KH Director

[WWIII]

Hello all,

Looking for a second set of eyes to confirm that I got this right.

1. The tube between the reagent and the doser is 19"
2. The tube from the doser to the KDH is 6.7"
3. Add the two together and that totals 25.7"
4. Enter 25.7" into the calculator in the length field
5. Change cm to in.
6. Click OK
7. The calculator enters the tube volume as 8ml

Q. The total tube length is 19 + 6.7 = 25.7. Is this allowed or do the combined values have to stay under 19"?

Q. Does the calculation look OK?

Thanks in advance!

Mine is as you describe above, 19" plus the 6.5" of the doser tubing and seems to work just fine. I think the shorter, the better though obviously, but 19" is pretty short if you ask me!

You do know that field you highlighted above where you enter the length is for the water sample and not reagent correct? There is no where to enter reagent tube length, just shorter is better and 19" maximum recommended length.

 

[Dogtown]

Holey cow! I didn't realize we are talking about 19" from the tank water to doser pump 1. That is really short! I will have to go back and measure that. It's definitely longer than 19" now. Thanks WWIII

I just deleted that last post.

 

[WWIII]

Holey cow! I didn't realize we are talking about 19" from the tank water to doser pump 1. That is really short! I will have to go back and measure that. It's definitely longer than 19" now. Thanks WWIII

I just deleted that last post.

No no, the reagent line must be 19" or less. Not sure how long the water sample line maximum is, but mine is around 8 feet and works just fine. So that is what I entered in the box you show. I have 100 inches total on my water sample line and it works fine. The reason we put this value in the box is so that the doser backflushes the correct amount out each time and pulls the correct amount in for sample each time. There is no restriction (within reason I'm sure) on the length of this tube.

The restriction of 19" for the reagent is I'm sure to limit bubbles and keep the reagent "fresh". But there is no where to enter this length in the system.

Hope that makes sense! I was a little confused when I first set it up as well!

 

[Dogtown]

-

 

[WWIII]

Also a side note, if you change the inside diameter of the hose you use on the water sample line that should be accounted for as well. For instance, I am using 1/8" id silicone hose so I change that value to 3.17 mm in the software. If you are using the hose that came with the doser/kh director no need to change this value. I found it helpful to change the hose to 1/8" id for mlre rigidity and less bubbles. Also it took my backflush volume (total hose volume) down from around 30ml to 20ml, so the doser can run a little less to pull and backflush the correct amount.

 

[WWIII]

Got the tube length down to under 19" but only by routing it directly from the refugium to Doser pump 1. Originally I had it tucked away nicely through the back but this is fine.

Sorry didn't mean to confuse you! Hopefully my one post after that cleared it up! The water sample line can be any length (within reason), but this value must be entered in the kh director. The reagent line should be 19" or less, but that value does not need to be entered anywhere in the kh director.

 

[Dogtown]

Its all good and thanks for clearing this up for me. At this point I have both tubes under 19" in length and it seems to be working. I got my first test reading of 8.4 dKH. Salifert tests at 8.5 dKH so I'm happy with that.

I'll be sure to account for the inner diameter and recalculate if I go with a smaller ID hose like you did. Sounds like a great idea.

 

[WWIII]

See my water sample line follows this red line all the way behind that wall up to the doser. It's 8 feet, but works just fine! We have to enter in this length so the doser knows how long to run to backflush the line after sample is taken (so we're not testing water that's been sitting in the hose) and how long to pull before it's actually getting water when taking a new sample.

 

[WWIII]

Its all good and thanks for clearing this up for me. At this point I have both tubes under 19" in length and it seems to be working. I got my first test reading of 8.4 dKH. Salifert tests at 8.5 dKH so I'm happy with that.

I'll be sure to account for the inner diameter and recalculate if I go with a smaller ID hose like you did. Sounds like a great idea.

You got it! I'm sure shorter is more ideal for the water sample as well, so if that works for your setup good deal! If nothing else the doser doesn't run as much! If you need to move it for whatever reason and make it longer, no worries either, just make sure to enter the new length in the kh director!

Edit- congrats on getting it setup! Looks like a good reading right off the bat! It's an amazing little device!

 

[Dogtown]

See my water sample line follows this red line all the way behind that wall up to the doser. It's 8 feet, but works just fine! We have to enter in this length so the doser knows how long to run to backflush the line after sample is taken (so we're not testing water that's been sitting in the hose) and how long to pull before it's actually getting water when taking a new sample.

I appreciate seeing that picture and your explanations. Let's see if I have this right this time.

WATER SAMPLE (Doser 1/Tube 1)
Tube 1 length can be several feet long if necessary. Your example tube 1 is 8 feet long from your sump to your KDH. I use the built in calculator and enter the inner diameter of the tubing and the length. The ml calculation for the sample tube volume is determined this way. The system references the calculation to know how many ml of water to reverse flow (backflush) out of tube 1 after the test is complete. Due to the backflush, there is no stale water in tube 1 remaining. At the next scheduled test, a completely new water sample is drawn in for evaluation.

REAGENT (Doser 2/Tube 2)
The reagent line can be a max length of 19". This reagent line is the tube from the reagent bottle to doser pump 2. The 6.75" of tubing from doser 2 to the KDH does not apply to the 19" limitation.


This hobby makes you think!

 

[WWIII]

I appreciate seeing that picture and your explanations. Let's see if I have this right this time.

WATER SAMPLE (Doser 1/Tube 1)
Tube 1 length can be several feet long if necessary. Your example tube 1 is 8 feet long from your sump to your KDH. I use the built in calculator and enter the inner diameter of the tubing and the length. The ml calculation for the sample tube volume is determined this way. The system references the calculation to know how many ml of water to reverse flow (backflush) out of tube 1 after the test is complete. Due to the backflush, there is no stale water in tube 1 remaining. At the next scheduled test, a completely new water sample is drawn in for evaluation.

REAGENT (Doser 2/Tube 2)
The reagent line can be a max length of 19". This reagent line is the tube from the reagent bottle to doser pump 2. The 6.75" of tubing from doser 2 to the KDH does not apply to the 19" limitation.


This hobby makes you think!

Boom! You got it 100% correct now!

Yes it does make you think! Then when we have it going for awhile it seems to have made sense all along!

 

[WWIII]

Here's my reagent line (going into the clear glass container) which is directly behind my kh director and doser from the first pic. Just for another visual...

 

[Dogtown]

Nice pic! I may have to copy your enclosure idea one of these days.

Just completed a second test cycle and everything seemed fine. The only thing I noticed is that tube 1 still contained some water after the backflush cycle was over. No big deal, I adjusted the sample tube volume entry from 11ml to 18ml and will see how that goes on the next test. That's just fine tuning now.

I travel about a week out of each month so this KDH with its auto testing, auto dosing, self flushing, and cloud app for monitoring is a home run.

@WWIII, thanks again for your help. I really appreciate it.

 

[Dogtown]

I think its getting close to time to switch control over from "Disable control, KH measurement only" to "Adaptive control mode". The KH Director seems to be measuring dKH accurately and I have no bubble issues in the reagent tube. Used a little Vaseline on all connectors and also used a heavier grade tubing with a tighter fit. Pump 2 already doses KH solution 7 times a day at 1ml per dose. This dosage holds dKH at just about 8.1 or slightly under. I'd like the KH Director to add in a little more as required to keep dKH steady at 8.2.

I assume since I only dose KH with a single doser that I only set Index 1 to use pump 2 (which is my KH dosing pump). Then leave index 2 through 5 alone at default. Is that right?

What settings for index 1 do you recommend?
Volume change: ?
Limit to raise KH: ?
Limit to lower KH: ?
Calculated Adjustment: ?

Thanks

 

[Dogtown]

Hello all,

I'm also looking for the syntax to receive email notifications on dKH levels. Does anyone have an example they wouldn't mind sharing? @WWIII ?

 

[WWIII]

Hello all,

I'm also looking for the syntax to receive email notifications on dKH levels. Does anyone have an example they wouldn't mind sharing? @WWIII ?

@Dogtown see post #269 and down here for email settings...
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/switching-controllers.316106/page-14

 

[Dogtown]

@Dogtown see post #269 and down here for email settings...
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/switching-controllers.316106/page-14

I will check it out. Thanks!

 

[WWIII]

On the kh director settings for controlling alk doser, I have them set to adaptive mode and all maxed out 50%, 100%, 100%. I dose 24x per day 6ml per dose. If you're dosing more less spread out, you may want to use lower percentages. It's worked great for me for the last month or so. I started with lower percentages, but as I got comfortable with it I raised the limits as high as they will go.

I also have the kh director set to adjust the dosage on my calcium pump as well. I have it set identical to the alkalinity settings. I dose balanced "diy" 2 part, the kh director has kept my alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium all very consistent!

 

[WWIII]

Here's my settings. Dosing pump 1 is calcium, dosing pump 2 is alkalinity. I dose 24x per day, 6ml each time. With my balanced 2 part, the kh director keeps the "big 3" steady.

 

[Dawsokj1988]

Here's my settings. Dosing pump 1 is calcium, dosing pump 2 is alkalinity. I dose 24x per day, 6ml each time. With my balanced 2 part, the kh director keeps the "big 3" steady.

I saw a picture of someone who had the "volume change" % at 100%, even though it maxes out at 50% in GCC. I found out if I change it in MyGHL, I can set it to 100%.