Electric float thing inside water tank.

[bbabythai]

I wanted to know the purpose of the 2 devices inside the water tank. 

 

I see the light blue floater round one with the rod regulates the water being pumped into the tank. 

 

Does the dark blue one attached to the electric wire.... is this controlling the tank?

 

We've had a few issues when the tank empties and refills where the blue square thing kind of gets stuck under the round floater one. 

 

One worker said just take out the light blue round floater one as we dont need it. I thought this was BS 

 

Now another guy is saying put the dark blue square one attached to the wire inside the tank next to this main tank  (all 4 tanks are connected to each other. 

 

If anyone can give advice on this it would be appreciated

thanks 

 

 

[lopburi3]

I suspect the light blue was the original on/off switch but failed and the easy to install float with weight was installed rather than fix it.  These are normally used to switch on dirty water pumps but can be wired to pump in as well and indeed they tend to get caught in obstructions (they need large open space) so removing other I suspect would help.  

[sometimewoodworker]

It very much depends on your water supply setup. The light blue ball is the standard float valve.

 

 

the blue and yellow square one directly controls a water pump

49 minutes ago, bbabythai said:

Now another guy is saying put the dark blue square one attached to the wire inside the tank next to this main tank  (all 4 tanks are connected to each other. 

That idea may work but it depends on your particular setup.

 

I have both in my ready use 1,000L water tank (I use a different electric one) 

 

you may need both but there is not enough information to know.

[lopburi3]

53 minutes ago, bbabythai said:

Now another guy is saying put the dark blue square one attached to the wire inside the tank next to this main tank  (all 4 tanks are connected to each other. 

Indeed that will also work if all tanks are the same level, as they must be.

[alacrity]

Just using the float valve alone as a control isn't a good idea, if the feed comes from a pump. At some point the pump needs to turn off and the float switch does just that.

From your pictures, just unscrewing the the float at the valve will fix your issue of entanglement.

Also the yellow cylinder on the float switch assembly can be adjusted (by sliding along the cable) to take it's float away from that of the float valve.

You probably will need to take up any slack in the cable by adjusting the fixing point (if there is one). I use ty-wraps, attached to the cable, outside the tank to set this

It may just be that the float switch wasn't fitted correctly, in the first instance, with the float valve being used to prevent overfilling due to (potential) failure of the float switch.

 

 

[sometimewoodworker]

3 hours ago, alacrity said:

It may just be that the float switch wasn't fitted correctly, in the first instance, with the float valve being used to prevent overfilling due to (potential) failure of the float switch.

Or it could be something rather different, it is in our ready use tank.
 

There is not enough information to give a useful answer.

 

 

[Metropolitian]

17 minutes ago, sometimewoodworker said:

Or it could be something rather different, it is in our ready use tank.
 

There is not enough information to give a useful answer.

 

 

Could it be, that it is standard with the ready to use thanks, just for those places without pumps.

Pumps just being an extra support but not always necessary to be in the line.

[alacrity]

On 7/2/2020 at 11:13 PM, sometimewoodworker said:

Or it could be something rather different, it is in our ready use tank.
 

There is not enough information to give a useful answer.

 

 

Look at the photo. It portrays more than a thousand words.

The float switch wasn't fitted correctly. Period. Why do you think it wasn't?

Who knows what was in the mind of the incompetent that did (or added to) the installation.

Whatever the case, tethering and setting the float switch to pair with the operation of the float valve (which most likely came free with the tank) is necessary.

 

I have 4 parallel connected 2,000 litre storage tanks fed from a borehole. Only one tank is used to control the pump feed from the borehole. That tank is fitted with the same equipment as yours. Yet, I don't have your issues.

That's because it's installed in the way I suggested to you.

 

Actually it does differ slightly because I fitted a redundant float switch in parallel with the primary, should that fail. The float switch was free and provides a simple solution for water ingress.

 

[sometimewoodworker]

9 hours ago, alacrity said:

Look at the photo. It portrays more than a thousand words.

The float switch wasn't fitted correctly. Period. Why do you think it wasn't?

Who knows what was in the mind of the incompetent that did (or added to) the installation.

Whatever the case, tethering and setting the float switch to pair with the operation of the float valve (which most likely came free with the tank) is necessary.

As I said

 

On 7/2/2020 at 11:13 PM, sometimewoodworker said:

There is not enough information to give a useful answer.

You are assuming a plumbing setup that matches yours.

 

I am not making that assumption. 
 

I have a tank with an electrical float switch controlled pump and a ball valve, they are both used.
 

My plumbing setup is different from yours. Just because someone has the same equipment in their tank As you does not mean they are using it in in the same way.

 

10 hours ago, alacrity said:

Look at the photo. It portrays more than a thousand words.

It may well. It doesn’t give information as to how the system is setup.

[alacrity]

11 hours ago, sometimewoodworker said:

As I said

 

You are assuming a plumbing setup that matches yours.

 

I am not making that assumption. 
 

I have a tank with an electrical float switch controlled pump and a ball valve, they are both used.
 

My plumbing setup is different from yours. Just because someone has the same equipment in their tank As you does not mean they are using it in in the same way.

 

It may well. It doesn’t give information as to how the system is setup.

Without input from the guy that did your installation. It's difficult to accurately state the reasoning  behind your mess. All you've shown is a single photo.

In that photo, it shows that the float switch (which allegedly controls the pump)  hasn't been set correctly. As you state that it becomes entangled with the float valve assembly.

 

What you seem to have is a pump control switch which was added to a standard tank fitted with a float valve intended for use with a low pressure feed (municipal supply). Ergo, you're not in compliance with the design, because you're feeding the supply to the tank from a pump.

So, you need to shut down the pump when the water level meets a determined value. Ergo the float switch, which makes the float valve redundant. So, their function isn't related.

Your photo shows the float switch being set (at best) to emulate the action of the float valve. Causing potential entanglement. And at that setting I'm surprised it actually turns off the pump.

The float switch needs to be set deeper in the tank as I originally stated. Which will alleviate your problem.

 

Unfortunately, I cant show a photo of my installation as it's hard-wired and sealed. Preventing some Somchai from messing with it, if my wife thinks there's a problem. Hence the 4 reservoir tanks. The original Somchai that messed my planned system up had a Yorkshire accent. So, I took control and future proofed the system.

 

[sometimewoodworker]

3 hours ago, alacrity said:

Without input from the guy that did your installation. It's difficult to accurately state the reasoning  behind your mess. All you've shown is a single photo.

Do please reply to the OP not me.

 

You are continuing to make assumptions that could be correct but could also be completely wrong.
 

If I posted a similar picture of my setup with a similar limited amount of information you would be totally wrong and your advice complete BS.

 

Go back and actually read the thread, remove your preconceived idea of the system. Unless the OP gives more information we DO NOT know enough to suggest a good answer.

 

FWIW I know my plumbing system. I know how it’s setup. I know the reason for the ball float valves (they work) and electrical float control (it works). It functions perfectly well. I don’t have problems. I designed most of it.

[lopburi3]

11 hours ago, alacrity said:

The float switch needs to be set deeper in the tank as I originally stated. Which will alleviate your problem.

I don't know what you are thinking but the float should be wired to turn on pump when float goes below the round weight on cord and turn it off when above that weight.  Normally we want to have water in a water tank so just the reverse of a sump pump.  So it should be as near the top as possible and the weight should be close to the float to make it as small difference in level as can be to keep tanks nearly full.

[alacrity]

11 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

I don't know what you are thinking but the float should be wired to turn on pump when float goes below the round weight on cord and turn it off when above that weight.  Normally we want to have water in a water tank so just the reverse of a sump pump.  So it should be as near the top as possible and the weight should be close to the float to make it as small difference in level as can be to keep tanks nearly full.

Not if it's interfering with the inlet valve.

As I recall, that was the reported problem.

[alacrity]

19 hours ago, sometimewoodworker said:

Do please reply to the OP not me.

 

You are continuing to make assumptions that could be correct but could also be completely wrong.
 

If I posted a similar picture of my setup with a similar limited amount of information you would be totally wrong and your advice complete BS.

 

Go back and actually read the thread, remove your preconceived idea of the system. Unless the OP gives more information we DO NOT know enough to suggest a good answer.

 

FWIW I know my plumbing system. I know how it’s setup. I know the reason for the ball float valves (they work) and electrical float control (it works). It functions perfectly well. I don’t have problems. I designed most of it.

Your post was directed at me.

[sometimewoodworker]

2 minutes ago, alacrity said:

Your post was directed at me.

Of course it was because you were pontificating on a subject that there is insufficient information about and talking about my system which there is little information about in this thread as it may be mostly irrelevant.

 

Do make sure to respond to the correct poster. 
 

Stop making assumptions. The OP has not posted again in this thread since his first post.

[Mama Noodle]

What is supplying the water? A well? City? The flat blue electrical one might be a low water pump shutoff of some kind. 
 

it’s impossible to tell you what’s going on, you have to know what each device controls. 
 

All 4 tanks can be linked together at the bottom, but fill only one tank, and they will all automatically balance.
 

Without seeing it Myself it seems like a safety shut off to keep a pump from running dry and overheating in the event the tank runs low, or it could be an old level switch that isn’t even working.