What do APEX readings look like during a leak?

[Bret Brinkmann]

I have an APEX but don't have the leak detectors yet. But what do the other sensors do when they are out of water? Does the power consumption of heaters or pumps change?

I ask because I just got an alert for zero salinity. The temp is below heater value but at house temperature. There does seem to be a dip in ORP and pH followed by a sharpe rise, then another dip. All these sensor readings started at the same time.

Possible leak, power surge, or busted sensor/controller?

 

[BraxtonF]

I would think they wouldnt read anything, guess it depends where you have them

 

[Bret Brinkmann]

All 4 in the sump so that they are still submerged at the minimum water level. The sump would have to be leaking in order for them to be out of water.

 

[Entz]

0 salinity is likely a probe or controller problem. I guess you could try a remote reboot. Is the temp probe upstream or downstream of the heater?

I would look at power levels. For example If your probes are upstream and the heater is on and using power but your heat isn't going up then its possible you have no circulation in your sump. So the return isn't working properly or a chamber has a leak.

As long as your powerheads are on its likely not a panic but I would check it ASAP. Its hard to say remotely without level sensors or video

 

[Bret Brinkmann]

The heater is upstream of the sensor. No power draw from the heater but it's below the temp at which it kicks on. Not seeing any thing unusual in the power readings. pH, temp, and ORP are falling now. Salinity went up to 1.2 after I did what I think was a remote reboot. I'm going to head home early and check. Turned off everything in the sump. Thanks for the help everyone. I'll keep ya posted.

 

[Randyp79]

If temp is same as room and salinity is 0, then I'm guessing they are exposed to air. I had an ATO malfunction and my sump level dropped and exposed the probes, my readings were exactly as you describe them. Now I have a wifi camera on my sump, so if I ever get readings like these I look on the camera to see what's going on.

 

[Bret Brinkmann]

Yep, that's what happened. Fuge leaked all the water out. No other equipment failures. No casualties. No property damage. Just about 7 gallons of water to clean up.

Moved to sensors to the DT and the readings jump up right away. As long as they retain some moisture they will still read something. They unusual readings are the clue that they are exposed to air. Kind of a built in leak detector.

Lesson learned: when sensors are exposed to air the salinity probe reads zero, the temperature probe reads room temperature, and pH and ORP have a noticeable dip, then a sharpe rise, followed by plummeting values.

 

[lakai]

No one knows, Everyone's Apex or EB832 seems to break whenever they go on vacation or when something goes wrong.