GHL maxi doser SA and profilux questions

[M4sonic]

I'm planning my new tank and I'm looking at options for control and AWC.
At the moment im leaning towards GHL.

I just finished my water mixing station and noticed the ghl maxi doser can do AWC duty and can be used standalone.

Now forgive my ignorance but ive been googling and reading manuals but can't find answers to my questions.
Am i correct in assuming standalone means that i can use the doser completely without a profilux controller (for the time being) and that it needs no physical connection except for power? (its in my garage so no direct connection to my tank except for my AWC dosing lines)
If this is correct it's a massive reason for me to go for ghl.

Ive also been looking at the AWC examples provided by ghl and they talk about needing level sensors, is this required for it to work? Or can i just set it to dose continuously on both heads (or X amount X times a day) and use the "container emptied" function to guesstimate the remaining saltwater?
Could i hook up 1 level sensor to the maxi doser and use it as an alert for the container being empty?
And lastly i saw that the doser has a temp probe port, I'm assuming I can name it whatever i want and use it for my quarantine tank?

Bonus pic of my mixing station. ( I know, cable management still needs work )

 

[KStatefan]

Yes the stand alone will work that way. Calibrate and set a set amount to be dosed.

 

[TehBrainz]

The mixing station looks great.

I use the Maxi slave with my profilux, so my set-up is different. HOWEVER, the hardware is great and I haven't had any issues with the functionality of my WC's. Never realized how much the AWC's really benefit with a busy work/life schedule.

Still do your due diligence on calibration and verification practices since you are relying on the accuracy for your changes. TBH, I don't worry too much about the calibration as I'm using level sensors, but I still check it every couple of months for my own peace of mind.

 

[M4sonic]

I don't worry too much about the calibration as I'm using level sensors, but I still check it every couple of months for my own peace of mind.

how do you go about using a level sensor to have a failsafe for your calibration if i may ask?

edit: also, would it be best to have it dosing continous or push/pulling x amount x times a day? i would think the latter would be easier on the motors?

 

[TehBrainz]

I calibrate the unit so that I can receive notifications of the level in my NSW reservoir. I don't have a minimum level sensor in the reservoir, although I'm thinking of adding one.

Since the unit is calibrated and I'm changing a fixed amount based on the sensor placement, if I notice an extraordinarily long or short AWC cycle then something may be wrong with my float sensors, connection points, or reservoir level. I should add, I've never had an issue, but this was my thinking when setting up.

I'm not sure what would be better from an equipment design perspective. It's been awhile since I've looked at the spec sheets too, tbh. These units are designed to push a much larger volume of water so I've found that 3 separate AWC cycles every day works for my system. I change out ~12-15% weekly from ~210g system.

edit: I also have a Maximum on-time set up that if the AWC stays on for too long (something like 10% longer than it normally does) that the system alarms and notifies me. I forgot about this failsafe.

 

[M4sonic]

yeah i was thinking along the same lines because a 10% weekly for me would be something like 3-4ml/min which seems excruciatingly slow .

 

[TehBrainz]

Yea, I run at ~150ml/min

 

[Mark E]

FWIW My GHL Maxi doser can only run at a maximum of 130ml/min (I guess the tube lengths have a bearing on the throughput) theoretically that’s ‘continuous’ but the pump gets hot. I change 60 litres so that’s over 7 1/2 hours of pumping and it’s not quiet either.

I’m going to fit a fan to help with the heat, Lasse helped with some PL so I can make the water change run as a Profilux ‘Maintenance’ function and break the 4 hour limit. There’s a thread if you want a read.

So, I’m pushing the limits changing 60litres in 7 to 8 hours, using the GHL Maxidoser. Short of using multiple vessels, level sensors and different pumps I doubt there’s a better way.

My plan on a larger system would be to use level sensors to control ordinary pumps and fill / empty two identical sized tanks whilst the ATO was off line, and just hope that the pumped in / out volumes were close enough that salinity was barely affected.