Osmolator 3155 - second failure in a month

[Ky_acc]

I am at my wits end with my Osmolator 3155.

For the second time in a month, I have woken up to the sound of trickling water. I check the tank and the optical sensor is high and dry and the water level has fallen significantly.

Thankfully this time I caught it early, but last time I was gone for a day and my water level had fallen so low that I lost my goniopora due to the salinity swing.

I’m just not sure how I can trust this ato now as it has failed twice in the same way (i.e, not kicking on leaving the sensor dry). The first time the sensor had a bit of salt creep, but this time the sensor looked perfectly clean — I don’t know if I have a faulty unit or what.

That said is there anything that I can do to troubleshoot this issue? Or do I just have a bad sensor / unit. This piece of equipment is a lifeline to my tank and I just don’t know how I can trust it going forward.

Thinking about biting the bullet and trying the Spectrapure ato as this has me really worried that I’m going to lose my tank due to the 3155 not working properly.

 

[Montiman]

What do the lights on the controller show when you experience the error? The lights sound different error codes for different reasons. Not kicking on can be from many issues. How large is the Tank/Sump? It could be the built in timer tripping.

 

[Tamberav]

I am at my wits end with my Osmolator 3155.

For the second time in a month, I have woken up to the sound of trickling water. I check the tank and the optical sensor is high and dry and the water level has fallen significantly.

Thankfully this time I caught it early, but last time I was gone for a day and my water level had fallen so low that I lost my goniopora due to the salinity swing.

I’m just not sure how I can trust this ato now as it has failed twice in the same way (i.e, not kicking on leaving the sensor dry). The first time the sensor had a bit of salt creep, but this time the sensor looked perfectly clean — I don’t know if I have a faulty unit or what.

That said is there anything that I can do to troubleshoot this issue? Or do I just have a bad sensor / unit. This piece of equipment is a lifeline to my tank and I just don’t know how I can trust it going forward.

Thinking about biting the bullet and trying the Spectrapure ato as this has me really worried that I’m going to lose my tank due to the 3155 not working properly.

Sounds like something is faulty or something is messing with it..

Mine has been running 7 years non stop without one problem or part needing to be replaced.

Did you check the backup float? Maybe it is being triggered or the problem.

 

[Nick Steele]

Also make sure that it will pump water when you plug it in depending on how much head you have it going up it might not be able to push water that high. I have a nano so I took the unit apart and lowered the power but it couldn’t push water so I had to put it back into the middle.

 

[Ky_acc]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

The tank is a 45g AIO (redsea max E170). The back chamber is pretty small so evaporation of less than 1/2 gallon will leave the sensor high and dry — but there is no chance the timer shut the unit off filling up the chamber as so little water is required to keep things level.

The light on the box was reading “level” when the sensor was dry. Also the backup sensor was not tripped at the time the sensor was dry.

I remember when I first set up the 3155 in Dec. 2019 I was having an issue where the sensor would not react to changes in water. Here is the thread I started back in December. It seems like my issue is a recurring issue with the sensor. At this point I’m thinking I just got unlucky with a bad unit.

Tunze 3155 - sensor not filling the tank?

Hi there, I just set up a new tunze 3155 and I’m hoping someone can help me troubleshoot what is going wrong. every time I plug in the unit the water starts to pump for a few seconds, so I know the pump is working. The problem is that whenever I move the sensors around to test whether it is...

www.reef2reef.com

I’m just really worried that I have a faulty unit as I have been experiencing this problem intermittently at seemingly random times.

 

[Water Dog]

Have you checked the ATO pump to make sure it’s not air locked? On occaision, when I let my reservoir drain all the way down to empty, when I refilled it, I had to make sure to invert the pump to release any trapped air underneath to prevent the pump from getting air locked.

 

[Ky_acc]

Have you checked the ATO pump to make sure it’s not air locked? On occaision, when I let my reservoir drain all the way down to empty, when I refilled it, I had to make sure to invert the pump to release any trapped air underneath to prevent the pump from getting air locked.

I don’t think so I’ve never let my reservoir run down past 1/4 to empty. I have a 15 gallon reservoir which will last a few weeks.

 

[neoender25]

I have had two nanos first one got replaced by Tunze) and both have a habit of either running dry or not completing their fill before the timeout occurs, meaning the unit goes into trip mode and won't pump again without being reset.

I placed it on a smart plug and have it set to flip the unit on/off every 12 hours just in case it had an error and haven't had a problem since.

 

[Reef.]

Doesn’t the manual say not to use these in aio?

 

[Water Dog]

Doesn’t the manual say not to use these in aio?

Not that I’m aware of. I’ve used a 3155 for years in my BioCube 29 with zero issues. There is a nano setting via potentiometer knob adjustment in the controller box to slow down the flow rate of the pump specifically for nano tanks, but overfilling due to pump speed is not what the OP is dealing with. His 3155 just doesn’t seem to be filling when the water level drops below the optical sensor.

 

[Reef.]

Not that I’m aware of. I’ve used a 3155 for years in my BioCube 29 with zero issues. There is a nano setting via potentiometer knob adjustment in the controller box to slow down the flow rate of the pump specifically for nano tanks, but overfilling due to pump speed is not what the OP is dealing with. His 3155 just doesn’t seem to be filling when the water level drops below the optical sensor.

light on the sensor is what the issue may be, it can mess with the signaling, I know some sensor ato brands do not recommend them in aio.

 

[Water Dog]

Is there a way to cover the return section to block the light? Very strange though, in addition to running the 3155 in my AIO, I’ve run it in a regular sump as well, and my fuge lights didn’t seem to cause any issues. Try reaching out to Roger on Monday.

 

[Ky_acc]

light on the sensor is what the issue may be, it can mess with the signaling, I know some sensor ato brands do not recommend them in aio.

I don’t think light is the issue — for those not familiar with the E170 they have a “Flap” that comes up on the sump to cover the equipment which also blocks the light coming into the rear sump

I placed it on a smart plug and have it set to flip the unit on/off every 12 hours just in case it had an error and haven't had a problem since.

That’s actually not a bad idea, I could plug it into the apex and power cycle it once a day just to at least get the 20 second auto fill if something were to go wrong.

 

[rvitko]

I have had two nanos first one got replaced by Tunze) and both have a habit of either running dry or not completing their fill before the timeout occurs, meaning the unit goes into trip mode and won't pump again without being reset.

I placed it on a smart plug and have it set to flip the unit on/off every 12 hours just in case it had an error and haven't had a problem since.

This is not pertinent to the original post as this is a fairly different system, but have you set the longer timer? From the factory the nano is preset for a tank under 25 gallons, for 26-55 you need to set the longer time delay.

 

[rvitko]

Ky_acc, 6 months have passed since the last issue, have you tried just soaking the sensor in vinegar? Typically after 6-12 months sufficient minerals have deposited on the optic sensor to blind it, you would want to completely remove it from the magnet and place it in vinegar for an hour and then wipe it clean with a towel, any dull haze on it will render it blind. The sensor is a replaceable part. The light is an unlikely issue, they work on infrared, typically only grow light spectrum has enough infrared to cause an issue and even then only with higher quality grow lights is there enough infrared.

 

[Ky_acc]

Hey @rvitko thanks for the reply.

I think that is a fair point that it has been about 6 months since the first issue.

I will try soaking in vinegar — should I do it for just a few minutes or a few hours? Thinking it won’t take long as I don’t have any coralline growing yet.

Also have citric acid if that might be easier on the sensor?

 

[rvitko]

Either will work, the soak should generally last at least an hour.

 

[mitch91175]

Hey @rvitko thanks for the reply.

I think that is a fair point that it has been about 6 months since the first issue.

I will try soaking in vinegar — should I do it for just a few minutes or a few hours? Thinking it won’t take long as I don’t have any coralline growing yet.

Also have citric acid if that might be easier on the sensor?

You can just cleaning it with a tooth brush or a towel as well. Never used the nano but the 3155 has been solid for me for a while. If mine ever acts up, I just wipe the optical sensor with my finger using water from the tank and back to business.

 

[Ky_acc]

@rvitko I am at a loss.

I woke up this morning to the sound of my return pump sucking air — the 3155 ran dry again.

this is especially frustrating as I had just cleaned the sensor as part of my maintenance two weeks ago.

I must either have a bad sensor at this point as I have been dealing with this issue for the past year on and off and now I cannot trust it as this would have crashed my system had I not been home.

is there any way I can get a replacement sensor?

 

[rvitko]

I would remove the sensor from the magnet and dry it and verify that it is completely clean, I have seen cases, especially with kalkwasser where a sensor fouls every 1-2 weeks, the solution is to dose calcium/buffer further from the sensors and raise your Mg levels in these cases. It is possible to replace the sensor, but it is not a DIY repair as the controller must be recalibrated when the sensor is replaced. We typically complete such a repair within 1 day of receipt.