Apex: Lights Flickering When ATO Turns On

[kev2me]

We have an aqualifter plugged into an ATO which is plugged into the 8th outlet on the EB8. I don't know if it's always when the ATO turns on, or only sometimes, but when the ATO turns on it causes whatever light that is currently off to flicker on/off really quick. So if they display lights are on, the fuge lights will flicker, or if the fuge lights are on, the display will flicker (since we keep them on opposite times)

I've tried manually pushing the float valve on the ATO down to try to recreate the problem, and some of the time the lights flicker and sometimes they don't.

We also have a 37 gallon tank that uses the same Apex system using a PM1 and a different EB8, same kind of ATO with aqualifter and the lights do not flicker on that system.

We had another problem with the base unit, so it was replaced (not repaired), and after reprogramming it, it's still flickering. So we're pretty sure it's not a malfunctioning base unit, unless we got two malfunctioning base units, which we're pretty sure is unlikely.

In the process of putting in the new base unit we put in a new EB8 to test... and it still happened.

We had an ACjr and AC3 with DC8 on this same tank using the same ATO, and no flickering. It only started when we switched to an Apex.

I don't know what's causing this, maybe someone seeing my code can see what could be wrong, or maybe it's just something with my equipment.

Our display lights are LEDs so they are controlled by the variable voltage ports, so the outlet code is just:

Outlet 2

Fallback ON 
Set ON

Some notes... We had 2 MH lights on this system before the LEDs were installed and they also flickered, so we're pretty sure it's not the LEDs. Our 37 gallon uses the same kind of LEDs and programming with variable voltage ports on the Apex.

The Fuge T5's use this code:

Outlet 6

Fallback OFF 
Set OFF 
If Time 20:30 to 11:30 Then ON 
If Temp > 82.0 Then OFF 
Min Time 030:00 Then OFF

The ATO outlet is just:

Outlet 8

Fallback ON 
Set ON 
If pH > 08.30 Then OFF

There's usually kalkwasser in there, so that's why the pH command is there.

So hopefully with all of this information, someone could help us out

 

[aquamanic]

Where's the program for the VS ports...the one that would reference a profile?

 

[kev2me]

Blue

If Time 10:30 to 11:00 Then RampUp
If Time 11:00 to 23:00 Then ON 
If Time 23:00 to 23:30 Then RampDown
If Time 23:30 to 03:30 Then Moon
If Time 07:30 to 10:30 Then Moon

White

Fallback ON 
Set OFF 
If Time 11:00 to 11:30 Then RampUp
If Time 11:30 to 22:30 Then WhitesOn
If Time 22:30 to 23:00 Then RampDown

I don't think it's the variable voltage ports since we used MH before and it still flickered. Our other tank uses the same code for its lighting and it doesn't flicker either.

 

[aquamanic]

I think you want to turn power OFF to your LED's before you try to dim them to 0% (probably anything less than 10%). There was a post not too long ago where someone had the same thing happening with dimmable LED's and the solution was to turn AC power to the driver OFF before the final dimming.

 

[kev2me]

It was happening with 2x250w MH before we even put the LEDs on the tank. So I'm still wondering if it has anything to do with the LED programming. We also have another tank tied into this Apex using the same LED programming and it doesn't flash at all.

I'll try changing the LED code and see what happens.