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APEX DOS Tracking volume of large containers for AWC with no DDR


rioreef

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The APEX Fusion software has a tile to track the volume remaining in their DDR dual reservoirs. Problem is I am using the DOS for daily AWC's and would like to utilize this same tracking ability. However, this Fusion tile was only available if you connected the optical sensors of a DDR to the DOS unit. 
 
What I have done is to expand on the idea of another reefer and create my own cable harness to connect my own optical sensors without having to buy the DDR. Now, others have also discovered you can jump pins 4 & 6 with a 180 Ohm resistor and get the tile to turn on in the software, but I wanted to still have my own optical sensors to use for whatever (they are not tied to the volume indicated in the tile).
 
I got these items and a couple of optical sensors too. Spliced the cables together and plug the optical sensors into the the 3S JST cables. Once I plugged the 6-pin microfit cable into the DOS, the tile was available in Fusion.
 
 

Digikey

 

3s cable

 
 
Once I got the tile going, I went into the Apex dashboard software via a browser (not the Fusion software) and changed the volume amounts for the 'DDR' to the amount of new tank water the DOS will pull from. In my case it is a 44g Brute, so I entered my max it holds which happens to the the highest volume you can input 151400 ml (40 gallons). Save and refresh your Fusion app. Since I am dong an AWC I run one of the DOS motors in reverse. This gives me a [+] and [-] values in the APEX log. To reflect this also in a way in the DDR tile I have set volume of this pump at 0 and the one adding new water at 151400.  I can now see the reducing volume of the Brute shown while the side for the old water increases. You can see that difference in the second pic here.
 

DOS AWC tile 1

AWC tile 2

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Thanks.  I have also put a horizontal float near the bottom of the Brute. When this opens, the DOS turns off and shuts down the AWC. I then manually turn off the DOS until new salt water is created. Here is a pic of where the volume indicators are when this happened. At about 6 gal left in the Brute. 

 

AWC tile 3

If you do the math on the values shown:

  26314 (remaining) + 125153 (removed) = 151467 ml

Subtract the original volume of 151400, that shows only a difference of 67 ml over the course of 30 days. I have gone through the logs and like many DOS owners, you can probably find instances when equal amounts between the pumps does not always happens. Why, I do not know and it only happens in small doses occasionally.

 

I have been running this for several months and have "exchanged" out about 100 gallons. I take out each night 1.1 gallons. I know it is not a true 100 exchange, but it is working well for me. No buckets and much more than if were to do it manually. I will still do a manual water change soon and clean out some of the sand bed.

 

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this is cool and so over my head right now.

 

Ha ha.  It just takes some reverse engineering and a little elbow grease. Making everything semi automated makes things so much easier. 

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Ha ha.  It just takes some reverse engineering and a little elbow grease. Making everything semi automated makes things so much easier. 

100%, i agree. i'm not just not with the neptune vernacular right now, or perhaps i should say, yet! 

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