RO/DI Auto topoff How to

[Shu]

Ok,

I was wandering how to do this and if its even possible. I wan't to create an auto topoff with my ro/di and storage buckets in the garage. I am probably going to buy a buckeye here pretty soon and a 35 gallon brute trash can. What do I need as far as solenoids and float valves and tubing. I have a foccet on the out side where I can run the water from or T it off from my water softener(maybe a bad idea). Another question is how do I run the ro/di hose 30ft away to my sump. Will I need a pump to do this?

[Bill S]

Here's how I'd do it. Go ahead and feed your RO/DI from your water softener. I asked Russ at Buckeye about this, and he said absolutely.

Run your RO/DI to your brute. Put a float switch in it. ONLY fill your brute up as needed - turn your RO/DI on and off manually, when the trash can gets low. You want to avoid cycling your RO/DI, as the membrane "leaks" between cycles. The float switch is a safeguard, so that when you turn your RO/DI on, and forget to turn it off, your brute doesn't overflow.

From your brute, you will need to pump to an automatic top off in your sump. Make SURE you buy a unit with a backup - so that if a float switch fails (which it will), you don't overflow your sump/tank. Also make sure that your feed to your sump is higher than the top of your brute - otherwise, once you start the pump you will be starting a siphon! I take the output of my topoff and put it into a much larger piece of PVC that goes into the sump - that way it feeds above the storage unit, but trickles down the PVC into the sump, and when the pump quits, the flow quits.

[Shu]

Also make sure that your feed to your sump is higher than the top of your brute - otherwise, once you start the pump you will be starting a siphon!

What do you mean by this my sump is the living room 25 feet away.

[Bill S]

What do you mean by this my sump is the living room 25 feet away.

When you run your 25 feet of hose/tubing to the sump, the end that goes to the sump has to be higher than the top of your brute, or else you will have siphon problems.

[Shu]

That suc's because the brute is alot taller then sump. Or i can just run the tubing with a lower on the brute correct?

[BuckeyeHydro]

Let me recommend something a little different. Size your DI reservoir to hold about 1.1 times what you'll need to make up for one week of top off water. You can do this by buying a container of a certain size, or by installing a float valve (not a float switch) in a larger container at an appropriate height in the container. You'll manually turn your RODI on once a week to fill this container. As mentioned above, the float valve is just a failsafe.

Elevate this storage container so that is will gravity feed to another float valve in your sump.

For my 300 g system, I use three 5 gallon buckets plumbed together, that sit on a shelf up high on the basement wall. They gravity feed to a float valve in my sump (which sits on the basement floor, about 30 feet away.

So when the float valve in the sump fails, I'll get about 15 gallons of fresh water delivered to the sump, but that's it - no more. I've had this happen before an the corals didn't even know the difference.

Russ