Grow Mediums How much does your tray empty before the Aquavalve let's them fill up again?

[elcoloan]

Hello fellow Autopot users...

I come with the following question: How much does your Autopot tray empty before the Aquavalve opens up again?

This last run i have been paying close attention to my trays and until last week they would only start filling up again when they were almost empty... If the tray fills up with 2 cm of water, I'd have said they would refill when water got to about 0.5 cm or lower.
But last Friday I disassembled everything, cleaned lines, etc... and after that cleaning and assembling everything back together, I now barely see the tray go below 1.5 cm before it's already filling up again.
So if someone had asked me this question i am asking now, I would have said that it fills up again when it's almost empty (1/4 left of what it had originally had)... but today i would have to answer the opposite and say It's refilling just after loosing a bit... i mean... it's refilling when there's still 3/4 of what was there initially. WTF.

I called up Autopot USA to ask them and they told me (can't remember the guy's name) that it was normal... that this is how their autopots are supposed to work... that they are always filled... and that what I described from before (aquavalve opening only after tray is almost empty) means something was clogged up before.
I could swear I had read or heard directly from Autopot that tray almost got empty before the Aquavalve would open again... so I'm a bit baffled with the response I got on the phone. Maybe i just didn't explain my self well (english isn't my first lang), but he did clearly say his autopots don't empty.

Any thoughts?

 

[elcoloan]

@pop22 @bushmasterar15 @idiopathic neuropathy please, what do you think?

 

[pop22]

Tray should empty completely. Either the valve is not seated on the post, the tray's not level, or one of the little, yellow silicone stoppers is mis-shappen or misaligned. Take the valve out set it on a flat suface and make sure the floats can rise and fall without sticking. it's one of these things, that's all there is to them.

Hello fellow Autopot users...

I come with the following question: How much does your Autopot tray empty before the Aquavalve opens up again?

This last run i have been paying close attention to my trays and until last week they would only start filling up again when they were almost empty... If the tray fills up with 2 cm of water, I'd have said they would refill when water got to about 0.5 cm or lower.
But last Friday I disassembled everything, cleaned lines, etc... and after that cleaning and assembling everything back together, I now barely see the tray go below 1.5 cm before it's already filling up again.
So if someone had asked me this question i am asking now, I would have said that it fills up again when it's almost empty (1/4 left of what it had originally had)... but today i would have to answer the opposite and say It's refilling just after loosing a bit... i mean... it's refilling when there's still 3/4 of what was there initially. WTF.

I called up Autopot USA to ask them and they told me (can't remember the guy's name) that it was normal... that this is how their autopots are supposed to work... that they are always filled... and that what I described from before (aquavalve opening only after tray is almost empty) means something was clogged up before.
I could swear I had read or heard directly from Autopot that tray almost got empty before the Aquavalve would open again... so I'm a bit baffled with the response I got on the phone. Maybe i just didn't explain my self well (english isn't my first lang), but he did clearly say his autopots don't empty.

Any thoughts?

 

[elcoloan]

Tray should empty completely. Either the valve is not seated on the post, the tray's not level, or one of the little, yellow silicone stoppers is mis-shappen or misaligned. Take the valve out set it on a flat suface and make sure the floats can rise and fall without sticking. it's one of these things, that's all there is to them.

Damn... knew it. Must've messed something up reassembling the valve after cleaning it. I have black and red aquavalves... but i get your point. Thanks!

 

[idiopathic neuropathy]

I agree with @pop22 said....I believe we want somewhat of a wet-dry cycle.

 

[elcoloan]

I agree with @pop22 said....I believe we want somewhat of a wet-dry cycle.

yeah i've noticed i really need that cycle... but i still wonder how many people can use it as the Autopot rep who i spoke to does... i
would get root rot quite fast like that. I guess I could have misunderstood him, though... or he's growing somthing else.
any how...i think my issue is with the inner valve float... haven't been able to fix it yet... but at least tray's not overflowing... that part works fine.

 

[idiopathic neuropathy]

I would suspect the inner valve is not flush with the hole or the hinge is hanging up....just guessing. Also, as the rep said...make sure its level. And make sure its pushed all the way down on the post that holds it in place.

 

[elcoloan]

I would suspect the inner valve is not flush with the hole or the hinge is hanging up....just guessing. Also, as the rep said...make sure its level. And make sure its pushed all the way down on the post that h I lost it in place.

not sure if it always was like this but i think i've found the culprit... the inner valve float is getting stuck down impeding it from floating. can't really explain how it's getting stuck but can show it in a video... will post later for others to have as reference. All is working well now!

 

[idiopathic neuropathy]

not sure if it always was like this but i think i've found the culprit... the inner valve is getting stuck down impeding it from floating. can't really explain how it's getting stuck but can show it in a video... will post later for others to have as reference. All is working well now!

Great....glad you got it under control.

 

[pop22]