Kalk with auto-top offs.

[Scudd]

Those of you that have auto- top offs and dose kalk through it.. question for you. Do you have it set to top-off throughout the day or only at night?
I'm worried about Ph changes during the day. My tank hovers around 8.5 in the afternoon. Thanks.

[Scudd]

ttt

[mityoak]

I use a seprate reactor that is fed by my ATO so I can control the amount of kalk mixture going in.I have the ATO split off with a second lead right to the sump.Befor the reactor I was having similar PH swings.

[jdieck]

If by the end of the day your PH reaches 8.5 I would recommend top off at night. Also insure your dripping does not exceed teh amount of Alkalinity consummed. If it does then you may need to set the reactor on a doser and let the top off feed only RO/DI.

[Ixthys]

24/7. But, my pH stays at 8.2.

[sjm817]

24/7 here. It depends on how much ATO per day, strength of Kalk, where your PH normally runs high or low, etc.

[BRG]

24/7 ph runs 8.2-8.3

bg

[bureau13]

24/7, but my pH is generally running low these days. I used to only run the Kalk Stirrer at night to combat pH swings, but since its generally not as high as I want, I went back to stirring 24/7 as well.

jds

[coraladdict]

I have mine on 24/7 but the stirrer kicks in for a minute every two hours at dusk until 10am and then twice during the day.I get 8.1-8.2 .

[whalloper]

24/7 but controlled to turn off if pH goes higher than 8.35

[drstupid]

Originally posted by whalloper
24/7 but controlled to turn off if pH goes higher than 8.35

same here; controller shuts it off at 8.4, allows it on again at 8.35

i don't use a reactor, weekly mix up fresh kalk with a PH for about an hour, let it sit overnight, then swap that bucket in for top off. for the first day, the controller can shut off the top off enough to make me need to double check on things and manually top off with RO. for the rest of the week, i just dump RO into the kalk bucket as needed.

[jimbo045]

I top off during the day.

[Scudd]

Originally posted by whalloper
24/7 but controlled to turn off if pH goes higher than 8.35

What device are you using to control the PH top-off?

[einsteins]

Mine is set up so that if the tank pH is 8.4 or lower then the RO/DI water is sent through the Kalk reactor. If the tank pH is greater than 8.4 then the RO/DI water is sent directly to the sump. This works really well to keep pH stable. It is all controlled by my AC3.

Here is a pic of the switching panel. The first selenoid is opened and closed by the sump level when top off is needed. Water is then fed to the appropriate line according to the tank pH Blue line goes to Kalk reactor...white line goes directly to the sump.


Good luck....

ein

[mille239]

I have mine set to topoff 24/7 through the reactor. I do have the recirculating pump of the kalk reactor on a timer so that it only stirs the solution after the lights go out for a couple minutes every 4 hours. During the daylight photo period, it just flows through the reactor. I evaporate about 3.1 gallons a day, and my pH peaks at about 8.45 late afternoon. Hope this helps.

(Nice setup einsteins!)

[Scudd]

Originally posted by mille239
I have mine set to topoff 24/7 through the reactor. I do have the recirculating pump of the kalk reactor on a timer so that it only stirs the solution after the lights go out for a couple minutes every 4 hours. During the daylight photo period, it just flows through the reactor. I evaporate about 3.1 gallons a day, and my pH peaks at about 8.45 late afternoon. Hope this helps.

(Nice setup einsteins!)

So would you say you get less Kalk through the day and more at night because of it stirring the solution ? Have you testes the PH during the day with the recirculating pump on to get some sort of contrast? Thanks Eric

[mille239]

Well I guess I have never tested the effluent directly and compared the results from immediately after stirring as opposed to when the Kalk is settled by the end of the day, so there might not be too much of a difference. I do know that when it tops off from the freshly stirred reactor, the effluent is more milky as opposed to during the daylight hours it is clear, which is why I assume more kalk is added at night... I will do the test and find out for ya.

[Scudd]

cool

[reefez]

Not to hijack your thread. I am wondering how often you all replenish the lime in your reactors? I have the PM Kalk reactor with my topoff running through it 24/7. I have Ph swings from 7.8-8.3 mid afternoon. I have never seen it go over 8.3. I have only had hooked to my system foe about 2 weeks. I filled it with Kalk powder about 2 in. worth on the bottom. I have not seen much of a decline in the amount at the bottom when it settles out. It stirs every 3 hrs. for 15 min. When should I add more powder? And how often should I clean the reactor out? And is there a way to purge the reactor so when you take the cap off the water is not all of the way up at the top? Thanks..

[jdieck]

Originally posted by reefez
Not to hijack your thread. I am wondering how often you all replenish the lime in your reactors? I have the PM Kalk reactor with my topoff running through it 24/7. I have Ph swings from 7.8-8.3 mid afternoon. I have never seen it go over 8.3. I have only had hooked to my system foe about 2 weeks. I filled it with Kalk powder about 2 in. worth on the bottom. I have not seen much of a decline in the amount at the bottom when it settles out. It stirs every 3 hrs. for 15 min. When should I add more powder? And how often should I clean the reactor out? And is there a way to purge the reactor so when you take the cap off the water is not all of the way up at the top? Thanks..

There are diferent means to know when to replenish. Some people use a PH meter, when the PH drops to something like 11.9 or so you need to replenish or rinse and replace. Other people use a conductivity meter although I have found that if the Kalk is not well settled it is difficult to get a reliable reading.
Fianlly you can do it visually. If your water has little or no CO2 the Kalk will end up dissolving completely and you just need to add but I aslo found out that over time the CO2 in the water makes the Kalk turn into Calcium Carbonate. You will notice the difference as the mud is no longer completely white but rather a semitransparent brown shade, at this point I rinse and replace.
I usually add two cups of powder every month or so.

[reefez]

That's helpful info. So is there a way to purge a few cups of the water out to unscrew the cap and add more Kalk?

[jdieck]

Originally posted by reefez
That's helpful info. So is there a way to purge a few cups of the water out to unscrew the cap and add more Kalk?

Some reactors have a drain valve so you can open itwhile also opening the effluent valve and some od the solution will drain.
If yours do not have one you need to disconnest the fresh water feed line and the effluent lines to be able to withraw water trough the feed line. If you are using 1/4" tubing may be you can install a T with a John Gest valve on the feed line and use it to drain some of the water.

[ScubaTC]

Originally posted by einsteins
Mine is set up so that if the tank pH is 8.4 or lower then the RO/DI water is sent through the Kalk reactor. If the tank pH is greater than 8.4 then the RO/DI water is sent directly to the sump. This works really well to keep pH stable. It is all controlled by my AC3.

Here is a pic of the switching panel. The first selenoid is opened and closed by the sump level when top off is needed. Water is then fed to the appropriate line according to the tank pH Blue line goes to Kalk reactor...white line goes directly to the sump.

Good luck....

ein

Einsteins - do you have a link to the selenoids you are using? - Thanks!

[cristhiam]

24/7 ph morning 7.9 end of the day 8.4. 2 tsp per gallon

[einsteins]

Hi

I got the selenoids from mcMaster Carr...I will see if I can find the model number....its been a while since I looked at them.

ein