Help! Tunze Osmolator keeps thinking water level is low

[awokenreefboy]

My Nano Os. 3 keeps thinking the water level is low when it’s above the optical sensor. It will start to pump in RODI water for half a second, then realize the water level is higher than the sensor, then shut off. It’ll go through this cycle every 3-5 mins or so. I’m scared that while it’s a tiny bit of water being dispensed each time, eventually it will overflow.

I’ve turned it on and off multiple times, and even wiped the sensor clean.

 

[Tahoe61]

@rvitko

For assistance.

 

[vetteguy53081]

My Nano Os. 3 keeps thinking the water level is low when it’s above the optical sensor. It will start to pump in RODI water for half a second, then realize the water level is higher than the sensor, then shut off. It’ll go through this cycle every 3-5 mins or so. I’m scared that while it’s a tiny bit of water being dispensed each time, eventually it will overflow.

I’ve turned it on and off multiple times, and even wiped the sensor clean.

Sounds like a sensor issue. Assure its clean and unplug a few minutes which will reset the unit.

 

[awokenreefboy]

Sounds like a sensor issue. Assure its clean and unplug a few minutes which will reset the unit.

Thanks! I went ahead and left it off for all of last night and just made sure everything is perfect. The sensor is clean and the protective cover is on. Crossing my fingers it works now.

I do have a cheap drop in style 13watt UV sterilizer that I just put in there. It turns on right when my main lights turn off. Do you think that could be it?

 

[awokenreefboy]

Sounds like a sensor issue. Assure its clean and unplug a few minutes which will reset the unit.

It is the UV. Didn’t do it all day until tonight when the UV turned on. So annoying. Any suggestions?

 

[awokenreefboy]

For those that hopefully find this in the future. When the drop-in UV sterilizer is on in the sump area and the main lights are off, the ambient light coming from the UV triggers the Tunze ATO sensor to think the water level is low.

I went ahead and tested the UV + ATO when the main lights are on, and nothing happened.

I guess my fix is syncing my UV with my main lights instead of running a reverse schedule.

 

[awokenreefboy]

For those that hopefully find this in the future. When the drop-in UV sterilizer is on in the sump area and the main lights are off, the ambient light coming from the UV triggers the Tunze ATO sensor to think the water level is low.

I went ahead and tested the UV + ATO when the main lights are on, and nothing happened.

I guess my fix is syncing my UV with my main lights instead of running a reverse schedule.

Final Update:

Looks like it’s not the actual light that’s affecting the ATO, it’s the EMF emitted by the cheap drop-in UV.

Here’s a couple of quotes from Tunze customer service:

“With UV, the cause is the EMF created by the ballast, in the past we had this when people used power compact lights with the old models, better quality ballasts do not do this, but inexpensive ballasts do. They usually omit all the EMF filtering to cut costs. Usually the solution is to move the wires of the UV and the UV and ballast as far away from any Osmolator wiring and components as possible, in extreme cases, they cannot even share a household circuit, but in most cases operating everything solves the problem. The magnetic frequency produced by the UV ballast is affecting the circuit board of the controller and the wires and all components act as antennas carrying this interference.”

“The sensor uses infrared, only grow lights and other optic sensors usually emit infrared, it is not the light, it is an electromagnetic interference, usually the solution is keeping the wires far apart, my guess would be your aquarium light being on acts as a barrier to the interference, when it is off, the wires all act as antennas for the UV, the best fix will be to get all the wires away from the UV wire, that should also let you use the schedule you prefer.”

Unfortunately I cannot get the wires of the UV far enough away from the ATO therefore I’ll just run the UV as needed and when I’m around to pause my ATO.

Hope this helps someone in the future!

 

[twentyleagues]

Weird. Interesting though thanks for the heads up!

 

[awokenreefboy]

Weird. Interesting though thanks for the heads up!

This hobby never ceases to amaze me on how many ways things can go wrong!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Final Update:

Looks like it’s not the actual light that’s affecting the ATO, it’s the EMF emitted by the cheap drop-in UV.

Here’s a couple of quotes from Tunze customer service:

“With UV, the cause is the EMF created by the ballast, in the past we had this when people used power compact lights with the old models, better quality ballasts do not do this, but inexpensive ballasts do. They usually omit all the EMF filtering to cut costs. Usually the solution is to move the wires of the UV and the UV and ballast as far away from any Osmolator wiring and components as possible, in extreme cases, they cannot even share a household circuit, but in most cases operating everything solves the problem. The magnetic frequency produced by the UV ballast is affecting the circuit board of the controller and the wires and all components act as antennas carrying this interference.”

“The sensor uses infrared, only grow lights and other optic sensors usually emit infrared, it is not the light, it is an electromagnetic interference, usually the solution is keeping the wires far apart, my guess would be your aquarium light being on acts as a barrier to the interference, when it is off, the wires all act as antennas for the UV, the best fix will be to get all the wires away from the UV wire, that should also let you use the schedule you prefer.”

Unfortunately I cannot get the wires of the UV far enough away from the ATO therefore I’ll just run the UV as needed and when I’m around to pause my ATO.

Hope this helps someone in the future!

Which triggered the sensor it seems. How strange

 

[Tahoe61]

This hobby never ceases to amaze me on how many ways things can go wrong!

What could go wrong! Boxes of water and electricity. You would have to be insane.


:-)

 

[awokenreefboy]

What could go wrong! Boxes of water and electricity. You would have to be insane.


:)

Right?! I’m just happy this didn’t happen while I was on vacation. I’m literally leaving for a couple days coming up.

 

[iss114]

Right?! I’m just happy this didn’t happen while I was on vacation. I’m literally leaving for a couple days coming up.

Created an account just to thank you for this thread. I've been pulling my hair out over this sudden issue with my Tunze Osmolator 3 nano.

I did my pre-vacation maintenance the day before leaving on a trip. That night, my tank reached the literal brink of overflowing. The osmolator sensor was submerged, led on Green, but activating (blue led) every 30 - 90 seconds for about 1 second of filling.

With no time to troubleshoot (needed to catch a flight) - I had no choice but to unplug the osmolator. Imagine my frustration; the exact scenario for getting an ATO in the first place, and I had to shut it off. It had been running so smoothly for over a month prior to this.

Once I returned, I tried every recommendation to resolve this - cleaning the sensor, moving it to other locations in the tank, unplugging/plugging to reset the sensor and pump, removing other probes that might be triggering it, etc.

No success. Googling "tunze overflow, over filling, malfunctioning" only brought me to others having issues with the sensor not activating or having errors. I was about to conclude that the sensor was defective and start a warranty claim until I found this thread.

During my pre-vacation maintenance, I had also "organized" my cables and equipment under the tank - in doing so, I had plugged the osmolator right next to the UV plug (Fluval FX in-line UVC Clarifier) on the power strip. They must have been sufficiently separated previously, I don't recall, but now they were adjacent with wires touching in some places.

Tested by unplugging the UV sterilizer and no more false activations from the osmolator. What a relief! So, thanks again @awokenreefboy for this thread. I hope some of the words I've added here will help others reach this thread in the future.

 

[awokenreefboy]

Created an account just to thank you for this thread. I've been pulling my hair out over this sudden issue with my Tunze Osmolator 3 nano.

I did my pre-vacation maintenance the day before leaving on a trip. That night, my tank reached the literal brink of overflowing. The osmolator sensor was submerged, led on Green, but activating (blue led) every 30 - 90 seconds for about 1 second of filling.

With no time to troubleshoot (needed to catch a flight) - I had no choice but to unplug the osmolator. Imagine my frustration; the exact scenario for getting an ATO in the first place, and I had to shut it off. It had been running so smoothly for over a month prior to this.

Once I returned, I tried every recommendation to resolve this - cleaning the sensor, moving it to other locations in the tank, unplugging/plugging to reset the sensor and pump, removing other probes that might be triggering it, etc.

No success. Googling "tunze overflow, over filling, malfunctioning" only brought me to others having issues with the sensor not activating or having errors. I was about to conclude that the sensor was defective and start a warranty claim until I found this thread.

During my pre-vacation maintenance, I had also "organized" my cables and equipment under the tank - in doing so, I had plugged the osmolator right next to the UV plug (Fluval FX in-line UVC Clarifier) on the power strip. They must have been sufficiently separated previously, I don't recall, but now they were adjacent with wires touching in some places.

Tested by unplugging the UV sterilizer and no more false activations from the osmolator. What a relief! So, thanks again @awokenreefboy for this thread. I hope some of the words I've added here will help others reach this thread in the future.

Glad it helped you! I can imagine your frustration.