# How do I add a large reservoir to my humidifier



## JSB99 (May 28, 2010)

I have an ultrasonic cool mist humidifier that I use to help keep my room cool.

It has a one gallon water reservoir and it'll run a day between fills. What I want to do is have a 5-gallon bucket continuously feed the humidifier reservoir so I only have to fill it once a week.

I tried to set this up with another humidifier I had but I couldn't get it to work. Here's what I did...

Drilled a hole in the 1 gallon reservoir and mounted a bulkhead to it so it's sealed.
Did the same with the 5-gallon bucket.
After filling the bucket and securing the airtight lid, I opened the valve so let the water flow to the 1-gallon reservoir

Water started seeping heavily from the bottom of the 1-gallon reservoir on the humidifier.

I thought by having everything sealed it would maintain the vacuum and only allow water from the 5-gallon bucket to flow once the water from the 1-gallon reservoir dropped below the point where the water dropped below the pvc pipe feeding it.

You ever seen one of those dog water bowls with the 3-gallon water container on the back? You'll notice that the water from the reservoir doesn't empty as long as the tip of the reservoir has a seal with the water in the bowl. Once the water in the bowl drops a little it creates a little air gap between the reservoir and the water in the bowl. The water from the reservoir starts flowing until a seal is created again.

This is what I was trying to accomplish with the humidifier.

Are there any hydrodynamic geniuses out there who can help me set this up correctly?


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## wonderblunder (May 30, 2010)

I would think drilling a small vent hole on the lid of the original 1 gallon tank above wherr water could reach....
Have you ever had the vented lid on a gas tank clog?


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## NLXSK1 (May 30, 2010)

I am not sure if this is the most simple way.... However.

You can connect a 5 gallon or larger container using tubing at the (base) of the 5 gallon bucket and the (base) of the humidifier.

Water will seek it's own level so what you need to do is measure the distance between the ground and the top of the water in the humidifier when it is filled.

Then make a slightly lower mark on the inside of the 5 gallon bucket or other container. 

This should add some capacity.

If that didnt work you could use a 5 gallon bucket like I said, make the mark on the bucket and install a bulkhead with an automatic float valve on it and attach that to a sink or other supply line. The float valve would keep the level in the 5 gallon bucket and the lower tube would keep the humidifier filled. That way you could leave the humidifier on continuously without ever refilling it.


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## JSB99 (Jun 2, 2010)

NLXSK1 said:


> I am not sure if this is the most simple way.... However.
> 
> You can connect a 5 gallon or larger container using tubing at the (base) of the 5 gallon bucket and the (base) of the humidifier.
> 
> ...


Running a water line to my humidifier is a little more than what I was planning. I was looking for more of a passive system.

I could also add a container and join them, but then I'm limited to the height on the humidifier reservoir.

There's a vacuum between the reservoir and the humidifier. When enough water has been used, it creates negative pressure in the reservoir and air bubbles up to fill that void. If you break the seal (say by drilling a hole in the reservoir), the water will seep out heavily where the reservoir sits on the humidifier.

My original concept was to maintain the vacuum between the reservoir and the 5-gallon bucket. When I tried this, water seeped out of the humidifier as if the vacuum had been broken. I don't know if there's a balance between the reservoir and the humidifier, but it seems the vacuum only works with the original reservoir.

Now, the above is a sealed system, but there's another method that allows for a large reservoir. This would be a dog water bowl with the 3 - 5 gallon jug on the back. The water in the bowl only fills to the point where the opening on the upside down jug touches the top of the water in the bowl. If Spot drinks some of the water, the water in the bowl drops, the seal is broken between the reservoir and the water, air bubbles fill up the void in the jug, and water pours out of the jug until the water in the bowl creates the seal once again. This is like magic to me because you have this water jug that sits higher than the bowl, yet water pressure (or magic) prevents all that water from flowing out of the bottom of the bowl. Water coolers work the same way.


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## Dirty Harry (Jun 2, 2010)

Try using one of these...
http://www.bghydro.com/BGH/itemdesc.asp?ic=HPMFV14&eq=&Tp=

When the water gets low in your gal res. it will let water flow until it is topped off. Just like how a toilet works. Your extra res needs to be a little higher than the smaller one.


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## ryebread (Nov 3, 2012)

Hey bro did you ever figure this out? I tried to do the exact same thing not realizing the vaccum phenomenon and also thinking about the dog bowl. What I did was put a 5 gal bucket with aquarium hosing to a cool mist and an ultrasonic humidifier so that both were fed by the 5 gal bucket and lo and behold both flooded. I know I can make a diy humidifier with an inline fan, float valve, and ultrasonic fogger but I would like to make this work before i give up and move on to that


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## ryebread (Nov 4, 2012)

JSB99 said:


> I have an ultrasonic cool mist humidifier that I use to help keep my room cool.
> 
> It has a one gallon water reservoir and it'll run a day between fills. What I want to do is have a 5-gallon bucket continuously feed the humidifier reservoir so I only have to fill it once a week.
> 
> ...


Hey bro did you ever figure this out? I tried to do the exact same thing not realizing the vaccum phenomenon and also thinking about the dog bowl. What I did was put a 5 gal bucket with aquarium hosing to a cool mist and an ultrasonic humidifier so that both were fed by the 5 gal bucket and lo and behold both flooded. I know I can make a diy humidifier with an inline fan, float valve, and ultrasonic fogger but I would like to make this work before i give up and move on to that


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## Dirty Harry (Nov 4, 2012)

If you have room in the humidifier tank, install one of those small float valves used to turn off an RO machine when the barrel is full. Set the bucket up a little higher than the tank. When the tank level drops, the valve will open, gravity will let water drop, and will close when water pushes the float up. Put in some type of quick disconnect on the line if you will want to separate them again.


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## ryebread (Nov 6, 2012)

Dirty Harry said:


> If you have room in the humidifier tank, install one of those small float valves used to turn off an RO machine when the barrel is full. Set the bucket up a little higher than the tank. When the tank level drops, the valve will open, gravity will let water drop, and will close when water pushes the float up. Put in some type of quick disconnect on the line if you will want to separate them again.


thanks for the input bro. yeah i'm def gonna try the float valve for the dyi humidifier sitch.. i don't think i can fit one in the reservoir unless i find a smaller one or make one but thats interesting.. just wondering if it would break the vacuum in the res and make it overflow again? I'm working on a idea I got from the shroomery I'll post if it works out well


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## Dirty Harry (Nov 7, 2012)

ryebread said:


> thanks for the input bro. yeah i'm def gonna try the float valve for the dyi humidifier sitch.. i don't think i can fit one in the reservoir unless i find a smaller one or make one but thats interesting.. just wondering if it would break the vacuum in the res and make it overflow again? I'm working on a idea I got from the shroomery I'll post if it works out well


With a small float valve, there is no vacuum. The float is either open or closed. If open, gravity will allow water to flow if your bucket is higher that the reservoir. If the valve is closed, the pressure of the water in the reservoir pushing it up seals the valve. It is the same principle of the ball cock valve in older toilets.
Something like this, I have seen them with smaller floats. Google around.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7zhPYI-cYQ


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## ASMALLVOICE (Nov 7, 2012)

Dirty Harry said:


> With a small float valve, there is no vacuum. The float is either open or closed. If open, gravity will allow water to flow if your bucket is higher that the reservoir. If the valve is closed, the pressure of the water in the reservoir pushing it up seals the valve. It is the same principle of the ball cock valve in older toilets.
> Something like this, I have seen them with smaller floats. Google around.
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7zhPYI-cYQ


I agree 100%^^^ using a mechanical means ( float driven valve ) is far better than relying on physics to deal with water, the crap is so lazy, yet so powerful....I like it 

Peace

Asmallvoice


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## Lcstyle (Feb 10, 2014)

JSB99 said:


> I have an ultrasonic cool mist humidifier that I use to help keep my room cool.
> 
> It has a one gallon water reservoir and it'll run a day between fills. What I want to do is have a 5-gallon bucket continuously feed the humidifier reservoir so I only have to fill it once a week.
> 
> ...


Hi all,

Sorry for bumping such an old thread. Thing is, when I was searching for a solution to my problem, this thread popped up, and I'd like to post a solution to it here in case anyone else searching finds this thread as well.

So, the solution is to draw a vacuum on the tank that you are trying to fill before you start trying to fill it. The problem is that you need to remove the air from the tank before you can fill it, as air does have a volume. Without "creating space" by removing the air first, your tank won't fill, and instead will just overflow out the bottom of anything that might be gravity fed.

The solution is discussed in detail here: 
http://forums.adafruit.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=49627&p=250085


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