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Thread: Can you help save my Fish From my Apex..l. EB8 Power Outage Issues

  1. #1
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    Can you help save my Fish From my Apex..l. EB8 Power Outage Issues

    Hi Everyone,

    Part of my 1100 gallon system is outside. When we get rain here in Southern California GFI's pop. I have my outdoor EB8's plugged into 4 different dedicated circuits.

    Over a year ago I had issues with EB8's being off and me not getting notifications. I submitted a Service ticket.

    During the horrendous drought ending rains of our past winter I Had multiple issues again due to not knowing the power was out to the EB8's - I submitted another service ticket.

    I replaced my Apex Classic with the New Apex in the Spring

    It's raining in Los Angeles again, and this morning I find my frag tank is Ice Cold and not circulating.

    Guess what..... Neptune still hasn't resolved the issue!

    So perhaps you guys could help save my fish and corals.

    Here is the coding for the Email Alarm:

    If Power EB8_Tank Off 002 Then ON
    If Power EB8Radion Off 002 Then ON
    If Power EB8Kalk Off 002 Then ON
    If Power EB8Refuge Off 002 Then ON
    If Power EB8_Frag Off 002 Then ON
    If Power EB8_Food-21 Off 002 Then ON


    Here is what the Apex is recording the EB8's as doing....




    Attachment 8136



    That's one EB8

    Here is a second one



    Attachment 8137


    My thought is that when the Power curve starts going UP is when the Power has gone out to the EB8. Amazing that something with a 15 amp breaker could be pulling 75 to 90 amps

    Plus - Once the power goes out, why isn't the current draw a stable value?

    Please note, these graphs are from 2 different EB8's on 2 different circuits. The power did not go out to them at the same time. And this issue has occurred on at least 3 more of my EB8's

    We are expecting rain here for the next 2 days. Anyone that has an idea to help keep the fish and corals safe would be greatly appreciated.


    Thank you,

    Dave B

  2. #2
    Frequent Contributor zombie's Avatar
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    Your pics are broken and I can't see them on tapatalk or in web view.

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

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    Attachment 8138



    I guess the attach images feature doesn't work correctly either....



    Attachment 8139

  4. #4
    Frequent Contributor zombie's Avatar
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    Still can't see them. But if you want to actually stop the problem instead of bandaid it, you need to buy an enclosure for the energy bars. NEMA 3 or 3R is sufficient for rain if there is cover from above and if they will be rained on from straight above you want a NEMA 4R rated enclosure. If you get the fiberglass variants these can be had for $40-100 depending on size.

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

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    Quote Originally Posted by zombie View Post
    But if you want to actually stop the problem instead of bandaid it, you need to buy an enclosure for the energy bars.

    Zombie, Thanks for the classic Neptune Response... Don't rely on your Apex, make it so you don't have to worry about the Apex doing it's job correctly.


    All the EB8's are in Fiberglass Nema enclosures. But the different things that are plugged into them can't always be protected from the weather. The EB8's are 100% dry and safe.

    I have a 8 EB8's all on independent GFI protected circuits. They are located in multiple locations. It would be nice if a standard feature.. Like Power OFF worked correctly - Sure the rain getting to electrical devices might be my fault. But when a circuit pops for another reason, or an EB8 pops a circuit and shuts off. It would be nice if I was notified of it before going outside to find a tank of dead fish with an EB8 still showing it's happy Green LED light bright and solid as if nothing is wrong.


    Dave B

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    Quote Originally Posted by o2manyfish View Post
    Zombie, Thanks for the classic Neptune Response... Don't rely on your Apex, make it so you don't have to worry about the Apex doing it's job correctly.
    typical snide comment! This forum is not maintained by Neptune, its a peer to peer help forum. Zombie is one of the most helpful people here and is NOT a Neptune employee.

    did you state that your EBs were in boxes? Nope, so how was he to know? Your right that the apex probably should warn you, I don't know. But Zombie is absolutely right that your GFIs should not be tripping. Zombie is an electrical geek, so he knows what he is talking about. I'm not but I do know that GFIs don't react due to high power draws, they react to ground fault issues, I.e. Water shorting the electrical system. So my guess is that despite your boxes, water is still getting into your system. That's the place I would start looking at for a solution to your problem.

    im not an electrical guy, so other may correct me. Somehow I doubt Zombie will be one to spend his time helping you, hopefully someone else does. If he does help,he is a much better man that I am.

    My last question/comment is that your entire email code? If not you might want to post the whole thing in case there is other code interfering with the alarm activation. You might also want to let us know what the response to the service tickets was, so the same advise is not provided and time spent.

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    Frogfish, Sorry to offend you, or anyone else trying to help.

    I'm overly familiar with Neptune Support and their responses to tech issues.

    My post wasn't --- Hey, How do I stop my circuits from popping. I know why, things are getting wet. But I was looking for a working solution to get notified that the circuits have lost power.

    A feature the Apex is supposed to do, whether the EB8's are inside, outside, in a box, on top of the tank.And whether they got wet, or popped their breaker, or the GFI failed, or the circuit breaker went bad... Regardless of the circumstances whether avoidable or not, I need to know when the power is off.


    Here is the complete Email Code, if that gives anyone an idea.
    If Power Apex Off 004 Then ON
    Set OFF
    If Power EB8_Tank Off 002 Then ON
    If Power EB8Radion Off 002 Then ON
    If Power EB8Kalk Off 002 Then ON
    If Power EB8Refuge Off 002 Then ON
    If Power EB8_Frag Off 002 Then ON
    If Power EB8_Food-21 Off 002 Then ON
    If Condx4 < 32.0 Then ON
    If Condx4 > 38.0 Then ON
    If TkTemp > 81.8 Then ON
    If TkTemp < 76.9 Then ON
    If pH > 8.50 Then ON
    If pH < 7.75 Then ON
    If Output Surge_High = ON Then ON
    If pH_Cal < 5.20 Then ON
    If pH_Cal > 6.80 Then ON
    If pH_Kal < 9.99 Then ON
    If Frg1Lo CLOSED Then ON
    If SumpSa < 32.0 Then ON
    If SumpSa > 40.0 Then ON
    If FrgTmp > 81.8 Then ON
    If FrgTmp < 76.0 Then ON
    If Frg1Lo CLOSED Then ON
    If Output TankFloatDel = ON Then ON
    Defer 009:01 Then ON



    Neptune's response to services tickets...... Hmmm.... Let's see..... Well the last I heard they were able to duplicate the problem in the lab.... But it doesn't appear to have been fixed.

  9. #9
    Frequent Contributor zombie's Avatar
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    If they are already in enclosures then I would try to see if you can track down the offending device so you can protect it from the rain. Regardless of whether the email works correctly you want to fix that problem so you stop popping GFCIs. In the past I have had issues with grounding probes and certain pumps can cause this problem even without rain. Fluorescent fixtures are also likely culprits.

    I would update the energy bar firmwares and see if it helps. I had a similar issue of the EB8 not notifying me of power failure several years ago when the mains tripped but did notify me if aquabus was unplugged or it lost communications. It fixed after a system firmware update and module update and it's possible a similar bug reared its head in your tank.

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

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