AquaController Jr. III Problem

[ellebelle]

I recently got an Aquacontroller Jr. I believe that everything is hooked up properly, but there seems to be a communication problem between the X10 modules, the control interface and the controller. The control interface's light only comes on if I UNPLUG it from the controller. Is this normal? Am I missing something?

 

[loismustdie]

Ballasts bang up X-10 signals. That's one of the reasons I wouldn't sell my Octopus to you. You need the DC-8.
What you are seeing when you unplug it is normal. It's looking for a cue for a signal.

 

[Pedro]

Lissa, look for an electronic ballast. Check your fuge light. When i have gotten those errors it was always caused by an electronic ballast. After i took it out of the system, it went back to normal.

 

[loismustdie]

Lissa, look for an electronic ballast. Check your fuge light. When i have gotten those errors it was always caused by an electronic ballast. After i took it out of the system, it went back to normal.

Pedro, she's running a 29. Everything is too tight together. She'd have to remove her tank lights as well. She definitely can't do the switch to MH. It's always something. But I do agree, take your fuge out of the system.
Lissa, you need this:
http://www.aquariumspecialty.com/catalog/images/dc8.jpg
Best price I've seen is around $160. I think there is a model with 4 plugs.
I'm almost positive I told E that X-10's weren't going to work on your set up.

 

[Pedro]

Lois, what i meant to say was to disconnect the electronic things, especially any electronics ballasts to find out the one causing the interference. I know that those direct modules are supposed to be more reliable. See for my tank, the circuit is dedicated. So that means that i get no problems unless an electronic ballast craps out on me. Otherwise nothing in the house will interfere due to the dedicated circuit. It sucks though when it happens, one time it happened with like 3 days to go before vacation. I was scared as hell. But i found out it was my fuge light, thankfully.

I think neptune stopped selling the x10's no?

 

[loismustdie]

I thought all of them broke away from X-10 due to frequent failure. I contacted Octopus about the X-10's. I also bought a DC 8 just to see if the Octopus would talk to it. No luck. I called the makers of Octopus and asked them if they planned to come out with something like a DC-8 and they said they never heard of it. I'm still waiting for their reply. As of right now, my Octopus is a $650 pH monitor.
Let me digress for a second here... Lissa, you are asking about the red light. The interface talks in short bursts to the x-10's. So it only turns on for a split second to say what needs to be said, and shuts back off. When you unplug it from the controller, it turns on because it is searching for what it should be saying. There is not a problem with your interface.
As for what Pedro and I are discussing, I'm pretty sure both of us agree with what the other is saying, but something is lost in the typing. All I can say is that the X-10's might work for you. They probably won't. They are highly unreliable and like Pedro, if I didn't have a dedicated circut for it, I would not feel comfortable leaving my tank trusted to X-10's.
Think of it like this:
your X-10's turn on your heater since it is cold. Then your lights kick on. The signal now interferes with the x-10's and now your x-10's can't shut your heater off.
In my situation, my X-10 would turn on my first MH light. Once it turned on this one light, the interference kept the interface from talking to any other X-10's. No other lights came on and it wouldn't shut off the one it turned on in the first place at the end of the day. No temperature controlling, pH, timers... nothing. A $650 pH monitor.

 

[ellebelle]

I think I understand what you guys are saying. I might just return it and get one of the Ranco controllers then - that should work, right?

Out of curiosity, why do you think I couldn't switch to MH? I've been thinking about doing that - basically, I'd just raise my canopy (I have the extra wood to do it), retrofit a MH, take out the 10K PC and replace it with a second actinic bulb, and run the MH on a 4-6 hour light cycle. WHat would be the problem there?

(EDIT: Eric just explained to me that you meant I would have to get a new ballast if I installed an MH, which I already knew. Serves me right for responding after reading quickly.)

 

[cali_reef]

Is it a Jr or ACIII??

Check the telephone cord used between the control module and the base unit(either Jr or ACIII), it should have four wires connected on each end, not two. wires you get with your phone only have two wires.

Take the base unit, the control module and some x-10's to a different room, plug all the modules into a common power strip, try turning on and off the units to make sure you are getting signal from the base unit to the control module than to the X-10's.

Put everything back on you tank if you can confirm all is good. Remember you should plug the control module and all your X-10 modules in the same power strip, signal will get lost when you have modules plug in different power strips with surge protectors.

DC modules are your best bet to eliminate sign issues if you are having interference from electronic ballasts. I have a few x-10's in addition to DC-8's and none of my electronic ballast seems to bother the signal at all.

 

[ellebelle]

Mine is a Jr., not a III. The other thing I forgot to include in all of this is that, as of now, I am only using the controller for heat, fans, and chiller. Everything is currently plugged into the same strip. I haven't even plugged my lights into any of the X10 modules yet. Would there still be possible interference from the electronic ballast even if I haven't plugged in the lights?

I'll try everything in a different room tomorrow as a check. I should have thought of that myself. :happysad: But basically, it sounds like from what everyone is saying that my problem is either in the communication between the control module and the X10s or my programming of the Aquacontroller itself.

 

[loismustdie]

A ranco will work fine. Personally, I use a Ranco on my system, even though I can control heat with the Octopus or the Dialyseas. I like having separate controllers rather than all in one devices. I learned my lesson with the Octopus.
You'll be fine with the Ranco since everything is hard wired. The only issue you will have is that they are primarily 2 stage. You will not be able to run the fans and chiller the way you were hoping to.
Now that you have the controller, I think you would be better off with the DC-8. It is hard wired, so there is no signal to be interfered with. I believe a Ranco will cost you $120 while a DC 8 is $160 and can control your lights, pumps, temp, etc.
And, yes there still CAN be interference even if the ballast isn't plugged into an X-10.

 

[ellebelle]

I tried running everything in a different room, but the controller is still not functioning properly. My entire apartment is on one circuit - could the electronic signals coming from my electronic ballast or other pieces of electronic equipment still be messing with my signal? My next step is to buy a DC8 and try it with that but I already can't return the X10s because I took them all out of the boxes. I'm afraid it's a problem with the AC itself and I don't want to be out any more money than I already am. Thoughts?

 

[Pedro]

Lissa, you can always sell the x10's. People still use them. How many breakers do you have in your apt, or fuses if it's older?

Did you try running the controller alone with nothing connected to it, maybe just an empty module. This is just to see if the controller is commmunicating properly. The next step is to plug things in one at a time with the electronic ballast being the last one. Again after you plug each item in, manually turn it on/off to verify they are communicating. If this works then we have to make sure your programming is correct.

 

[loismustdie]

Lissa, I agree with Pedro in that you can sell the X-10. People use them for many different purposes and fish tanks are just one of them.
I think your best bet is the DC-8. You will be able to control all of your equipment off of it. This will give you the most out of the controller. Nothing beats the hard wired signal.
Do try going through the controller again and make sure you are programmed correctly. FWIW, you have to set all the X-10's and plug them in. Program the controller and then unplug the controller leaving the interface and X-10's plugged in and then plug the controller back in. This allows the controller and interface to find the addresses it is looking for. I'm sure you have already done this, but I figured I'd throw it out there.
If you think it's the AC, can you swap it out for a new one?

 

[cali_reef]

Have you try putting the control module and one x10 on a surge filter power strip (the ones used for computers)?

I had some luck isolating line static with those.

 

[ellebelle]

I don't even have lights plugged into them - I've just been working with the heater, chiller and fan. I took the fan, one X10, the control module and the aquacontroller into a different room and plugged them all in. I plugged the fan into the heater X10 so it would turn on (as the temp is less than the programmed temp in my apartment). It turns on. If I drop the temperature probe into some warm water.... it stays on. The aquacontroller is turning on and seems to be communicating properly with the control module. I'm 100% certain I've programmed the module correctly. I've had two people double check my program with the manual to make sure I haven't overlooked something stupid.

Pierce - I specifically bought a powerstrip for computers to use with it. Still doesn't work.

Chris - I believe I have to go through Neptune to get a refund or replacement AC. Marine Depot does not take back equipment that has been opened. I have unplugged and plugged and set and reset over and over again. No change.

Pedro - I have two fuses on my entire apartment. If I blow a fuse, the entire apartment goes out. I believe everything is on one circuit.

 

[cali_reef]

You should isolate one problem at a time. Use manual control on the ACjr to turn on and off the x10 first to make sure signal is getting thru. Mess with your programs after you are sure static signal is not a cause to the problem.

All X10 defaults back to the last known on-off position, the module will either stay on or off depending where it was last told(by the controller) to do.

 

[loismustdie]

I figured you did... just thought I'd check. DC-4 or 8 are your only options. You probably won't be disappointed.
Marine Depot doesn't take it back?:scratchch That's BS. You buy stuff from them and they wash their hands of you and make you go back to the manufacturer? That's not cool.

 

[Pedro]

Lissa, can you go to a friends house and try your controller there?

 

[ellebelle]

Actually, I just called Marine Depot. I seems that they will replace defective mechandise with an even exchange once the manufacturer certifies that there is something wrong with it. So, as least I don't have to deal with Neptune myself in the event that it is the AC.

 

[cali_reef]

Curt from Neptune will be more helpful than MD.com if the controller is indeed no good. I second Pedro's idea but bring it to someone who knows about AC's and X-10s, I am pretty sure the problem is either signal loss or x-10 addressing. I never had an AC (had about 7 at this point) fail on me.