can a doser be programmed to stop after a certain amount of time?

[windemerejack]

Hi guys
Im getting paranoid about my dosers dumping the lot in my tank (no reason for it, just getting paranoid) so if I replace all my dosers with ghl ones can you set them up so that for instance dosing head 1 takes 10 seconds to dose, is there a way to set it up to switch off if it runs for say 13 seconds?
Or the same but using amount used, say dosing head 1 doses 10ml is there a way to stop it if it doses 13ml hence negates the possibility of dumping the entire container in the tank.

 

[AZMSGT]

The dosing heads are programed to dose what ever amount of fluid you want. That said if you tell the doser to dose 30ml of X Fluid the head will only turn enough times to dose that fluid to 30ml. In this case I would say no.

Now, if you are using the ATO (auto top off) function or AWC (Auto water change) function and your water level is based on a level sensor then YES, you have the ability to put in a fail safe timer.

One thing you can do but it would require you to log on regularly is set the container size to a small amount. The Doser will think it has run out and stop dosing. All you would have to do is log in and Click the refill to clear the alarm and the system will start to dose again on your schedule.

Try not to let the paranoia ruin the reefing experience. Run away dosing pumps are rare and seem to be of different brands. Things you can do to help you keep from having a run away pump. 1. don't stack pumps on top of each other, a leak in a pump might short another pump below and cause a run away. 2. do regular maintenance, like change tubing once a year.

This is what the GHL dosing screen looks like on a Windows PC.

 

[windemerejack]

The dosing heads are programed to dose what ever amount of fluid you want. That said if you tell the doser to dose 30ml of X Fluid the head will only turn enough times to dose that fluid to 30ml. In this case I would say no.

You hear all the time 'my doser has dumped the entire container in tank' so they are not fail proof hence the question.
for example you set the container level at 1000ml, the doser doses 30ml, the level goes down 30ml each time, one day your doser malfunctions and doses xxml, is there a program that if the level drops by more than 30ml at a time it automatically turns of the doser, hence not dumping the entire container in the tank

 

[AZMSGT]

You hear all the time 'my doser has dumped the entire container in tank' so they are not fail proof hence the question.
for example you set the container level at 1000ml, the doser doses 30ml, the level goes down 30ml each time, one day your doser malfunctions and doses xxml, is there a program that if the level drops by more than 30ml at a time it automatically turns of the doser, hence not dumping the entire container in the tank

I don't know of one but I'm not an expert GHL user. I'm just a padawan still.

 

[windemerejack]

I'm just a padawan still.

I have no idea what that means

 

[SPR1968]

You can probably do it with Neptune Apex DOS by writing a fail safe into the software, like if volume more than x then turn off. You need to be running Apex and read a bit more up on this but not sure on GHL

If you get a good quality doser I don’t think you will have an issue The Kamoers are very good and I’ve had one on my S650 for 4 years without any problems. I think some of the horror stories are ‘user error’

If your planning for your big build, and assuming your talking about foundation elements, you maybe need to be looking into calcium reactors because dosing will cost a fortune and you will be forever toping up the containers (unless you get very big ones!). I’ve got both a Kamoer on my S650 and a Deltec Twin Tech 1500 on my new 2000 litre system. The Deltec is set and forget, it just works, is simple and it’s fully automated. But it’s expensive

 

[Ditto]

I have had both failures happen that is being discussed.

First one is the contact of the container dumps everything into the tank because the head failed. Make sure the content of the container is below the dosing head. And add a loop that goes higher the doser to the sump, a small hill I like to say. When pressure is lost the top of the hill will dump to the tank the other side of the hill to the dosing container. This is the easy one to prevent.

Second the controller failed(Reason why I switched to GHL) causing the doser to stay on, but could also happen if the doser is a stand alone gets wett for example, short circuits the plants align, technology sometimes failed but can be harder to detect sometimes and be fast enough to response. What I have done is tied PH rise and salinity drop by creating virtual probes where if the salinity drops to much at once of PH rises to much then kill the return pump.

 

[windemerejack]

I have had both failures happen that is being discussed.

First one is the contact of the container dumps everything into the tank because the head failed. Make sure the content of the container is below the dosing head. And add a loop that goes higher the doser to the sump, a small hill I like to say. When pressure is lost the top of the hill will dump to the tank the other side of the hill to the dosing container. This is the easy one to prevent.

Second the controller failed(Reason why I switched to GHL) causing the doser to stay on, but could also happen if the doser is a stand alone gets wett for example, short circuits the plants align, technology sometimes failed but can be harder to detect sometimes and be fast enough to response. What I have done is tied PH rise and salinity drop by creating virtual probes where if the salinity drops to much at once of PH rises to much then kill the return pump.

Thanks Ditto, you will have to show me how to do that when the time comes.

 

[windemerejack]

You can probably do it with Neptune Apex DOS by writing a fail safe into the software, like if volume more than x then turn off. You need to be running Apex and read a bit more up on this but not sure on GHL

If you get a good quality doser I don’t think you will have an issue The Kamoers are very good and I’ve had one on my S650 for 4 years without any problems. I think some of the horror stories are ‘user error’

If your planning for your big build, and assuming your talking about foundation elements, you maybe need to be looking into calcium reactors because dosing will cost a fortune and you will be forever toping up the containers (unless you get very big ones!). I’ve got both a Kamoer on my S650 and a Deltec Twin Tech 1500 on my new 2000 litre system. The Deltec is set and forget, it just works, is simple and it’s fully automated. But it’s expensive

Thanks Shaun
Its for my other tanks really, I have a D-D pro 4 on 2 tanks and a Kamoer X4 on a planted tank so they are pretty good dosers, I just woke up one morning and just thought 'what if?' I will not be dosing my dream build but will be using a calcium reactor but that is still in the planning stage, I will start a build thread when I get more planning done.

 

[Joekovar]

My first thought is to cut and run the positive wires of the pump motors through N/O relays that run on the same schedule as the dosing.

The idea is that the relays will only let the pump motors have power for a reasonable amount of time. A dosing failure would be limited, and other readings would have time to recognize and indicate an alarm.

 

[windemerejack]

My first thought is to cut and run the positive wires of the pump motors through N/O relays that run on the same schedule as the dosing.

The idea is that the relays will only let the pump motors have power for a reasonable amount of time. A dosing failure would be limited, and other readings would have time to recognize and indicate an alarm.

Thanks Joe
But that went over my head, I work in the legal profession not electrician, I can change a plug or a bulb but that's as far my electronic skills go

 

[Joekovar]

Thanks Joe
But that went over my head, I work in the legal profession not electrician, I can change a plug or a bulb but that's as far my electronic skills go

An independent fail safe is tough to plug and play. Intervening at any of the existing, easy to work with electrical connections is going to power off the controller, which means it won't run.

How does your dosing controller handle a power outage?

Another thought is to just put the dosing pumps power supply on the same sort of timer used to turn lights on/off automatically.

If your dosing pump is using an internal battery to keep track of time, you could only power the dosing controller for say a 60 second window around the time it's supposed to dose.

I do worry about drift on the timers and the two getting out of sync which would prevent the dosing from ever running though.