Thread: Relay help. ATO
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Old 09-20-2010, 07:13 AM
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mike31154 mike31154 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Snaz View Post
I'm intrigued. How big is the float switch? I have to mount it in a rear chamber that is 3.5" x 3.5",
Hmm, that's a bit of a problem since the valve assembly (not switch) takes up a good 9 inches mounted on the rim of my 77 gal display. Since it's designed for a whole house furnace humidifier it needs to be fairly long to have the leverage to shut off a water line under house pressure. In our application with the air pump there's not even close to that amount of water pressure on the valve. Another alternative could be to look for a shorter valve assembly such as those used to shut off a RO/DI system. Might also be able to shorten the type I have since it has three open chambers at the underside that trap air to push it against the stop Not sure if it will work on only one chamber and if that's sufficient to keep the valve closed. Here's a photo, they're available for about 10 bucks at most home reno stores.

Float valve, I made the mount assembly out of scrap acrylic and used nylon bolts to secure it to the tank



My pressurized 7 gal glass wine carboy, good for a week's worth of ATO



By the way, if you decide to go with a mechanical valve and are able to locate your top off container above your sump (assuming you have a sump) you can dispense with the air pump too and set up a gravity fed ATO.... no electrics at all... That's my plan when I get around to setting up a basement sump.
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Last edited by mike31154; 09-20-2010 at 07:18 AM.
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