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Thread: alert if an eb832 relay trips

  1. #1
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    alert if an eb832 relay trips

    Today I noticed my tank was suddenly dark and silent. The EB832 on my DT had stopped providing any power. After looking at the back I saw the little button that the relay had been triggered. Even more strange I had to reset it several times before it finally started working normally again as it just kept retripping. Checked all devices and outlets, no issues there, I'm not even close to 7A on a single outlet, and max A is 11 or so when everything is on full power.

    That said, if I had not been sitting there I would have had a dead tank since all flow was gone. Had this happened while I was away or in the middle of the night I probably would have lost my 180g tank.

    Is there a way to set up a text alert if a power bar is at 0A or has this happen again? If so how would I do it?

  2. #2
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    The mystery gets even more weird...

    In playing around with my equipment checking everything I found that if my skimmer is powered on which is plugged into my SECOND EB832 for my fish room and frag tanks, for some reason it causes the FIRST EB832 which is used for the DT to freak out and trip the relay? How does a device on a totally different EB832 cause another EB832 to trip?

    Also, all modules are on the current/latest firmware/software revisions.

  3. #3
    Frequent Contributor zombie's Avatar
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    The only explanation I can think of is that the hot on one of your devices on the first EB8 has failing insulation and the neutral on your skimmer has failing
    Insulation. This would allow high enough current to trip the EB8 to flow from the hot on the first device through the water and into the neutral on the skimmer. Since the fuse is on the hot only, the first eb8 trips off even though there may also be an overcurrent in the neutral leg of the other eb8.

    The way you can check this is to do the following.

    1. Turn off skimmer and all devices on the eb8 that is tripping.
    2. Place one probe of a multimeter (set to AC voltage) in the tank and the other end into the ground of an outlet.
    3. Turn on devices of the tripping eb8 and record the voltage as each device turns on. If any device does more than a couple volts that is your culprit.
    4. Turn on the skimmer and record the voltage (make sure you turn off the culprit before do8ng this to avoid tripping)

    If you find a voltage spike from a device on the tripping EB8 and a voltage go from a small value to zero when you turn on the skimmer, then both need to be replaced/serviced.

    You might be an engineer if...You have no life and can prove it mathematically.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by zombie View Post
    The only explanation I can think of is that the hot on one of your devices on the first EB8 has failing insulation and the neutral on your skimmer has failing
    Insulation. This would allow high enough current to trip the EB8 to flow from the hot on the first device through the water and into the neutral on the skimmer. Since the fuse is on the hot only, the first eb8 trips off even though there may also be an overcurrent in the neutral leg of the other eb8.

    The way you can check this is to do the following.

    1. Turn off skimmer and all devices on the eb8 that is tripping.
    2. Place one probe of a multimeter (set to AC voltage) in the tank and the other end into the ground of an outlet.
    3. Turn on devices of the tripping eb8 and record the voltage as each device turns on. If any device does more than a couple volts that is your culprit.
    4. Turn on the skimmer and record the voltage (make sure you turn off the culprit before do8ng this to avoid tripping)

    If you find a voltage spike from a device on the tripping EB8 and a voltage go from a small value to zero when you turn on the skimmer, then both need to be replaced/serviced.

    You might be an engineer if...You have no life and can prove it mathematically.
    Thank you this is very helpful. I'll do the tests tonight and report back if I find anything!

  5. #5
    Master Control Freak RussM's Avatar
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    Do you by chance have the second EB832 plugged into an outlet on the first EB832?
    Please do not send me PMs with technical questions or requesting assistance - use the forums for Apex help. PM me ONLY if the matter is of a private or personal nature. Thanks.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by RussM View Post
    Do you by chance have the second EB832 plugged into an outlet on the first EB832?
    I do not.

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    Ok so I ran the test and got no more than 1.2v at any point with any device on with the offending EB832. I had the other EB832 powered off completely. When turning on the other EB832 outlets the voltage stayed at about 1.3v. To me this seems normal.

    I also noticed that the skimmer is no longer causing the first EB832 to misbehave. While strange it's very possible it was completely coincidental that me turning the skimmer on/off was timing just right with the other eb832 losing its mind.

    So then still begs the question what is my primary EB832's problem and how do I get a text alert to monitor for it! I ordered a new EB832 just in case as being without one of them could be a big issue.

  8. #8
    Frequent Contributor zombie's Avatar
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    The alert for the EB8 is the l8ne below (replace EB8 with the actual name of your energy bar. Likely EB8_3 or something if you didn't rename it.)

    If Power EB8_1 OFF 000 Then ON
    If Power EB8_2 OFF 000 Then ON
    If Power APEX OFF 000 Then ON


    Use the order above in your email. That way you can differentiate between a tripped fuse (will email you EB8) and a power outage (will email apex). Note the power apex line will only tell you that a power outage occurred not that power is currently out unless you have both the apex and your home router/modem on a UPS.

    You might be an engineer if...You have no life and can prove it mathematically.

  9. #9
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    I'm gonna have to contact apex I think. This energy bar is constantly killing all power to the outlets and then resetting itself. Sometimes it lasts a half second (lights go out then instantly back on) and sometimes it takes a full minute before it "resets" somehow internally and provides power to the outlets again.

  10. #10
    Frequent Contributor zombie's Avatar
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    One thing you can go in the meantime is update your system firmware then follow that with an update to the module firmware. It's possible something got corrupted and is causing it to self reset.

    You might be an engineer if...You have no life and can prove it mathematically.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by zombie View Post
    One thing you can go in the meantime is update your system firmware then follow that with an update to the module firmware. It's possible something got corrupted and is causing it to self reset.

    You might be an engineer if...You have no life and can prove it mathematically.
    I can't find a way to reapply the existing update to my 2016 apex as it simply says the firmware is current so there is no update option. I did already try re-updating the EB832 when this first started happening.

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