APEX and DC8

[ricwilli]

Will a DC8 work 30 feet away from the Apex Base Module?

 

[jeffhaag]

Mines on a 20' cable. Should be okay.

 

[RussM]

Do you have a DC8 (legacy AC3 power strip), or do you mean EB 8 (Apex EnergyBar)? Big difference between the two in some ways. I ask because some people here on the forum tend to use DC8 as a generic term.

DC8 - officially, the limit is 10' IIRC, but people have used twisted pair cables to go quite a bit further.

EB8 - custom USB cables can be obtained which work fine for AquaBus connections... a number of people are using 50' & 100' cables. Officially, the total max combined length of all AquaBus cables is 200';

 

[jeffhaag]

DC8 from my aquacontroller jr before I upgraded to the Apex. Now I run the DC8 for all my lighting controls and the EB8 for my other applications. I just use a 20' heavy Gage phone line I picked up long ago. Never had any issues with my AC jr or apex. Like I mentioned though, I'm only at 20'. Probably beyond the officially supported length, but with a good quality cable, resistance shouldn't be a major issue. Give it a shot with a long cable and try. What's the worse you're out, $10 for the phone cord?

 

[RussM]

Jeff, you makes great points. But I was asking the OP what he has. I probabaly could've been clearer...

 

[ricwilli]

I have 2 EB8's and purchased a used DC8. I should have done a little more research. I'm going to give it a shot with a phone cord. Will keep you up to date. Thanks

 

[RussM]

I have 2 EB8's and purchased a used DC8. I should have done a little more research. I'm going to give it a shot with a phone cord. Will keep you up to date. Thanks

Yeah, give it a shot - just make sure it's a 4-wire phone cord.

With that added length, do what you can to keep the path of the longer wires away from any potential sources of electrical noise/interference, like ballasts.

 

[ricwilli]

OK, it works with 35 feet of phone wire. I actually had to purchase 25 feet and 10 feet of wire cause they didn't sell 30 feet. Woohoo....... Thanks

 

[saltyg135er]

I just got my Apex and I wanted to hook up my HD4C (forgot the name). Where do I plug in the phone line from my Hd4C to? The EB8 only has USB ports. Thanks

 

[ricwilli]

Connect it to the Apex Base Module where it says Control. BEFORE YOU DO THIS, MAKE A BACKUP OF THE APEX CONFIGURATION. I had lots of problems when I connected my DC8. I was down a whole day.

 

[saltyg135er]

Cool thanks