I maintain my tank at 78 F, 2 200w heaters in my sump for a 75 g DT, ~25 g sump. I have my apex set to turn the heater outlets on at <78 F and turn off >78.5 F. It has been steady like this for years. Then all of a sudden, I got a drop from 78 down to 75. Then heating back up to 78, holding steady, then sudden drops again down to 75-76. I thought maybe my heaters were going bad, so I replaced them, but am seeing the same thing with different heaters. I took them off the apex outlets, directly plugging into the wall and still see unexpected drops in the temp. I thought maybe the apex temp probe was going bad, so I put another one on the apex at the same time and they both record the same drops in temp. The room temp is 73-74.
Unexplained Temperature Drops
- Thread starter puffy127
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If I was you I’ll verify the temperature with something other than apex probe to double check. If confirmed right , next I’ll move on to the apex equipment usage, I have not used it, but is it possible to know when apex is turning on heater ? Lastly I’ll definitely increase the upper bound in apex from 78.5 to say 79 and see what difference it makes
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puffy127
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I have a log of when the heater outlets are on and off in apex. The heater outlets have been on when the temps drop. Right now the heaters are not plugged into the apex, they are plugged into the wall and I am still getting the drops. I tried confirming the temps with an analog thermometer in the sump, but its hard to read and difficult to resolve differences in 1-2 F.
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puffy127
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I have one temp probe plugged into the brain and the other one in the PM2 module and they are giving similar readings, so I don't think my probes are bad. Tried different heaters, so I don't think it's an issue with my heaters. Tried different outlets, so don't think it's an issue with the EB8 outlets.
I decided to reboot my apex. Upon rebooting, the temp jumped back up 1.5 degrees, close to where it was before the temp "drop". Could there be something wrong with the apex brain?
I decided to reboot my apex. Upon rebooting, the temp jumped back up 1.5 degrees, close to where it was before the temp "drop". Could there be something wrong with the apex brain?
Can be. Only apex support can confirm. But it is possible to change the controller logic with new software update. Software like most things can malfunction by logic bugs/errors. In particular the flapping issue is very common , most things uses a PID (proportional integral derivative ) algorithm to avoid flapping (over or under enforcement of the corrective action )
Interesting! I was seeing the same thing for a few weeks. It turned out, my heaters couldn't keep up with the seasonal change of colder weather. My place isn't heating up during the day like it normally did in the warmer season, so there wasn't a build up of heat to sustain the tank's temp through the night. In other words, the environment was leaching heat from the aquarium more now than before because of the cold weather.
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puffy127
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I did get it resolved but did several things all at once so do not know what resolved it. I moved the probes out of the return pump section (which is also where my ATO feeds into). Some postulated that water level drops in that compartment may have led to the temp probe being out of water. I didn't notice that, but I moved it nonetheless. Also some postulated that cold water from the ATO could have led to the drops too. I checked my apex logs and my ATO was not on during the times of the drops. I also ended up reflashing the apex firmware as my issues began shortly after a firmware upgrade. Again, not sure what solved it, but no longer having issues.
