AC jr problems

[Yinger]

anyone have any problems with their ac jr? I just programmed it on sat night and sunday morning. Plugged everything in and monitored thru my comp. Then later that day, it stopped responding and I couldn't get my ac jr to connect. Then today, i get home from work and find out the thermometer has been tripping out. Its gone from 78 to like 85 degrees and just keeps jumping up and down turning my chiller on and off and probably the heater too. anyone else have problems with theirs or is it only me?

 

[stryker]

are you using x10 or dc unit for connections?

 

[Yinger]

dc8

 

[stryker]

check in the neptune forum, but i think you cannot use the dc8 for metal halides and chillers due to wattage ratings. They have a heavy duty DC4 unit for these appliances.

 

[®eefer]

Is it connected directly to your PC via the serial at all times?

 

[Yinger]

hmm... it was working fine for a little bit. But even without the dc8 plugged in, I can't connect it to the computer like before and the thermo is still way off

 

[®eefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8272490#post8272490 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by stryker_578
check in the neptune forum, but i think you cannot use the dc8 for metal halides and chillers due to wattage ratings. They have a heavy duty DC4 unit for these appliances.

Not true. I use a DC8 to control my entire tank, halides, pumps etc. I think its rated up to 10 or 15amps

 

[Yinger]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8272493#post8272493 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ®eefer
Is it connected directly to your PC via the serial at all times?

I only plug it in when i try to program it, but i can't get it to connect

 

[Yinger]

its supposed to be rated for 15 amps. I also called and asked if i could use my 6 amp chiller on it and they said no problem since the surge is for a short time.

 

[®eefer]

Ok, I was thinking you might be getting a wild ground from the serial port. Return it.

 

[badbones]

I have had similar problems with my AC2. They all seem to relate to electrical interference. I have not been able to use electronic ballast with it. My UV every now and then sends interference also. I think the DC8 units were supposed to correct this, but I do not have one.

It really sounds like some type of interference. Also check to see if you may have a powerhead going out (emitting electricity into the water). Also do you have a grounding probe??

 

[stockham2121]

I would check three things:

1. Make sure your thermometer is always in your water.(mine sometimes sneaks out because I'm fooling with the tank)
2. Make sure the "telephone" cord you are using to connect the controler to your DC8 has four(4) copper wires running through it. You can check this by unplugging the cord, looking at the top of the plastic plug and counting four copper contacts. (you may also swap this cord out which would solve for a bad cord)
3. check your programming to make sure you don't have any "infinite loops". This is probably the hardest to do because if you do it's likely in a program for one channel or "plug" and it is causing the failure in another, unrelated channel.

Best of luck.