Avast ATO / Neptune I/O Setup Help

[polyppal]

I picked up an Avast ATO system with the digital output for an Apex. Using the Avast diaphragm pump which plugs into one of the Neptune EB8 24DVC outlets. Cant figure out how to program it in Apex Fusion, not understanding how the switch functions work

Anybody have any experience with this setup on how to program? The pdf instructions from Avast aren't very helpful, I'm guessing they haven't been updated for the current Apex/Fusion

 

[SuncrestReef]

I don't have the Avast ATO, but I do have the Avast Skimmate Locker which has a similar pressure switch. I looked at their ATO documentation and agree it's pretty vague.

If you can describe to me the following, I can probably help you get it set up. If you're not aware, I'm the guy who posted many Apex programming tutorials here on R2R: https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/authors/suncrestreef.93940/

1. Is the ATO switch connected directly to the Apex I/O port using the DIN-6 connector, or is it a 2-wire connection to the Apex Breakout Box? If it's connected to a Breakout Box, which of the 6 inputs is it connected to?

2. What kind of pump are you using? You mentioned it's connected to the 24v port, but you said "EB8" which does not have any 24v port. Perhaps you meant to say "EB832" which does have two 24v ports?

 

[polyppal]

I don't have the Avast ATO, but I do have the Avast Skimmate Locker which has a similar pressure switch. I looked at their ATO documentation and agree it's pretty vague.

If you can describe to me the following, I can probably help you get it set up. If you're not aware, I'm the guy who posted many Apex programming tutorials here on R2R: https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/authors/suncrestreef.93940/

1. Is the ATO switch connected directly to the Apex I/O port using the DIN-6 connector, or is it a 2-wire connection to the Apex Breakout Box? If it's connected to a Breakout Box, which of the 6 inputs is it connected to?

2. What kind of pump are you using? You mentioned it's connected to the 24v port, but you said "EB8" which does not have any 24v port. Perhaps you meant to say "EB832" which does have two 24v ports?

Thanks for the assistance!

1) its the direct i/o version that plugs directly into the connector
2) its the Avast diaphragm pump designed for the ATO. Yeah I mean EB832

Im not experienced in Neptune programming, have found the 'switch' section but cant make any sense of what do to there.

 

[SuncrestReef]

Thanks for the assistance!

1) its the direct i/o version that plugs directly into the connector
2) its the Avast diaphragm pump designed for the ATO. Yeah I mean EB832

Im not experienced in Neptune programming, have found the 'switch' section but cant make any sense of what do to there.

OK. The first step is to determine which 24v port your pump is connected to. The EB832 has two 24v ports. If you look at the System View in Fusion, it will show all your attached modules. Click your EB832 module to expand it, which will then display each of the eight 120v outputs, and the two 24v DC outputs. The two 24v ports will be the first two white nodes at the bottom below the red ones (those are the 120v AC outputs). These can each be renamed, and you should rename the one where you plugged in the pump so you can easily identify it as the ATO pump. The way to tell which one is which is to manually turn them ON and OFF from your dashboard sliders to see which one turns on the pump.

Next, you need to figure out which of the 6 switch inputs on the Apex is used by the Avast connector. I would assume it's switch 1, but this needs to be confirmed. The best way to do this is to configure the programming on the 24v pump output to turn on if a switch is closed:

Set OFF
If Sw1 CLOSED Then ON

If the pressure switch is under water, then it will report OPEN. If the water is low, it will report CLOSED. Enter this programming on the 24v output, and remove the pressure switch from the water, forcing it to report CLOSED. if the pump turns on, you know you have the correct switch. If it doesn't, then change the programming to:

Set OFF
If Sw2 CLOSED Then ON

Repeat this process with Sw3, Sw4, Sw5, Sw6 until you find the one that turns the pump on.

 

[polyppal]

OK. The first step is to determine which 24v port your pump is connected to. The EB832 has two 24v ports. If you look at the System View in Fusion, it will show all your attached modules. Click your EB832 module to expand it, which will then display each of the eight 120v outputs, and the two 24v DC outputs. The two 24v ports will be the first two white nodes at the bottom below the red ones (those are the 120v AT outputs). These can each be renamed, and you should rename the one where you plugged in the pump so you can easily identify it as the ATO pump. The way to tell which one is which is to manually turn them ON and OFF from your dashboard sliders to see which one turns on the pump.

Next, you need to figure out which of the 6 switch inputs on the Apex is used by the Avast connector. I would assume it's switch 1, but this needs to be confirmed. The best way to do this is to configure the programming on the 24v pump output to turn on if a switch is closed:

Set OFF
If Sw1 CLOSED Then ON

If the pressure switch is under water, then it will report OPEN. If the water is low, it will report CLOSED. Enter this programming on the 24v output, and remove the pressure switch from the water, forcing it to report CLOSED. if the pump turns on, you know you have the correct switch. If it doesn't, then change the programming to:

Set OFF
If Sw2 CLOSED Then ON

Repeat this process with Sw3, Sw4, Sw5, Sw6 until you find the one that turns the pump on.

Thanks! I am going to give it some attention in the next few days, this is immensely helpful!

 

[polyppal]

OK. The first step is to determine which 24v port your pump is connected to. The EB832 has two 24v ports. If you look at the System View in Fusion, it will show all your attached modules. Click your EB832 module to expand it, which will then display each of the eight 120v outputs, and the two 24v DC outputs. The two 24v ports will be the first two white nodes at the bottom below the red ones (those are the 120v AC outputs). These can each be renamed, and you should rename the one where you plugged in the pump so you can easily identify it as the ATO pump. The way to tell which one is which is to manually turn them ON and OFF from your dashboard sliders to see which one turns on the pump.

Next, you need to figure out which of the 6 switch inputs on the Apex is used by the Avast connector. I would assume it's switch 1, but this needs to be confirmed. The best way to do this is to configure the programming on the 24v pump output to turn on if a switch is closed:

Set OFF
If Sw1 CLOSED Then ON

If the pressure switch is under water, then it will report OPEN. If the water is low, it will report CLOSED. Enter this programming on the 24v output, and remove the pressure switch from the water, forcing it to report CLOSED. if the pump turns on, you know you have the correct switch. If it doesn't, then change the programming to:

Set OFF
If Sw2 CLOSED Then ON

Repeat this process with Sw3, Sw4, Sw5, Sw6 until you find the one that turns the pump on.

-Edited- Nevermind, got it figured out and working. Thanks for your help!

 

[moreef]

OK. The first step is to determine which 24v port your pump is connected to. The EB832 has two 24v ports. If you look at the System View in Fusion, it will show all your attached modules. Click your EB832 module to expand it, which will then display each of the eight 120v outputs, and the two 24v DC outputs. The two 24v ports will be the first two white nodes at the bottom below the red ones (those are the 120v AC outputs). These can each be renamed, and you should rename the one where you plugged in the pump so you can easily identify it as the ATO pump. The way to tell which one is which is to manually turn them ON and OFF from your dashboard sliders to see which one turns on the pump.

Next, you need to figure out which of the 6 switch inputs on the Apex is used by the Avast connector. I would assume it's switch 1, but this needs to be confirmed. The best way to do this is to configure the programming on the 24v pump output to turn on if a switch is closed:

Set OFF
If Sw1 CLOSED Then ON

If the pressure switch is under water, then it will report OPEN. If the water is low, it will report CLOSED. Enter this programming on the 24v output, and remove the pressure switch from the water, forcing it to report CLOSED. if the pump turns on, you know you have the correct switch. If it doesn't, then change the programming to:

Set OFF
If Sw2 CLOSED Then ON

Repeat this process with Sw3, Sw4, Sw5, Sw6 until you find the one that turns the pump on.

Sorry I know this is old post but trying to program avast ato with apex. If I use

Fallback OFF
Set OFF
If ATO_2 CLOSED Then ON

what happens if communication is lost with apex, will it still turn pump on when switch is closed? The Fallback and Set always confuses me.

 

[SuncrestReef]

Sorry I know this is old post but trying to program avast ato with apex. If I use

Fallback OFF
Set OFF
If ATO_2 CLOSED Then ON

what happens if communication is lost with apex, will it still turn pump on when switch is closed? The Fallback and Set always confuses me.

When communications is lost, the Fallback command is the only thing controlling the output.

 

[moreef]

When communications is lost, the Fallback command is the only thing controlling the output.

Ok so if I want it to run as normal all the time
I should delete the Fallback line? Makes sense Thanks

 

[SuncrestReef]

Ok so if I want it to run as normal all the time
I should delete the Fallback line? Makes sense Thanks

No, I think you're misunderstanding.

When the Apex is operating normally and in communications with the module containing this output, Fallback is completely ignored and has nothing to do with the operation of the output. But if the module gets disconnected from the Apex, or if the Apex is in the process of rebooting, or if the Apex has locked up, then Fallback takes over.

To help illustrate this concept:

During normal Apex operations:
Fallback OFF
Set OFF
If ATO_2 CLOSED Then ON

When there's no Apex communications:
Fallback OFF
Set OFF
If ATO_2 CLOSED Then ON

Since there are some things you never want to let run uncontrolled (for example, a heater without its own thermostat) and other items you want to always keep running if the Apex is down (for example, powerheads for water movement), the Fallback command is used to tell the output what to do in that situation. Think of it as turning into a basic power strip that has manual On/Off buttons. You choose in advance how each output should behave when the Apex is offline by applying Fallback ON or Fallback OFF to each output.

I hope that helps explain it better.

 

[moreef]

No, I think you're misunderstanding.

When the Apex is operating normally and in communications with the module containing this output, Fallback is completely ignored and has nothing to do with the operation of the output. But if the module gets disconnected from the Apex, or if the Apex is in the process of rebooting, or if the Apex has locked up, then Fallback takes over.

To help illustrate this concept:

During normal Apex operations:
Fallback OFF
Set OFF
If ATO_2 CLOSED Then ON

When there's no Apex communications:
Fallback OFF
Set OFF
If ATO_2 CLOSED Then ON

Since there are some things you never want to let run uncontrolled (for example, a heater without its own thermostat) and other items you want to always keep running if the Apex is down (for example, powerheads for water movement), the Fallback command is used to tell the output what to do in that situation. Think of it as turning into a basic power strip that has manual On/Off buttons. You choose in advance how each output should behave when the Apex is offline by applying Fallback ON or Fallback OFF to each output.

I hope that helps explain it better.

I understand the powerhead, return pump example its just confusing if it means that outlet will remain off till comms is back. Im confusing the you know what out of this lol. What would you use?

 

[SuncrestReef]

I understand the powerhead, return pump example its just confusing if it means that outlet will remain off till comms is back. Im confusing the you know what out of this lol. What would you use?

Think of it this way...If you didn't own an Apex and just plugged the device into a regular power strip, would it work the way you want it to, or would it end up creating a water spill to clean up?

If it would work fine without the Apex controlling it, then use Fallback ON.

If it would cause a problem without the Apex controlling it, then use Fallback OFF.

 

[moreef]

Think of it this way...If you didn't own an Apex and just plugged the device into a regular power strip, would it work the way you want it to, or would it end up creating a water spill to clean up?

If it would work fine without the Apex controlling it, then use Fallback ON.

If it would cause a problem without the Apex controlling it, then use Fallback OFF.

Shoot now Im totally confused lol. Im using the digital version plugged into apex outlet for diaphram pump and the ato sensor box is bare wire to bob. I was debating on just going with power supply plug-in for both and bypassing apex. My fear is when my router takes a dump and loses comm with apex will the avast ato still work like normal?

 

[SuncrestReef]

Shoot now Im totally confused lol. Im using the digital version plugged into apex outlet for diaphram pump and the ato sensor box is bare wire to bob. I was debating on just going with power supply plug-in for both and bypassing apex. My fear is when my router takes a dump and loses comm with apex will the avast ato still work like normal?

Sorry, I don't own an Avast ATO and don't know how they behave. I'd contact Avast with that question.

 

[Sablah]

Shoot now Im totally confused lol. Im using the digital version plugged into apex outlet for diaphram pump and the ato sensor box is bare wire to bob. I was debating on just going with power supply plug-in for both and bypassing apex. My fear is when my router takes a dump and loses comm with apex will the avast ato still work like normal?

Anything happening with your router won't affect APEX automation. APEX only needs internet connection to communicate with Fusion. If your router goes down, your APEX will still work as normal (minus alarm notifications). The "Fallback" command is only triggered when communications is lost between the APEX brain and the output's module.

You will want to use "Fallback OFF", otherwise your ATO will start pumping water while there is a comms loss, regardless of the water level sensor being open or closed.