“Cycling” ATO Pump

[mls228]

I’m a first time Apex user but very experienced with another brand controller. Apex is awesome, so refined.

I wired float switches to the breakout box and the switches respond in my dashboard as expected.

If I put a lamp in the EB8 outlet with the code below it goes on and stays on then turns off when expected as the floats move following the code below. Works great as expected. The problem is that when I use my ATO pump it goes on for a few seconds then off for a few then on, etc...until the floats turn it off for good. Why is it “cycling?” But if I toggle the outlet to ON in Fusion it will stay on and not cycle. Also on a physical switch the pump works fine. The pump is a little giant approx 50 Watts. Any suggestions?

I tried several EB8 outlets and even a separate EB8. All the same thing. So strange.

Fallback OFF
Set OFF
If Sw1 CLOSED Then ON
If Sw2 OPEN Then OFF

I also tried:

Fallback OFF
Set OFF
If Sw1 CLOSED Then ON

and:

Fallback OFF
Set OFF
If Sw1 CLOSED Then ON
If Sw1 OPEN Then OFF

[zombie]

You want this as your starting point (you can leave the min time out for testing, but you will want it after done testing). Also rename your switches so they are easier to remember later.

Fallback OFF
Set OFF
If ATOlow CLOSED Then ON
If ATOhig OPEN Then OFF
Defer 000:10 Then ON
Defer 000:04 Then OFF
When On > 005:00 Then OFF
Min Time 060:00 Then OFF

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

[mls228]

You want this as your starting point (you can leave the min time out for testing, but you will want it after done testing). Also rename your switches so they are easier to remember later.

Fallback OFF
Set OFF
If ATOlow CLOSED Then ON
If ATOhig OPEN Then OFF
Defer 000:10 Then ON
Defer 000:04 Then OFF
When On > 005:00 Then OFF
Min Time 060:00 Then OFF

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

Thank you for responding I will try this tomorrow. If it works I’ll still be confused why the output would illuminate a light bulb consistently but run a pump intermittently.


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[zombie]

Thank you for responding I will try this tomorrow. If it works I’ll still be confused why the output would illuminate a light bulb consistently but run a pump intermittently.


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The defers and min time should take care of that. It can do that with pumps, because the sensor has a short range in its level (about 2mm) where it can bounce back and forth between open and closed. The defers act as a "debouncer" so those quick jolts are ignored and the min time prevents it from short cycling.

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

[mls228]

The defers and min time should take care of that. It can do that with pumps, because the sensor has a short range in its level (about 2mm) where it can bounce back and forth between open and closed. The defers act as a "debouncer" so those quick jolts are ignored and the min time prevents it from short cycling.

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

Thanks but this didn’t work. The light bulb stays lit but if I use the pump it only runs for about 2 seconds, stops, then starts and repeats.

Something else is at play.


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[mls228]

Just had a thought. There has to be some other code in the controller that’s turning it off. I bet that’s it I’ll check.


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[zombie]

Just had a thought. There has to be some other code in the controller that’s turning it off. I bet that’s it I’ll check.


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If you followed my changes and it is doing that behavior, there is a problem with the pump most likely. What happens when you plug that pump straight into the wall?

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

[mls228]

Pump works fine in the wall.

I did a factory reset and I’m using your code and everything is working perfect now.

THANK YOU.


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