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Thread: Breakout box best practices

  1. #26
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    Yup - I did connect it to the reserve - good catch. Thanks Zombie and Damonbrodie - Seems so complicated but just starting with this and way overwhelmed at this point.

  2. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by RussM View Post
    The whole trick of using a VO to match the state of a switch arose because in earlier versions of the Apex firmware, switch inputs could not be given custom names. You can now rename switch inputs. So if that's your goal, it's not necessary.
    How do you rename switches? I can't see anything in Fusion Firmware 4.40 does it have to be done in the classic dashboard?

  3. #28
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    Yes NOT in Fusion only in the classic dashboard Configuration=> Prob/Input Setup

    or

    Display module...but this way is PIA...lol
    Jon

  4. #29
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    Would this block work?
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=sr_1_6&sr=8-6
    The only ones I was able to find similar to the one you have pictured in your first post all arrive by the Hong Kong Express..

  5. #30
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    Forgive my thickness here but how do them switches connect to the ground? non of them are connected to each other?
    Attachment 4244

  6. #31
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    Quote Originally Posted by johnnyenv View Post
    Forgive my thickness here but how do them switches connect to the ground? non of them are connected to each other?
    Attachment 4244
    He is using a grounding bar. All the red wires are actually electrically connected inside the grounding bar

  7. #32
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    Breakout box best practices

    The reason the orientation is important is for failures. If/when a float switch fails, more likely than not it will fail in
    the open (float sticks, wire breaks, contacts don't close, etc). In addition, when you disconnect the BB
    from the Apex base module, all switches go to their OPEN state
    . So keep this in mind when you layout your
    floats. You want the OPEN condition to trigger stopping something, like a pump. You don't want OPEN
    to trigger a pump starting or you will have a nasty surprise some day.
    [/I]
    That phrase in boldface red is the actual subject of this post.


    This kind of confused me but I think it doesn't apply to me. But just to make sure I'm not missing something I'll ask. I have two float switches on my bob. One for high level and one for low on the return pump area. They are both normally open, when the low switch is closed it will turn the pump off. When the high switch goes closed it turns the ato off. I have a tunze ato with its own switch this is more of a fail safe. Is this fine? So basically if something goes wrong the return and ato will continue to run

  8. #33
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    Quote Originally Posted by RussM View Post
    Most people use small float switches like this:
    Attachment 4416
    You can get them from places like Aquahub & autotopoff.com

    I have no idea what you are asking about here...
    I bought 8 of them off ebay for about $11. They're straight from China, but its the same thing the other places sell for quite a bit more money. You just have to be a bit more patient when they ship from China.

  9. #34
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    Quote Originally Posted by Engloid View Post
    I bought 8 of them off ebay for about $11. They're straight from China, but its the same thing the other places sell for quite a bit more money. You just have to be a bit more patient when they ship from China.
    Keep a very close eye on those. Cheap floats do not play nice with saltwater. A lot of them will corrode the top seal (if it even has one) and then leach copper in your tank. Much better to just spend the extra on Madison or similar brand name American saltwater rated floats that you know will last and are sealed properly. I have a set of Madison's going on 3 years that still work as well as the day I bought them .

    Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

  10. #35
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    Those things are almost $100 each, arent they? Mine are same as BRS sells. http://aquarium.bulkreefsupply.com/reefing/Float-Switch

    Sent from my SM-G900R4 using Tapatalk

  11. #36
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    Madison's are like 12 dollars each

    Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

  12. #37
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    Quote Originally Posted by zombie View Post
    Madison's are like 12 dollars each

    Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
    Where? I will check them out.

    Sent from my SM-G900R4 using Tapatalk

  13. #38
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    BRS has them for 14.49 right now. Not sure if they have just gone up in price in 3 years or if BRS is just overcharging now.

    Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

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