Tunze osmolator 3155 vs Autoaqua Smart Micro ATO

[blackstallion]

I currently have the AutoAqua Smart Micro ATO (which has been discontinued) and am considering an upgrade.

My sump level will occasionally fluctuate due to my Durso doing some funky stuff (topic for another day!). When the water level fluctuates, the ATO will usually figure out something is wrong and sound the alarm instead of topping off (although it's slightly annoying because it has to be manually reset to begin functioning again). However, the other day, instead of sounding the alarm, it did dump a couple gallons into my DT (which is a 200g+ so was ok).

Overall I've been satisfied with the ATO, although I'm wondering how the Tunze Osmolator 3155 compares? Is it any "smarter"? Meaning, if it detects an abnormality in water level (ie. Durso fluctuating), will it just sound the alarm like the AutoAqua and stop working altogether until reset? Or will it come back online itself once the water level returns to an expected level?

I'm trying to determine if the Tunzes $215 price tag will buy additional "smarts" over the AutoAqua?

 

[Kris 2020]

I have only used the 3155, so I have nothing to compare it to. But I have never felt a need to shop around for anything else. I’ve been using them for about 11 years. Roger is great for the US customer service, he knows these units inside and out. It has an electric eye for water level, and you can set that to a different level that the “too full” float, so that would give u some wiggle room if your sump tends to overfill due to durso issues.

right now I am using one 3155 unit with 2 pumps hooked through a switch. that way I use it for both top off and auto water change filling, just with using timers on my old reefkeeper controller.

 

[lapin]

The 3155 will not add water if the sensor in the sump says none is needed. If it runs longer than 10 min it will shut off. You can turn the alarm on or off, as well as set it for small med or large tank with dip switches inside the controller

https://www.tunze.com/fileadmin/gebrauchsanleitungen/x3155.8888.pdf

 

[Cell]

To answer your question, no reset is necessary after the float switch/alarm is triggered.

 

[Reef.]

I currently have the AutoAqua Smart Micro ATO (which has been discontinued) and am considering an upgrade.

My sump level will occasionally fluctuate due to my Durso doing some funky stuff (topic for another day!). When the water level fluctuates, the ATO will usually figure out something is wrong and sound the alarm instead of topping off (although it's slightly annoying because it has to be manually reset to begin functioning again). However, the other day, instead of sounding the alarm, it did dump a couple gallons into my DT (which is a 200g+ so was ok).

Overall I've been satisfied with the ATO, although I'm wondering how the Tunze Osmolator 3155 compares? Is it any "smarter"? Meaning, if it detects an abnormality in water level (ie. Durso fluctuating), will it just sound the alarm like the AutoAqua and stop working altogether until reset? Or will it come back online itself once the water level returns to an expected level?

I'm trying to determine if the Tunzes $215 price tag will buy additional "smarts" over the AutoAqua?

No it doesn't have a wave function, if the sensor is triggered then it dumps water, when the water covers the sensor it stops, there are atos out there with a function that will not trigger the pump if the sensor is not clear of water for a few seconds.

 

[blackstallion]

No it doesn't have a wave function, if the sensor is triggered then it dumps water, when the water covers the sensor it stops, there are atos out there with a function that will not trigger the pump if the sensor is not clear of water for a few seconds.

A "wave" function would sure be useful, I'm not sure why it wouldn't be incorporated on all ATOs as a safety measure since most sumps will have some variability in water level. Do you know of any ATOs off the top of your head that do incorporate this function?

 

[Reef.]

A "wave" function would sure be useful, I'm not sure why it wouldn't be incorporated on all ATOs as a safety measure since most sumps will have some variability in water level. Do you know of any ATOs off the top of your head that do incorporate this function?

The only one I know of is the Reefloat but that's from the UK.

 

[Tamberav]

I don’t think the Tunze will scream at you if you put the backup float high enough that the fluctuation won’t trigger the backup float. It has two magnets so you could place that second float as high as you want. It will restart itself also and not remain off.

The only time it has ever remained off is when the ATO container ran dry.

 

[blackstallion]

I don’t think the Tunze will scream at you if you put the backup float high enough that the fluctuation won’t trigger the backup float. It has two magnets so you could place that second float as high as you want. It will restart itself also and not remain off.

The only time it has ever remained off is when the ATO container ran dry.

I'm not sure I fully understand what you're saying about the backup sensor. I would imagine it's placed higher than the primary level sensor and would turn off the ATO in the chance that the ATO did not turn off at the primary?

My issue has been water fluctuations where the level will temporarily go down, and the ATO will either trigger or alarm, but really should not be.

 

[Tamberav]

Oh, if it drops. It's going to trigger and fill to the sensor... then when it returns to normal and is overfull... past the FIRST sensor... I don't believe it alarms. It alarms when it hits the second sensor (float) that you place higher.

I would assume most/all ATO's assume your sump doesn't randomly change.

I guess if your evaporation rate is greater then how much the durso malfunctions and the tank overfills then it should work. Otherwise it would slowly overfill and alarm the second sensor and scream.

 

[Yodeling]

The Tunze is the only ATO I would ever use. In terms of fluctuating levels, you have the same mechanism on the Tunze. You have a "too high" float switch up above the electronic eye. If the "too high" float gets triggered, you get an alarm. However, you can independently position the "too high" float switch on a separate magnet (and place it higher if needed). The "too low" level only triggers if the pump runs for 10 minutes and water doesn't reach the electronic eye. You could mitigate that by cranking your pump to maximum flow - that way it would fill faster (or if all else fails, you could use a stronger pump).

The "Too high" alarm will reset automatically once the water drops below the safety float, but the "Too Low" alarm will stop the pump and require the ATO to be reset (hence my suggestion of just cranking up the flow to make sure it doesn't ever trigger). You can disable the audible alarms as well (although I wouldn't recommend it).