air driven auto top-off. construction and tweaking log

[kwirky]

Any Calgarian reefers out there winemakers too :D? I'm trying to source out a cheap place to buy a 5 gallon glass jug to replace the plastic jug I'm using in my air driven auto top-off.

[Railskinner]

just curious at to the set up u have for a air driven top up. would be gr8 to see some pictures as well fo your set up. I'm in the mids of getting a top up system going. getting tired of the daily water /jug 1 gallon . top up

[BMW Rider]

There are usually some listed in the Bargain Finder. If not they are only about $20 new.

[kwirky]

just curious at to the set up u have for a air driven top up. would be gr8 to see some pictures as well fo your set up. I'm in the mids of getting a top up system going. getting tired of the daily water /jug 1 gallon . top up

It'd be hard to get pictures, since it's under the tank now, and quite crammed to get a good picture, but it's very simple to explain.

You have a large jug, glass would be better, but plastic would do. I used one of these:

http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/507/waterbottle.jpg
they're available at ukranian tire for $10. a glass bottle would be better, and I'll explain why in a bit.

I cut the air plug off, and crammed the same tubing used in RO/DI setups. I then cut a hole JUST snug enough to cram another tube in. One tube goes to the bottom, and that's where the water comes out. The other tube just goes in a bit, and that's where the air goes in.
The existing hole on the jug is the right size for the tubing. the hole I drilled I had to ensure was air tight. I was too lazy to go a step further and seal the holes with any kind of silicone or anything. It worked as is.

I unscrewed the cap where the faucet is, and unscrewed the faucet, then wrapped the faucet's threading in teflon tape to further make the jug air tight. The jug must be as air tight as possible for it to work.

Fill with water, recap. I filled it with kalkwasser mix, since there's no pump the kalkwasser is running through to clog. Even better than a peristalic pump :)

Then you attach an air pump to the air inlet (the pipe that only goes in a bit), and the pipe that reaches the bottom goes to the sump. ****You MUST have a check valve on the pump, especially if it's a plastic jug, since when the pump stops, the pressure WILL cause the water to go up the airline and into the pump if you don't have a checkvalve**** The water output going to the sump must not end up at a level below the water line inside the jug, or else you'll have a siphon happen, and the jug will just be emptied when the air pump stops.

Plug in your air pump to see the wate rise up the output tube, then slowly trickle out of the tubing. Cut the power to the air pump, and you'll see it stop in about 30 seconds. I run it with a little air pump rated for a 5 gallon aquarium. It pumps 1.8 gallons in 10 minutes. You can test your own setup to see how fast it pumps the water.

You can run it on a timer, and tweak your timings according to when you want it topped off, and how much. Or use a float switch, or both for added backup.

about the glass bottle:
the plastic bottle expands and contracts according to the air pressure, causing a delay in the start/stop of the system. A glass bottle wouldn't do this, giving immediate response to the starting/stopping of the system, making a float switch even more attractive.

[pandafishowner]

my hub is a new winemaker. went to a place in the NE near Sunridge. The Home Vinter or something like that. bought a brand new 6gallon carboy for $19.

[kwirky]

my hub is a new winemaker. went to a place in the NE near Sunridge. The Home Vinter or something like that. bought a brand new 6gallon carboy for $19.

cool thanks! I'll check them out tomorrow on the way home from school. It's kinda on the way home, I'm sure the GF won't mind a little detour :)

[kwirky]

ok, so I bought a 6 gallon glass just from the home vintor. The guy was real nice there, and I signed up for a winemaking class to boot.

The rubber stoppers they had were with only a single hole, so I crammed the two pieces of tubing in that single hole, and gobbed it with lots of silicone to make it air tight. I'm waiting for the silicone to cure, then I'll swap out the plastic jug with the glass jug.

Anyone know how long I should wait for the silicone to cure? It's basically a gob a half inch around. I was thinking 24 hours just to be safe, but would 12 hours be enough? It won't be holding water, it just needs to withstand a very small ammount of air pressure.

Either way, I'll post pictures when the thing's done. I've begun sourcing top-off switches, as a backup to the digital timer.

I'm excited to see how it runs on the glass jug. I think it'll start and stop almost immediately, compared to the 1 minute of start/stop times with the plastic jug.

Can anyone think of ways I should test it for accuracy when I'm done? I was thinking of testing it's output at various fill-levels of the jug. Fill it full, and see how long to pump half a liter. test it half full, then three quarter full. I've been wondering if diaphram wear in the air pump would affect the output much, as well. we'll see :)

[Der_Iron_Chef]

Hey, how did the glass jug work? I'm thinking of trying this.

[kwirky]

it's hooked up, and it worked wonderfully! the response is immediate compared to the blue jug. Getting the water from my RO/DI basin (big rubbermaid container) into the glass jug is a bit of a pain, but i'm buying a funnel today.

it's nice being able to see exactly how much water is left in the jug on a whim.

it pumps at about 3 gallons per hour with the little air pump (aquaclear's smallest one)

that's with two airline couplers, one on the air input, and one on the water input.

the entire system worked down to:
$15 - air pump
$22 - glass jug
$01 - rubber stopper
$00 - aquarium silicone i already have
$04 - airline check valve
$00 - airline couplers i already had (usually 20 cents each)
$20 - digital timer

total:
$52, and some change