Tunze ATO problem AND solution

[Palmer]

Hey everyone-

Had an interesting problem happen with my Tunze ATO recently. For what appeared to be no reason whatsoever my high water alarm started going off (without any change to the level of my sump.) After having it happen a couple of times I realized it was right after my metal halides were coming on. So I thought it may be due to the sudden power draw of 2x250W MH's on the same switch. So I moved the tunze power plug to other outlets on a different switch. Each time like clockwork high water volume alarm goes off when MH's come on... So! I thought about what I did to the tank recently and it was change my bulbs in my Sunlight supply MH/T5 fixture. To do that I had to take it down. I noticed since putting it back up my MH electrical cords were really close to the Tunze ATO wiring and box. Moved them away from this as before and since then all is well as before. So I guess those cords emit enough of an electrical field or something to mess up the Tunze ATO. I was actually suprised I figured this out so thought I would share in case someone else ever has a problem.

Palmer

[intarsiabox]

Nice catch! Thanks for sharing.

[ALang]

Nice to know. Every bit helps! Thanks Palmer!

[MKLKT]

FYI this is actually pretty common for float switches in general, they're really sensitive to EMF from other pumps/wires nearby too. It's also why you don't tack on a powerhead into the switch's cable without a relay as the energy draw can cause the float switch to fuse and thus fail.

[lastlight]

Nice detective work! I'll remember this one.