiped dry, plug in the controller. The sensor MUST be clean and dry for this test to work, a wet or dirty sensor will always fail.
2) All 4 lights will flash and it will beep, a single light will show for 1 seconds and then the normal 15-20 second pump run at startup will begin.
3) This light that is on one second is the optic sensor status, green means pass, yellow means it is marginal, red means it failed.

Assuming it passes the self test the issue is likely bubbles, optic sensors work by detecting the refraction of air vs water and make no differentiation between a bubble or being dry. The most overlooked source of bubbles is placing the top off hose in the vicinity of the sensors, the incoming splash will introduce bubbles and cause a fill. The hose can be routed to any area of the sump or main tank, and the optic sensor must be in a calm and bubble free area. A definitive test to verify bubbles are the cause is if you can catch it in the act of an overfill and wipe your finger across the sensor and filling stops within 5 seconds, the cause was bubbles.

 

[BradB]

I will try the test - but so I understand:
1) The part that goes in the sump should be out of water and completely dry.
2) I assume the part that pumps water should stay under water - otherwise it runs dry - correct?
3) Where do I look for lights? On the controller? Near the sensor? Somewhere else?

I am skeptical this could be bubbles with it working for 9 months without any problems at all and then failing twice in 2 days.

 

[rvitko]

1) Yes, the black optic sensor should be out of water.
2) It does not matter, the pump can be disconnected, it is also not harmed by running dry briefly.
3) On the controller, nothing else has lights, view the controller head on as the lights are recessed behind the windows and if viewed at an angle they will come through neighboring windows.

I would agree, but some small change like a new additive or filter media, large water change, etc, is enough to affect the surface tension and allow bubbles to travel much further, but typically this would also go along with a skimmer acting up and foaming very wet if not foaming over completely. Barring something changing though it would be very odd.

 

[BradB]

I did the test and got yellow, but cleaned and dried it again and got green.

I will go ahead and set it up again. Doser, TV, refrigerator, washing machine, front door all broke since I posted this, so I've been dealing with that. Just bad luck I guess, so maybe the Tunze will work.

 

[rvitko]

Believe me, I have been there, about a month ago I had 2 broken vehicles, a dead freezer and a door swollen shut by all the rain. Let me know if you have any more trouble with the Osmolator.

 

[MNSPS]

I have a new 3155 that has been running for about a week. No issues until yesterday when I started running my protein skimmer. Same issue. My guess is microbubbles from the skimmer are getting on the sensor. The self diagnostic test is some great info.

 

[BradB]

I couldn't believe it was bubbles, but now it looks like that really was the issue. I only got this set up Saturday, but it has been running without issues so far. Only difference is moving it a few inches from where it was. I suppose I could have moved it a few inches the other way when the issue started.

I agree the diagnostics was helpful.

 

[rvitko]

Thank you, do keep in mind that they are very sensitive when brand new, the basic issue is the same reason a new skimmer doesn't work well, plastic repels water and attracts air, after 3-7 days in the aquarium this is greatly reduced and a few bubbles won't be an issue.

 

[BradB]

Continued to have problems, and bubbles are not the only issue, although likely one of the issues.

Connectivity is also an issue. We get a monstrously long cord from power to the controller, but then a relatively short cord to the pump. So the controller has to be near the reservoir, which puts it close enough to the sump to pick up salt spray, if not from the tank directly, from water changes, spills and other maintenance. The electronics are in no way waterproof or corrosion resistant, and I've picked up a bit of rust and corrosion on both sides of the cord between the transformer and controller. Any suggestions for cleaning this? Can it be replaced with a standard AC adapter?

I also suspect I had siphon issues. If the level of the reservoir is ever higher than the level of the tank and the black hose goes below aquarium level, water will flow even if the pump isn't running. If you first set it up this way, you won't have a siphon until the pump kicks on the first time, and then you have a flood. Just something to be aware of.

 

[Dugless]

I’m having issues with my 3155 ATO. The pump continues to run until the float alarm is triggered. I cleaned, dried and tested the sensor and received a green light. The unit is just under a year in use and had no issue until now. No bubbles to speak of. Any thoughts?

 

[rvitko]

The AC adapter is readily available from Premium Aquatics, on Amazon and on Tunze.com, while you could use any 12V 1600mA power supply with the correct 2.5 by 5mm tip positive tip, my experience is the quality is variable and it is best to stick to the factory one.

It is not waterproof, it needs to be installed in a way that this sort of exposure is minimized, this would apply to all of your aquarium electronics and power supplies. I would reduce the splash in the sump by modifying plumbing and flow rates as needed and you can get corrugated plastic from plastic shops that makes it fairly easy to make a lid if needed for the sump and cut out for any protrusions, etc.

 

[rvitko]

I’m having issues with my 3155 ATO. The pump continues to run until the float alarm is triggered. I cleaned, dried and tested the sensor and received a green light. The unit is just under a year in use and had no issue until now. No bubbles to speak of. Any thoughts?

Check these things:


1) A siphon, if it is a siphon the issue will be seemingly random, it will tend to only occur when the reservoir is full and the water will fill to a level possibly above or just below the float. Siphon situation 3 is the most probable cause but note as shown in 4 that a
loop will not solve it, the end of the hose must always terminate above the reservoir water level.
2) A sensor issue. The first test is to use the self diagnostic test on the Osmolator to verify the sensor is in working order.
1) With the sensor completely wiped dry, plug in the controller. The sensor MUST be clean and dry for this test to work, a wet or dirty sensor will always fail.
2) All 4 lights will flash and it will beep, a single light will show for 1 seconds and then the normal 15-20 second pump run at startup will begin.
3) This light that is on one second is the optic sensor status, green means pass, yellow means it is marginal, red means it failed.
Assuming it passes the self test the issue is bubbles, optic sensors work by detecting the refraction of air vs water and make no differentiation between a bubble or being dry. The most overlooked source of bubbles is placing the top off hose in the vicinity of the sensors, the incoming splash will introduce bubbles and cause a fill. The hose can be routed to any area of the sump or main tank, and the optic sensor must be in a calm and bubble free area. A definitive test to verify bubbles are the cause is if you can catch it in the act of an overfill and wipe your finger across the sensor and filling stops within 5 seconds, the cause was bubbles.
3) There is a 3rd possibility but this is relatively obscure and only will apply to tanks under 50 gallons or due to a misunderstanding of how the Osmolator works. The Osmolator has timed functions in addition to sensor controlled functions and for the first 25-30 seconds it is not actually detecting water levels and is instead running a series of self diagnostic tests. The pump will always run for 15-20 seconds when you first power it up, this is so the installer can verify the pump is operational and the pump and tubing are primed and ready to fill. Also, the Osmolator always waits 5 seconds to fill to account for waves and surface movement and overfills for 5 seconds so the pump is cycled on less often. If the tank is under 50 gallons you need to open the controller and reduce the pump speed to “nano” and if it is under 30, an additional restriction such as a drip irrigation valve might be needed, this will reduce the amount of water added by these timed sequences to avoid raising the float.
Roger