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Thread: Too reliant on APEX?

  1. #1
    wakeandshake
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    Too reliant on APEX?

    I just posted this in the EB8 section.

    I have 2 EB8's I've been using for over 3 years and I purchased used so no idea how old they are. I recently added a second tank and a new EB8 I purchased a few months ago. All was working well.

    Last night everything started acting funny. Looking at all my modules they were blinking green. I eventually narrowed it down to the newer EB8. Once I disocnnected the new EB8 aquabus from the rest of the system, everything went back to normal. Tried using the EB8 and no outlets are provding power even though some are set to failback on.

    It appears there is short somewhere in the power bar that has stopeed it from supplying power to any outlet and also sends something back to the controller and other modules causing them to freak out.

    Going to call Neptune tomorrow but was wondering if there are any ideas out there. I did try to reset the breaker to no avail.
    Which got me to thinking I'm to reliant on my APEX system. When things started to freak out nothing worked as it should. My water level detector is set so that my skimmer and ATO shut off if level raises above a certain point. This auto shutoff didn't happen last night and my skimmer cup quickly began to fill with water. Luckily I was here. Also my MP40s stopped working, underlights wouldn't turn on and I'm guessing my heater outlets would not turn on or off in relation to temp in tank. On and on the scenarios play out in my head and I see potential disasters all over the place.

    I recently purchased the leak detector module and leak detectors and was going to set them up this weekend before the EB8 freaked out. detected water would set off a series of events that would require immediate manual attention. Who knows waht would have happened if this was online during the freak out. I'm guessing everything would stop working.

    I love the functionality of APEX but I have not kept it simple and I see my failsafes will fail if the APEX fails. Anyone else have the same fears? Steps taken to not have so much reliance on APEX functioning correctly at all times? Ways to know there is a system problem like a failed EB8?

  2. #2
    Frequent Visitor Scott.h's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by lamann View Post
    I just posted this in the EB8 section.



    Which got me to thinking I'm to reliant on my APEX system. When things started to freak out nothing worked as it should. My water level detector is set so that my skimmer and ATO shut off if level raises above a certain point. This auto shutoff didn't happen last night and my skimmer cup quickly began to fill with water. Luckily I was here. Also my MP40s stopped working, underlights wouldn't turn on and I'm guessing my heater outlets would not turn on or off in relation to temp in tank. On and on the scenarios play out in my head and I see potential disasters all over the place.

    I recently purchased the leak detector module and leak detectors and was going to set them up this weekend before the EB8 freaked out. detected water would set off a series of events that would require immediate manual attention. Who knows waht would have happened if this was online during the freak out. I'm guessing everything would stop working.

    I love the functionality of APEX but I have not kept it simple and I see my failsafes will fail if the APEX fails. Anyone else have the same fears? Steps taken to not have so much reliance on APEX functioning correctly at all times? Ways to know there is a system problem like a failed EB8?
    Your worries have some validating points. No matter what piece of equipment you buy, or brand, eventually it will fail. My thoughts are that the biggest cause of tank crashes are heater related. If my powerbar fails I will get notification between return pump draw, tank temp, or something in between. Worst case for me would be nothing works and the two mp40s are battery back up. Nothing dies, even if it's hours before I can deal with it.

  3. #3
    NSI Member shiftline's Avatar
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    I had an aquabus cable fall into my sump. Got corroded shorted and my apex was having similiar issues to yours. Once I unplugged that cable all went back to normal. So all in all it's a great system but since it's all daisy changes one little short can really mess with it


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  4. #4
    Regular Vistor
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    It also freak me out, I just buy the 2016, is not plug yet, but redundancy is something in my mind. Do I am more secure with or without? I guest is with that the reason I finally buy after a few weeks of reflection and post reading. thank to the forum.
    I also planed to have battery back-up pump.

  5. #5
    Hamburg Mattenfilter
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    Quote Originally Posted by lamann View Post
    I just posted this in the EB8 section.



    Which got me to thinking I'm to reliant on my APEX system. When things started to freak out nothing worked as it should. My water level detector is set so that my skimmer and ATO shut off if level raises above a certain point. This auto shutoff didn't happen last night and my skimmer cup quickly began to fill with water. Luckily I was here. Also my MP40s stopped working, underlights wouldn't turn on and I'm guessing my heater outlets would not turn on or off in relation to temp in tank. On and on the scenarios play out in my head and I see potential disasters all over the place.

    I recently purchased the leak detector module and leak detectors and was going to set them up this weekend before the EB8 freaked out. detected water would set off a series of events that would require immediate manual attention. Who knows waht would have happened if this was online during the freak out. I'm guessing everything would stop working.

    I love the functionality of APEX but I have not kept it simple and I see my failsafes will fail if the APEX fails. Anyone else have the same fears? Steps taken to not have so much reliance on APEX functioning correctly at all times? Ways to know there is a system problem like a failed EB8?
    My biggest fear is a heater malfunction, so I use 2 probes [one serves only as a backup] instead of 1.

    The other fear is the return - you must have a secondary pump.


    Heat and water movement are primary. Everything else is secondary, IMHO, and can wait.

  6. #6
    NSI Member shiftline's Avatar
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    On the flip side i feel my tank would be fine with out a return pump for a while, the powerheads in the tank provide lots of flow which in theory should keep things happy


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  7. #7
    Fish Whisperer cypherljk's Avatar
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    shiftline I had the exact same thing happen with an Aquabus cable, however my controller setup sits in a different room so it's easily findable and that situation is not something that would occur regularly. I had dropped the cable into my sump, it did not come loose.

  8. #8
    Frequent Visitor Justin L's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by shiftline View Post
    On the flip side i feel my tank would be fine with out a return pump for a while, the powerheads in the tank provide lots of flow which in theory should keep things happy
    The concern then would be heat loss since your heaters are likely in your sump. Hence the comment about a secondary return pump. Something I've considered several times but can't quite decide how to implement.

  9. #9
    NSI Member shiftline's Avatar
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    True. I just got the battery booster cable and am going to rig up the vectra to my diy batter backup


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  10. #10
    New User
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    My EB8 roasted my apex classic, then roasted my tank, apex fusion, no alarms, see my story in another thread. Don't bother depending on this stuff I have lost ALL faith, glad it didn't burn my house down.

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