Most Reliable Controller?

[n2585722]

Fair enough. Don’t cut yourself short - I’m sure you are better than me at many things! I am fairly tech savy and actually enjoy tinkering with the code.

How would you setup an ATO where you want it to remain off no matter what if the return pump is off. Also you want to control it with 5 inputs. The water sensor inputs for clarity if wet that means water level is at or above the sensor. Dry means the water level is below the sensor. So the output will only come on if ATO water level is dry, leak detector at tank is dry, leak detector at ATO pump is dry, the DI reservoir low level sensor is wet and the sump high sensor is dry. Also the other requirements are that it has been off at least 5 minutes. Once on it cannot run more than 3 minutes. If it exceeds 3 minutes then it turns off and sends an alert. Also if it does not run for 2 hours it also sends an alert. Also you do not want it to run when in water change mode either a manual water change or an auto water change. How complex would it be to accomplish that on a Apex?

 

[Formulator]

Set Off
Fallback Off
If (water level sensor name) Open Then ON
If (tank leak sensor name) Closed Then OFF
If (ATO leak detector name) Closed Then OFF
If (Reservoir level sensor name) Open Then OFF
If (sump high sensor name) Closed Then OFF
Min time 005:00 Then OFF
When ON > 003:00 Then OFF (this line doesn’t send an alert, but it permanently switches off automation and sets to OFF state until you investigate and turn back to AUTO)

When you do water changes manually, I would just manually switch off the outlet in apex.

I think this covers everything you want to do with the exception of alerts and making it turn off when your return pump is off. To do that you need to create a virtual outlet and I’m currently out of time, but I can walk you through it later if you want.

 

[GatorGreg]

Set Off
Fallback Off
If (water level sensor name) Open Then ON
If (tank leak sensor name) Closed Then OFF
If (ATO leak detector name) Closed Then OFF
If (Reservoir level sensor name) Open Then OFF
If (sump high sensor name) Closed Then OFF
Min time 005:00 Then OFF
When ON > 003:00 Then OFF (this line doesn’t send an alert, but it permanently switches off automation and sets to OFF state until you investigate and turn back to AUTO)

When you do water changes manually, I would just manually switch off the outlet in apex.

I think this covers everything you want to do with the exception of alerts and making it turn off when your return pump is off. To do that you need to create a virtual outlet and I’m currently out of time, but I can walk you through it later if you want.

The Apex can for sure do most if not all that hydros can do. Maybe even more! It just does it in a more complicated manner that not everyone can OR WANT to wrap their head around and that’s OK! I think competition is FANTASTIC and maybe hydros coming out will push APEX to continue with innovation instead of getting comfortable being the only game in town

To do everything you just mentioned on the hydros is just pressing a couple buttons and flipping a few switch’s on the settings in the app on your phone.

 

[n2585722]

Set Off
Fallback Off
If (water level sensor name) Open Then ON
If (tank leak sensor name) Closed Then OFF
If (ATO leak detector name) Closed Then OFF
If (Reservoir level sensor name) Open Then OFF
If (sump high sensor name) Closed Then OFF
Min time 005:00 Then OFF
When ON > 003:00 Then OFF (this line doesn’t send an alert, but it permanently switches off automation and sets to OFF state until you investigate and turn back to AUTO)

When you do water changes manually, I would just manually switch off the outlet in apex.

I think this covers everything you want to do with the exception of alerts and making it turn off when your return pump is off. To do that you need to create a virtual outlet and I’m currently out of time, but I can walk you through it later if you want.

The reason I ask is that is how I have my ATO setup currently. Here are some screenshot of the settings. On the inputs active when is what takes for the output to come on. The combiner mode for the inputs is set to and which mean all have to be in active mode for output to come on. You can have up to 9 inputs. For this output I do not have an internal schedule setup but I could if needed. Output device set the output port. In this case it is a drive port which is a 12v output. I have a power range set on the output and if it goes out of that range when on it will send an orange alert level with the output and the power it is using, if one of the inputs become unavailable for some reason the output will stay off. the next settings are minimum and maximum on and off times. Those are in the advanced settings. Also run past max on time is set to off so the output will turn off at max on time and send a yellow alert level. Also if maximum off time is exceeded it will send a yellow alert but will not change the output state. The next settings are active in modes settings. If they are checked the output will be able to turn on or off as needed. If the mode is not checked and the controller is in that mode the output will not come on. So if you want to do a manual water change you can uncheck all outputs you do not want to come on while in the water change mode. So you don't have to turn of each individual output. The next setting is the depends on setting. This is another output you can have the output you are setting up dependent on. I this case it is a combiner output that has the two AWC outputs as inputs and those are setup to turn off the output if the pumps are on. Also that output has the return pump as a depends on and it has a dependency mode of off if off. So if the return goes off that output will go off and it will also force the ATO output off since the dependency mode is set to off if off on the ATO output also. The is invisible setting was added for the alkalinity testing mainly. This can be overridden on the pages in the app you have it set to show invisible inputs or outputs. You can also set on the specific pages which items in each category you want to show on the page.

 

[Formulator]

The reason I ask is that is how I have my ATO setup currently. Here are some screenshot of the settings. On the inputs active when is what takes for the output to come on. The combiner mode for the inputs is set to and which mean all have to be in active mode for output to come on. You can have up to 9 inputs. For this output I do not have an internal schedule setup but I could if needed. Output device set the output port. In this case it is a drive port which is a 12v output. I have a power range set on the output and if it goes out of that range when on it will send an orange alert level with the output and the power it is using, if one of the inputs become unavailable for some reason the output will stay off. the next settings are minimum and maximum on and off times. Those are in the advanced settings. Also run past max on time is set to off so the output will turn off at max on time and send a yellow alert level. Also if maximum off time is exceeded it will send a yellow alert but will not change the output state. The next settings are active in modes settings. If they are checked the output will be able to turn on or off as needed. If the mode is not checked and the controller is in that mode the output will not come on. So if you want to do a manual water change you can uncheck all outputs you do not want to come on while in the water change mode. So you don't have to turn of each individual output. The next setting is the depends on setting. This is another output you can have the output you are setting up dependent on. I this case it is a combiner output that has the two AWC outputs as inputs and those are setup to turn off the output if the pumps are on. Also that output has the return pump as a depends on and it has a dependency mode of off if off. So if the return goes off that output will go off and it will also force the ATO output off since the dependency mode is set to off if off on the ATO output also. The is invisible setting was added for the alkalinity testing mainly. This can be overridden on the pages in the app you have it set to show invisible inputs or outputs. You can also set on the specific pages which items in each category you want to show on the page.

I can see how that might be more user friendly, but if people would get over their fear of “coding”, this is actually much simpler on the apex. One screen with a few lines of code can do all the same things. Maybe a second screen for the alerts. My ATO below, for example.

 

[aSaltyKlown]

If you get one, it's always the one you didn't buy!

I have an Apex and love it, although we got into an argument after a year in a half of solid performance, an update in May showed the true colors of the SD card and I had to send it in. I flirted with Hydros heavily for the couple of weeks Apex was gone. But once I got it back and restored the settings, we made up.

If I had dumped Apex, like some did after that update, Hydros may have let me down with an update of its own weeks later that saddened many Hydros owners.

 

[n2585722]

I can see how that might be more user friendly, but if people would get over their fear of “coding”, this is actually much simpler on the apex. One screen with a few lines of code can do all the same things. Maybe a second screen for the alerts. My ATO below, for example.

It is all on one screen in the app that you scroll up and down but it requires the three screenshots to get it all. It is basically all in what you are used to using. I came from Digital Aquatics to Hydros so I picked up the Hydros easier than someone coming from Apex would if they do not mind coding. You can also setup a third party button box on a 0-10v input to trigger the different modes so you don't have to use the app to switch modes.

 

[n2585722]

If you get one, it's always the one you didn't buy!

I have an Apex and love it, although we got into an argument after a year in a half of solid performance, an update in May showed the true colors of the SD card and I had to send it in. I flirted with Hydros heavily for the couple of weeks Apex was gone. But once I got it back and restored the settings, we made up.

If I had dumped Apex, like some did after that update, Hydros may have let me down with an update of its own weeks later that saddened many Hydros owners.

I like the new app and firmware but I had no issues with it. Then againI got my first Hydros just a couple of weeks after they first came out so I have been around it for a while. It all about what you are used to using. They both can do some very complex task. The Hydros dose have some outputs that control a certain type of output and the settings are tailored to that type of output which does make it easier for someone new to the system to get those up and running quickly. Just like my ATO uses the generic output type which is more advanced than the ATO output type since it only has the one input for the ATO level sensor when mine has 5 inputs setup in it. Mine has 55 inputs and 146 outputs setup along with 27 schedules setup. I also have 7 status pages setup. It would be too much to have all the inputs and outputs on the same page.