ato switch troubles

[tinman11]

well i have wired in a float switch to pin 1 and 8 of the mini din actually i just unplugged it from my aqua jr.
and the programming is as follows
if switch1 closed then on
if switch1 open then off
the pump is plugged in to #6 on the bar, i can turn the pump on by changing the open/closed command for on but i can not get it to go in auto. i also have tried making a virtual outlet but no change the switch is good i have metered it out so what am i doing wrong? how do i make it see the switch?
thanks.

 

[aquamanic]

Is this connected via a breakout box directly to the controller or via another module like a PX1000, aquasurf, PM1, etc.? If so, then your switch name won't be switch1. It will be something like switchA1 or switchx5_1.

You should be able to short/connect pins 1 and 8 and see that the switch shows closed. If not, then there's something between your BB and your controller. You can define a virtual outlet for your switch, test the switch for being open/closed in the virtual outlet, then display the status of the virtual outlet on your web status page. That will help in debugging.

 

[tinman11]

ato

ato

no it is directly into pins 1 and 8 on the mini din connector i did meter it out so i can make it open or closed by removing the float and flipping it over or moving it up and down i know for sure the switch works as it just came off of my aqua jr. the cable is the factory din to serial cable for the aqua jr. and i've wired it to pin 8 and 1 i'm just not sure how to make the apex see it. it was real easy on my aqua jr so i assumed the program was the same also it is on my status web page but it shows off untill i turn the outlet on manually
is there something different in the program as in location of the switch port on the din connector and how is this expressed? in the program.i've written
if switch1 closed then on
if switch1 open then off
my pump is plugged into outlet#6
so my question is how do i tie switch 1 to outlet#6

 

[tinman11]

ato

ato

well just made another virtual outlet from a dc4 renamed the outlet to switch1 set it on the status page and nothing
tried calling it A3 which is what the sytem called it with the same programming no action the system doesn't let me get to the pump on outlet 6 not sure what i'm missing here

 

[aquamanic]

OK, a little clarification is in order. Switches are not outlets. They are always there, you don't have to enable them or create them. They're more like a boolean variable, either OPEN or CLOSED. By default they are OPEN.

In your outlet #6 program, that's where you would put the switch test logic. Based on the switch state, the outlet would turn on or off. Just like what you have except perhaps with a fallback statement:

[Outlet #6 whatever its called]

Fallback OFF
If Switch1 OPEN Then ON
If Switch1 CLOSED Then OFF

I imagine if you've named an outlet 'switch1' that's going to confuse the Apex. I'd rename that.

Does that help?

 

[tinman11]

ato

ato

i understand what you're saying my question is how does outlet 6 named "ato" know to look at a switch on the din connector
do i use
if ato closed then on or
if switch1 closed then on?
apex it telling me the switch is" topup ctnl:3" i renamed it was "pump_2" i can't use this i either get a invalid switch number or "error:expected open or closed"

 

[aquamanic]

Outlet 6 'knows' because you told it in your program. If you look at the program logic I gave you, the outlet is turning on/off based on whether switch1 is open/closed.

You must use the switch names as defined by Neptune (Switch1 - Switch6). You can't rename a switch. It's name is fixed by Neptune.

The controller knows about the switches as soon as you plug in that DIN cable and it will keep track of whether they are open (default) or closed automatically. You don't have to worry about that - just reference the switch names in your outlet program.

The syntax error you're getting where it's expecting 'open' or 'closed' is because you've tried to reference a switch without using the rest of the open/closed syntax. Again, look at the example in post #5 for your outlet called 'ato'. It's got everything you need.

 

[tinman11]

ato

ato

well if you look back at my first post that is exactly what i had and it didn't work i kinda assumed that the apex was more or less the same as the aqua jr as far as seeing switches thats why i was asking as my system isn't seeing the switch in the beginning my outlet is named ato and the programming is
if switch1 closed then on
if switch1 open then off
the reason why i went with closed = on is because i have had switch failures in the open position and bad things can happen

 

[tinman11]

ato

ato

so i have rewritten it again using
fallback off
if switch1 open then on
if switch1 closed then off
and again the pump is on with no control as in the switch has no control over the outlet

 

[aquamanic]

I would focus on your switch wiring. If you feel that's 100% OK, then the only other thing to do is to contact Neptune. Your programming looks fine.

 

[tinman11]

ato

ato

ok thanks for your help,
so i was rereading the instructions again it states that pins 1-6 are for input # 7 is reserved and # 8 is gnd so just to double check one wire can go to 1-6 more or less and one to pin 8 which is ground. am i thinking the right way?

 

[aquamanic]

Yes, pins 1 - 6 correspond to switch1 - switch6, 7 is not used, 8 is common ground for all switches. Those pins refer to the breakout box.

Just for grins and giggles, have you tried ALL the switch names just in case your switch1 is really a different switch? Even though you're working on pin1, switch1, have you tried checking the status of switches 2 - 6?

 

[tinman11]

ato

ato

yes up to 4 but i want to do this again just in case i missed something, well i just rechecked the wiring with my multi meter and it all works out pin 1&8 open and close even plugged it in to my aqua jr again just to recheck so its gotta be between the din connector on the apex and my prorgamming?! are there any known issues on the din connector is there anything special about using the breakout box as opposed to using a normal din connector? i also tried cycling the power just for giggles in hopes that maybe it would rescan and see the switch......nope!

 

[aquamanic]

I would try switch names all the way up to 6. If your Jr. is seeing it as 'switch1' then I doubt that's it but since you're dealing with pin 1 I'd at least try and see if the Apex is seeing the signal as switch6. Beyond that, maybe the Apex DIN jack is faulty?

 

[tinman11]

ato

ato

well ran it all again and nothing so i think i'll need to send some stuff back to neptune i find this odd that the mini din (i/o) isn't working is there any know issues with this?