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[TANGOMAN]

I was just browsing through the old postings here,( I'm off work trying to heal a herniated disc), and saw VDHD opened a topic regarding floats etc. and thought I'd share with ya' the poor mans set up I made. I agree with the K.I.S.S. mentality !
I purchased a humidifier float valve @ Home Depot, $14.00. Secured that to a piece of egg-crate,cut to fit in the sump.In my other other tanks sump the dividers I made from plex-glass so I was able to drill. I Drill the "orifice" larger in the float as they are designed for a pressurized system and my reservoir is gravity fed. Ya' wanna' hear what I did for a reservoir? No? Well I'm gonna' tell ya' anyway...I've got all day...
I used 3" PVC. Bought several T's and stack 4 together.Two sets and those sets were joined with 3" tube. It actually looks like a ladder I guess.
One side is capped,that helps keep the carpet dry, and the other side was "bushinged" down to 1/4" pipe thread.("Plumbateria" is where I found 1/2 x1/4 pvc reducers). Installed a shut-off valve,and connected 1/4 flexible water line. Installed the reservoir behind the tank and it cannot be seen. Since we got into our house I run lines up through the floor from the "water treatment plant" in the basement so I'm not hauling pails around as much. I also installed a float valve in the reservoir because I sometimes get distracted and then I'm running around lookin' for the shop-vac. I suppose the reservoir is optional if you got the RO unit and can sleep at night with a pressurized supply sitting in your sump. I found this much cheaper than store bought set ups and it's a lot easier on the back...

[Delphinus]

Yeah those humidifer float valves work quite well. Both Jon & I use them on our setups. I never modified mine though, even with the tiny hole it works fine. I just use a 5gal. bucket for my freshwater reservoir.

I've used eggcrate for mounting, an acrylic divider for mounting, and, I've also made a tower using 3" PVC, and a toilet flange for a base. Only problem with this tower is it needs to be held down otherwise it kind of floats around a bit.

BTW, NEVER put an infinite water supply on a sump topup though, that is playing with fire and gasoline.

Another trick you can use instead of the 1/4" bushing, is, at the hydroponics stores you can get what is basically a tiny 1/4" bulkhead with barbed fitting that you can slip an airline tube over. So you just drill a 3/8" hole in the bucket, and use this mini-bulkhead and away you go.

But, if you ever do want to mount a valve into glass, I can help you out there as I have some glass drill bits. Works like a charm.

Fun stuff!

[Canadian Man]

Cool!
I like the idea about the pvc ladder thingy :mrgreen:

My set up is kida similar in some ways. I know you dont want to hear it as well but I'm going to tell you too :wink:

I have a basement sump so looks are not important, nor is space.
I mounted a piece of 2 x 12 on the sump and braced it with 2x4's to the sump stand.
This alows me to have 2 IO buckets to have to have top off water in and my other bucket which the water from upsatirs flows into before the sump to reduce some bubbles.

Anyway i have the $10.00 black float valve from Revy and it is just attached to my acrylic baffel in my sump and it works well. Other then having to pour water in the buckets every 4 days or so it is good.
I just use milk jugs to store my ro/di water in so lifting is easy.

I found with the float valve i didnt have to make the orafice bigger if i was just putting water in the buckets, even with gravity feed.
If i was adding kalk to my buckets though then the hole plugs easily.

[Canadian Man]

Tony, You beat me to the first reply :P