ATO Malfunctioning

[Arce]

So i have a Tunze nano osomolator on my 29. Just noticed today when i went to look at my tank that the water level was extremely low in my return section of my sump, looks like at least 2 days of evaporation.

The pump will turn on, then quickly shut off within seconds even when the float valve is all the way down. Anyone experience this before or have any ideas? I already sent them an email but who knows when they will get back to me.

 

[saltkreep88]

Did you unplug it to reset it?

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[Arce]

I did unplug it several times but immediately plugged it back in. Should i wait a minute or two before re-plugging it?

 

[trivan]

I would post on their forum on RC. The guy Roger is pretty responsive. Note that tomorrow is a holiday (Monday) for most of the world. Did you check that the float switch is still working, they tend to be the weak link. You can use a continuity meter to test it.

 

[dougc]

How old is the pump? I never got more than 2 years from the osmolater pump.

Also try cleaning off the optical sensor, even if it doesn't look dirty.

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[Arce]

I would post on their forum on RC. The guy Roger is pretty responsive. Note that tomorrow is a holiday (Monday) for most of the world. Did you check that the float switch is still working, they tend to be the weak link. You can use a continuity meter to test it.

I actually dont have a RC account... but if it continues and i dont hear back from their other email ill make one and post there. The float switch is still working, it does respond to the switch, the problem is that the pump itself only remains on for less than a couple seconds even when the switch is all the way down.

How old is the pump? I never got more than 2 years from the osmolater pump.

Also try cleaning off the optical sensor, even if it doesn't look dirty.

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Its not even a year yet, got it last July. Optical sensor??

 

[lefkonj]

Have to tried cleaning the sensor? I had a similar issue and when i took it out there was a small sea star on the sensor messing it up.

 

[dougc]

There are two sensors. The mechanical float switch sets off the high water alarm. The other one (clear plastic) is the optical sensor.

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[trivan]

The nano doesn't have a optical sensor, only a float switch. I run kalk so I clean mine 1 a year with vinegar.

 

[Arce]

Well i just plugged it back in, seems to be working fine as of right now. I guess i wont know till morning if it keeps up with the evap over night.

 

[saltkreep88]

It has a built in safety feature that will turn off the pump if it is on over a few minutes (so it doesn't overflow the tank). When it is in this protection mode it will pulse/buzz the motor so you notice that something is wrong. If you haven't yet I would soak the float and the pump in vinegar for a few hours. There is very little clearance between the float and the shield so a small amount of junk can make it stay on and get stuck in that protection mode.

 

[TanksNStuff]

I used to use a Tunze Osmolator for my ATO and I had a similar problem. I thought the pump was going bad and bought a replacement pump for it. Turned out to be the controller that went bad on me. So, what I basically did was disconnected the power wire from the pump to the controller (on the controller side) and spliced it to a generic radio shack outlet plug. Then I used the float switches on my Reef Angel controller to manage the ATO pump outlet. My RA also has a similar timeout setting when you set the outlet up for an ATO, so I still get the safety feature that protects me from over filling with a stuck float switch.

Anyway, may not be the solution for you, but thought I'd share in case you might be able to do the same thing with a general aquarium controller.

The Tunze ato pump is great because it's made like a sump pump and sucks from the bottom. I couldn't see wasting the 2 good pumps so I did this with the new replacement pump and kept the older one as a spare.

 

[Arce]

Thanks for all the responses, i went to check it this morning and it seems to be working fine now. I think it was the safety feature that was just stuck on so i left it unplugged for a bit and then plugged it back in.