AC II problems

[Kurt448]

Hello,
I have an AC II that has been giving me trouble for quite some time now. The first and biggest problem is the power cord. For some reason if I touch the Aqua Controller just slightly, sometimes the power will all of a sudden go off and start consuming the battery. It is very sensitive to any movements in the power input plug. Is there anything I can do to fix this, I have already gone through several batteries in a few weeks to keep it up and running.
My second problem is that I can't reprogram my controller. I just bought a DC 8 and am trying to reprogram the timers to the inputs on the DC 8. When I edit the program, I will press select and then the values would just update back to their previous numbers.
Another problem I have is hooking up my serial cable to my new-er computer. Most laptops these days don't have serial inputs...mostly just firewire and usb. I bought a conversion kit from serial to usb but I can't seem to be able to read anything from the AC. Any suggestions??


I also have a few suggestions for future controllers. I think it would be great if you could add another pH port to your controllers so that CA reactor pH and System pH could be read and monitored simultaneously on one controller. IMO, that would be far better than Conductivity and Disolved Oxygen readings.

Also, as I don't know if there is a solution to the serial cable problem, perhaps using a USB port might be more advantages to you in the future as it is probably more widely used accepted than serial cables. JMO.

Thanks in advance!
-Kurt

 

[clp]

Please send an email to support@neptunesys.com concerning the AC adapter problem. To solve the program modification problem, just power cycle the aquaController (remove the 9V battery and unplug the AC adapter). It soulds like the device driver for the USB to serial adapter is not installed on your PC. Check the device manager on your PC to make sure that the USB serial port is properly installed.
Unfortunately, USB is not a very attractive interface for an aquarium controller. The max cable lengths are way too short. The AC3 and AC3PO have an Ethernet connection, and make it quite easy to interface to a computer network.

Curt

 

[Kurt448]

Thank you Curt. I had already resolved the programing issue by removing all power to the unit.

So are you telling me that my usb conversion cord can actually work? Is there a driver that I need to install? My computer always reads that there is a new cable in the system, I just don't know what driver I should have it use for the install.

After re-reading your post you mentioned that I need a driver for the actual adapter. I will try and find it and see if that works.

I used to have aquanotes on my old computer but I lost the cd so now I am just trying to use the lite version as I don't want to spend all that $$ again...yet. I tried looking on your site and couldn't find out what are the differences between the lite version and the full version?

Regarding my comment about having two pH probes, I saw that on your AC III you have the option of using the ORP port as a connection for a pH probe. Is there any chance you may come out with a product in the future that has the option of having two pH probe inputs as well as a ORP input? Those, along with the temperature would be very usefull for most systems, I would imagine.

Thanks for all the help!!

 

[clp]

The differences between the light and full version of AquaNotes can be seen here: http://www.neptunesys.com/aquaNotes.htm#COMPARISON

We are coming out with a probe expansion box which will allow you to add a pH, temp, and ORP probe to a AC3 or AC3PRO.

Curt

 

[Kurt448]

We are coming out with a probe expansion box which will allow you to add a pH, temp, and ORP probe to a AC3 or AC3PRO.

Curt

I think that is an excellent idea. Do you know when this product may be available?