• UTMAS's DIY Auto Top-Off for Neptune's APEX AquaController

    In this video Marc interviews Terrence from Utah Marine Aquarium Society about the DIY ATO for the APEX AquaController and three float switches.
    Comments 8 Comments
    1. melev's Avatar
      melev -
      Thanks Jessy, that came out great.
    1. dread240's Avatar
      dread240 -
      heh, that's exactly what I'm doing right now lol
    1. melev's Avatar
      melev -
      Do you have the schematics for the serial cable part, dread?
    1. dread240's Avatar
      dread240 -
      yup yup. I'm just waiting for my float switches to arrive to show actual pictures of building it and all
    1. cfsindorf's Avatar
      cfsindorf -
      Please do, I want to do same thing if I can.

      Craig
    1. Terence's Avatar
      Terence -
      First off, the video came out great!The pin-out for the Apex cable is in the Apex manual. Unfortunately, the wire colors in these Apple cables are not consistent so it is best to just pin them out with a multi-meter or test light.

      You also do not need an Apex of course to make a simple ATO using these same switches, in fact that is just what I did after MAX now that this tank is in my son's room. Here is a link to an article on how to do this http://www.utmas.com/general/to-top-it-all-off/

      Finally, small correction...it's UTMAS (not UMAS) Thanks again and Reef On!
    1. melev's Avatar
      melev -
      Terence, thanks for the additional information. I want to set up my new Aqua Controller Jr. to top off my quarantine tank so I'll check out that thread. I corrected the typos.
    1. Terence's Avatar
      Terence -
      To do that, you would simply run them all in series (a loop) to the switch input. Then, set the fail-safe switches (top and bottom) to NC (normally closed) and the "call-for-water" middle switch to NO (normally open). Some of the float switches do this by simply removing a clip and reversing the float on the slider. The right angle switches are simply turned 180 degrees to go from NO to NC. You NEVER want to have a "call-for-water" based on an open switch. The reason for this is that when these switches fail, they usually fail in the open position...also, you could inadvertently pull a wire and disconnect the switch thereby activating the ATO.