Grow Mediums Aquavalve not working

[dankle]

I turned my auquavalve on today once again since the plant is now over three weeks and bigger than the width of the 6.6 gal container. The resevoir fills up to 1-2 mm within the top of the screw on 'collar' that holds the hose to the aquavalve. I'll check the level later to ensure the resevoir is emptied before filling back up.

So I check the water level and it has not changed. There's no way the plant drank all of that rez water within a few hours.

Here's how I know the aquavlave isn't working - after filling the 5 gal bucket resevoir with less than a gal of pure water, I then proceed to add about 4 gal of water + 1 tspn of humic acid. The 5 gal resevoir turns a dark amber and bubbles away. The autopot resevoir should fully drain before the humic water fills the basin.

Well, a few hours later and the autopot is at the same water level but I can clearly see the humic acids have made their way past the aquavalve. It seems to me that the aquavalve is working more as a float valve than as the intended 'gulp' feeder.

Does anyone have any suggestions? The aquavale seems pretty simple to set up and I really can't see room for much error, but it seems defective. Is the aquavalve enclosure/cover mandatory for the function of an autopot?

any help much appreciated

 

[Hansbricks]

Be sure to check that the top yellow silicone bung is making a proper seal (that's the one that allows the trays to empty before re-filling). Another thing to check is with the tray empty and the valve seated in position make sure that the floats aren't touching the bottom of the tray, if the valve is on a bit of an angle and the floats hit the bottom the top yellow part won't make a full seal.

 

[dankle]

by the floats do you mean the two cylinder looking things? the yellow silicone seemed to be aligned but maybe the angle is throwing it all off.

it seems pretty level but I'll see what I can do

 

[Hansbricks]

by the floats do you mean the two cylinder looking things? the yellow silicone seemed to be aligned but maybe the angle is throwing it all off.

it seems pretty level but I'll see what I can do

Yes those floats should come to a resting position just slightly off the bottom of the tray (like 1-2mm) when it's empty.

 

[dankle]

Cool, the floats seem to be situated right. Maybe I broke the vaccum seal at the silicone when I was messing with it last attempt using it.

Am giving another shot, will confirm later if it's draining successfully before refilling.

thanks for your help

 

[pop22]

I'd say it is either the yellow silicone bumpers ( those little dots ) or the valve is not sitting level. Be sure its seated completely in the tray. Check that the floats operate without sticking at any point. I'd replace the yellow bumpers.

 

[dankle]

thanks for all of you help, autopot is working good

 

[slimjim00]

Dankle, glad to see yours are working! What did you do to fix it? I seem to be having the same issue...My autopots never seem to drain and are always filled to the same level...

 

[Bodacious Budmonster]

Bump. Same problem here

Going to check the yellow seal soon
It's just one playing up at the moment

 

[PolySizeCircuit]

I sometimes had this problem, it's going to have to do with the top seal. My yellow seals were OK, I just needed to slide the top hinging piece in completely so that the seal aligns with the top hole.