Crisis averted : Check your float switches!

[spoonman]

Woke up this morning and heard a bubbling noise from underneath my 75 gallon tank w/40 gallon sump. The bubbling noise was the ATO pumping air into the sump (because it had been pumped completely dry). The float switch in the sump was stuck in the down position, telling the ATO that the sump was low. Luckily I only had about 3 gallons left in the ATO tank. I reached in the sump and moved the float switch and all is well again. I am just glad the ATO tank (18 gallons) was not full, or I would have woken up to a flooded living room. I am going to check these switches with every water change to make sure that they move freely. Just thought this would be helpful for others to know. BTW, that ATO has been set up for about 8 months.

 

[Phranque]

That's why it's a good idea to have a timer on the ATO pump in addition to the float switch. If you've got a general idea of how much you're consuming per day, you can set the timer to go on & off numerous times throughout the day to allow the float to activate the pump, but it won't let it overpump if it sticks like that......

 

[spoonman]

Good advice! Thanks Phranque!