My Auto TopOff System

[dedfish]

I'm about to haul this into work tomorrow and install it for testing. It consists of a 5 gal bucket of topoff water with a maxijet 600. This is activated by the float switch. If the primary siwtch fails and the water raises too much, the secondary switch will cut off pump. It has a pretty red light to indicate it has power and a green light to show when the pump is on. I am using a relay and a transformer to step down the volatage running through the switch/tank. It has a window in the back so I can monitor the backup switch. Probably cost too much but it was fun to make.

 

[Piscevore]

If nothing else, it is totally cool looking Great Job man~

 

[this is me]

Thats pretty cool
If you dont mind me asking, how much does all that cost?

 

[Scuba_Dave]

I hope your work is understanding, if one of my employees hauled something like that thru the door, they would be hauling it right back out. Corporate doesn't like cluged electric, not with computers around. Plus there's the liability thing......

 

[dedfish]

So far no problems. Another guy has had a tank in his office for the last 3 years. My boss likes it, the big boss was just in town and commented about how nice it looked. The facilities guys have offered to put casters on the table my tank sits on. So far everybody likes it. Also don't have to worry about computer people breathing down my back, I'm with the computer people.

As far as price I haven't added it up. Lots of things most people would have arround the house I had to buy. I also incorporated more bells and whistles like lights and switches. It could be done fairly cheap if need be. If I get a chance I will add it up.

 

[wrassefan]

dedfish,
how'd you make out with the top off??

 

[dedfish]

Still not installed. It's at work. I had to reattach the powerhead bracket to my switch box. I need to do a little more work on that and hope to have it in place sometime today. The test fitting went well and I don't anticipate any problems...famous last words.

 

[dedfish]

Well you motivated me to fill the bucket up and cut out a notch in the lid for the hose and power cord. I then cut down the bracket so it could be adjusted to the proper height and installed everything. Works like a champ. I will have to watch it closely for the next few days. I will probably keep it turned off at night for the next few days as well just to be safe.

 

[wrassefan]

Did you have any problems with the relay (finding the right part and attaching the wires and stuff??) ?? Any pic of inside the box how you actually wired the relay with the 120v power et al??

 

[dedfish]

Here is a diagram of the wiring. I used a radio shack relay (part number 278-218 I beleive I can verify if need be).

 

[dedfish]

Could someone move this to the DIY forum please. Thanks!

Oh, and is it possible to change the title at all? This old thread title looks a lot like Marc's new one.