Reef Angel Forum

Hey guys,

What's the main advantages of the water level expansion vs the standard ATO switches ?

Is it just more accurate/safe?

Poiromaniax wrote:Hey guys,

What's the main advantages of the water level expansion vs the standard ATO switches ?

Is it just more accurate/safe?

Water Level expansion can give you an exact amount/percentage of the level of the container.

The ATO switches just tell you a general statement of "yes this switch is active".

So if you want to monitor the level of a reservoir and know exactly how much is remaining, you would want the water level expansion. If you just care to know if a reservoir is full, half empty, or empty (or whatever), the ATO switch would work just fine.
If you are monitoring to see if your sump level is full, then the ATO switch would work to let you know if the sump level is below full because you don't need to know "how" full it is, just that it is full.

Yes, the water level expansion would be more accurate. It just depends on what you want to monitor and how precise it needs to be.

Cool, thanks for the info.

so to use it for an ATO would you:
a) use float switches in your sump for high/low and water level expansion in the reservoir to tell you how much water is left
or
b) put water level expansion in sump and say "when level = x% turn on pump until x%"?

I dont really need to monitor how much water i have in the reservoir - but if it is a more reliable/failsafe method for an ATO, then i would like to use it. Or do you think i am being silly and should just stick to the float switches?

really depends on how it would be setup

Poiromaniax wrote:Cool, thanks for the info.

so to use it for an ATO would you:
a) use float switches in your sump for high/low and water level expansion in the reservoir to tell you how much water is left
or
b) put water level expansion in sump and say "when level = x% turn on pump until x%"?

I dont really need to monitor how much water i have in the reservoir - but if it is a more reliable/failsafe method for an ATO, then i would like to use it. Or do you think i am being silly and should just stick to the float switches?

really depends on how it would be setup

Either option would work.

The "typical" ATO setup is to have a low and high switch mounted in your sump. When the water drops low and activates the low switch, it kicks on the ATO pump to fill up the sump until it activates the high switch, then it shuts off the pump. You could use the water level to monitor the level of your reservoir but you don't have to. If you check your reservoir daily then you won't need to worry about it. However, if you are overly paranoid and want to monitor things completely from your smartphone or the portal and not have to keep checking things, then I would suggest getting the water level.
If you have not read the "guide" on how to mount the ATO switches, I would suggest reading it to give you more information. http://forum.reefangel.com/viewtopic.ph ... 240&p=1857
I also know that people have various setups on here and use the functions and switches differently.

Personally, my ATO is gravity fed into my sump. My setup is at my office. I see the water level in my reservoir 4 days a week. I am getting a water level expansion so I know how much water is my reservoir so I know if I need to bring RO water into my office to fill up my reservoir (because I make my water at home).

binder wrote:

Poiromaniax wrote:Cool, thanks for the info.

so to use it for an ATO would you:
a) use float switches in your sump for high/low and water level expansion in the reservoir to tell you how much water is left
or
b) put water level expansion in sump and say "when level = x% turn on pump until x%"?

I dont really need to monitor how much water i have in the reservoir - but if it is a more reliable/failsafe method for an ATO, then i would like to use it. Or do you think i am being silly and should just stick to the float switches?

really depends on how it would be setup

Either option would work.

The "typical" ATO setup is to have a low and high switch mounted in your sump. When the water drops low and activates the low switch, it kicks on the ATO pump to fill up the sump until it activates the high switch, then it shuts off the pump. You could use the water level to monitor the level of your reservoir but you don't have to. If you check your reservoir daily then you won't need to worry about it. However, if you are overly paranoid and want to monitor things completely from your smartphone or the portal and not have to keep checking things, then I would suggest getting the water level.
If you have not read the "guide" on how to mount the ATO switches, I would suggest reading it to give you more information. http://forum.reefangel.com/viewtopic.ph ... 240&p=1857
I also know that people have various setups on here and use the functions and switches differently.

Personally, my ATO is gravity fed into my sump. My setup is at my office. I see the water level in my reservoir 4 days a week. I am getting a water level expansion so I know how much water is my reservoir so I know if I need to bring RO water into my office to fill up my reservoir (because I make my water at home).

Thanks Curt.

My reservoir is at home so I will see it pretty much every day.

I'll see how I go for now with the standard float switches and if I feel I need to monitor, then I will buy the water level expansion.

I think I'm gonna have to buy a relay expansion so I can control everything, ReefAngel is addictive

Poiromaniax wrote: I think I'm gonna have to buy a relay expansion so I can control everything, ReefAngel is addictive

+1000