Apex why has thou forsaken me

[RamsReef]

A very smart man was once in this position, lol...

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/t...ghl-and-a-tank-expansion.398664/#post-4798391

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/considering-a-change-from-apex-to-ghl.390228/

LOL

 

[BoomCorals]

As a side note I was reminded why ‘Fallback OFF’ is so important for certain devices.

Before I headed to the store to get the new apex, I unplugged anything I could think of that would cause problems. I forgot the dosers in the QT. They faithfully kept dosing as told by the eb8 as I hadn’t set the fallback correctly.

By the time I noticed what was going on the QT looked like this.

Precipitation city. ALK was off the charts!

Fortunately I only had a couple non sensitive coral and fish in it at the time, so water change and setting up dosers on the new apex were all that was needed to correct.

 

[RamsReef]

Yep I fallback off and set off by default.

 

[Superdad4]

Lets set the stage. I like to save the environment and my pocketbook so I commute to my day job via bus. It is a stress free ride to work, but the bus only runs during rush hours. If you need to go home in the middle of the day, you'll need another option.

Shorty after arriving to work, I get an apex alert that an eb8 has lost power. I check a couple IP cameras on the tanks and can see power is still on at the house, but everything controlled by the apex is off. This includes the all important return pump. I call a buddy to ask if he is available to stop and checkout what's going on. He stops by a half hour later and says, one GFCI has been blown and one of the 20 amp circuits that controls the hydronic heat of the house (and aquarium) is blown. I ask him to reset the GFCI and tripped circuit. Everything comes back online and I can see the aquarium heat kicks on. What a relief.

30 min later. It happens again.



This time I was watching the apex, and it seemed to giving me screams for help before the GFCI gave it the relief it wanted and cut the power. Although I’m not an electrician, seeing readings of amps spike to 74 were enough to make me call an Uber to head home and take a look at what was going on myself. This time when the apex came back online, it had lost all the programming. I spent the next couple hours troubleshooting and attempting to restore the settings from backup, only to lose all faith that it was in good working order. I called my LFS BestFish and explained my situation and asked if they had a new Apex in stock that I could come pickup immediately. They did! I spent the next 4 hours or so setting up and reprogramming the many components that were run by the Apex.

I now see the downfall first hand of a monolithic aquarium control system. It’s so convenient to have everything controlled in one place, but can be catastrophic if something goes very wrong in the main “brain”. That said, I just love it too much to give up! I decided to setup another apex just to monitor my system and send me notification if something is wrong with the first. If nothing else it gives me piece of mind.

Wow, what an adventure you had! So, do you currently have 2 (two) Apexs (Apexi?) connected to your system?

 

[Bob Escher]

Lets set the stage. I like to save the environment and my pocketbook so I commute to my day job via bus. It is a stress free ride to work, but the bus only runs during rush hours. If you need to go home in the middle of the day, you'll need another option.

Shorty after arriving to work, I get an apex alert that an eb8 has lost power. I check a couple IP cameras on the tanks and can see power is still on at the house, but everything controlled by the apex is off. This includes the all important return pump. I call a buddy to ask if he is available to stop and checkout what's going on. He stops by a half hour later and says, one GFCI has been blown and one of the 20 amp circuits that controls the hydronic heat of the house (and aquarium) is blown. I ask him to reset the GFCI and tripped circuit. Everything comes back online and I can see the aquarium heat kicks on. What a relief.

30 min later. It happens again.



This time I was watching the apex, and it seemed to giving me screams for help before the GFCI gave it the relief it wanted and cut the power. Although I’m not an electrician, seeing readings of amps spike to 74 were enough to make me call an Uber to head home and take a look at what was going on myself. This time when the apex came back online, it had lost all the programming. I spent the next couple hours troubleshooting and attempting to restore the settings from backup, only to lose all faith that it was in good working order. I called my LFS BestFish and explained my situation and asked if they had a new Apex in stock that I could come pickup immediately. They did! I spent the next 4 hours or so setting up and reprogramming the many components that were run by the Apex.

I now see the downfall first hand of a monolithic aquarium control system. It’s so convenient to have everything controlled in one place, but can be catastrophic if something goes very wrong in the main “brain”. That said, I just love it too much to give up! I decided to setup another apex just to monitor my system and send me notification if something is wrong with the first. If nothing else it gives me piece of mind.

But was it the Brain of the GCFI that was bad? By the way you could always call me I got a car to run down and check it out for you

 

[BoomCorals]

Wow, what an adventure you had! So, do you currently have 2 (two) Apexs (Apexi?) connected to your system?

Yes Adventure! I was exhausted but happy I escaped without casualties.

And yup. Two Apex now. One is mostly just monitoring

 

[BoomCorals]

But was it the Brain of the GCFI that was bad? By the way you could always call me I got a car to run down and check it out for you

I appreciate that Bob! I think it was the apex lite main going bad. More info, it reset a couple times in the middle of the night a few days earlier. 3 am I went down to the fish room to see what was going on but couldn’t see anything off. I think this was the beginning of the end of the apex brain.

 

[RamsReef]

Is everything working now Boom?

 

[BoomCorals]

Is everything working now Boom?

Yup no problems on the new apex. It’s been running since thanksgiving.

 

[RamsReef]

Good to hear.

 

[Bob Escher]

As a side note I was reminded why ‘Fallback OFF’ is so important for certain devices.

Before I headed to the store to get the new apex, I unplugged anything I could think of that would cause problems. I forgot the dosers in the QT. They faithfully kept dosing as told by the eb8 as I hadn’t set the fallback correctly.

By the time I noticed what was going on the QT looked like this.

Precipitation city. ALK was off the charts!

Fortunately I only had a couple non sensitive coral and fish in it at the time, so water change and setting up dosers on the new apex were all that was needed to correct.

UGH UGH

 

[Breadman03]

@BoomCorals, I once saw similar spikes and had Apex issues similar to what you saw, though the programming stayed intact. I found that one of the seals on my UV was slightly leaking and the moisture was causing a short from the UV bulb connector to the tank water. In your investigations, I would carefully inspect everywhere that water and electricity might come into contact.

 

[BoomCorals]

@BoomCorals, I once saw similar spikes and had Apex issues similar to what you saw, though the programming stayed intact. I found that one of the seals on my UV was slightly leaking and the moisture was causing a short from the UV bulb connector to the tank water. In your investigations, I would carefully inspect everywhere that water and electricity might come into contact.

Thanks for the note. I agree it’s most likely a short. In the past, I’ve blown the GFCI getting water on something I shouldn’t. This time I didn’t see anything in contact with water and I don’t run UV or electric heaters. It’s still possible something like a powerhead was causing it, so far I haven’t seen the issues with the new apex head unit but I’m staying vigilant.

 

[mtraylor]

Mine failed the same way. It was a classic. One db8 kept its controls. The other just went dead and all components went to off.

I replaxed with Apex. I was under impression that db8's would hold programming on each unit. Fwiw. I run my return pump on its own outlet so its not effected.

 

[Peanut]

if you call neptune and tell them you own an apex and want an additional unit to be used as a backup, they will sell it to you at a discount.

 

[Mark Gray]

I have both my Apex away from both tanks, I do not have ether on GFIC circuits. but I keep both on a Battery backup system. This is not really to keep it on in case of a power loss but it keeps my incoming power good to my Apex. Brown outs and surges are both bad for your system, Did you figure out for sure what happened?

 

[BoomCorals]

I have both my Apex away from both tanks, I do not have ether on GFIC circuits. but I keep both on a Battery backup system. This is not really to keep it on in case of a power loss but it keeps my incoming power good to my Apex. Brown outs and surges are both bad for your system, Did you figure out for sure what happened?

I haven't found a smoking gun. I really think the apex shorted out. It was in my fish room which is hot and humid for close to four years.

 

[Mark Gray]

I haven't found a smoking gun. I really think the apex shorted out. It was in my fish room which is hot and humid for close to four years.

Well 8f I were you I would send it to Neptune and see what they say.

 

[BoomCorals]

Well 8f I were you I would send it to Neptune and see what they say.

I don’t think the lite is supported any longer. I don’t feel like it owes me anything though; it worked well for years and nothing lasts forever.