That's the cat's MEOW!

[daninthesand]

I was in home depot a few days back because I had heard of people using toilet tank float valves in automated water change systems for their fish rooms. I looked around and found the usual ones with the big round float valves, or the cylindrical float that slides up and down a tube. Too cumbersome for my needs.

So I asked the kind home improvement expert in the plumbing section if he knew of any smaller devices. I explained my needs (for my fish room storage tank) and of course I got the usual weird look. "fish room? Not toilets?" He said i have just what you need. "This is the cats meow in toilet valves"

He showed me the device I pictured below. Nice and small. All parts are plastic and the metal is stainless steel. And the best part it is adjustable. The instructions say that you can raise or lower the water level by about two inches for every 1/4 turn. He was not sure if it would work if mounted sideways.

So i decided to try it out. After all only 16 bucks. Canadian. Plus a few bucks for an adapter to attach a hose to it. About 5 bucks. I do not have a digital camera so I can't show you the device installed, but I scanned the valve so you know what it looks like. The screw with the metal spring is the adjustment knob.

The device works by water pressure on a diaphragm inside the round part of the valve. The screw adjusts the spring tension on this diaphragm, which determines how deep the water will be before the valve closes. Its so simple its a stroke of genius in my eyes! And the diaphragm and valve seat can be replaced if need be.

Mounting was easy, shmeezy. Drill a 1" hole in the side of your barrel. I chose about 1 foot from the top of my 55 gallon drum so I could reach inside the barrel to adjust the screw. The stem attaches like a bulkhead fitting. Take off the retaining nut, leave the gasket on (included) and insert the valve through the hole you drilled. IE the valve and gasket are inside the barrel. Screw on the retaining nut, snug it up, attach a hose, and turn on the water. That's it! A few minutes of adjustment to get the water level right and you're set.

As a precaution I added an overflow at the top of the side of the barrel for the odd chance this valve stops working and does not shut off. The overflow goes to my house drain.

I filled the barrel 4 times without any problems. The last time I did my water change was early this morning, before work. When I left I just turned on the water supply to the barrel and went to work. Tonight I came home to a barrel full of water, exactly at the height I had set it to, (about 2 inches below the rim). Heated, aged for 12 hours, and ready for water change.

The device is called a "FillPro" ballcock and is also sold under the name "Peerless"

http://www.lehmanpipe.com/DGrp.ASP?a=260

http://www.cornerhardware.com/hardware/iteminfo.html?action=iteminfo&item=034449417020&ca t_id=539

So far so good and I don't have to stick around or worry about running to turn off the water....

Hope you can make use of one of these. It sure has come in handy for me.

Daniel

PS. the yellow dots in the picture is where the water comes out. And the device is only about 4 inches long. And oh yes, I should also add that if your holding tank has a wall thickness of less than maybe 3/16 of an inch, like for a rubbermaid container or whatever, you will need, to get an extra thick gasket, or use two, to get the retaining nut to screw down tight. My barrel wall is 3/16 " thick and the nut just barely screws down tight enough to seal. Any thinner and the threads will not reach low enough to make a tight seal.

[Denny]

i used one of these to replace the old valve in my shop toilet and you are right, they are much better than the old style float valve.

denny

[daninthesand]

I found these devices at Canadian Tire for only 12 bucks. Exact same valve. Just different packaging.

Dan,

Doesn't it piss you off that everytime you flush a toilet in your house the waste goes to your holding tank? Maybe I misunderstand what you're doing there... :P

Dave

[daninthesand]

Actually Dave, its the other way around. I use my waste water from my fish tanks to refill my toilet tanks. Ha ha ha.

[Jeff]

Daniel,

This is a great idea. Is it still working well? How does it know to stop filling?


Jeff

[daninthesand]

Jeff.

Yes it is a great idea. But not my original idea. I've heard of this before. But I never knew these exact types of toilet tank "ballcocks" as they are called, existed. I never seriously thought about using these before since the typical ballcock is so large and bulky with the metal arm and the float valve and all that. Look inside your toilet tank and you'll see what I mean.

But this thing is quite small. and the metal parts are stainless steel.

How does it work? VERY WELL! and like MAGIC!

Similar to a pressure regulator like I use and repair at work. Spring tension on a diaphragm. Welders will be familiar with this concept. Or anyone who uses high pressure regulators and flow meters.

I took the thing apart before i installed it to see how easy it would be to replace the parts. Dead easy. There's a rubber? (or some other material) diaphragm (replacable) that is attached to one end of a lever. The lever is mounted to the assembly in the middle by a fulcrum (balance point, like a see saw). At the other end of the lever is a small rubber valve (also replacable) and valve seat. How it works is that the water pressure in the barrel transmits a specific amount of pressure to the diphragm depending how deep it is. IE the deeper the water (ie the deeper the ballcock) the higher the pressure. (sort of like scuba diving, get it?). Well, the adjusting screw adjusts how this lever balances based on the pressure exerted on one side by the diapghragm (due to water depth/pressure) and the pressure from the water flowing in from the supply line. A screw turn adjusts this balance. It is a simple matter of turning the screw until you get the water to the level you want. I suppose you could mount this thing anywhere on your water barrel, or aquarium for that matter. As I said before I chose to mount mine about a foot deep. I figured thats how deep it would sit in a toilet tank. But I suppose you could mount it anywhere. As long as it is in the water.

(NOTE: I found out after this post that the deepest this will work is about 14 inches. That does not mean the maximum depth it will fill is 14 inches. It means that you must mount the valve no deeper than say 10 inches or so to ensure it will fill your barrel. So if your barrel is 30 inches deep, don't mount the valve near the bottom of the barrel or else you won't be able to fill it past 14 inches from the bottom. Mount it 10 inches from the TOP of the barrel so you can set the level to just barly fill the barrel and then shut off.)

So far this thing has worked flawlessly. The water level is always exactly about 1/2 inch below the overflow for the water barrel. Now that I have been able to find an easy local source for around 12 bucks I'm thinking of using these for filling my tanks as well. But that is another story altogether. (someday if it works I'll post the details)

Potentially there could be some problems. But I'm willing to take that risk. The valve, if it fails, would over fill the barrel. But an overflow is in place for safety. I might come home to a running valve, and big water bill, but that's possible for any of my toilets as well. (I'm gonna replace the ballcocks in my toilets with these. I can adjust the water level in the toilet tanks, and save some of the wasted water for my fishies ;))

The rubber (or whatever) parts might contaminate my water. I though about that. Take it or leave it. But so might the rubber washers on all my taps, hoses etc. That too is a chance I am willing to take. My opinion is that it is a small chance.

For the amount of time it saves me, I think it is worth it.

Since I am lazy and forgetfull, at least I have a good way of filling my barrel without any risk of water damage to the hardwood floors in my basement! Then there is the added bonus. Since I chose to run this very slowly by using a 1/4 inch line and controlling the flow to the valve with a small stopcock valve, the water trickles through the sediment and AC filters. I believe I get more crap and chllorine removal this way.(hopefully not too much of the good stuff though) The AC filter is designed to work with low flows.

Try it out, It works like a charm. When I'm done my 100 gallons of water changes (which takes about 12 minutes), the Fill pro ball cocks continues on its merry way, monitoring the level in my barrel and shuts off when the barrel is full. I think its about 3 to 4 hours. But I never really timed it since I'm sleeping when it shuts off!

This thing really is the cats meow. It makes me purr as I lay in bed ready to sleep, knowing I will wake up, go to work, and come home to new fresh clean water ready for the fishies. And it cheap. :thumbsup:Low tech :thumbsup: :thumbsup:, need no batteries :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:, and it works on basic physics, which is fool proof. :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:Even for a fool like me!

And Oh yes, did I mention I really really REALLY like this thing? In case you could not tell :D :D :D

Daniel

BTW Nice website, Jeff. Great Discus!

[ronrca]

Cooool! And its available in Canada! Bonus! Thanks Dan for sharing! I think I will go and up a couple just for the fun of it! I was wondering what to use as a float shutoff device and you just solved that. Where do I send the hugs and kisses? ;D :-*

[Jeff]

Thanks for the info and the compliment. I'm gonna give it a try. It sounds like the way to go.

[Al_M.]

Hey Dave
With all your inventions you need to start aplying for some patents ;)
Al M.

[daninthesand]

Sure thing...George. :D

[ronrca]

:'( :'( I went to Home Depot and could not find anything like the Fillpro! I wonder why? Maybe you could send me some Dan! ;D

[daninthesand]

try Canadian Tire cheaper there.

or try

http://www.amresupply.com/retail_part.php?PartNum=ULN228E

about 16 bucks Canadian

there's one in edmonton

http://www.amresupply.com/edmonton2.php

Search engines are wonderful things. I did a search for "fillpro edmonton" and found the above links in about thirty seconds of searching time.... :D ;) ;D

[Fish_Fin-atic]

Hey Dan, sounds like a really handy device - great idea, and thanks for sharing :) I'm definately going to try one of these things out on my barrel (as soon as I get a barrel, that is....I'm working on building a fish room right now) My concern is, as you mentioned, the valve may fail eventually.

I wonder if there is any way to maybe put on a safety valve which would kick in if the first valve failed? I guess you've installed the overflow as a precaution, but I'd like to go further than that if possible. I'm in a condo, and I dread the thought of ever flooding the people below me :o :o Anybody have any thoughts on this?

[daninthesand]

Go further than an overflow? How much farther can you go???? :D :D
I suppose if you do not have access to a drain close to your barrel that would be a problem.

A back up fill pro? hmmmm. that might be a challenge. No matter what you do, if one failed (ie never shut off) how could you stop the flow from the faulty one? The other valve could not possibly stop the flow from the busted one.

On a similar note though you could use two fillpro's to adjust yur R/O mixture. Just run R/O output to one valve and your "normal" water to the other in the same barrel. Not an original idea since I've seen this here before, I think in the "for sale" section. Using anothe type of float valve.

Adjuting the screw on each fill pro however would give you a proprtion that would work for you. Trouble is both valves would start at the same time. But you could adjust when they stopped to get you ratio. And this would be variable because of the adusting screws. Simple on and off float valves dictate the ratio by their installed height. Once the hole is drilled for the valve, that's it. No adjustement.

[Fish_Fin-atic]

Yeah, I guess you're right Dan, an overflow is about as far as you can go :P *LOL* The thing is, I had intended to put the barrel in my laundry room which is right next to the fish room. The overflow would have to share the drain with the washing machine, and I'd have to rig some sort of hose from the overflow in the barrel to the drain (which is about three feet above the floor)... which means there's always a possibility that some part of the hose may become more elevated than the top of the barrel, and if this ever happened for whatever reason, AND (heaven forbid) the valve malfunctioned at the same time :o ... SURF'S UP!!! ;D

I just thought that maybe there's some double valve or something like that - just to be EXTRA safe....I'm going to look into this a bit further and see what I can come up with. I'll let you know if I find anything. 8)

[daninthesand]

I can understand your concern. I used to run my siphon hose across my basement to the drain that shared the clothes washer drain. (used to be a laundry sink drain) well I made the mistake of getting sidetracked (who me?) and even though I had stopped siphoning, I left the end of the siphon tube in the tank. Well a few hours later when the laundry was done, the draining of the washer forced soapy water all the way down the siphon hose to the tank!. The fish were very clean that day! Luckily no casualties. The fish eventually forgave me.

Any way, a double safety valve would be cool if you can find it or figure a way to do it.

Let us know what you find....


Daniel

[ronrca]

Thanks Dan for the link and searching! Apprectiate it! I'll give them a visit!

[Lance_Krueger]

Daniel,
Due to your recommendation, I bought a few of the Fillpro/Peerless toilet valves to shut off the water for filling my storage barrels for changing water. Now that I've got them, I don't know how to hook up my 1/4" R/O line up to the toilet valve. Did you get the hookup stuff for the supply line from Home Depot? If so, what do I get? Thanks for sharing this great find! ;D
Thanks,
Lance Krueger

[Francisco_Borrero]

Sounds very good. Sometimes it takes me a long time from hearing a good idea to when I feel I understand it enough "to take the risk". I believe I understand how you set it up, but a picture would be very reassuring.
Sounds excellent. Thanks for sharing.
Cheers, Francisco.

[daninthesand]

Lance and Franscisco.

Glad you might find use for this gadget. So far mine has worked flawlessly.

Unfortunately I don't have a digital camera but I've included a picture that hopefully will help describe the valve's use. As you can see the fill pro is mounted INSIDE the storage vessel. It is installed exactly the same way as a bulkhead fitting. The rubber gasket (included in the valve kit) is placed onto the valve's stem prior to installation. A 1" hole is drilled through the wall of the barrel and the valve's stem is pushed through the hole, so that the rubber gasket rests against the inside of the barrel. On the outside of the barrel, the locking nut (also included) is threaded onto the stem and tightend so that everything is nice and snug. I only hand tightened mine (quite tight). No leaks so far.

In my case the wall of the barrel was too thin to allow for the locking nut to be snugged down against the side of the barrel. The stem is only threaded part way. It is designed to use on a toilet tank which is at least 1/2" thick. The 1/8" thickness of the polypropylene barrel is too thin. That is easily solved by cutting a short piece of 1" pvc pipe (when I say short I mean really short, like 1/4" long)and using it as a SPACER ( see diagram) on the stem, on the outside of the tank before you put on the locking nut. This way you can tighten it up no matter how thin the wall is.

The height of the valve on the wall is not critical. This is the best part about the valve. As long as it is under water, it will stop the flow of water when the water level reaches the height you set with the adjusting screw. When the barrel is empty, the valve will be hanging up high out of the water and will allow water to fill the barrel. As the water level rises, eventually it will be submerged. And eventually it will be deep enough in the rising water level to activate its flow stopping mechanism. Adjusting the level will be by trial and error when you first install the valve. I found that with every 1/8 turn or so of the adjustment knob, the water height varied by about 2 inches.

The height of the water can be adjusted to anywhere above the level of the valve. As long as the valve is submerged, it will stop the flow at the level you decide. Obviously if you want to fill the barrel only half way (for example), you must install the valve at least halfway down the side. The valve cannot stop the flow of water to a level BELOW where it is placed. (DUH! :o) Installing the valve near the bottom of the storage vessel allows you to adjust the water height to whatever you want. I have not actually tried to see if this valve will work when submerged at the bottom of a six foot deep tower for example, but I can't see why it would not work.

Of course if you have a very tall barrel, you don't want to be installing the valve way down near the bottom. You will not be able to reach it to adjust the valve unless you crawl inside the barrel! ;D. I installed mine about 8 inches from the top edge of the barrel. The only draw back I can think of to this valve is because it sits up high out of the water when the barrel is empty, the falling water can be quite noisy. If that is a factor for you, it might be best that you install the valve as far down the side as you need. Adjusting might be a pain at first, but once it set, you should never have to touch it again. JUST SET IT AND FORGET IT!!!hahahah

Now the stem accepts a 7/8" fitting. I wanted to attach a 1/4" compression fitting to this. (the size of my water supply line. you might be using the same size from your RO unit) I was unable to find a 7/8" to 1/4" reducing bushing, so I had to compromise. I got a braided hose that has a 7/8" nut on one end and a 3/8" compression on the other. This you can find at home depot. The assembly is designed exactly for attaching to ballcocks like the fill pro, and can be found in the plumbing section right next to where you find the fill pro valve. Near the toilet repair parts.

I was also able to find (at home depot) a brass 3/8" to 1/4" reduction fitting to attach the 1/4" water supply line to the 3/8" end of the braided hose. I later chose to use a small shut off valve which was 3/8" on one side and 1/4" on the other instead of the reducing fitting. In my case i need to shut off the water supply from time to time, when I don't feel like filling the barrel every time. Rememeber, this fill pro valve will start allowing water into the barrel as soon as the water level lowers in the tank as you use the water in it. If you are doing a water change, you may not want fresh, cold, chlorinated water going into the barrel as you fill your fish tanks. ;)

As a safety measure, you might want to install a bulkhead fitting near the top of the barrel that will drain away excess water to your drain should the fill pro valve ever fail. So far mine has not, but better safe than sorry!

Let me know if you need more details....

Daniel

[daninthesand]

This is the ballcock hose available from home depot. It can be used to help attach to your water supply to the fill pro valve.

The 3/8" compression fitting end, is also available in different sizes. It might be available in a size to suit your particular needs.


Daniel

[daninthesand]

Oh yes.

I've even seen these valves at Wallmart! ;D They are packaged as "Water Wise Toilet tank ballcock"

Here's the SKU or barcode to help you find it there. ;)

I have seen this valve called a number of things:

Hushflo
water wise
fill pro

All have different packaging, but so far they have all said "FILL PRO" on the valve itself no matter what the packaging said.

[hunterbeav]

http://www.thevalveshop.com/menu/manual/kerick/kerickm.html less then 7$ :) For Ro system you probably want the top one. It's 1/4 inch for the ro tubing. :) Jim & Diane PS i use one and it's gr8 :)

[daninthesand]

Hey Jim and Diane.

That's a great link. I'll have to keep it mind for the future. Thanks! :)

Some people might find the water level control of those type to be a bit restricting. The fill pro can be adjusted so that the water level can be changed by a foot or so as opposed to a couple of inches with most other valves. it allows more flexibility depending on your planned usage. You could use two fill pros and vary the RO to tap mix ratio with a turn of the valves' adjustment screw(s). The other type you showed is dictated by the position in the wall.

Daniel

[Francisco_Borrero]

Daniel, I am convinced. I probably will be reporting on "my" new gadget.
I appreciate your spending time posting all the details.
Cheers, Francisco.

[daninthesand]

Francisco.

No problem....


Let me know how it goes. I just installed another fill pro today (in a different storage tank) and so far its a charm. ;D

Daniel

[Lance_Krueger]

Dan,
Thanks for the info, pictures, illustrations, IM's, etc.! I couldn't wait to hear back from you, so I ran to the local hardware store with Fillpro (mine said Peerless on top) in hand, and the guy at the plumbing department hooked me up with the exact same setup you describe. Don't know if this is the best way or not, but it looked good to me. So I paid my four bucks, and was off. The fillpro installed into the side of my 44 gallon Brute Rubbermaid trash can after drilling the 1" hole (didn't need a spacer as the Brute trash can is thick enough, but just barely), just like you describe, about 8" down, and I turned on the water. I kept checking on it as the barrel filled, and the darn thing stopped a half inch BELOW the overflow point, with no adjustments. It has performed flawlessly over the past few days, so I think this will be the answer to my problem. I don't need a shutoff valve inline, since I supply this water changing barrel with a saddle valve on the cold line from my washing machine. If I ever need to shut it off, I'll just turn the handle on the saddle valve to shut the water supply off. This is a great idea! I ordered three of them from Corner Hardware on the net, and they were all under the Peerless brand name. I ordered the cheapest one (about $9 each), and it seems to work great. They had a more expensive one that was supposed to be antisiphon, etc., but I didn't see how this would help in this situation so I went with the cheapest one (Model #FV216).
Again, THANKS!
Lance Krueger

[daninthesand]

Lance.

SEE! ;D

Nifty little gadget huh?

he hee

Daniel



and the darn thing stopped a half inch above the overflow point, with no adjustments. It has performed flawlessly over the past few days

Lance, I assume you mean stopped half an inch BELOW the over flow point.... ???

[Lance_Krueger]

Dan,
Yes, yes, yes.... BELOW the overflow. Thanks for pointing that out. I edited it, so there's no confusion. And yes, neat little gadget. Now get out there and find some more!
Lance Krueger

[ronrca]

Im also glad that Dan posted this wonderful contraption! This weekend I was able to do some pumping finally and got a 1.5" drain and a 1/2" water line into the spare bedroom. I used a plastic line for the water line instead of copper for the obvious reasons. This water line is called polypex I believe. It bends easily without kinking.

Of course, the next trick was to connect the water line and fillpro. I tried the toilet method (1/2-3/8) and didnt like it. I finally was able to figure out a method to connect the fillpro directly to the 1/2" line by using various different components as listed below:
- brass ballcock nut.
- a couple of washers that are slightly smaller that the 1/2" line
- some plastic connectors used for coupling polypex, also called solderless plumbing (these connectors are used for t-connections or 3/8 to 1/2)

Inside the nuts of the solderless plumbing connectors is a plastic and metal ring. By using them all in a specific order, it is possible to directly fit the 1/2" water line to the fillpro. I will try to get some pics tonight!

Thanks Dan once again!

[daninthesand]

Hi Ron

I'm glad you were able to make use of the fill pro. Even better that you found your own way to use it. That's what makes the sharing of information so usefull.

I look forward to the pix! :thumbsup:

Daniel

[daninthesand]

I just finished doing a bit of experimentation witht the valve. Regarding the maximun depth to which the valve can be place and still fill the barrel. It looks like the valve can be adjusted to stop the flow as high as 14 inches above itself. Any deeper and the valve will not allow water to flow.

In other words, if you install the fill pro near the bottom of the barrel, where the valve will sit three feet below the top edge of the barrel, it will only fill the barrel to about 14 inches or so above the valve. The adjustment screw only goes so far.

So I guess its not as freely adjustible as I might have hoped. Keep this in mind when installing the valve. I'd suggest installing it no lower than 10 inches below the level where you want your water to fill to.

Remember: The more you turn the screw IN, the more the tension on the spring, and the deeper the water.

Daniel

[ronrca]

Thanks Dan! I was wondering about that myself.

I have an idea that I have been thinking of quite a bit. That is using 2 fillpro's to mix tap and RO. Install 1 fill pro (tapwater) middle of the barrel, the 2 fillpro (RO) 6" from the top. The first fillpro would rise to a level and shut off, lets say 12" from the top. The 2nd fillpro would then keeping filling with RO water until finish!

May be a neat idea however, will this keep the tap/RO ratio fairly constant. I guess that may be dependant on if the water changes is using the same volume every time or empty the barrel every time! Or not?

[ronrca]

OK! Got the pics! The first one is of the parts used in the order assembled!

[ronrca]

Side view!

[ronrca]

And connected to the barrel! You will notice that I used a brass nut instead of the plastic. Should not matter which one!

[ronrca]

This is explains itself I think!

[ronrca]

One correction though! I my previous post, I was calling the plastic pipe polypex. It is actually called bowpex! Make sure it is the white pipe, not the grey stuff as the grey pipe kinks much easier. The bowpex will easily bend pass 90deg with kinking!

HTH!

[ronrca]

O! And one more of the T-connector tapped into the water line!

A little story behind this one. Over the course of the day, I visited the building store 3x. On the first visit, I bought the plastic T-connecter. On the second visit, I asked an employee what he thought of the solderless fitting. He didnt like it, said it never worked for him, always leaked, the old soldering method still the best! I took his word and bought the copper T-connector. I went home and prepared/soldered the connector (I need to tell you that I hate soldering). Turned on the water and blow the connector off! Oops! Tried again but could not get it to work (Can you believe that I have soldered before). Finally, I just used the plastic T-connector, installed it, turned on the water again and it worked. On side of the connector was leaking very slowly so I just tighten the nut until it stopped. So far so good! I really love solderless plumbing! Next time, I will not even bother will soldering and save myself 2 hours! :P

[daninthesand]

Thanks for the pix Ron.

I find soldering works for me. The secret is to use new fittings, clean them well, and use FLUX. Wthout it you waste your time. Oh and don't heat too much. It does take some practice, but the end result is you will be able to solder a t joint like that in about 5 minutes tops. Use lead free solder.

Interesting use of brass with the plastic connector for the fill pro valve. i was looking for such a thing but the ones I found had a different thread. Oh well, whatever works.

Daniel

[ronrca]

I tried Dan! Brand new copper T-connector, used coarse sand paper on the existing pipes and lots of flux. However, I may of heated it up too much! The solder did not even seem to stay on the connect but drip down on my arms! >:( Guess Im out of practise.

The brass nut is a ballcock replacement part. I had to take apart the solderless connector to get the plastic and metal rings otherwise as you say, the threads do not match.

Hi guys.
I have a question regarding the minimum depth for installing it. Is there one ?

I have installed it 6 " below the top of a 44 gal. bin.
The overflow is 3" from the top. I did not consider that and as I installed it I recognized it. Is that sufficient to so stop the water ? The adjustment screw almost comes out until it stops but there is still minimal (almost not to see) flow.

Thanks for you help
Ronald
(I am no Mcgiver :-[)

[daninthesand]

Ronald.

I never measured a minimum depth but 3 inches is likely too little height difference between the two for the fill pro valve to be deep enough to shut the water supply off.

I think you might have indicated that already.

If the over flow is a bulkhead fitting you could raise the level at which the barrel overflows by placing an upturned elbow (on the inside of the barrel) to increase the effective height of the hole.

Or you could just plug the overflow and drill a new one a bit higher.

Or leave the overflow where it is and plug the hole for the fill pro with another bulkhead fitting and drill your new hole for the fill pro a little lower.

I hope this helps.

Daniel

If the over flow is a bulkhead fitting you could raise the level at which the barrel overflows by placing an upturned elbow (on the inside of the barrel) to increase the effective height of the hole.



Man and I was already preparing to drill a new hole. >:(

Were do get all those great Ideas ???

Thanks a ton Daniel

Ronald

[daninthesand]

I've been called McGiver more than a few times :)

Glad I could help. Let me know how it goes.
Daniel

[daninthesand]

Update.

The fill pro valve is still working like a finely tuned engine. I have two of them running and so far they have worked flawlessly. Day in day out. Stopping the flow every single time at exactly the level I set.

The "leak" I talked about here

http://forum.simplydiscus.com//index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=6756;sta rt=0

turned out to be unimportant. While I was away on vacation for 6 days I left the water supply to the valve on and let it do its thing. The barrel never reached above the set level despite that long time. So the flow even through the "leak" must also shut off when the valve turns itself off. I gave up returning these to the store after about 4 valves had the same seam leak and I decided it was probably designed that way.

Daniel

[FischAutoTechGarten]

I ordered a Cat's Meow myself. Should have it any day now. I also won a Thermostatic Mixing Valve (from the UK) on Ebay for $16 (USD) the other day. Looking forward to really automating the barrel filling task.

[daninthesand]

Peter, I can honestly tell you you'll wonder why you waited so long..... ;)

Daniel

[GulfCoastDiscus]

Hey Dan,
This is another device I found for the people living on this side of the border. It's a shut off valve used by ranchers to fill their watering hole for their livestock. It connects by a regular hose but I converted it to fit my RO. I bought this gadget at an Ace hardware store. It only cost $7.00 USD.

TheotherDan

[GulfCoastDiscus]

This gadget can also be installed on the side of the tank.
Dan

[daninthesand]

Hey Dan thats neat. And I love the price! Do you know the brand name of that thing? Can you adjust the water level?

Thanks for sharing.

Daniel

btw. The fill pro is available in the States. I saw it at Wallmart in Florida.
And you can get it at Ace Harware too. SKU 43478. $9.99 Do a search at
www.acehardwareonline.com.
There's even a replacement diaphram for it. SKU 4012100 ;)

[GulfCoastDiscus]

Hi Daniel,
It's made by A Dare Minuteman Product. It's called a Dare-O-matic. It's a farm tank float valve. The only way to adjust it is by were you mount it. You can mount it on the inside wall of the storage tank or as mounted on the top to get maximum amount of water stored. It also comes in stainless steel but the plastic one is cheaper.

dan

[daninthesand]

Ok Thanks Dan!

Found it. Ace SKU 40872

Daniel

[daninthesand]

Almost two years now since installing the fill pro. still working flawlessly. never cleaned it either.

now have a second one running about a year or more also and it too is perfect.

Daniel

[ronrca]

Im running a year or so now! Never had any problems! My fillpro is connected directly using 3/4" pipe.

[daninthesand]

Thats good news Ron. ;)

btw. any chance you have details of how you attached the fill pro to 3/4" pipe? I.E. what adapters/connectors you used?

Thanks.

Daniel

[ronrca]

Did I say 3/4"? Oops! :-[ I meant 1/2"! I used a push 'n' turn connector with a 1/2" connection.

[ronrca]

I took out the inners.......

[ronrca]

like this

[ronrca]

and slid them on to the 1/2" pex pipe. Looks like this.......