Apex Confusion

[YHSublime]

So I've finally switched to Apex Fusion instead of the old way, and I'm still having issues getting my lights on and off, pretty simple, I know.

 

Every day, I manually turn on my frag tank lights and my T5's, which are all connected to one outlet.

 

I have set the timer to turn on at noon, and turn off at 10pm. or 1200 hours and 2200 hours, as it's programed via APEX. I put it on AUTO, and nothing happens. The only thing I can think that I might be doing wrong is that I'm keeping the fallback to ON... should I switch it to OFF?

 

here is a screenshot:

[HgrReefs]

Probably a stupid question, but you are clicking the "send to apex" button afterwards?

[AlanM]

Fallback shouldn't matter.  The hysteresis value is how long it waits when it is turned off before it comes back on again, like if it was a metal halide that you don't want to just turn off and right back on.  So if you just switched it to Auto you'll have to wait 30 minutes to see anything.  It should come on tomorrow at noon, though. 

 

Oh, and are you positive you have the right outlet?  heh.

[YHSublime]

Probably a stupid question, but you are clicking the "send to apex" button afterwards?

 

Not a stupid question, but yes, I am updating as I make any changes.

 

Fallback shouldn't matter.  The hysteresis value is how long it waits when it is turned off before it comes back on again, like if it was a metal halide that you don't want to just turn off and right back on.  So if you just switched it to Auto you'll have to wait 30 minutes to see anything.  It should come on tomorrow at noon, though. 

 

Oh, and are you positive you have the right outlet?  heh.

 

Yep, right outlet. If I changed the hysteresis value to "0:00" would I have to wait to see anything? Tried to do it again, so we will see how this works out.

[matt]

Have you just played with manual on/off via the controller? I don't have apex, but AC3 by Neptune. That's how I test all my outlets periodically to make sure they are working mechanically.

[YHSublime]

Have you just played with manual on/off via the controller? I don't have apex, but AC3 by Neptune. That's how I test all my outlets periodically to make sure they are working mechanically.

 

Yes sir, that's how I was turning it on and off everyday!

[Origami]

I'm not a Fusion user, so be gentle because this is probably a dumb observation. I see that there's a minus and a plus sign on either side of the shutdown value. Does this mean that there's a low and a high threshold? If so, are you overriding the program (i.e. shutting the lights down) when the tank temperature is below 82 degrees (which would be most of the time)? On my normal Apex interface, it's only a single value and it's the high side value. But I don't know why Fusion is showing a +/-. Also, my fallback on my regular Apex program is OFF for what it's worth.

[YHSublime]

I'm not a Fusion user, so be gentle because this is probably a dumb observation. I see that there's a minus and a plus sign on either side of the shutdown value. Does this mean that there's a low and a high threshold? If so, are you overriding the program (i.e. shutting the lights down) when the tank temperature is below 82 degrees (which would be most of the time)? On my normal Apex interface, it's only a single value and it's the high side value. But I don't know why Fusion is showing a +/-. Also, my fallback on my regular Apex program is OFF for what it's worth.

 

Just starting using Fusion, it was actually easier the other way around for me.

 

I don't know if it sets a high or a low. I'm 1 minute shy of 10:30, lets see if it goes off...

[Origami]

Just starting using Fusion, it was actually easier the other way around for me.

 

I don't know if it sets a high or a low. I'm 1 minute shy of 10:30, lets see if it goes off...

Did it work? I have this "thing" about putting my control, and therefore my fortunes or misfortunes, out in the cloud. It works now so, for now, I try not to break it.

[icsparks]

When I rename an outlet I leave the numbers for that outlet in the name of the device such as  "device 3_6 "  has name   " lights_3_6"

 

try changing the name to XXXXX_Out_1

 

not sure if this is the issue but worth a try,

Edited August 5, 2014 by icsparks

[YHSublime]

Did it work? I have this "thing" about putting my control, and therefore my fortunes or misfortunes, out in the cloud. It works now so, for now, I try not to break it.

It didn't, but I had it switched to ON still. Switched to auto, changed the 30:00 value to 0 and will see at noon!

[Djplus1]

I'll have to keep up with this thread as I am in the process of switching three separate Apex's to Fusion in the next month or so (whenever I decide that I want to have an awful emergency that effects three separate tanks at the exact same time, LOL).

[Marc Weaver]

Did it work at noon?  I don't think you can have spaces in the name.  Maybe that is causing an internal issue that it's not reporting to you??  Maybe ditch the ampersand?  Think 1990's DOS when programming lol.

Edited August 5, 2014 by Marc Weaver

[dante411x]

You can definitely leave hysteresis at 0. It's only useful for MH. Power blinking etc.

you could also just do an advanced program.

Here's my program for frag tank light, which is a 2 channel d120, I just turn them both on at the same time:

 

 

 

 

This turns the lights on at noon and turns off at midnight. Saturday and Sunday the lights come on at 10am and go off at midnight.

[Paul'sReef]

Issac,

 

First off, make sure the box for "Apex Fusion Control Enable" is checked in the network settings on the local control interface.

 

While the "wizards" work now and then - I've had better luck with the advanced mode since it allows more control.

 

Leveraging some of the above post will make your issue go away.

 

Fallback ON << if the EB8 loses connection to the apex unit it defaults to this value

Set OFF << starting value

 

If Time 12:00 to 22:00 Then ON

If Temp > 82.0 Then OFF

[YHSublime]

When I rename an outlet I leave the numbers for that outlet in the name of the device such as  "device 3_6 "  has name   " lights_3_6"

 

try changing the name to XXXXX_Out_1

 

not sure if this is the issue but worth a try,

 

Thanks, I'll look into it!

 

I'll have to keep up with this thread as I am in the process of switching three separate Apex's to Fusion in the next month or so (whenever I decide that I want to have an awful emergency that effects three separate tanks at the exact same time, LOL).

 

Good luck!

 

Did it work at noon?  I don't think you can have spaces in the name.  Maybe that is causing an internal issue that it's not reporting to you??  Maybe ditch the ampersand?  Think 1990's DOS when programming lol.

 

Nope, did not work at noon. Yeah, I've tried changing it several times. Thanks for the advice!

 

Issac,

 

First off, make sure the box for "Apex Fusion Control Enable" is checked in the network settings on the local control interface.

 

While the "wizards" work now and then - I've had better luck with the advanced mode since it allows more control.

 

Leveraging some of the above post will make your issue go away.

 

Fallback ON << if the EB8 loses connection to the apex unit it defaults to this value

Set OFF << starting value

 

If Time 12:00 to 22:00 Then ON

If Temp > 82.0 Then OFF

 

Thanks, I'll look into this.

[Rob A]

Is the "base_Out1" under Device being recognized by the system? Can you turn the lights on and off manually through the controller and or web interface?

 

I assume the tank temp is below 82 so the lights aren't "locked out" by the high temp safety setting?

 

I attached a pic of my setup

Edited August 6, 2014 by Rob A

[dante411x]

When naming the outlet, you really don't have to add any kind of "_x"

You can just name the outlet "fraglight"

But it does help to know which plug is in which outlet.

 

I'd think that if you can flip a switch to "on" manually through fusion, that would mean that fusion control is enabled. But that would make for a very easy fix.

 

Advanced doesn't really do much unless you're programming something like day of week or seasonal times. The wizard will do everything you want if you just want the outlet to turn on and then off at a certain time.

[dante411x]

And Dante, how does the DOW command work? Does that make your lights come on 2 hours earlier on the weekend?

Yep. The order of coding does matter here though. Basically the first line of programming sets the lights to on from 10 am to noon:

 

If Time 10:00 to 12:00 Then ON

 

Then the second line turns them off on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

 

If DoW -MTWTF- then OFF

 

Then the next line turns the lights on from noon until 11:59 pm.

 

If Time 12:00 to 23:59 Then ON

 

The next line will turn them off if temp is above 82 and the final line will turn them off if the temp is below 70 (if the probe fails)

 

You can pick and choose which days of week to have that happen on. The dashes represent days that you omit. The whole sequence looks like: SMTWTFS for the week. So say it you wanted to make the lights come on an hour earlier every other day, you could put in the line:

 

If DoW S-T-T-S Then ON

 

Of course this will have the lights on earlier on both Saturday and Sunday...

[Rob A]

Ah thanks for that...I went back and saw that you had mentioned that they came on earlier, sorry for not paying attention

What is the benefit of longer run times on the weekends? Just for viewing or does it help with growth?

Edited August 6, 2014 by Rob A

[mling]

I am a Apex newbie. After a weekend of Netgear networking issues to connect my Apex to my home network, I am finally ready for the next step. The only thing I see on the web interface is the tank temperature, as basic as it gets.  As such, should I start configuring with Apex Fusion; not bother with the default Apex setup ?

 

Reading this post does not give me much confidence, I may be trained as an engineer but that was a long time ago and let's just say they no longer allow me access to the computer room.  I also see the Neptune refers to Apex Fusion as "Beta".  Beta gives me the creeps, probably due to being an old school engineer. Is it still Beta ? I dove into the Apex world as in insurance policy for the tanks so Beta seem to be contradictory to that.

 

Being in IT, the "Free in the Cloud" makes me nervous. Will it be one of those it's free for now, get you hooked, then start charging a subscription fee deals ?    Has anyone switched to Fusion and then revert back to the regular Apex ?

[Paulcosta]

YHSublime

  Did you ever get your lights to work?

[wangspeed]

I'm with you mling. I'll wait. Happy with my existing Apex setup and I can access it from anywhere.

[YHSublime]

YHSublime

Did you ever get your lights to work?

No, never tried harder though. Fusion is fine, I'm just a creature of habit, so I stayed old school. I don't know either well enough to say I even use it at 25%, so what do I know?!

[dante411x]

I use both fusion and regular connection. It's not difficult. Yes, it's in beta. It'll probably be in beta forever. It works just fine.

Those problems with ip addresses, network configuration and all the other stuff.. They go away with fusion. That's the main purpose. Otherwise it's really the same thing.