Apex ATK ?

[Shunopoli]

I am a little confused on the ATK. I just bought an apex and the atk and I think i have everything setup. I have the ATK set to auto but what should the high and low sense switches show? When water level is normal they both show open greyed out ? Is that what the switches show?

 

[SuncrestReef]

Normal water level is when the lower sensor is Closed, and the upper sensor is Open. Once the lower sensor is Open (meaning water is below the lower sensor) then the PMUP will turn on until the lower sensor is wet (Closed) again. But keep in mind it only runs once per 60 minutes, so there can be a long delay between when you first see the low water before the pump turns on

Read through my ATK Tutorial. It explains all of this along with a detailed analysis of each line of programming: https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/neptu...torials-part-3-automatic-top-off-kit-atk.692/

 

[Shunopoli]

Normal water level is when the lower sensor is Closed, and the upper sensor is Open. Once the lower sensor is Open (meaning water is below the lower sensor) then the PMUP will turn on until the lower sensor is wet (Closed) again. But keep in mind it only runs once per 60 minutes, so there can be a long delay between when you first see the low water before the pump turns on

Read through my ATK Tutorial. It explains all of this along with a detailed analysis of each line of programming: https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/neptu...torials-part-3-automatic-top-off-kit-atk.692/

So what does this mean? My water level is good on my lower sensor where it does not need water. But the atk on the right is auto

 

[Shunopoli]

So what does this mean? My water level is good on my lower sensor where it does not need water. But the atk on the right is auto

But my switches still say open on the left

 

[bobssecrtsn]

It means water isn’t touching your low sensor and the pump should be turning itself on, do you have everything connected correctly ? And set up right ?

 

[SuncrestReef]

The ATK slider must always be set to AUTO. If it's moved to OFF or ON, then the Apex is no longer in control of the output and all programming is ignored. Those settings are referred to as "Manual OFF" and "Manual ON". While it's in AUTO, the output's current state is indicated by the smaller "ON" or "OFF" text above the slider at the upper right:

As I explained in my tutorial, when the lower sensor reads CLOSED, then the ATK's pump will not run because the lower sensor detects water at the normal level:

When water evaporates, it drops below the lower sensor and it reports OPEN:

This triggers the ATK's pump to turn On, but only if the 60 minutes since the last run has expired.

Again, please read my tutorial because all of this is explained in complete detail, so I shouldn't need to he-hash it here for you.

 

[Shunopoli]

I will an please forgive my ignorance, but in the timing of me typing this my dashboard went to this now and I have not touched anything.

 

[SuncrestReef]

I will an please forgive my ignorance, but in the timing of me typing this my dashboard went to this now and I have not touched anything.

You also need to understand that there's a delay of between 30 - 60 seconds for the Fusion dashboard to update the display, so what you're seeing on your screen can be up to 1 minute behind. Your pump could have turned on, refilling the tank until the lower sensor reads CLOSED, but you'll still think it reads OPEN because Fusion hasn't reacted to the change yet. Again, this is something I explained in the tutorial.

 

[Shunopoli]

You also need to understand that there's a delay of between 30 - 60 seconds for the Fusion dashboard to update the display, so what you're seeing on your screen can be up to 1 minute behind. Your pump could have turned on, refilling the tank until the lower sensor reads CLOSED, but you'll still think it reads OPEN because Fusion hasn't reacted to the change yet. Again, this is something I explained in the tutorial.

Noted! I will read your detailed explanation as this is the first I have seen that documentation before I bought it. I was just trying to get a quick explanation and I feel you in that you are preaching and I apologize for that, but thank you for responding. I was just trying not to flood my house. My tank is still cycling and just trying to get everything setup.

 

[K7BMG]

Yes I had the same issue, but not out of the box.
My ATK worked for about two months.
Water level was between the optical sensors and yet the switches both said open. The ATK did not run.
Cleaned the optical sensors, switched the positions on the module and the mount, nothing. Still showed open out of the water or both submerged.
Reset the Apex and nothing ATK just quit working.
So I dumped it and bought a tunze.

Some things on the Apex just are not worth it.
First failure is the salinity probes.

 

[K7BMG]

My Trident is flawless and works perfectly so far.
Knock on wood it will stay that way.

 

[SuncrestReef]

Noted! I will read your detailed explanation as this is the first I have seen that documentation before I bought it. I was just trying to get a quick explanation and I feel you in that you are preaching and I apologize for that, but thank you for responding. I was just trying not to flood my house. My tank is still cycling and just trying to get everything setup.

Sorry, I don't me to "preach". I put many hours into documenting best practices for Apex programming in my 8-part tutorial series, but it's frustrating when I point people to my tutorials but they don't bother to read them and instead post the same questions over and over. No offense to you personally, it's just a frequent pattern I see in these forums.

 

[Shunopoli]

Yes I had the same issue, but not out of the box.
My ATK worked for about two months.
Water level was between the optical sensors and yet the switches both said open. The ATK did not run.
Cleaned the optical sensors, switched the positions on the module and the mount, nothing. Still showed open out of the water or both submerged.
Reset the Apex and nothing ATK just quit working.
So I dumped it and bought a tunze.

Some things on the Apex just are not worth it.
First failure is the salinity probes.

Don't get me going on the salinity, I have tried to calibrate that and need to order more solution already. And I just bought this today. The PH worked just fine, but the salinity I could not get calibrated

 

[SuncrestReef]

Yes I had the same issue, but not out of the box.
My ATK worked for about two months.
Water level was between the optical sensors and yet the switches both said open. The ATK did not run.
Cleaned the optical sensors, switched the positions on the module and the mount, nothing. Still showed open out of the water or both submerged.
Reset the Apex and nothing ATK just quit working.
So I dumped it and bought a tunze.

Some things on the Apex just are not worth it.
First failure is the salinity probes.

Did you ever go into the FMM module to confirm it still detected both sensors as "Optical Sensors", and confirm the optical sensor plugs were firmly seated in the FMM sockets? You need to push them in really hard because they frequently are not fully seated.

 

[Shunopoli]

Sorry, I don't me to "preach". I put many hours into documenting best practices for Apex programming in my 8-part tutorial series, but it's frustrating when I point people to my tutorials but they don't bother to read them and instead post the same questions over and over. No offense to you personally, it's just a frequent pattern I see in these forums.

I completely understand. Trust me I would not of posted this if I saw that tutorial. I read and watched a lot videos on the ATK before I bought, I just don't know why my sensors are showing what they are right now. No in this setting they are both open

 

[Shunopoli]

Did you ever go into the FMM module to confirm it still detected both sensors as "Optical Sensors", and confirm the optical sensor plugs were firmly seated in the FMM sockets? You need to push them in really hard because they frequently are not fully seated.

yes, I read that you need to hear the click

 

[Shunopoli]

Did you ever go into the FMM module to confirm it still detected both sensors as "Optical Sensors", and confirm the optical sensor plugs were firmly seated in the FMM sockets? You need to push them in really hard because they frequently are not fully seated.

I just checked now and yes

 

[SuncrestReef]

Don't get me going on the salinity, I have tried to calibrate that and need to order more solution already. And I just bought this today. The PH worked just fine, but the salinity I could not get calibrated

The most common problem with the Apex salinity probe is bubbles inside the tube. I found that mounting it fully submerged upside down eliminates the chance of bubbles accumulating inside the probe, and mine has been reading consistently for 2 years now. I also calibrate it upside down inside a probe storage bottle so no bubbles can interfere with the calibration process. If you don't have a probe storage bottle, you can achieve the same result using a small plastic bag with a rubber band around the probe to hold the calibration fluid while you tip the probe upside down.

 

[K7BMG]

Did you ever go into the FMM module to confirm it still detected both sensors as "Optical Sensors", and confirm the optical sensor plugs were firmly seated in the FMM sockets? You need to push them in really hard because they frequently are not fully seated.

I dont want to hijack this persons post.

Yes I tried everthing I could think of.
Plus found info here on R2R and tryed a few things to no avail.
Have not seen your stuff though, maybe I will give it a look.

Looked at the fmm settings many times.
Unplugged the sensors from the module. Confirmed they were gone, plugged back in and the came back up.
Set the unit up through the tasks and never did any alterations to the programing, left it all Apex default.
It just stopped working one day.
I was like why is my overflow so loud? Well the atk was not working.
Water was low and my salinity was rising.
I could manually turn the pump on and off in Fusion, so I know the pump works. I was using that to top off the water. Pulled it when the Tunze got here and have never looked back.

 

[Shunopoli]

I dont want to hijack this persons post.

Yes I tried everthing I could think of.
Plus found info here on R2R and tryed a few things to no avail.
Have not seen your stuff though, maybe I will give it a look.

Looked at the fmm settings many times.
Unplugged the sensors from the module. Confirmed they were gone, plugged back in and the came back up.
Set the unit up through the tasks and never did any alterations to the programing, left it all Apex default.
It just stopped working one day.
I was like why is my overflow so loud? Well the atk was not working.
Water was low and my salinity was rising.
I could manually turn the pump on and off in Fusion, so I know the pump works. I was using that to top off the water. Pulled it when the Tunze got here and have never looked back.

I am going to give the Apex a little more chance cause I have yet to fully get more than 8 hours of knowing what it's going to do. I feel it more user error than anything. I am not an idiot and am a computer engineer, but with every new application there is a learning curve. Just have to understand the language