Considering ATO

[mike31154]

I prefer the simpler approach. There comes a point where redundancy, particularly with regard to electronics becomes overly complex & self defeating. What if there's a power failure?

If I could do a gravity feed thru mechanical float valve I would. Alas, I don't have a sump & no way to elevate a top up container above my display, which is what I need to top up. So for the time being I'm using a bit of both, mechanical & electric. A 7 gallon glass wine carboy pressurized by a small air pump on a timer feeding water thru a mechanical float valve. Takes a bit to figure out the timings in order to keep the glass container pressurized enough to match evap rate, but once done it's all good.

Only failure I've had with this set up is the timer (electrical component) messing up & top up not keeping up with evap. Happened last week while I was away but since my daughter was checking in on the system almost daily, she was able to get 'er fixed up again. I often add alk, mag & calcium to the carboy in reasonable doses & the mechanical valve (designed for whole house furnace humidifier) has never failed in over 4 years now. Salt creep has never been an issue either.