Tank Filling Guide

Superior Float Tanks Pod/Room Filling Guide

Newly Installed Tank:

• Once your newly installed float tank is plumbed and can be filled with salt and water there are two options:

• Fill the unit with water to the fill line indicator on the skimmer. While filling, spray all the ceiling and walls with a hose. Cut the power on to the filtration unit (pump override switch) as well as the software (see below for instructions on software). Run the unit with just water. This is to ensure that there are no leaks. After one hour, check all your pipes, joints and connections for any leaks on the filtration unit and plumbing. If you have a leak, most likely it’s a loose fitting. If it’s in the plumbing, the pipe should be re-glued before adding salt. Once it is verified that there are no leaks, you will remove a little more than half the water in the tank.

At this point you will add the salt (amount of salt charted below). You will want to use a blanket or sheet on the threshold of the tank as the coloring on the bags of salt may rub off onto the white gel coat fiberglass. Place bag on the blanket on the edge of the tank, and use a utility knife or scissors to cut the top of the bag and gently pour into the tank. Watch out for splashing. 

• Option two is like the above but you are skipping the water test and starting with the salt into an empty tank (must be confident in your plumbing). Use a blanket on the threshold and pour the bags of salt into the tank. Once you have all the salt in, use a hose and add water. Remember to spray the ceiling and walls. The salt will move and dissolve as you add water; it will be under the water by the time you get to the fill line. Once completely filled, cut on the power and software and run the filtration unit. Check for leaks in the plumbing while running for the first hour, tighten or fix if needed.

• After the salt and water have been added and the unit is running it can take up to 8 hours (overnight) to fully dissolve the water and heat up. You may find a small amount of salt still in the middle of the tank. Use a brush to mix the small amount of salt while the filtration is on and it will dissolve. After all the salt has been dissolved, use a hydrometer to measure the salinity of the salt. You are looking for anything in the range of 1.265 – 1.285. If below 1.265, add salt as needed, if greater than 1.285, remove five gallons at a time and add fresh water to lower the salinity. It is common to see a brown line where the water meets the air on side of the tank (scum line). This line is from impurities in the municipal water and/or salt. Use a soft bristle brush while the filtration is off to scrub clean. You will also want to change the filter one day after the initial filling, this will be one of the most dirty filter changes you do, due to the impurities in the water and salt. Once your unit reaches temperature and you have the correct amount of salinity you are ready to start floating. 

Already Installed Unit:

• If you have a previously installed unit that was drained or is currently off, follow these instructions below. 

• If your unit has been drained and you are ready to reopen the unit, it is a good idea to buff  and clean the unit before adding water. You can use a soft pad buffer that you would use on a car and wax to gently go over the inside and outside of the tank. The area mostly likely to benefit from this is the scum line (where the water meets the air on the walls). Once you have cleaned the unit to your liking you can follow the instructions above in option 2. 

• If you already have saltwater in your tank the first thing you will want to do is add water or pull water out (it is advised to overfill the unit when not in use for short term so you may have more water than needed). Once you have your water to the fill line indicator you will want to take a hydrometer reading, you may need to add salt or replace salt water with fresh. You are aiming for anything in the range of 1.265 – 1.285. Once your water level and salinity is correct, you can power on the unit and software to start the filtration. It should take less than eight hours for the unit to warm up to temp (93 degrees fahrenheit).

If your unit has salt crystals on the water surface and once you cut the pump on it is not flowing correctly, you may have over salted. Check your hydrometer readings and follow the instructions below. 

Computer and Filtration Unit:

• Once you have fully installed your filtration unit and connected all the plumbing and wires it is ready to be turned on. You will want to add the water before you cut it on for the first time. It is best to cut the pump override switch off (down position switch on the side with nothing else) before you begin. Next, cut the power switch on. You should see it light up green (newer models) as well as the power cord lit up, this lets us know we are getting power. If no lights on the cord or switch, check your breaker (Need to be a 220 GFCI breaker). You will want to look into the tank as soon as you cut the power switch on, you should see the main LED light cut on then off. This lets us know you have the unit connected correctly. Now you can advance to connecting with the software.

• The software can be downloaded from our web site under the tab “control system” (https://www.superiorfloattanks.com/control-system). You will need a Windows computer for it to run. Once the software is installed and open for the first time you will need to check both boxes for the firewall so it can work correctly. If this is not checked the first time, you will have to go under firewall app permissions to change. Once the program is downloaded and installed you will want to click on system configuration on the top right hand side. Under system configuration, you can rename the units and change the pictures if desired. 

• To connect the tanks you will click on the rectangle with the drop down menu, if you are connected correctly (Filtration unit to Router to computer) you will see an IP address (series of numbers). Highlight the # and it will populate the box to the left of it, and then toggle on the unit with the toggle switch. If you do not see an IP address in the drop down, cut off the software, and cycle the power to the filtration unit by cutting the power switch off for 10 sec. then back on, followed by the software and the system configuration screen. 

• Once you are fully connected you will want to go back to the filtration unit. You will be ready to turn the unit on with the pump override switch at this point. If you did not turn the pump override switch off before this point, the unit will start running as soon as it’s connected, it is best to be there when it turns on, so use the override switch. The unit will be under temperature and ready to cut on as soon as the override switch is flipped. Most units are self primed, so the water will fully cycle through the unit, if it does not, you may need to cut the pump override switch back off and open the filter lid and possibly back fill with a hose in some cases. The water will take up to eight hours to heat up, always check for leaks if it’s the first time running water.

Storing the Tank for short term

• If you will be closing down the unit for the short term you have two options, if you are doing long term please follow option two.

• This option requires checking on the unit at least once every four or five days. You will want to overfill the unit with water to the top of the skimmer lines (two vertical grills, not the top of the skimmer). Once you have filled the lines to the top of the two middle grill openings, you will run a cleaning cycle. This will dilute the water in the tank and the pipes of the filtration unit. Once the cycle is over, you can cut off the unit or lower the temperature. We recommend cutting off the unit, for less power consumption. Make sure you close the lid or door before you leave. The extra water diluted will ensure you do not over salt the tank. You will want to visit the unit to top off with water after 4 or 5 days. You should have some evaporation, you will need to re-top off the water to the top of the skimmer grills. You will not need to cut the unit on and run the filtration unit as there should be little evaporation in the filtration pipes at this point. It is good practice to clean the tank when you top the unit with water. When you are ready to reopen, follow the instructions above, you may have to remove water if not timed correctly. Add salt as needed once at the proper water level. 

• Option 2 is for longer term but can be used for short term as well. You will want to remove all the saltwater with a submersible pump. You can keep the salt water in a baby pool or multiple clean trash cans (plan accordingly as they get heavy fast). Once the water is removed, you will want to flush the filtration system with a hose. Hose water into the tube at the top of the filter housing that goes to the pump, this water will make its way back into the tank. Next, you will hose water straight down into the filter housing, this water will clean out and dilute water throughout the system and make its way back into the tank as well. You will use the submersible pump to get the last bit of water out of the tank again. You may use rags or sponges to get the very least bit of water out. If you are moving the unit to long term storage you can use a shop vac. to remove the remaining water out of the filtration unit. Undo your ball valves at the pump and outlet arm; put the vacuum up to the units. If you’re storing your solution in a separate container, remember it can re-crystallize in those containers, and you will have to add water again, this is caused be evaporation. You can fill with hot water before adding back to the unit to help dissolve once ready to reopen the unit. 

Over Salting the Unit:

• Over salting is a term when the salinity goes beyond the normal levels (1.265 - 1.285) and the salt forms into crystals. This can form from two factors. 1. Adding too much salt to the water (Always use a hydrometer before adding salt). 2. The most common is letting the water evaporate. This is where the water evaporates and leaves the salt, which will increase the salinity of the unit till it reverts back to crystal. It has little to do with the temperature of the water and is typically seen from inside the unit. The crystals typically form at the lowest point and work up from there. If left to the extreme levels it will block the intake and outtake lines causing a full blockage of the water flow. Any time the pump is on and no water is flowing, cut the pump override switch to cut the pump off. If left on, you can burn out and ruin your pump. 

• If you suspect your system of being over salted, take a hydrometer reading first and add water to the tank if needed. You can remove the filter lid and use a hose to back fill the system. 1. Fill the system from the tube that goes to the pump from the top of the filter. If the water backs up above the pump and overfills into the filter this indicates you have a blockage in the line to the pump. 2. Use the hose straight down into the filter housing (best to remove the filter bag and basket) it may take a minute but the water should make its way into the tank, unless there is a blockage, then it will fill the filter housing. Cut off before it overfills. The added fresh water will help dilute the salt, keep adding if it goes down but make sure not to overfill the tank where the water should come out. Once filled, try turning the unit on again and see if you have flow. If there is still no flow, you will have to take more of the unit and plumbing lines apart, easier done on a pod then a room. 

• In extreme cases where the filter has been filled and there is no water moving through the filter from the filter housings, and you have disassembled as much of your unit as you can, you can follow the next step. We sell a repair plug kit, that can plug the skimmer and jet holes, you will need this kit in this case. You will plug one skimmer and one jet, then use the pump disable control on the software to utilize the under tank heaters so you can warm the solution in the tank. Once the water is at temp and salinity is not over the limit, you can use a submersible pump to cycle the warm water in the tank through a hose into the skimmer or jet hole as far as the hose can reach. This will pump warm diluted water far into the pipes in an effort to dissolve the salt blockage.