siphon break fail

[Kens Bees]

Finally happened tonight. The ato siphon break clogged on one tank. Overflowed the sump, water in the finished basement, unfinished basement, under the washing machine, you get it. Salinity dropped to 1.016. I’d guess 30 gallons or so of fresh ro water

i got the bleeding stopped, extra water out and salinity up to 1.025. I’ll check in the morning and continue raising it back up over a day or two.

I can “fix” the siphon break but would like to hear options from others. The reservoir and DT are on the same floor. When full the reservoir hold 60+ gallons. Maybe a never fail siphon break? Peristaltic pumps? Witchcraft? Any recommendations welcome.

 

[this is me]

What does ATO siphon break clog mean?
ATO dump RO into the sump?

 

[Kens Bees]

What does ATO siphon break clog mean?
ATO dump RO into the sump?

The air hole in the siphon break clogged with something, not sure what. When the ato pump stopped the siphon continued, filling the sump with RO water and eventually overflowing it. The end result was water everywhere, but more concerning was the drop in salinity 1.025 to 1.016 in the space of a couple hours.

 

[ifarmer]

if your ATO container is higher (or even the same surface level) as your sump. Sometimes the pump stopped, but due to gravity, it still can make RODI water to keep dripping (slowly) into the sump.

 

[thrillreefer]

A little hard to know what will fix without more detail on the ATO system. Why is a siphon needed at all? Can you keep the ATO outflow above the level in the reservoir, or move the outflow so that this is true? E.g. to your display overflow or somewhere like that? Mine can’t physically overflow because no siphon possible, seems safest.

 

[this is me]

Put the RODI reservoir below the sump or get a peristaltic pump that does the filling of evaporated water.
Specter pure liter meter is is a great system and uses a peristaltic pump.

 

[Kens Bees]

A little hard to know what will fix without more detail on the ATO system. Why is a siphon needed at all? Can you keep the ATO outflow above the level in the reservoir, or move the outflow so that this is true? E.g. to your display overflow or somewhere like that? Mine can’t physically overflow because no siphon possible, seems safest.

The tank and reservoir are on the same level of the basement. The more I think about it I may have been dodging this bullet for a while. The water level of the reservoir is always higher than the outflow into the sump. If the hole in the siphon break got restricted or spun to where it couldn't suck air a siphon could have begun after the pump shutdown.

I never thought of running it up to the overflow instead of the sump, that sounds like the easiest fix.

 

[Xhxxh]

Hope your corals doing ok