conikal After a busy few days with thirsty visitors and an Isomac that doesnt have a separate lid on the tank...i got fed up with taking all the cups etc off the top to refil the tank every other day... Soooo...idle time and active brain combined to improvise a "auto refil" for the trusty Isomac. A minature ( 1/4 " ) flost valve ..as used for fish tanks.... and a meter or less of 6mm nylon tube were obtained, and the idle hands stirred into action . A small "L" bracket was fabbed from perspex to mount the float valve in the top of the tank, and the tube was threaded out to the bottom of the machine. Originally i planned to simply connect this into the outlet side of the drinking water filter under the bench,..which is plumbed with the same 6mm nylon fittings,...but an imminent house move led me to simply keep the feed pipe on the worktop (tucked under the Isomac) and pull it out to connect it to the drinking water faucet when i want to refill. A simple rubber push on connects to the 8mm faucet tap. Now when Isomac need a refill... ( i usually just wait til the tank kicks the stop switch) i slip the pipe out from under the base, push it onto the faucet and hold the push tap on until the flow stops ( 3 mins ,..empty to full).. Sooo much easier, no need to mess with the cup warmer tray etc. When we have relocated, i will connect this up permanently . total cost ..under $10 This type of valve...
conikal OK, ..a short update on an adaptation i have made due to a temporary relocation to a rental apartment with no suitable "plumbed" supply. Having gotten used to the advantages of a continuous water feed to "top up" the tank, i was not about to give it up just because of a lack of suitable water feed. So, my solution is to retain the "float valve" in the tank, but to feed it from a larger ( 9ltr) bulk supply in the form of one of those decorative glass water dispensers that are currently popular . This is located on a convenient shelf near the Isomac and simply gravity feeds the float valve. I actually had this system working as a "siphon" feed from a water jug before i found a simple adapter to connect the feed tube to the dispenser tap . Again the system enables me to leave the cup warmer tray undisturbed and gives a quick visual of the water level and easy access for topping up at much less frequent intervals .
UNM Your system is still manually controlled, so not an issue for you, but equipment does fail. I have had several float valves fail over the years. For anyone fully automating something similar, I recommend adding a tank overflow that goes direct to a drain. Simple and effective.
conikal for sure there is always a failure/leakage risk, but as you say i still have the manual "Tap" on the water dispenser (which i usually flick off when i switch the machine off) .... but at worst i only risk a possible 9 ltr spill .... which i figure is not as bad as a fully mains plumbed m/c with a leak !
