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I wish they'd make one that would cut off on the main water feed so that all flow through the RO unit would cease.
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Auto Top Off Question (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter chadhender
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Niko5 said:
I want to say most of the ones I have seen are rated for at least 40-50 PSI, but honestly I don’t remember. Don't they have float valves that can handle higher pressure? Or if you know it’s going to just drip all the time set it lower in the sump so that way the water will put more pressure on it.
Couldn't you just put some sort of ball valve on the feed line and throttle it down, and wouldn't that drop the pressure? Or would the pressure still be there after the float valve closed? (It kind of seems like it would still be there, but am not too sure)
I still think having the float valve and solenoid would still be a good combo because if the solenoid fails then the water wont be able to just pour out the float valve will keep it at a relatively slow drip and as the water gets higher in the sump it will put more pressure on the valve causing the drip to slow even more or stop. The solenoid would be a good backup to the valve just incase something fails with it or you do get a slow drip.
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Chris - you are right, the solenoid is a good backup. I just wouldn't suggest using one as the primary flow control, especially if you connect it to an RO unit, unless you use some sort of backup with it.
I will probably end up getting a solenoid to use as a backup to my system. Mine uses a powerhead connected to a Lifereef float switch. I have a siphon break in the line, just at the top of my trash can, otherwise the topoff would continue to drip after the powerhead shut off due to the siphon (learned that one the hard way - fortunately I caught it before a flood). Eventually I want to get another float switch connected to a solenoid, so if the siphon-break hole ever clogs, when the sump water reaches a certain level it will shut off the solenoid.
Of course, another option would be to just get a Tunze osmolator. I'm pretty sure it incorporates all of those backups I mentioned, and their float switches have no moving parts so they are less likely to get stuck or fail.
I will probably end up getting a solenoid to use as a backup to my system. Mine uses a powerhead connected to a Lifereef float switch. I have a siphon break in the line, just at the top of my trash can, otherwise the topoff would continue to drip after the powerhead shut off due to the siphon (learned that one the hard way - fortunately I caught it before a flood). Eventually I want to get another float switch connected to a solenoid, so if the siphon-break hole ever clogs, when the sump water reaches a certain level it will shut off the solenoid.
Of course, another option would be to just get a Tunze osmolator. I'm pretty sure it incorporates all of those backups I mentioned, and their float switches have no moving parts so they are less likely to get stuck or fail.
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Yea I know what you mean mike. I am going to do my top off only one of two ways. Either the osmolator as you said or a float valve on a 'small' reservoir. I am thinking I will have to go with the osmolator as I am not sure I have any place to put my reservoir above my tank or sump so it could be gravity fed. I really like the osmolator since it uses the infrared eye opposed to the float switch for the primary control. I also like that fact that it does have a back up float switch. Also, it has an alarm built into it and if the pump runs longer than 10 min it automatically shuts off. After I do the head pressure calculations on I wonder how much water would come out in 10 min...Hopefully it wouldn't be enough to drain my reservoir and cause a flood. However, that 10 min timer is on there to protect the pump from running dry.
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[/quote]Couldn't you just put some sort of ball valve on the feed line and throttle it down, and wouldn't that drop the pressure? Or would the pressure still be there after the float valve closed? (It kind of seems like it would still be there, but am not too sure) [/quote]
Just for your information, it doesn't matter what size pipe, tubing or whatever you might be running liquid through under pressure, it will always have the same pressure even if you install a valve and partially close it off.
In other words, if you have 60 psi in a 4" ID line and you were to reduce that down to 1/4" ID you would still have 60 psi. The only thing that will change is the volume of your flow.
Just for your information, it doesn't matter what size pipe, tubing or whatever you might be running liquid through under pressure, it will always have the same pressure even if you install a valve and partially close it off.
In other words, if you have 60 psi in a 4" ID line and you were to reduce that down to 1/4" ID you would still have 60 psi. The only thing that will change is the volume of your flow.
