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View Full Version : Tunze osmolator vs Elos osmocontroller.


dynamite
06-21-2010, 05:53 AM
Which one is the best? :mrgreen:

dynamite
06-21-2010, 06:22 PM
BUMPPPPPPPPP:twised:

trilinearmipmap
06-22-2010, 01:01 AM
I can't say which is better because I have no experience with the Elos osmocontroller. I have had osmolators for 5 or 6 years now. One died and it was my fault, I got water on the electrical box. The second one died for an unknown reason. My third one has been going strong for 2 or 3 years now.

I have mixed feelings about the Osmolator. You need to clean the dried salt of the sensor head every so often or the unit will fail, probably when you are away on vacation. Also they are a little expensive to be replacing every few years. Most people who have osmolators would probably disagree with me because most people seem pretty happy with them.

My other tank has a float switch system from autotopoff.com and it works just as well as my Tunze osmolator and is a lot cheaper. I recommend the autotopoff.com unit if you want an inexpensive and easy to set up foolproof system. If I have to do it again I will just DIY two float switches on a a controller instead of having lights, temp, topoff etc. all controlled separately.

guyacrossdstreet
01-06-2011, 06:16 PM
I purchased the Autotopoff.com automatic top up system with double float in early 2010, here is my review. I installed it as indicated and it was working fine. 2 weeks later, the valve malfunctioned and opened. This caused my tank to overflow for some time and caused water damage to the floor, surrounding walls and my 220 gallon tank stand. If you have ever had to move a 220 gallon tank, you know exactly how frustrated I am right now.

To make matters worst, after months of emails back and forth and empty promises, the owner refuses to refund me my money on this terrible unit. All he wants to do is send me instruction after instruction on how to repair it. It was a 2 week old unit, I shouldn't have to repair it ... wouldn't you agree?

This unit looks like it was made in a basement and cost 15$ to make. I really isn't worth 200$+ and really isn't worth the risk of flooding your basement and costing you over 3K$ in damages (like me). Learn from my mistake.

I thought I should share my situation so that everyone knows how horrible the product is and to also let you know that the service is even worst.

Thanks for reading,
Guyacrossdstreet

Delphinus
01-06-2011, 07:50 PM
I recently chose Tunze for this on the basis that my sumps have traditionally been places that feather dusters and brittle stars reproduce like crazy and they get into and onto everything down there, and I could see that gumming up a float switch based sensor. The Tunze uses an ultrasonic sensor with no moving parts so I am hoping it will be less prone to troubles from the little critters.

That said I can see that it still needs to be kept clean, I can see that a slight film forming on it would probably gum it up just as bad.