New Product Review - Level-Loc

It's funny how things happen sometimes. In episode 6 of the 120 gallons podcast, I had talked how you shouldn't hook up a RO/DI unit to a mechanical float valve in your sump. This was because if the float valve fails and you don't notice, you can get a lot of freshwater added to your tank. This is not a good thing!


I also had been scouring the net for our next Tank of the Podcast victim, I mean volunteer. I sent an email to Phil who is this weeks Tank of the Podcast asking him if he was interested. I read about his tank on one of the forums I frequent.

In the back and forth of setting up the interview for the Tank of the Podcast he asked if I would be interested in reviewing a new ATO device. I said sure, since that's one of the things I want to start doing more of on the podcast. I asked him to send me a unit which I will return after the review since I don't want to feel obligated to give a good review in return for free equipment.

It arrived last week. It is called the Level-Loc and will be available at www.reeftanksupply.com on the 15th of September. I'm proud to be the first to review the unit.

The Level-Loc is a well built unit made of a nice substantial piece of plastic. It is easy to adjust with a few plastic screws and requires no tools to setup.

Setup is a matter of adjusting the height, placing it in your sump and pushing your RO/DI outlet into the input of the Level-Loc and then plugging in the timer.

The Level-Loc contains a mechanical float switch, plus an electrical float switch, plus an optional timer. So it has a lot of redundancy. In order for water to flow, the mechanical float switch must be open, same for the electrical float as well as the unit having power. Power allows the normally closed solenoid to open. If you use the timer as another redundant safety measure, it only provides power 4 times a day for 45 minutes as it comes set. This is totally adjustable as well.

Using the timer also makes sure your RO/DI unit runs for a while and doesn't cycle on and off. This is much better for your RO/DI unit and helps it produce better water.

The unit is very well constructed and has worked flawlessly. It also has enough safety measures to make me comfortable with using it as my main ATO. For a complete failure to occur, the mechanic float would have to fail. The electrical float would have to fail on. The solenoid would have to jam open or your timer fail to shut off. Not a very likely thing to happen.

I liked the unit so much that I am going to be purchasing it and keeping it!