Aqua Controller 3 developed an issue

M

mo

Hey All,
I noticed this issue started about a week ago.
My AC3 is not on a UPS nor does it have a battery backup.
The AC3, Direct Connect 8 and Direct Connect 4 HD are all on surge protectors.

Symptoms:
The last of the light go off in the main display tank at around 6 pm.
At around 10 pm my T-5s come back on for 5 to 10 minutes.
Then, about 30 minutes later on of the MH will do the same.
I've seen this happen after midnight as well.
Very Random.

Troubleshooting steps taken:
I have the AC3 connected to a wireless access point and I have run it disconnected for a few days but it still exhibits the issues while disconnected.
I have power cycled the AC3.
I have wiped, then reloaded the program on the AC3
( I did not do a Reset on the AC3 yet )


My program:
PM2%-A1
PM3%-A2
PM1%-A3
T-5$-A4
HET%-A5
CHL%-A6
FAN&-A7
UVL%-A8
MH1$-A9
MH3$-A10
MH2$-A11
SML$-A12
ALM&-A16
MON$-B4



If Sun 000/000 Then T-5 ON
If Sun 030/-090 Then MH1 ON
If Sun 060/-060 Then MH2 ON
If Sun 120/-030 Then MH3 ON
If Sun 015/-015 Then SML OFF
If Moon 000/000 Then MON ON
If Sun 000/000 Then FAN ON
If Temp > RT+0.4 Then CHL ON
If Temp < RT+0.0 Then CHL OFF
If Temp < RT+-0.4 Then HET ON
If Temp > RT+0.0 Then HET OFF
If Time > 00:00 Then UVL ON
If Time > 00:00 Then ALM OFF
If Time > 00:00 Then PM1 ON
If Time > 04:00 Then PM2 ON
If Time > 19:00 Then PM2 OFF
If Timer T-5 = OFF Then PM2 OFF
If FeedA 010 Then PM1 OFF
If FeedA 010 Then UVL OFF
If FeedA 010 Then PM2 OFF
If FeedA 010 Then CHL OFF
If FeedA 010 Then SML ON
If pH > 08.50 Then ALM ON
If pH < 08.00 Then ALM ON
If ORP > 450 Then ALM ON
If ORP < 300 Then ALM ON
If Temp < 74.9 Then ALM ON
If Temp > 79.0 Then ALM ON
If Temp < 70.0 Then HET OFF
If Temp < 70.0 Then MH1 OFF
If Temp < 70.0 Then MH2 OFF
If Temp < 70.0 Then MH3 OFF
If Temp < 70.0 Then FAN OFF
If Temp < 70.0 Then CHL OFF
If Temp > 90.0 Then HET OFF
If Temp > 90.0 Then MH1 OFF
If Temp > 90.0 Then MH2 OFF
If Temp > 90.0 Then MH3 OFF
If Temp > 90.0 Then FAN OFF
If Temp > 90.0 Then CHL OFF
OSC 002/120 ON/OFF Then PM3 ON


Thanks in advance for your comments and suggestions.
 
Mo,
I'm not sure this will help, but I had the same type of problem with my AC 3 Pro (amongst other issues) some time ago and after contacting Neptune, it was suggested to upgrade the program to a newer version. So I finally disconnected everything, hooked it up the the computer and upgraded the controller system. It was very baffling to myself also and I could not explain why things were random and why the on/off/auto didn't not seem to control the piece of equipment that they were set up to manage occasionally. It may be interference from other equipment, but if you haven't changed anything recently, it may just need a 'reboot'...;>) or upgrade. You might check and see if you can relate it to anything else in the house going on/off near the same time too. It's very baffling and I hope you can find the issue.

Doug
 
Thanks for the suggestions Doug.
Now that I'm home today, I have noticed the MH1 randomly going on and off as well as the T-5s.


Still a mystery!
 
Thanks Dave.
the T-5 which is acting up is on the DC 12 and the MH and sump light are on a DC 4. None have been exposed to any type of moisture.
The pumps, fan, chiller and sump light and all the other gadgets seem to not be effected by this issue....
Also, I re-initialized the controller and verified it's on 3.30s which is the latest version on the Neptune Systems web site.
 
Mike, any other statements in your program? No 'if power' or 'if temp > X turn off light Y' ?

When it randomly goes off, have you been close enough to the controller to read the temp / ph / orp? If you had a bad probe, that could be causing all kinds of odd conditions to trigger.
 
Hey Scott,
yes, been sitting right there and all looks OK. The data log looks to be OK too. Nope, that is the whole config of the controller. I will watch the probe values over the next day or two as well!


Dave,
No phone line here. It's wireless Ethernet and yes, I have tried it disconnected from the access point with no luck.


Thanks again for all the suggestions and Please don't stop!
 
@mo wrote:
Hey Scott said:
The phone cable, sorry RJ40 (I think) cable that runs from the control unit to the DC's... its a phone cord... might consider swaping that out or checking to make sure the contacts are clean.
Click to expand...
 
looks that way or when I did the reset on the AC3 it hosed up the pH probe calibration....
update: after recalibrating the pH probe, it's really 7.97.
 
Mike, I notice that you are using the tables for time information. Have you considered trying to code the specific times in vs. using the season tables.

Not sure that could be the issue but everything else looks to be okay. Also are you using the phone cables that came with the DC units. There is a limit as to how far apart those can be.
 
Hey Steve.
Yes, using the supplied cables on th DC8, DCHD4 and Lunar module. <--- sounds like we're ready for a lunar landing.

I am using the tables since I am allowing the AC3 to vary the temp, light timing and lunar timing based on Fiji waters. ( -17:750 x 177:4499 )

It looks like by doing a Factory Reset on the unit, the issue has left or at least for the time being.


We shall see! :roll:
 
Hi Tim.
I do not use WEP as it is a easily hacked security protocol.
If a person wanted to, they could use a program called Aircrack-ng for aircrack-ng.org and could hack the password in a few minutes.......
As a network engineer, I use it to evaluate reliabilities of RG's ( Residential Gateways ) and customer vulnerability to network attacks.
I am using WPA with TKIP encryption on my system. It's not the best but is much better than WEP.
There are other security protocols but most home RG's / routers / access points do not support them and in some cases will require a security server at the home which is for the true network nerd, aka GEEK!


Hope this helps some.
 
Are you still having problems? If so they Neptune has a forum on ReefCentral they should be able to give you some pointers.
 
Hi Steve,
The issue seems to have been corrected and thank you for the information on the RC forum. I'm a paid member of RC and do not use it nearly enough. I guess that just goes to show how well learned the DFWMAS members are to enable me to find my answers in our own neighborhood.

@mo on Tue Jul 08, 2008 4:35 pm wrote:
 
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