JBJ Nano ATO Defective?

[Coolnesscomplex]

Hey everybody, I have the old model of the JBJ and it works great but this new model is really confusing me. Or it is defective. If you watch the video clip I attached,

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I move the ATO sensor so the water level is below the line and the solid green light disappears which means that it senses that the water level is below the low level sensing point.

Then the ATO just gushes a whole bunch of water in there and does not seem to really function as it should? I need way less water pumped into my pico tank to maintain salinity than what appears to be about 4 ounces. what the heck?

I will reach out to JBJ or maybe bulk reef supply for support but I thought I’d ask you guys first.

Thank you for any advice…

 

[tharbin]

Does it stop filling when the water level gets to the top sensor (just below the top of the sensor body) and then turn the green LED light on flashing? That is the way it is supposed to work. How much it fills is a function of how large your return chamber is.

 

[Coolnesscomplex]

No, it blows right past the top sensor and fills water until the entire ATO sensor is completely submerged. I’ve attached a YouTube video since my original video did not upload properly…

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[tharbin]

I see. No that is not right. My guess is that the chamber volume is too small for the ATO. By the time the electronics responds to the full sensor it is already overfilling.

It looks to me like the unit is working correctly but may not be suitable for your application.

Good luck. They are nice units. I have one on a 15 gallon and it has been flawless so far.

 

[Coolnesscomplex]

OK thank you…yeah, it behaves that way whether it is installed in the aquarium or in this plastic cup like in the video…and I think it would happen no matter what. I mean the old model is precise as heck. Since I have that earlier JBJ ATO Nano model I feel confident that I am operating it correctly, but I would love to get more input from others if anyone cares to chime in. Don’t let this thread die on me!!

 

[tharbin]

Next time I turn my ATO off I will try it in a cup and see what it does. I'm going to be doing some maintenance next week so probably then.

 

[Coolnesscomplex]

OK tharbin thank you for your help and I have a theory about what I’m doing incorrectly in terms of setup. Just watched the BRS video about this product and I am not allowing it to calibrate properly (and I know the instructions say how to do this but I refused to believe them) and here is why…. To calibrate this, you have to allow the water level to fill up past the top of the entire sensor and then the water level slowly goes down and it maintains it from the low water sensor point from then on. But that first calibration sends the water level past the top of the sensor in order to establish the high water level I guess…

I refused to follow the instructions and do that because like all of us, my ATO reservoir was filled with freshwater and I don’t wanna be gushing extra freshwater into a saltwater tank in order to calibrate a device. So I think they need to specify that in the instructions as a tip (calibrate with saltwater if it is a marine application) so as not to mess up the parameters of your tank.

So I guess this is working as designed and I think the new design is terrible! lol

 

[Steven Garland]

Mine did the same thing,except it over filles my 10" cube in the middle of the night lol not once but twice. My wife was pretty upset.

Edit: I actually went back to the OG top off from them with aqua lifter.

 

[tharbin]

OK tharbin thank you for your help and I have a theory about what I’m doing incorrectly in terms of setup. Just watched the BRS video about this product and I am not allowing it to calibrate properly (and I know the instructions say how to do this but I refused to believe them) and here is why…. To calibrate this, you have to allow the water level to fill up past the top of the entire sensor and then the water level slowly goes down and it maintains it from the low water sensor point from then on. But that first calibration sends the water level past the top of the sensor in order to establish the high water level I guess…

I refused to follow the instructions and do that because like all of us, my ATO reservoir was filled with freshwater and I don’t wanna be gushing extra freshwater into a saltwater tank in order to calibrate a device. So I think they need to specify that in the instructions as a tip (calibrate with saltwater if it is a marine application) so as not to mess up the parameters of your tank.

So I guess this is working as designed and I think the new design is terrible! lol

Well, I just went back and got my instructions (the box bottom) out. Something didn't seem right to me about what you said so I went online to get the instruction manual and you were spot on but--it didn't jive with what I've been doing or the instructions I seemed to remember.

Looks like they've changed something. Seems they changed where it no longer does an initial fill. I actually prefer the new way as the old way is problematic when I need to turn off the ATO during maintenance.

Here are the instructions from the box mine came in:

Quick Installation:
1. Install the ATO with a water level mid-level or lower than the ATO.
2. Place pump in reservoir, place tube in tank using included guide rail.
3. Plug-in the power supply first, then the water pump.
4. The system will automatically add water to the high-level sensing point.

Sorry for confusing things.