Apex MXM light schedule not working??

[Reefing.with.Rich]

I set up my light schedule for my radions using the MXM but it’s doing nothing
I can set them both to “auto” or “on” and they don’t follow the schedule I created

Who here can help out

I have my lights set to turn off at 11pm but they kind of dim down but they don’t turn off

What am I doing wrong?

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

What color are the buttons on the radion?

Did you create a fallback in mobius?

Can younpost a screen shot of the light schedule in fusion?

 

[Reefing.with.Rich]

What color are the buttons on the radion?

Did you create a fallback in mobius?

Can younpost a screen shot of the light schedule in fusion?

Buttons are white
Yes I have a fallback in mobius

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

And moving the slider to on doesn't turn the lights on? Give it 30nseconds to catch up.

 

[Reefing.with.Rich]

And moving the slider to on doesn't turn the lights on? Give it 30nseconds to catch up.

They lights come on
But they stay on
They don’t follow the schedule
They are supposed to turn off at 11 and they don’t

And I actually just turned them on and they are very dim and then 30 seconds later they brighten up, and then another 30 seconds they dim back down and it goes back and forth.
Makes no sense

 

[Ruinsedge]

Same here.
Can turn it off and on with the virtual outlet but it wont follow any schedule. I can do a simple off on schedule and it just stays on. Just runs on the last intensity it seems.

 

[o2manyfish]

My MXM arrived 2 weeks ago and it's a huge dissappointment. This should be considered an alpha test product. I have 12 Radion G6 XR30 Pros. It turns the lights on/off in groups of 2 to 4 - And the lights aren't grouped. The Groups come on at different color temps.

I found that if I unplug the MXM module after the lighting schedule starts for 10 secs then plug it back in the lights work beautifully for the next 12 hours.

I just ordered a relay system to automate resetting the MXM module everyday so that the lights come on. What a big piece of Dingo Litter.

Dave B

 

[Reefing.with.Rich]

My MXM arrived 2 weeks ago and it's a huge dissappointment. This should be considered an alpha test product. I have 12 Radion G6 XR30 Pros. It turns the lights on/off in groups of 2 to 4 - And the lights aren't grouped. The Groups come on at different color temps.

I found that if I unplug the MXM module after the lighting schedule starts for 10 secs then plug it back in the lights work beautifully for the next 12 hours.

I just ordered a relay system to automate resetting the MXM module everyday so that the lights come on. What a big piece of Dingo Litter.

Dave B

Yes huge disappointment and I now see why I see so many people selling them
And I’m about to join that group as well
Mobius is fantastic

 

[Ruinsedge]

I put a support ticket in but not amused. Just came today. Programmed her up and lights went past schedule.

 

[Ruinsedge]

I set up my light schedule for my radions using the MXM but it’s doing nothing
I can set them both to “auto” or “on” and they don’t follow the schedule I created

Who here can help out

I have my lights set to turn off at 11pm but they kind of dim down but they don’t turn off

What am I doing wrong?

I just found out what mines doing. It's working 100% except the time is off 2.5 hours give or take. It's running my schedule just not when it SHOULD be.

After finding out the time difference and adjusting my fusion programming off by that amount of time it did what it was supposed to do.


This...is...bonkers...
Checked time in Mobius and apex. All good.

 

[Ruinsedge]

Last checkin. My apex time and local time were off by 2 hours and not synced. That was my issue.

 

[BroccoliFarmer]

I am so glad I didnt buy this piece. I was originally excited but seems like just another wonkey toy.

 

[o2manyfish]

Well I think I have a solution for my issues with the MXM module. My module stops working after 12 hours or whenever the lighting schedule restarts. Light groups (not created by me) would turn on and off at several min increments but at no time did I ever have 12 lights on at the same time.

I found that if I reset the MXM module, plug/unplug, then the MXM module kicked in within about 30 seconds and everything worked as it should.

So I have build the MXM point of sale FIXER Module. And you can build one too. It's fairly simple, requires only a couple of tools, and the parts were less that $30.

Here are the parts:

The Parts list is (2) 110VAC 4PST Relays ($9), 1 Set of USB A to Block Terminals ($9), 1 Project Box ($13), Some spare wire, 1 old electrical cord.

Tools Needed - Wire stripper, Phillips Screw Driver, couple of zip ties.

The relays are 4 Pole single throw. They have a NC (Normally Closed) and a NO (Normally Open position). We are going to connect the USB/Aquabus cable wires to the NC poles. This way the wires are always connected and the module is always on. When we apply power to the relay (using an Apex EB8 outlet to Reset it's own dumb module) the relay activates and severs the connection within the Aquabus/USB cable.

There are 5 conductors within a USB/Aquabus cable. I am sure if you spent some tinker time you could figure out which wires carry the aquabus power and just interrupt those 2 wires. But Neptune is so finicky and the purchase of the relay came with 2 relays that I decided to interrupt all 5 wires.

Printed on the Relay is a map of the wiring for the relay. Using a Giant Magnifying glass my old eyes followed the #s and connected all the NC poles of the relays. Using the different colored wire makes keeping it straight easier. There is almost no power on these wires so you can use fairly thin wire for this task.

I looped the wires from the Input Pole of the Relay to the NC Pole of the relay for each color to keep things straight during assembly.

Next step is to cut these jumpered wires we installed on the relays in 1/2 and connect them to the USB A to terminal block adaptors.

These lil adaptors come with their own mini screwdriver. Printed on the terminal block end are identifiers for each wire. These identifiers are for a standard USB cable. I don't know what each wire does within an Aquabus cable - but as long as the wire on one side connects to the same wire on the other side of the CUT we have created all will be well.

This is the final device completely wired up. Everything is functional and it could be used just as it sits. Total assembly time, including opening 3 Amazon bags and grabbing a few tools was just under 20 mins to this point.


The next step is optional. It's not needed but it makes for a little cleaner application. I installed the relays into a project box using a single screw and a small piece of din rail that is included with the relays.

I added zip ties to each of the cords. These are going to act as strain reliefs so if you or some mis-behaving child pulls on the wires it doesn't pull the wires out and stops the wire from being yanked out of the project box.


Drilling holes in the lip of the top of the box for the wires to pass thru took the most amount of time and skill. You have to make "U" shaped notches in the top lid of the box as a pass thru for the wire. It's not drilling a hole it's making a channel for the wire to lay in.

Once that part is done all that is left is to put the lid on and tighten 4 screws that lock the box together. I spent another 35 mins fiddling around with a label for the project box:

I have my Radions plugged into controllable outlets. There is no reason for the lights to be on 24/7 and I also have temperature interrupts so that is the tank temp gets too high the lights don't come on or turn off - My 1500g system has 750g outside in the heat of Los Angeles and we get temps up to 118deg. During this time of year sometimes the evaporative cooling struggles to keep things cool and we keep the lights off to be safe.

The MXM-point of sale Fixer module is plugged into an empty EB8 outlet.

The code for the outlet is

SET OFF
IF OUTPUT RADION_LT1 ON THEN ON
DEFER 00:05 THEN OFF

I may have to work on the outlet programming a lil more to dial in when the module is switched ON (which is actually turning the MXM off). I have 12 Radions on 6 different outlets and they are all staggered to turn on a minute apart so as to not put too much load on anything if they all turn on at the same time. The 6 outlets are spread across 3 EB832.


If you want to steal the label I made for mine - Go Ahead. Or Ask and I will send you a clean copy you can print for yourself--- LOL


Dave B

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

That is a bit overboard. But I get the frustration.

You should've been able to get away with just one relay to kill the positive. The negative and the rx/tx doesn't need to be severed.

 

[Reefing.with.Rich]

Well I think I have a solution for my issues with the MXM module. My module stops working after 12 hours or whenever the lighting schedule restarts. Light groups (not created by me) would turn on and off at several min increments but at no time did I ever have 12 lights on at the same time.

I found that if I reset the MXM module, plug/unplug, then the MXM module kicked in within about 30 seconds and everything worked as it should.

So I have build the MXM point of sale FIXER Module. And you can build one too. It's fairly simple, requires only a couple of tools, and the parts were less that $30.

Here are the parts:

The Parts list is (2) 110VAC 4PST Relays ($9), 1 Set of USB A to Block Terminals ($9), 1 Project Box ($13), Some spare wire, 1 old electrical cord.

Tools Needed - Wire stripper, Phillips Screw Driver, couple of zip ties.

The relays are 4 Pole single throw. They have a NC (Normally Closed) and a NO (Normally Open position). We are going to connect the USB/Aquabus cable wires to the NC poles. This way the wires are always connected and the module is always on. When we apply power to the relay (using an Apex EB8 outlet to Reset it's own dumb module) the relay activates and severs the connection within the Aquabus/USB cable.

There are 5 conductors within a USB/Aquabus cable. I am sure if you spent some tinker time you could figure out which wires carry the aquabus power and just interrupt those 2 wires. But Neptune is so finicky and the purchase of the relay came with 2 relays that I decided to interrupt all 5 wires.

Printed on the Relay is a map of the wiring for the relay. Using a Giant Magnifying glass my old eyes followed the #s and connected all the NC poles of the relays. Using the different colored wire makes keeping it straight easier. There is almost no power on these wires so you can use fairly thin wire for this task.

I looped the wires from the Input Pole of the Relay to the NC Pole of the relay for each color to keep things straight during assembly.

Next step is to cut these jumpered wires we installed on the relays in 1/2 and connect them to the USB A to terminal block adaptors.

These lil adaptors come with their own mini screwdriver. Printed on the terminal block end are identifiers for each wire. These identifiers are for a standard USB cable. I don't know what each wire does within an Aquabus cable - but as long as the wire on one side connects to the same wire on the other side of the CUT we have created all will be well.

This is the final device completely wired up. Everything is functional and it could be used just as it sits. Total assembly time, including opening 3 Amazon bags and grabbing a few tools was just under 20 mins to this point.


The next step is optional. It's not needed but it makes for a little cleaner application. I installed the relays into a project box using a single screw and a small piece of din rail that is included with the relays.

I added zip ties to each of the cords. These are going to act as strain reliefs so if you or some mis-behaving child pulls on the wires it doesn't pull the wires out and stops the wire from being yanked out of the project box.


Drilling holes in the lip of the top of the box for the wires to pass thru took the most amount of time and skill. You have to make "U" shaped notches in the top lid of the box as a pass thru for the wire. It's not drilling a hole it's making a channel for the wire to lay in.

Once that part is done all that is left is to put the lid on and tighten 4 screws that lock the box together. I spent another 35 mins fiddling around with a label for the project box:

I have my Radions plugged into controllable outlets. There is no reason for the lights to be on 24/7 and I also have temperature interrupts so that is the tank temp gets too high the lights don't come on or turn off - My 1500g system has 750g outside in the heat of Los Angeles and we get temps up to 118deg. During this time of year sometimes the evaporative cooling struggles to keep things cool and we keep the lights off to be safe.

The MXM-point of sale Fixer module is plugged into an empty EB8 outlet.

The code for the outlet is

SET OFF
IF OUTPUT RADION_LT1 ON THEN ON
DEFER 00:05 THEN OFF

I may have to work on the outlet programming a lil more to dial in when the module is switched ON (which is actually turning the MXM off). I have 12 Radions on 6 different outlets and they are all staggered to turn on a minute apart so as to not put too much load on anything if they all turn on at the same time. The 6 outlets are spread across 3 EB832.


If you want to steal the label I made for mine - Go Ahead. Or Ask and I will send you a clean copy you can print for yourself--- LOL


Dave B

Hopefully you sent Neptune the bill because there’s no reason people should have to modify this point of sale to operate correctly
Shout out for actually letting us know what worked for you

 

[PigPen84]

Ive had my MXM for about 2 weeks now and up to this point, I haven’t had problem with it. My 3 XR 30’s and 5 Nero 7s are working on my schedule as expected to this point, but all these post have me worried that one night I’ll walk out there and my lights will be one when they aren’t suppose to be lol

 

[o2manyfish]

That is a bit overboard. But I get the frustration.

You should've been able to get away with just one relay to kill the positive. The negative and the rx/tx doesn't need to be severed.

I probably could have, but the data on the Aquabus is such a mess I didn't want there to be chance me unpowering the MXM module it sends some wonky signal to reset my pump timers. It was a few more strips of wire to be sure it's entirely disconnected.

Dave B

 

[o2manyfish]

Hopefully you sent Neptune the bill because there’s no reason people should have to modify this point of sale to operate correctly
Shout out for actually letting us know what worked for you

I learned along time ago to not rely on my Apex system. When I trust I have catastrophic losses. My Apex is basically a really cool timer system for a bunch of non-critical parts of my system. And a monitor to let me know that the critical parts are all working properly.

I went so far as to investing $1000s of dollars in a PLC system and sensors to build my own Rock solid controller. I was able to monitor temp (6), ph (6), salinity (3), orp, CO2 Pressure at CO2 Tank, Co2 Pressure at Calc Rx. But when it got to programming a usable interface it was too much for me. So it all sits in a box.

As a friend once told me I can't continue to complain about something if I keep buying into the dream.

With the MXM module what I really wanted was a feature I built into my old WXM module where I push a button on the stand and all the Radions go deep disco blue. I push another button and the whites come up for taking photos. And when the Apex thinks there is a problem with the system it turns the end of the tank to a dark red to let me know I should check on the system.

When buying the MXM module I only wanted an interface to make my Radions more user friendly. It's my own fault for investing in another product that I know is going to frustrate me. I can't send them a bill for my own stupidity.

Dave B

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

With the MXM module what I really wanted was a feature I built into my old WXM module where I push a button on the stand and all the Radions go deep disco blue. I push another button and the whites come up for taking photos. And when the Apex thinks there is a problem with the system it turns the end of the tank to a dark red to let me know I should check on the system.

Are you saying that you can't do this with mxm?

I haven't messed with profiles in a long time, let alone getting g5s and g6s to do anything other than run a schedule.

I'd be interested to know if this is still possible??

 

[o2manyfish]

Are you saying that you can't do this with mxm?

I haven't messed with profiles in a long time, let alone getting g5s and g6s to do anything other than run a schedule.

I'd be interested to know if this is still possible??

Yes! With the MXM you can use profile and BOB switches and probes to trigger profiles. If you can keep the MXM operating

Dave B