Disclaimer!!!
THIS COULD KILL YOU!
Please do not attempt to copy this project at home.
I’m confident in my own abilities, I have not followed any safety guidelines for this and if anyone does copy this, they do so at their own risk.
I accept no responsibility! How I have done it IS NOT SAFE and definatly not fool proof. I’m happy to take the risks. Please don’t reply telling me how it could go wrong, I know – and I have accepted this
It’s a DIY project in my own home, not a commercial product.
Please keep in mind that this system currently uses 240V and water – in close proximity to each other!
Anyway – hopefully others will see this idea and interpret it in their own way..
I apologise for the ramblings now – I do tend to waffle a bit :yes:
I’m a busy person – and don’t have a lot of free time any more (too many hobbies and kid(s) see to that). Add to that that I’m also relatively lazy and I’ve got problems.
So how can I make the process of water changes simpler?…
Well I already use a hose pipe rather than buckets etc (and have done for years) but that’s still not easy enough… I then took to fixing the hose at the height of the desired stop point so that the siphon stopped itself… still too much work.
So being the DIY tinkering type of guy I am – I had to make something to do the whole process for me…
This is a simple version that is very easy to see how it works… it uses relays, float switches and solenoid valves.
The relays and float switches are wired up in a fashion to allow the “drain relay†to stay latched until the lower float switch is triggered – this then causes the circuit to latch over to the fill relay… until the upper float is reached when the relays latch back to the original state. The relays supply the solenoid valves to drain and fill the tank.
As different tanks have different water levels etc, I have this made the control box with a “hook†to let me hang it over the side of any tank, I then adjust the float switches on suckers on a length of Perspex fitted to the hook inside the tank.
The control box contains,
Power supply for the low voltage relays and the float switches (20V)
3x 240V relays (24V coil and 240V 5Amp switching)
2x connectors for the float switches (audio phono connectors)
2x push buttons - one for priming the siphon - one for starting the water change.
240V supply input (IEC connector)
240V “control†output (inverted IEC connector to stop the mains getting plugged into the wrong hole)
The 240V input supplies the power supply for the low voltage and also supplies the high voltage to the relays, the relays are in turn wired to a length of 3 core wire with a common neutral and 2 switched lives. This runs to the “valve box†that I have installed under the kitchen sink.
The 2 valves are connected in such a way that it has a switched drain and a switched fill action common to one length of hose. The valves have then been plumbed into our existing rats nest of pipes under the sink (I have T-ed into the supply and the waste for the dishwasher/washing machine using a Y splitter on the supply and a Y in the waste).
This allows the valve box to remain under the sink with just the hose and control lead to be plugged in. (If this was setup on a centralised system in a fish house or even if there is a supply and waste close to the tank, I would plumb it in permanently
)
You just need a length of hose and a length of cable long enough to reach the tank(s) that you wish to use it on.
As my solution uses a siphon to drain the tank, there is a button to “prime†the hose – it opens the fill valve and forces the air out of the pipe. Then when the “go†button is pressed the siphon starts without any messing about.
With this version, The only thing I have to do is turn of the filters when I plug the changer in and add de-chlorinator when it swaps from drain to fill.
All in all it would cost about £50 to get all the bits new – Me being me , I’ve done it on the cheap using old bits and scrounged parts and its cost me about £20
I’m installing another valve box under the sink in our en-suit, this will allow me to use it on the tanks upstairs as well.
This was the first version... however, using the "normal" valves shown took ages to drain as the water pressure from the syphon was not enough to open the valve enough to drain quickly.
I now have a standard valve and a "zero force" valve that dosnt rely on a head of water to open it. I'm using one normal water solenoid for the re-fill from the mains and one of the zero rated valves for the syphon drain.
Unfortunatly the zero rated valves are bigger so the neat box under the sink has gone :hmm:
I have now set up the 2nd version of the changer - the permanent version, on our Zeb tank....
I've got a hole in our bedroom wall into the vanity unit under the sink in the en-suit, through which a pipe runs and the control wire for the solenoids. (don't panic - Its behind the tank and at the same height as the sockets in the room so when I move in a few weeks I'll just make the hole square and put a socket blank in it and no-one will ever know)
As it is not being moved to other tanks its all hard wired into the unit (no phono connectors etc) - The tank its on has one supply to a built in junction box from which everything is powered - including the new changer.
I've also made a few changes to the design...
- It has an on/off switch so that I can turn it off so that it doesn’t auto top off if I don’t want it to.
- smaller relays (12V coil) so the control unit is a lot smaller
- smaller 10V power supply (again so the control is a lot smaller)
- I’ve also added a new function.
So here we go with a few more pictures...
The new unit - all wired up and ready to fit.
Valves on the left - Mains water feed in the middle and drain point on the right. (the zero force valve is upside down in this picture the coil should be at the top - I've recently started to have problems with the valve not shutting due to this)
In tank shot - The upper and lower float switches and the water in/out pipe (the short one, to avoid any possible over emptying issues)
and what it looks like fitted - on/off on the left - red button is the prime - Green is the go button.
As this is currently setup, it also acts like an auto top off, when the upper float drops it opens the fill valve - very use full in sump applications or open top tanks if you are installing it permanently - not much use if its a mobile version
Other ideas that people might like to incorporate…
This can easily be changed to use pumps rather than solenoids, letting you pump the water out (eg up hill if needed) and in turn, pump your choice of water back in (eg RO, Treated tap water or premixed saltwater if your into marine)
My next version will be on a centralised system in my new homes fish room...
I'll be adding to the the buttons by including a 24h 7day timer so that I can automate water changes completely. :woohoo:
THIS COULD KILL YOU!
Please do not attempt to copy this project at home.
I’m confident in my own abilities, I have not followed any safety guidelines for this and if anyone does copy this, they do so at their own risk.
I accept no responsibility! How I have done it IS NOT SAFE and definatly not fool proof. I’m happy to take the risks. Please don’t reply telling me how it could go wrong, I know – and I have accepted this
It’s a DIY project in my own home, not a commercial product.
Please keep in mind that this system currently uses 240V and water – in close proximity to each other!
Anyway – hopefully others will see this idea and interpret it in their own way..
I apologise for the ramblings now – I do tend to waffle a bit :yes:
I’m a busy person – and don’t have a lot of free time any more (too many hobbies and kid(s) see to that). Add to that that I’m also relatively lazy and I’ve got problems.
So how can I make the process of water changes simpler?…
Well I already use a hose pipe rather than buckets etc (and have done for years) but that’s still not easy enough… I then took to fixing the hose at the height of the desired stop point so that the siphon stopped itself… still too much work.
So being the DIY tinkering type of guy I am – I had to make something to do the whole process for me…
This is a simple version that is very easy to see how it works… it uses relays, float switches and solenoid valves.
The relays and float switches are wired up in a fashion to allow the “drain relay†to stay latched until the lower float switch is triggered – this then causes the circuit to latch over to the fill relay… until the upper float is reached when the relays latch back to the original state. The relays supply the solenoid valves to drain and fill the tank.
As different tanks have different water levels etc, I have this made the control box with a “hook†to let me hang it over the side of any tank, I then adjust the float switches on suckers on a length of Perspex fitted to the hook inside the tank.
The control box contains,
Power supply for the low voltage relays and the float switches (20V)
3x 240V relays (24V coil and 240V 5Amp switching)
2x connectors for the float switches (audio phono connectors)
2x push buttons - one for priming the siphon - one for starting the water change.
240V supply input (IEC connector)
240V “control†output (inverted IEC connector to stop the mains getting plugged into the wrong hole)
The 240V input supplies the power supply for the low voltage and also supplies the high voltage to the relays, the relays are in turn wired to a length of 3 core wire with a common neutral and 2 switched lives. This runs to the “valve box†that I have installed under the kitchen sink.
The 2 valves are connected in such a way that it has a switched drain and a switched fill action common to one length of hose. The valves have then been plumbed into our existing rats nest of pipes under the sink (I have T-ed into the supply and the waste for the dishwasher/washing machine using a Y splitter on the supply and a Y in the waste).
This allows the valve box to remain under the sink with just the hose and control lead to be plugged in. (If this was setup on a centralised system in a fish house or even if there is a supply and waste close to the tank, I would plumb it in permanently
)
You just need a length of hose and a length of cable long enough to reach the tank(s) that you wish to use it on.
As my solution uses a siphon to drain the tank, there is a button to “prime†the hose – it opens the fill valve and forces the air out of the pipe. Then when the “go†button is pressed the siphon starts without any messing about.
With this version, The only thing I have to do is turn of the filters when I plug the changer in and add de-chlorinator when it swaps from drain to fill.
All in all it would cost about £50 to get all the bits new – Me being me , I’ve done it on the cheap using old bits and scrounged parts
and its cost me about £20I’m installing another valve box under the sink in our en-suit, this will allow me to use it on the tanks upstairs as well.
This was the first version... however, using the "normal" valves shown took ages to drain as the water pressure from the syphon was not enough to open the valve enough to drain quickly.
I now have a standard valve and a "zero force" valve that dosnt rely on a head of water to open it. I'm using one normal water solenoid for the re-fill from the mains and one of the zero rated valves for the syphon drain.
Unfortunatly the zero rated valves are bigger so the neat box under the sink has gone :hmm:
I have now set up the 2nd version of the changer - the permanent version, on our Zeb tank....
I've got a hole in our bedroom wall into the vanity unit under the sink in the en-suit, through which a pipe runs and the control wire for the solenoids. (don't panic - Its behind the tank and at the same height as the sockets in the room so when I move in a few weeks I'll just make the hole square and put a socket blank in it and no-one will ever know)
As it is not being moved to other tanks its all hard wired into the unit (no phono connectors etc) - The tank its on has one supply to a built in junction box from which everything is powered - including the new changer.
I've also made a few changes to the design...
- It has an on/off switch so that I can turn it off so that it doesn’t auto top off if I don’t want it to.
- smaller relays (12V coil) so the control unit is a lot smaller
- smaller 10V power supply (again so the control is a lot smaller)
- I’ve also added a new function.
By using an extra 240V relay, The unit now uses the same output that turns the fill solenoid on, to turn the main filter off while the tank is filling. This means that as I'm using it to do daily small water changes I don't need to worry about dechlorinating the tank.
So here we go with a few more pictures...
The new unit - all wired up and ready to fit.
Valves on the left - Mains water feed in the middle and drain point on the right. (the zero force valve is upside down in this picture the coil should be at the top - I've recently started to have problems with the valve not shutting due to this)
In tank shot - The upper and lower float switches and the water in/out pipe (the short one, to avoid any possible over emptying issues)
and what it looks like fitted
- on/off on the left - red button is the prime - Green is the go button.
As this is currently setup, it also acts like an auto top off, when the upper float drops it opens the fill valve - very use full in sump applications or open top tanks if you are installing it permanently - not much use if its a mobile version
Other ideas that people might like to incorporate…
This can easily be changed to use pumps rather than solenoids, letting you pump the water out (eg up hill if needed) and in turn, pump your choice of water back in (eg RO, Treated tap water or premixed saltwater if your into marine)
My next version will be on a centralised system in my new homes fish room...
I'll be adding to the the buttons by including a 24h 7day timer so that I can automate water changes completely. :woohoo:
