APEX Controller - Help

[s2nhle]

I woke up yesterday morning and see my reef tank is completely non function. My apex lite is stop working.  I have not doing anything lately since May 2014 ( firmware updated in May).  The Energy Bar 8 is blinking orange light.  The base controller is solid green light.  The outlets and display have no power.  Please help as soon as possible as it is the main controller of my reef system. I have unplugged the power and plugged back on with no work. Can't connect to the controller directly from my laptop with safe mode with network only and antivirus software disable.  Tried to call the apex support with no luck (the phone just rang forever). Tried to send them email from online using MS explorer and Firefox which is not going anywhere (put in all of the required information including the apex serial number then hit submit, it just said processing and not going anywhere since yesterday afternoon)

 

If you know how to fix this problem or know how to get the neptune apex support please let me know.  Thank you very much.

[TrueTricia]

I would go on the forum and try that.  I don't know enough about them to tell you anything.  Have you checked the manual as well? 

[s2nhle]

Thank for replying. Yet I did search all of its forum yesterday with not much helps

[YHSublime]

Have you unplugged it and plugged back in? This happened to me the other day, and it looks like for the first time in 1+ years, I had my GFI trip on this side. Everything started up fine afterwards.

[s2nhle]

Have you unplugged it and plugged back in? This happened to me the other day, and it looks like for the first time in 1+ years, I had my GFI trip on this side. Everything started up fine afterwards.

Thank you for responds. i did unplugged it and plugged it back in several times still not work. thanks,

[scott711]

did anything get wet?

 

Check the connection between the energy bar and the display.  I believe a solid yellow indicates that the energy bar is not communicating with the display.

 

Why can't you connect your laptop to the controller? That doesn't seem right.  Are you getting an error? You using a CAT5 cable right?

 

Like Isaac said, do you have a GFCI on the outlet that was tripped?

 

If the outlets and the display have no power something is wrong with the energy bar or the outlet the energy bar is plugged into.  Try a different outlet.

[s2nhle]

I did move it to different outlet. it is in my office right so i can connect it directly to my laptop following the apex forum instruction. it was dry when I removed it out. i was not doing anything lately.

 

yes, i am using several cat 5 (3 different one) straight not crossover as the instruction said.

 

The display was freezed as first then after I unplugged and plugged in the power to eb8, it completely dark.

Edited September 25, 2014 by s2nhle

[Djplus1]

When did you try calling them? I've always spoken to them in the early evenings as they are in Cali. They usually at least answer the email and offer to call you back (usually between 6-8 pm east coast).

[s2nhle]

I called them around 1pm or 2pm for the last two day. The phone (408-779-409) that was listed on this website: "http://www.neptunesystems.com/support/contact-support/" I also filled the required information on this website and hit submit button down below and it just said processing and not going anywhere. What is the phone number that you call apex support? Thank you very much for the reply.

Edited September 25, 2014 by s2nhle

[Djplus1]

I'm not sure which number, but it was probably the one on the website I assume. I would call them a couple times between 4-8pm which would be after lunch and before the end of their work day as that seems to be their preferred communication times.

[scott711]

if you just plug the EB8 in what happens with the indicator lights?

 

When you connect it to your laptop, what happens?

[s2nhle]

Just the EB8 plug in it is blinking orange. No power from the outlets. I plugged the light in all EB8 outlets got no power.  When I connect it to directly to my laptop and directly to my router, it still have the same problem. I tried to run the apex utility browser to find my controller with no success.

[Jim Mc]

Two long shots here for you to think about.

 

When my display module got wet it messed up everything.  You don't need it so unplug it and see what happens.

 

Turn the power off at the breaker wait about a minute then turn the power back on.

 

These are long shots and probably not much different than checking your refrigerator to see if your car keys are in there.

[s2nhle]

Two long shots here for you to think about.

 

When my display module got wet it messed up everything.  You don't need it so unplug it and see what happens.

 

Turn the power off at the breaker wait about a minute then turn the power back on.

 

These are long shots and probably not much different than checking your refrigerator to see if your car keys are in there.

Thanks.  Will keep these in mind.

[scott711]

To me that sounds like something happened to the EB8.  I believe the outlets default to on if there isn't a display connected to them. 

 

There is a reset switch on the EB8.  Is that tripped?

[rtsusc83]

Sorry to hear about your problem.  It is atypical for Neptune to be unresponsive.  When I had a similar problem, they suggested that I buy a power supply for the controller.  I was switching controllers from one tank to the other and in doing so, I experienced a problem similar to yours.  Once I did that I was able to see the controller and from there they were able to help me.  Not smart enough then to reconfigure the controller which I believe that is what they did and everything worked from there.  Quantum Reefs may have them but I got mine at Radio Shack.  Just make sure you get the specs and bring your controller to ensure you get the proper connector.

 

What I think happened:  You lost power to controller and the controller rebooted and consequently relabeled your EB8.  Once that happens, the controller stopped communicating with the EB8.  To fix this you need to access the controller with a dedicated power supply and remove the eb8 modules and have them rediscovered.  Follow the instructions when doing this.  Hopefully everything works.  Once you get it to work, save the configuration for future use.  Hope this helps.

[ctenophore]

I had almost the exact thing happen with my apex, on the same date/time too. Wierd. The only way i found to fix the problem was to unplug all USB cables and eb8s. I have 3 of them, so all had to be disconnected from both the wall and each other. I left it all unpowered overnight, and when i plugged everything back in in the morning it finally all worked. Needless to say, my confidence in the apex is much lower now as this is not the first time this has happened. I'm working on removing any critical equipment from apex control. Had i not been home, this could have led to significant trouble in reef land.

[s2nhle]

Sorry to hear about your problem.  It is atypical for Neptune to be unresponse.  When I had a similar problem, they suggested that I buy a power supply for the controller.  I was switching controllers from one tank to the other and in doing so, I experienced a problem similar to yours.  Once I did that I was able to see the controller and from there they were able to help me.  Not smart enough then to reconfigure the controller which I believe that is what they did and everything worked from there.  Quantum Reefs may have them but I got mine at Radio Shack.  Just make sure you get the specs and bring your controller to ensure you get the proper connector.

 

What I think happened:  You lost power to controller and the controller rebooted and consequently relabeled your EB8.  Once that happens, the controller stopped communicating with the EB8.  To fix this you need to access the controller with a dedicated power supply and remove the eb8 modules and have them rediscovered.  Follow the instructions when doing this.  Hopefully everything works.  Once you get it to work, save the configuration for future use.  Hope this helps.

Thank you very much for replying. I have extra 12v dc power with + inside and follow the page 107 of ACM to connect it directly to my laptop without eb8. I still  can not see the apex base unit. I plugged the display to different aquabus ports on the contreoller without success.  I did contact BRS and Jason from BRS gave me the apex support email so i sent apex email and told them about the problem. they are very supportive. right now my base unit is on its way to apex for diagnostics. let see what they find out and how much it costs to fix it.  will keep everyone update.  Thanks.

[s2nhle]

I had almost the exact thing happen with my apex, on the same date/time too. Wierd. The only way i found to fix the problem was to unplug all USB cables and eb8s. I have 3 of them, so all had to be disconnected from both the wall and each other. I left it all unpowered overnight, and when i plugged everything back in in the morning it finally all worked. Needless to say, my confidence in the apex is much lower now as this is not the first time this has happened. I'm working on removing any critical equipment from apex control. Had i not been home, this could have led to significant trouble in reef land.

+1. totally agree. lucky for me that my return pump, powerheads and skimmer are on different outlet that has backup power.

[s2nhle]

I shipped the base unit and the display back to apex for repair. After diagnostic, there are two bad IC chips that needed to be replace.  It costs $60 to replace the bad ICs. I should get them back by Thursday this week.  Hope it will be back to normal.  Thank you everyone.