Kingspan septic tank not working

[fixitflav]

Dam that doesnt sound great! Thanks very much for the reply.

If the bleach is the usual chlorine-based stuff, sodium bisulphite will neutralise it. But you need to get disc turning for a while and see what happens.

 

[ianmcd]

http://facilities-med.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2011/12/Information-about-Bleach-Neutralizers.pdf

 

[mdbalson]

View attachment 159093 Sorry about that here is another photo

Could the supply to this DB be controlled by a timeclock or light sensor and only be on at night, as all the other mcbs supply outside lights.
It could be that the DB is not powered up at the moment in the daytime.
Check if the lights powered off this DB are working at the moment

 

[fixitflav]

http://facilities-med.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2011/12/Information-about-Bleach-Neutralizers.pdf

That's useful. As a bit of background, sodium metabisulphite, sodium thiosulphate, sodium sulphite, and sodium bisulphite, all have sulphur dioxide as the active agent. On a large scale eg water treatment plants, sulphur dioxide is often used as a gas from cylinders.

 

[ub7rm]

Throw a few dead cats in it .That'll get it going again

 

[endecotp]

sodium metabisulphite, sodium thiosulphate, sodium sulphite, and sodium bisulphite, all have sulphur dioxide as the active agent.

I don’t recommend experimenting with any of these chemicals in this case.

However for the record I believe that sodium bisulphite, reacted with bleach, will release sulphur dioxide gas. Yes it will have got rid of the chlorine, but sulphur dioxide is also toxic and not going to do any good to your septic tank’s microbes.

On the other hand, reacting sodium thiosulphate with bleach will produce only salt and sodium sulphate.

Unfortunately, bleach is a mixture that also contains significant sodium hydroxide so it is strongly alkaline. This alkalinity will be bad for the septic tank too. But attempting to neutralise that by adding acid will cause more of the chlorine to be released.

Do not add any of these chemicals.

 

[securespark]

The Kingspan box.... out of the bottom is a grey flex and a black SWA. I guess the SWA goes to the outside and they grey flex is the feed in?

Where does the grey flex go to?

 

[devs]

the grey flex goes to the smaller consumer board above. I can only assume that the green control unit has failed and not supplying power to the tank.

 

[mdbalson]

Could the supply to this DB be controlled by a timeclock or light sensor and only be on at night, as all the other mcbs supply outside lights.
It could be that the DB is not powered up at the moment in the daytime.
Check if the lights powered off this DB are working at the moment

Have you check the above?

 

[devs]

Ah yes sorry I did check this and the lights are working correctly and didn’t trigger the power to the unit.

 

[mdbalson]

OK, it looks like there could be a fault with the Kingspan box, or a fuse inside the Kingspan box which is blown.

 

[devs]

Thanks, I’ve just isolated the unit and had a quick look inside. There appears to be 4 fuses possibly an extra two hidden behind the display. see second photo.

How can I test if these fuses are blown as they visually appear sound. Many thanks for the help!

 

[fixitflav]

How can I test if these fuses are blown as they visually appear sound.

Multimeter on resistance setting. If you haven't got one, car lamp bulb, some lengths of wire, and test it on your car battery.
It's unlikely the fuses are like 3-pin plug fuses, but if they are you can test by substitution.

 

[fixitflav]

However for the record I believe that sodium bisulphite, reacted with bleach, will release sulphur dioxide gas. Yes it will have got rid of the chlorine, but sulphur dioxide is also toxic and not going to do any good to your septic tank’s microbes.

I can't agree with your chemistry there. Those compounds only release SO2 if strong acid is added - HCl, H2SO4. The reaction with chlorine doesn't release SO2, the chlorine combines with the effective SO2 in the compound, oxidising eg sodium bisulphite to sodium bisulphate (and reducing the chlorine to HCl).
I don't suggest adding bucketfuls of the stuff, try to estimate the amount needed from the amount of bleach used, and start low as some of the chlorine will already have been reduced by the biomass.
In any case, it's no good expecting the kit to work if the biodisc isn't turning, so that needs fixing first of all.

 

[devs]

Thanks guys, this is the inside of the unit. Was meant to post these photos before. Will take another look later when Home.