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Thread: DIY Breakout Box

  1. #1
    New User cbort's Avatar
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    DIY Breakout Box

    Does anyone have any pics of their DIY break out box? With all the colored wires fixed to the breakout box and numbers for which switch is SW1 SW2 SW3 SW4 SW5 SW6? Thanks for the help!

  2. #2
    New User cbort's Avatar
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    Basically, I am simply testing SW1 SW2 and SW3 by connecting them to outlets 6, 7, and 8. The problem I am having is that I have three exact same float switches connected the the three switches and when all switches are in closed physical position, SW1 and SW2 read closed and SW3 reads Open. When all switches are in Open physical position, SW1 and SW2 read Open and SW3 reads closed. I thought maybe SW3's float switch wires were backwards so I reveresed the wires and still get the same results??


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  3. #3
    New User cbort's Avatar
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    I currenlty am just testing out the switches to make sure everything is working properly. I won't be using these switches to control these outlets, but wanted to make sure they are working before setting the programming to control my skimmer and ATO. I am glad I tried it this way first, since SW3(far right float switch, which is reading wrong) will be my emergency shut off for my ATO and Skimmer and Alarm.

    image.jpg

  4. #4
    New User cbort's Avatar
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    Well, seems to be just the black wire causing the issues. I switched the float switches trying to figure out if I had a bad float switch, and the problem seems to be with which ever float switch is plugged into the black 8 pin wire. All of the float switches use the common ground purple wire. What would cause this? Anyone?

  5. #5
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    Check to make sure the switches are all set up the same. You can take the float off, turn it upside down and it becomes open instead of closed or vice versa.

    also, are you sure the black with isn't your ground? I would do a continuity check on your wires to make sure they are correct

  6. #6
    New User cbort's Avatar
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    Thanks Frogfish, for some reason I thought I had all the float switches checked and had it narrowed down to a wire. I checked the floats on the float switches and sure enough my far right float was reversed compared to the other two. VOILA! That took care of the issue! Man do I feel like an idiot, not to mention staying up till 2AM racking my brain, never crossed my mind it was something so simple. Lol

  7. #7
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    Glad you figured it out! And I am sure we have all had idiot moments! Lol

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    what is the cable that you use to connect the break out box to the apex?

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jeff Brown View Post
    what is the cable that you use to connect the break out box to the apex?
    Mini Din 8 or MD8 Cable

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Frogfish View Post
    Check to make sure the switches are all set up the same. You can take the float off, turn it upside down and it becomes open instead of closed or vice versa.

    also, are you sure the black with isn't your ground? I would do a continuity check on your wires to make sure they are correct
    I need some help with my wiring. I bought a male/male 8pin Mini Din. Not sure which is ground on the Apex side. When I check using a meter, I used the resistance setting and checked each wire and got back -9.4 or so. However it doesn't seem to move the SW sliders at all. Can anyone help? Don't know specifically what I'm doing with multimeter. Would like to understand what I'm doing wrong.


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