Can EB8/PC8 Modules get stuck ON

redfishbluefish · Dec 28, 2015

I have an old school ReefKeeper 2 with a PC8 module. Last night I noticed my moonlights were on past their usual time. Checked the time on the head unit, thinking we had a power blip, and the time was wrong. Nope, time was right. Then looked at the programing for that outlet....right were it was supposed to be. The lights should have gone out at 10PM and it was now midnight, and the lights were on.

Anyone have any idea? Can a module outlet get "stuck" ON?

n2585722 · Dec 28, 2015

Yes they can. If it is a relay they can get stuck on. If it is a Reefkeeper 2 then it has some years on it.

143MPCo · Dec 28, 2015

Just had this happen to me on one of my EB8, replaced it with a spare unit.
The only saving grace is that it was on the outlet that controlled the skimmer cleaner an not something like a dosing pump.

redfishbluefish · Dec 28, 2015

n2585722 said:
Yes they can. If it is a relay they can get stuck on. If it is a Reefkeeper 2 then it has some years on it.

Hey! Are you saying I'm old?

Just what I didn't want to hear.....not the "some years" part, but the stuck part.

143MPCo said:
Just had this happen to me on one of my EB8, replaced it with a spare unit.
The only saving grace is that it was on the outlet that controlled the skimmer cleaner an not something like a dosing pump.

Wow. That's scary. I also have my two dosing pumps being controller by my RK2....each with a gallon of stock solution. Don't want to think about that getting stuck.

Anyway, here's what I've just done........I cleared that channel and typed in the info again. Plugged the moonlights back in....and they are now OFF. Woohoo. Supposed to come on at 10AM. So it might be fixed....but have to wait and see. I tell you, I'm an electronics genius!

Thanks for the responses @n2585722 and @143MPCo . It's just wait and see now.

TheEngineer · Dec 28, 2015

Is that a triac outlet? There was a post about replacing the triac if it goes:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/repairing-eb8-blown-triac.175639/

143MPCo · Dec 28, 2015

icecool2 said:
Is that a triac outlet? There was a post about replacing the triac if it goes:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/repairing-eb8-blown-triac.175639/

haha, I was looking for that thread, thx!!

TheEngineer · Dec 28, 2015

143MPCo said:
haha, I was looking for that thread, thx!!

The Googles for the win.

redfishbluefish · Dec 28, 2015

I don't know what Triac means, but I did respond in the above linked thread. I also have an outlet that is OUT on one of my PC8's (I actually have four RK2). Some day when I'm sitting around twiddling my thumbs, I'm going to pull it apart and hope it is similar to the EB8 in the above post. If and when I do that, I'll document on R2R.

TheEngineer · Dec 28, 2015

A triac is just a fancy switch at the end of the day. It is one way to turn an outlet on an off.

n2585722 · Dec 28, 2015

A triac is a solid state device. A relay is mechanical contacts that are closed by an electromagnet. The reason for using triac's is the don't wear out like relay's do. Triac's do have problems with devices that generate large back EMF pulses such as low power pumps. The back EMF pulse has a habit of triggering the triac back on. This makes it look like the output never turns off. Koralia pumps are notorious for doing this.