pump suts off and on rapidily with float switch

[yamaha_1fan]

I have a bin that is catching water from my E&F table and pumping it back to the rez. Problem is the pump is turning on and off very quickly as the float switch goes up and down. Then the pump starting and stopping makes it worse.

I have seen the E&F controller buckets and supposedly they use two switches to control this. I actually plan on building a controller and have the DPDT relays, timer, switches etc here but not really sure how it all works.


Anyway to solve this? I have thought about it, but cant see how two switches would solve the issue.

 

[Bozo]

have you concidered a 12 volt bilge pump and a float switch
http://cgi.ebay.com/RULE-3700-AUTOM...3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66:2|65:3|39:1|240:1318
61 gallons a min .You would need a 12 transformer

 

[jocat]

float switch ideas

float switch ideas

i don't get it exactly but from what i think you said i'm gonna say it's supposed to switch on and off as the water level activates it, how bout a bigger res or move the float switch higher in the res, you've probably thought of this, i know sometimes i can't see simple solutions, or the car keys, when there right in front of me. i mounted some float switches on 1/2 cpvc pipe that runs vertically in the res, i can move my switch up and down this pipe to control water levels. gro on, jc

 

[yamaha_1fan]

either way as the water reaches a certain level, the pump is going to go on and off rapidily.

I think I found the solution though. Well I kind of knew it, but needed more details. Its called hysteresis. Its like an electrical buffer. Real simple example is a thermostat set to 70. It turns on at 68, then shuts off at 72.

Hysteresis is the method used in E&F controller buckets to deal with all the sloshing around. they use two float switches mounted at different heights combined with a DPDT relay.

 

[tokinsmokin]

I know what your talking about, I made an E&F controller a while ago. Did you use the tutorial on IC to make your controller? Can you provide pics of it? I'm pretty sure your having the same problem I had at the time.

 

[Hydro-Soil]

Would it have something to do with surface turbulence?

Might be able to get rid of the effect completely if you can isolate the float in a half round of pvc or something. It will allow an accurate res level but it won't get sloshed around much by surface waves and splashes.

 

[Sloppy Seconds]

My problem with this very thing was due to my pump being too big, it would pump so fast when the water reached the "off" level it would turn the pump on and off very rapidly due to sloshing I guess.
I switched to a smaller pump and problem solved. I think my pump was a 365 gph, way too big.

 

[Dank Sinatra]

Would it have something to do with surface turbulence?

Might be able to get rid of the effect completely if you can isolate the float in a half round of pvc or something. It will allow an accurate res level but it won't get sloshed around much by surface waves and splashes.

this is a very interesting idea for how to eliminate the problem. I am imagining a 1 1/12" pvc cut a little longer than the float with a half an end cap and with holes in the bottom..

Then you could have a single float system for all those ebb and flow controllers out there.... This would be awesome cause lots of people have wiring problems with those relays and don't understand what they are setting up.

I think i will give this a try on my second set-up thanks for the brainstorming help, first i am going to try the DPDT relay with two floats and a timer. but i want to see if this half round of pvc would keep it simpler

 

[headfortrinity]

Here's the instructions for the one I built. I bought their kit but I ended up just using it as a RDWC return pump with a 5 gallon bucket .

http://www.aquahub.com/store/media/EbbandFlowControlInstruxCompressed.pdf