Red Sea ATO+, sensor problems with Kalk?

[iaa12]

I bought a Red Sea ATO upgrade kit about 10 days ago. Installed in my Reefer 350, got erratic behavior - inconsistent fills between 0.05 gallons per fill (which would be the expected top off volume per fill given 25x25 return chamber and 3 mm between sensors), up to 0.8 gallons per fill with near overflow of return chamber.

This got progressively worse over the course of 4-5 days and RedSea just sent me replacement sensor and controller. Upon installation of the brand new sensor and controller I got in the mail, it proceeded to overflow my return chamber while completely ignoring the primary full sensor, and the two "backup" sensors at the very top. With the sensor fully submerged in a container of tank water, it detects the water level as below the first "full" sensor. It is completely messed up, brand new from the box.

I do use a fully saturated Kalk solution for top offs, which I am assuming creates a pretty high pH in the return chamber for a minute or two. In an attempt to clean the sensor I briefly submerged it in a cup of vinegar to dissolve any potential kalk residue, and while that didn't help I noted that the sensor failed to indicate any water level whatsoever in vinegar - so pH must be a factor in its ability to correctly detect the water level.

The sensor appears to have some sort of metal studs, not sure what they're made of, is it possible the kalk is reacting with these and permanently trashing the sensor's ability to correctly detect water levels? Anyone have any similar issues with this ATO?

At this point I removed the Red Sea ATO and reinstalled my old Hydor auto top off unit, which proceeded to worked flawlessly first try.

 

[Poochaku]

yes, kalk messes with the red sea ATO, it messed with my roller mat sensor.

It works off of conductivity i believe and will only work correctly in saltwater.

Giving it a citric acid soak fixed my problems.

 

[mOUs3y]

yes, kalk messes with the red sea ATO, it messed with my roller mat sensor.

It works off of conductivity i believe and will only work correctly in saltwater.

Giving it a citric acid soak fixed my problems.

oh oh. i was hoping this would work with my freshwater tank. i guess i need to look at the tunze again.

 

[douglasbnyhof]

I bought a Red Sea ATO upgrade kit about 10 days ago. Installed in my Reefer 350, got erratic behavior - inconsistent fills between 0.05 gallons per fill (which would be the expected top off volume per fill given 25x25 return chamber and 3 mm between sensors), up to 0.8 gallons per fill with near overflow of return chamber.

This got progressively worse over the course of 4-5 days and RedSea just sent me replacement sensor and controller. Upon installation of the brand new sensor and controller I got in the mail, it proceeded to overflow my return chamber while completely ignoring the primary full sensor, and the two "backup" sensors at the very top. With the sensor fully submerged in a container of tank water, it detects the water level as below the first "full" sensor. It is completely messed up, brand new from the box.

I do use a fully saturated Kalk solution for top offs, which I am assuming creates a pretty high pH in the return chamber for a minute or two. In an attempt to clean the sensor I briefly submerged it in a cup of vinegar to dissolve any potential kalk residue, and while that didn't help I noted that the sensor failed to indicate any water level whatsoever in vinegar - so pH must be a factor in its ability to correctly detect the water level.

The sensor appears to have some sort of metal studs, not sure what they're made of, is it possible the kalk is reacting with these and permanently trashing the sensor's ability to correctly detect water levels? Anyone have any similar issues with this ATO?

At this point I removed the Red Sea ATO and reinstalled my old Hydor auto top off unit, which proceeded to worked flawlessly first try.

The metal posts are supposedly titanium. So they’re pretty much indestructible lol. Did your ato come with the magnet mounting hardware? You may need to move the sensor to a new location. Im not using kalk but I’ve read that kalk will ruin your ato pump over time. Most resources recommended a dosing pump To drip continuously.