Tunze ATO failed - brand new

[BubblesandSqueak]

So I just finally set up the ATO. It's brand new Tunze 3155. It is in my return pump chamber in the sump. The eye sensor is at the top of the holder with the float. After setting it up, I pushed the whole thing down to check that it functions with the shut off and lifted it up to get it to fill. Had the alarm sound etc...so everything worked.I had it turn on and pulled the whole unit down into the water till it shut off to know I had the right level etc...a while later I heard it turn on fill and shut off. so it seemed it was fine. went through the second day functioning (or I so the level was stable) this morning I checked on it and it was down, no alarms and eye was above water level. I pulled it out of the sump and it didn't turn on or alarm. cleaned the eye and put back and it started filling and placing it in the same spot, it filled a gallons worth. It has been functioning the rest of today fine but worried it may be defective. any ideas if it's a bad unit or something set up wrong? I'll re-edit in a minute for a picture of where I have it.

edit: sorry it's the 5017

 

[Lavey29]

Is there any ripple of water in that return chamber which can throw the sensor off? Mine has been perfect for 3 years now. I do unplug regularly for water changes so the control board resets.

 

[BubblesandSqueak]

Is there any ripple of water in that return chamber which can throw the sensor off? Mine has been perfect for 3 years now. I do unplug regularly for water changes so the control board resets.

no, not really a ripple. this happened over night as well so no power outage. you think I should unplug/plug back in? I didn't mind doing it manually but need something when I'm gone for a few days and this didn't make me comfortable that I can trust it.

 

[BubblesandSqueak]

the whole system is too new as well to have algae or salt crepe etc...

 

[Idech]

no, not really a ripple. this happened over night as well so no power outage. you think I should unplug/plug back in? I didn't mind doing it manually but need something when I'm gone for a few days and this didn't make me comfortable that I can trust it.

You could test it in a small bucket and play with it for a while, until you feel comfortable. If not, then contact Tunze.

You can even ask Roger (rvitko) here in the Tunze forum. He’s really helpful.

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

You mentioned no alarms. Do you mean specifically audible? What was the led status? There are different settings for alarms and pump runtime I believe. I don’t remember if the default setting audibly alarms for a maximum pump run time situation. There’s a safety feature that disables the pump if it has run too long without triggering the liquid sensor. This is to prevent flooding in case the sensors fails to detect liquid and there’s an overfill. However, just cleaning the sensor and having it start back up again, without cycling power, just leads me to believe the sensor was dirty or something. You didn’t notice a film or debris on the sensor when you cleaned it? Do you have a bright light anywhere near the sensor? Are there a lot of micro bubbles near the sensor?

 

[Lavey29]

no, not really a ripple. this happened over night as well so no power outage. you think I should unplug/plug back in? I didn't mind doing it manually but need something when I'm gone for a few days and this didn't make me comfortable that I can trust it.

You can asked tunze customer support to, they are pretty good. Try unplugging for 10 seconds then plug back in. It should activate and spray water for 10 seconds after the restart. Do you have a middle normal green light on the panel?

 

[Midrats]

Out of the box I have found that the optical sensor needs a cleaning to remove oils from the manufacturing process. I had this happen 25 years ago with one I was setting up for a customer. Ever since I always give them a clean at commissioning and it never happened again.

 

[BubblesandSqueak]

You mentioned no alarms. Do you mean specifically audible? What was the led status? There are different settings for alarms and pump runtime I believe. I don’t remember if the default setting audibly alarms for a maximum pump run time situation. There’s a safety feature that disables the pump if it has run too long without triggering the liquid sensor. This is to prevent flooding in case the sensors fails to detect liquid and there’s an overfill. However, just cleaning the sensor and having it start back up again, without cycling power, just leads me to believe the sensor was dirty or something. You didn’t notice a film or debris on the sensor when you cleaned it? Do you have a bright light anywhere near the sensor? Are there a lot of micro bubbles near the sensor?

yes, audible (or anything blinking). I had heard them when I set it up to test. I did not open the unit to adjust them. I cleaned the sensor cause it was the only thing I could think might be an issue. The return pump is section doesn't have much going on. Don't see micro bubbles and wasn't running the skimmer either. Don't need to run the skimmer really. there's not much going on to pull out. As far as light, I only have a cabinet light installed around the upper area.

 

[1ocean]

thats why I do not use ato pumps with sensors. I use a ecotech single dosing pump and tell it how much to dose based on evaporation for the month. If it is a little shy of replacing water I do it manually rather than risk a flood.

 

[BubblesandSqueak]

You can asked tunze customer support to, they are pretty good. Try unplugging for 10 seconds then plug back in. It should activate and spray water for 10 seconds after the restart. Do you have a middle normal green light on the panel?

I did turn the unit off and let it restart. It had the audible alarms and yellow/orange lights and turned on like you said for a short duration. Then back to the middle green "level" light. I'll keep monitoring it to see what happens. Trying to keep it at the 8 mark on the sump to make it easily identifiable if it changes. If there's another issue I'll contact Tunze and see what they say. I bought the 5017 instead of the new one since it was reliable and there wasn't enough people using the new one yet to sway my choice.

 

[BubblesandSqueak]

Out of the box I have found that the optical sensor needs a cleaning to remove oils from the manufacturing process. I had this happen 25 years ago with one I was setting up for a customer. Ever since I always give them a clean at commissioning and it never happened again.

never thought about the oils but that's a possibility. glad I have a cam on the tank now though ;-)

 

[BubblesandSqueak]

thats why I do not use ato pumps with sensors. I use a ecotech single dosing pump and tell it how much to dose based on evaporation for the month. If it is a little shy of replacing water I do it manually rather than risk a flood.

how do you compensate with humidity changes for this? December I have the worst low humidity. Now in mid Jan I can turn the humidifiers off. But this year with the heavy rain we've been getting instead of snow it has daily swings. But I need something automated so I can go away and not have to ask a neighbor to do it.

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

yes, audible (or anything blinking). I had heard them when I set it up to test. I did not open the unit to adjust them. I cleaned the sensor cause it was the only thing I could think might be an issue. The return pump is section doesn't have much going on. Don't see micro bubbles and wasn't running the skimmer either. Don't need to run the skimmer really. there's not much going on to pull out. As far as light, I only have a cabinet light installed around the upper area.

Pretty much rules out everything but a dirty or faulty sensor. Only faulty sensors I ever dealt with had been in service for quite some time and had liquid internally. Doesn’t mean it’s not possible to have one bad out of the box, but I would bet against it myself. Some people have issues with bright fuge lights rendering the sensor inoperative. A fix for that is to shade the sensor from the light.

 

[BubblesandSqueak]

Pretty much rules out everything but a dirty or faulty sensor. Only faulty sensors I ever dealt with had been in service for quite some time and had liquid internally. Doesn’t mean it’s not possible to have one bad out of the box, but I would bet against it myself. Some people have issues with bright fuge lights rendering the sensor inoperative. A fix for that is to shade the sensor from the light.

it has a cover over the return chamber but it's clear. I could black it out but don't have a fuge light, just cabinet lights. I'll keep monitoring it.

Do you think I should separate the sensors? Like place the optical eye on the other side of the chamber from the float?

 

[tzabor10]

I had the EXACT SAME PROBLEM. Try turning the black “eye” sensor clockwise in the slot. Otherwise it won’t work. You might need to get the tip wet a bit too. Tunze support really helps. Mine has worked without any issues for two months

 

[bblumberg]

I'd post in the Tunze forum and also send a message to Roger Vitko who is the Tunze USA representative.

 

[1ocean]

how do you compensate with humidity changes for this? December I have the worst low humidity. Now in mid Jan I can turn the humidifiers off. But this year with the heavy rain we've been getting instead of snow it has daily swings. But I need something automated so I can go away and not have to ask a neighbor to do itI understand.

I understand, Arizona air is a challenge also. I really like Tunze products infact I have a Tunze 9410 skimmer on my 300 for my ozone and as my secondary skimmer. Tunze products are very well build and reliable. There is always a hickup once in awhile with anything made. I am sure they will help you out. As far as how do I deal with the change in humidity, I monitor it for a few days and take a average and then tell the dosing pump to dose that average. Plus if it is a little low I add manually. I don't really trust ato pumps, but if I was I would only have enough water in the reservoir that even if it dumped it all it would not over flow my sump. Which is 140 sump, only operates at 8 inch water height and fills to 10 inch water height when entire system is off. Maybe you need a bigger sump or change your operating water height in the sump and reduce how much water flows down to your sump when it is off.

 

[BubblesandSqueak]

I understand, Arizona air is a challenge also. I really like Tunze products infact I have a Tunze 9410 skimmer on my 300 for my ozone and as my secondary skimmer. Tunze products are very well build and reliable. There is always a hickup once in awhile with anything made. I am sure they will help you out. As far as how do I deal with the change in humidity, I monitor it for a few days and take a average and then tell the dosing pump to dose that average. Plus if it is a little low I add manually. I don't really trust ato pumps, but if I was I would only have enough water in the reservoir that even if it dumped it all it would not over flow my sump. Which is 140 sump, only operates at 8 inch water height and fills to 10 inch water height when entire system is off. Maybe you need a bigger sump or change your operating water height in the sump and reduce how much water flows down to your sump when it is off.

I have a 39 gal sump. it's only half full. My reservoir is 10 gal so shouldn't over flow. Only issue would be what the salinity ended up at. need to calculate that out at a worst case scenario. Need to look up my documentation and see how much water is actually in the sump. I think after ti placed the rock in the tank and did calculations I had 80 gallons of water in the DT but don't rede,ber the sump. But I'll have to do my math later. well I guess it would only lower it by 10%?

 

[Lowell Lemon]

Looks like it is to close to your return pump. The magnetic field might be creating a problem for the float switch.