- Your Auto Top Off has been working pretty good so far
minus those few times
where you might've forgot to refill your ATO reservoir?
It's happened to all of us,
but what do you do if one of the sensors gets dirty, fails,
or doesn't activate?
What if salt creeper gums up a float or sensor
and it doesn't stop filling your tank?
What if a solenoid from your RODI unit fails
and starts dumping endless supplies of water into your tank?
Or do you have a way to stop your ATO
if it overdoses kalkwasser
or even know that it's happening?
These potential ATO issues are just the catalyst
to much larger sometimes catastrophic failures
that could crash your tank or damage your home.
But today we're going to get in front of them
using the Neptune Apex to catch them early
and alert you before they happen.
In most cases,
completely take ATO failure off the table.
All of that,
and a sweet little tip
to you'll never forget to refill your ATO reservoir.
Gen are coming up.
(upbeat music)
Hey guys, Randy here with BRStv Guide
to Mastering your Neptune Apex Controller
where we show you
how to use your Apex to improve your equipment's performance
and avoid a ton of inevitable issues that all reefers face.
You probably didn't know this,
but our BRS 160 Auto Top Off setup
has failed multiple times in the past three to four years.
We've had solenoid burnout, sensors malfunctions,
leaks happen, water supplies turn off
and a handful of similar issues.
But what hasn't happened is a complete catastrophe
because we've caught them and acted in time.
Regardless of the Auto Top Off Solution
that you're using,
today you'll learn how to use your Apex to stop ATO failures
like these, including those who use kalkwasser
and make your ATO smarter, safer,
and more reliable.
I'll show you how to safeguard your tank
from an ATO that has ran dry
or won't turn on to avoid exposing
and damaging life support equipment
like return pumps and heaters,
avoid major swings in solidity in water chemistry,
and also protect your ATO pump from damage.
I'll also show you how to plan for
and prevent damage to your tank
and home from an Auto Top Off or RODI Auto Top Off
that won't turn off.
And at the end,
I have found a way so you can set up your ATO reservoir
to automatically keep itself full on autopilot.
So you never forget it again.
Normally we start with an Apex task function,
but unless you were setting up the Neptune Auto Top Off kit,
which we'll cover later,
there isn't a generic ATO task to get us started
but adding your ATO to your Apex still very simple.
So we've all turned off our return pump
to start a water change
and forgot to turn the ATO off
only to hear that alarm screaming that it's underwater.
And I'm almost certain
that most of us have also forgot to turn our ATOs back on
until hours or even days later
but with a couple of steps to add your ATO to your Apex
there is a simple fix.
After you've installed your Auto Top Off
and plugged it into your Apex,
click the gear icon for the outlet that you chose,
rename it something easy like ATO.
Choose advanced from the control type dropdown menu
and add a quick couple of lines like these.
First, make sure your fallback is off and your set is on.
Then write a new line that says,
if outlet return pumps off than off
followed by a second line that says,
defer five minutes than on.
If you didn't name your return pump like me,
just change the name for your outlet.
But now, anytime your return pump is off,
whether it's for feeding or maintenance,
your ATO will automatically turn off as well.
And that defer line that you added at the end,
we'll actually keep your ATO from turning back on too early
by waiting five minutes
so the sump can return back to normal levels.
Next, let's talk about those times
where we all forgot to refill the ATO reservoir
or a sensor stops working,
or the ATO pump wore out.
In either case,
when your ATO isn't topping off your water,
your sump level begins to fall
which potentially exposes sensitive gear
like return pumps and heaters.
But at the same time,
your tanks salinity
and water chemistry becomes more concentrated.
In just a minute I'll show you
how to avoid this issue altogether
with some Apex accessories
and a high and low level optical sensor.
But for now,
we can use that solidity change in Apex Salinity Probe
and salinity probe alarms to alert you
when major swings like your ATO stops pushing water.
To add a salinity probe alerts
just click on the task icon in your dashboard,
search for the probe alarm test function,
choose your salinity probe,
choose a min and max salinity range for your alerts
and hit send.
The Apex will default to 32
and 37 parts per thousand,
but I recommend giving your salinity probe a few days
to gather some data specific to your tank solidity
then come back and adjust these ranges more accurately.
Not only will salinity monitoring give you an idea
that your ATO is not pumping water,
but the low level salinity alert will also tell you
if it feels on and won't say stop supplying water,
meaning that your tank is getting diluted.
This can be crucial for those who use RODI tied directly
to the sump,
like our BRS 160,
but even more crucial for those with kalkwasser
and it where an overdose could mean failure.
If you use kalkwasser in your ATO
you can also use pH probe alarms
to catch potential overdoses before they happen
and set them up just like we did using the probe alarm task.
Choose your pH probe and set your min and max pH ranges.
I would stick to that Apex default of 7.8 and 8.4,
which again is something you can always come back to
and reconfigure for your tank.
Although I will note
that it is best to keep your ATO output hose away
from your pH probe
so that you don't get multiple false alerts
every time your ATO turns on.
You can also use that pH to turn off your ATO outlet
should a kalk overdose happen,
or if your pH climbs too high
by adding a new line in the ATO outlet
above the defer line that says,
if pH greater than symbol 8.4 then off.
Now you'll get both an email texts and notification alert
for the high end, low salinity and high pH
as well as eliminating additional kalkwasser doses
by turning your ATO off.
But that's just the tip of the iceberg
for safeguarding your system from ATO failures.
Next we're going to dive into using accessories
like the leak detection sensors,
Neptune Solenoid, optical sensors
and the Neptune ATK to elevate the safety, reliability,
and redundancy of your ATO.
Let's first talk about three surefire ways to tell
if your ATO has failed on or failed off
or if the ATO pump is on the verge of running dry
by adding an FMM and a few optical sensors.
Setting a high and low sump level optical sensor
and a low ATO reservoir optical sensor
will alert you to all three of these potential issues,
but will also set the stage
for that autofill reservoir trick.
I'll show you later.
To implement these three water level sensors.
First, mount them in their respective parts of the sump
and ATO reservoir for the low level some sensor
that will alert you
when the ATO has stopped working or ran dry.
I like to mount it
just above the danger zone of my return pump and heaters.
While the high level sensor,
I would mount just slightly above the builtin sensors
on your Auto Top Off.
That third low-level ATO reservoir sensor,
gets mounted at the bottom of your reservoir.
And after plugging them into an FMM module
and the FMM into your Apex,
you can rename them and set up your alerts.
Rename your sensors by pulling down the new tiles
from your unused tile tray when you plugged in your FMM,
click on each one and rename them according to the port
that they're in and what they're used for,
like here I did with low-res and hi-res
for the ATO reservoir,
and low sump and high sump for the sump water level.
Now with just a couple of lines added to your email outlet,
you can set up alerts and notifications
the moment one of these are triggered
by clicking on the gear icon and adding lines that say,
if low-res open then on
which will tell you when your reservoir is empty.
If low sump opened than on,
telling you that your ATO has stopped working.
And if high sump closed then on,
meaning your ATO might be overfilling your tank.
The trick here for knowing which is open
and close is super simple.
If your sensor is covered in water,
it will be closed.
And if it's dry or open to the air,
it will be open.
We can use similar optical sensor lines
to automatically turn your ATO off
and protect your ATO pump from running dry
or your tank from overfilling
by choosing the gear icon above your ATO outlet
and adding a new line above the defer line that says,
if low-res opened an off or if high sump closed than off
and just like that,
you've got automatic ATO protection.
If you weren't around and something went wrong.
But what if your sunk just won't stop feeling?
Let's talk about protection against overflows
and leaks whether it's from an ATO overfilling your sump
or leaks from your RODI unit outside of yourself.
This is where the leak detection, LDK
or leak detection sensors come in to notify you
if water is where it's not supposed to be.
There's a simple task function
for hooking up your LDK to your Apex.
So after you place your sensors in those leak prone areas
you can find the LDK task function,
choose your FMM,
choose your two sensors in port one and two and hit send.
Not only will you now get notified
when the sensors trigger from water on the floor,
but if you're using a solenoid to control the flow
of fresh water to
from your RODI unit directly to your reservoirs sump,
you can utilize leak detection probes
tied to the Neptune Solenoid
to automatically shut the water off.
To make this happen,
after you've installed the Neptune Solenoid,
all you need to do is click the gear icon
for your one link solenoid,
add in a line that says,
if leak one closed then off.
Just like I showed you earlier.
I already renamed my leak sensor probe
which makes this a breeze to add
and now whether you're using an RODI unit
to top off your tank,
or one of my favorite configurations
of an RODI feeding an ATO reservoir
and the ATO reservoir feeding the tank.
If a leak is detected,
it will make sure that your water will stop.
So now that we've introduced that Neptune Solenoid
and showed you
how to protect against it overfilling your tank
or reservoir with optical sensors
let's dive into that trick
to have this thing automatically fill your reservoir
so you never forget and never lift a finger
to fill it manually again,
or basically a self refilling ATO reservoir.
Anytime there's an endless supply of water to your tank
or ATO reservoir from an RODI unit,
it's always best practice to take the extra steps
to reduce the chances
that it fails and water doesn't stop flowing.
We added leak sensors as one of the backups for this,
but if you've seen our top 20 ATO mistakes video
and handfuls of other Auto Top Off videos,
you'll know that we also suggest multiple other protections
and safety measures
like using a flow lock in a mechanical float valve.
So you've got your redundant backups in place,
high and low water level optical sensors
inside your ATO container
and a Neptune Solenoid on the RODI feed line,
plug all three into the FMM,
connect a 24 volt power supply,
which will power the solenoid
and connect your FMM to your Apex.
You can find your two sensors and solenoid one link outlet.
Bring them onto your dashboard,
rename your high and low sensors like I did earlier
with low-res and hi-res
and click the gear icon for your solenoid outlet.
You can also rename your solenoid outlet here
which I named ATO Solenoid.
And now we add in three simple lines.
First, just right fall back off
so that if the solenoid is not connected to the Apex,
it defaults off close.
Then add, if low-res open then on
which will open the solenoid
and start filling your reservoir
followed by if hi-res close then off
which shuts your water off when your reservoir is full
and restarts the cycle.
Now that you've got this little trick hooked up,
your days of forgetting your ATO reservoir are over
and with the additional alarms
and sensors we put in place,
you'll also be able to track
and check that your solenoid
or ATO solutions doing its job and functioning properly.
There's one more accessory
that ties all of these same alerts and protections together
into one of the most intelligent Auto Top Off systems
you could use with your Apex,
which is the Neptune ATK.
Much like other Auto Top Offs out there.
The ATK does have a high and low water level sensor
for maintaining that perfect water level and solidity,
but because it also includes additional protection built-in,
like a mechanical float valve, alerts and notifications,
Neptune PMUP with accessory power
and has IQ fill runtime learning
with it connected to your Apex.
It's one of those smartest
and most redundant ATOs you can use
and setting it up is the half the time
using the Neptune ATK task function.
After you've installed your ATK and PMUP,
just find the ATK task function
and walk through the steps to choose your FMM,
ensure that the sensors
and pumper plugged in the right places
and set up an option so that you can be notified
if the PMUP outlet experienced an error.
That's it the ATK is ready to go
and over a few days of topping off your tank,
that IQ fill feature
will automatically learn your specific tanks
average top off time,
and then custom tailor its maximum runtime
so that if for some reason your tank's taking longer
than normal to top off,
it will automatically shut itself off
and send you an alert that something might be up.
So all of those additional protections,
notification and safety not only makes our tank smarter
and more reliable,
but also improves the chances
that your tank will be more successful beyond
that first or second year.
However, if there's one catastrophic failure
you absolutely need to be prepared for,
because it drives the most reefers out of the hobby,
it's when something happens to your heater
and crashes your tank.
If you wanna learn how to make your heater safer
for your tank and for your home
you should watch this next episode right over here
or see how the ways that the Apex
can keep your tank running for the long haul
in the complete
Master your Neptune Apex Playlist right here.