ATO/ATK turns off

[Susan Edwards]

Trying to get the ato working. When I turn to auto it works but then turns off before filling all the way. Right now, I turn it off when I'm not home as I'm still testing and developing trust lol's. Looking at the programming it set up, is it only running 5 minutes and then turning off for 60? I'm okay with doing the manual if it has been off and needs more than 5 minutes to reach level. Just want to know if my program needs tweaking

And if it turns off, will it turn back on by itself? I have it set to auto but it turns off

Fallback OFF
Set OFF
If 9-1_lo OPEN Then ON
If 9-2_hi CLOSED Then OFF
When On > 005:00 Then OFF
Defer 000:10 Then ON
Defer 000:04 Then OFF
Min Time 060:00 Then OFF

 

[SPR1968]

Looking at that the timer program has a maximum ON time of 5 minutes, so as a protection if it’s on for more than 5 minutes it will turn off

In my S650 the timer is set to 4 minutes maximum on, and then off for 20 minutes between refills you can set the periods to whatever you want to suit your system. It’s to build in fail safes in the event of unforeseen failures.

If your playing around with it and need it to keep filling, then just turn the ATO switch to ON and leave it until it’s full. But you need to then turn it to either OFF or AUTO. Or you will get a wet floor!

If it turns off, you need to manually reset it, again it’s a fail safe to get your attention

I have an alarm (i think it’s a virtual outlet from memory) that alerts me if the ATO stays in the OFF position for more than 10 minutes or so, as something is wrong.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

@SuncrestReef has a good red on the ATK and it helped me a ton when setting mine up.

Neptune Apex Programming Tutorials, Part 3: Automatic Top-Off Kit (ATK)

Part 3 of our series on learning how to program your Neptune Apex for automatic top-off in a saltwater aquarium.

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Susan Edwards]

Looking at that the timer program has a maximum ON time of 5 minutes, so as a protection if it’s on for more than 5 minutes it will turn off

In my S650 the timer is set to 4 minutes maximum on, and then off for 20 minutes between refills you can set the periods to whatever you want to suit your system. It’s to build in fail safes in the event of unforeseen failures.

If your playing around with it and need it to keep filling, then just turn the ATO switch to ON and leave it until it’s full. But you need to then turn it to either OFF or AUTO. Or you will get a wet floor!

If it turns off, you need to manually reset it, again it’s a fail safe to get your attention

I have an alarm (i think it’s a virtual outlet from memory) that alerts me if the ATO stays in the OFF position for more than 10 minutes or so, as something is wrong.

thanks. I'll have to see if I can do an alarm, and I have no idea how to do a virtual outlet is at this point lol's.

So the fact that it is shutting off after I put it in auto mode means there is a problem, right? It should stay in auto.

 

[Susan Edwards]

@SuncrestReef has a good red on the ATK and it helped me a ton when setting mine up.

Neptune Apex Programming Tutorials, Part 3: Automatic Top-Off Kit (ATK)

Part 3 of our series on learning how to program your Neptune Apex for automatic top-off in a saltwater aquarium.

www.reef2reef.com

that was a useful read. I'm guessing that because my water level drops low due to me not running the ATK on auto all the time, that it is taking longer than the 5 min. to complete the job and therefore turning off. I'm home rest of today and all of tomorrow, so will make some changes and see what happens.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

that was a useful read. I'm guessing that because my water level drops low due to me not running the ATK on auto all the time, that it is taking longer than the 5 min. to complete the job and therefore turning off. I'm home rest of today and all of tomorrow, so will make some changes and see what happens.

Let us know how it goes. It has been a while since I set mine up, and I leave it on auto all the time. I do have another sensor for a "Sump High"that is tied to a breakout box for alerts, so just let the ATK do its thing and if it sends me an alarm for too high, it also shuts the ATK off.

 

[Susan Edwards]

Let us know how it goes. It has been a while since I set mine up, and I leave it on auto all the time. I do have another sensor for a "Sump High"that is tied to a breakout box for alerts, so just let the ATK do its thing and if it sends me an alarm for too high, it also shuts the ATK off.

I have extra sensors for the sump to hook up eventually. I have a fmm for leak detection and will use 1 or 2 outlets for the sensors. Baby steps here <sigh>. In case you can't tell, I'm totally raw and green with apex lol's.

I've changed from 60 to 30 and for right now from 5 to 8. Will leave it on even tonight and set up a water alarm on my floor from my old system--just a water sensor plugged into an outlet with an alarm that my hubby made. Later today I'll change the 8 back to 3 or 4 so it will not run longer than that during the night.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

I have extra sensors for the sump to hook up eventually. I have a fmm for leak detection and will use 1 or 2 outlets for the sensors. Baby steps here <sigh>. In case you can't tell, I'm totally raw and green with apex lol's.

I've changed from 60 to 30 and for right now from 5 to 8. Will leave it on even tonight and set up a water alarm on my floor from my old system--just a water sensor plugged into an outlet with an alarm that my hubby made. Later today I'll change the 8 back to 3 or 4 so it will not run longer than that during the night.

No worries. When I started with Apex, I read every single one of @SuncrestReef guides and probably was more of a pest than anything with all my questions lol. I did learn a lot and there are a ton of knowledgable people on here with Apex, me not being one still lol. So any issues, just ask and there will be someone to help.

 

[SPR1968]

that was a useful read. I'm guessing that because my water level drops low due to me not running the ATK on auto all the time, that it is taking longer than the 5 min. to complete the job and therefore turning off. I'm home rest of today and all of tomorrow, so will make some changes and see what happens.

This sounds like it’s the case, and yes it should stay in auto unless there is an issue in which case it goes to off

 

[Susan Edwards]

No worries. When I started with Apex, I read every single one of @SuncrestReef guides and probably was more of a pest than anything with all my questions lol. I did learn a lot and there are a ton of knowledgable people on here with Apex, me not being one still lol. So any issues, just ask and there will be someone to help.

thanks. So far, it is working and staying on! Tomorrow I'll try adding the leak detectors!

forgot to hit post!!

 

[Susan Edwards]

Okay, what the heck... I hooked up my leak detection with 2 probes. The tile when I click settings says its a: Flow Sensor 1 on the Fluid Monitoring Module named FMM_9-ATO at Aquabus address 9.

Is that a leak detector? It asked me to put probe 1 into 1 and 2 into 2 but none of them are labeled.

Also, now my atk no longer shows 9-1 low. Just the high and the #3 probe which is a water level optical eye. Did this just mess up my atk/ato?

Edit: ugh so I unplugged #1, plugged it back in and its back, but the FMM for the LDK is now gone...
Edit: tried to reinstall the fmm for ldk and it goes thru motions, but does not show for new tiles.... Rather have the ato if I can't do both!

 

[Susan Edwards]

so now I see the 4 individual plugs (1-4) for the FMM LDK but not the module. I hope that is normal...

 

[minus9]

Technically it should stop if the water goes too high by the manual float valve and the times on/off always seems to cause more issues then not. My other big issue is the fact that the high optical sensor is set so close to the other, that sometimes it trips alarms, etc… They should’ve designed it so that the optical sensor(s) can be adjusted or moved based on your sump size/level and not in fixed positions.
It’s funny, but my Tunze on my nano has been working non stop for over 7 years without issue and without replacing a single part. Yet, I’ve replaced two optical sensors and a pump in just over 4 years with the ATK and have had countless errors and alarms along the way. After I reset my tank, I might just go old school and use a gravity fed setup? At least I can set up a solenoid on a float switch as a safety measure.
Sorry to vent and derail, but I would never buy the ATK again had I known about the issues. Save your sanity and buy a Tunze or go old school.

 

[Susan Edwards]

Technically it should stop if the water goes too high by the manual float valve and the times on/off always seems to cause more issues then not. My other big issue is the fact that the high optical sensor is set so close to the other, that sometimes it trips alarms, etc… They should’ve designed it so that the optical sensor(s) can be adjusted or moved based on your sump size/level and not in fixed positions.
It’s funny, but my Tunze on my nano has been working non stop for over 7 years without issue and without replacing a single part. Yet, I’ve replaced two optical sensors and a pump in just over 4 years with the ATK and have had countless errors and alarms along the way. After I reset my tank, I might just go old school and use a gravity fed setup? At least I can set up a solenoid on a float switch as a safety measure.
Sorry to vent and derail, but I would never buy the ATK again had I known about the issues. Save your sanity and buy a Tunze or go old school.

I have/had 2 tunzes. The one from the upgrade was becoming unreliable, and the one on the 45 is also old and not working well. I went this one for the app and some control.

I agree about the placement of the optical sensors completely. I'm adding another one above the float valve for more redundacy.

 

[minus9]

I have/had 2 tunzes. The one from the upgrade was becoming unreliable, and the one on the 45 is also old and not working well. I went this one for the app and some control.

I agree about the placement of the optical sensors completely. I'm adding another one above the float valve for more redundacy.

ATO’s should never be this complicated, period. I used gravity fed ATO’s for nearly 3 decades and never once overfilled or messed up a tank using them, but the ATK has given me nothing but headaches. I can’t wait until Tunze releases their updated version of the 3155. Apologies, this thing has left a bad taste in my mouth.

 

[SPR1968]

ATO’s should never be this complicated, period. I used gravity fed ATO’s for nearly 3 decades and never once overfilled or messed up a tank using them, but the ATK has given me nothing but headaches. I can’t wait until Tunze releases their updated version of the 3155. Apologies, this thing has left a bad taste in my mouth.

I can agree completely with this.

I built a very large system and was going to use the ATK, so tested it on a smaller (but still large) system. It failed out of the box although Neptune did replace each part one by one.

So what went in my large system… the Tunze Osmolator and what backs it up…a gravity fed system….

The simpler you can keep it the better, because the complicated electronics eventually just fail which is a shame.

 

[Susan Edwards]

ATO’s should never be this complicated, period. I used gravity fed ATO’s for nearly 3 decades and never once overfilled or messed up a tank using them, but the ATK has given me nothing but headaches. I can’t wait until Tunze releases their updated version of the 3155. Apologies, this thing has left a bad taste in my mouth.

Hugs! Main reason for the apex was the app. And more control.