DC8 acting weird.

[lilchris]

I feel you. ITs alot of money that we spend and we have alot of money invested in our tanks that these things control and if something does not work with the controller, it could be disastrous to us. If I had to rate these things, honestly It wouldn't be good. Don't get me wrong I do like it ,WHEN ITS WORKING CORRECTLY. We spend a lot of money on them and we still can't rely on them 100%.

This is what I would do. I would go into the timer setup and look at what outlet controls what device and make sure there are no duplicate devices on the same outlet. Then I would go into the modify state and make sure there are no commands that would cause things like what you are experiencing to happen.
EXAMPLE: If time is > 1200 LT1 is on, If temp is > 80degrees then HT^ is off. In the timer names LT1 and HT^ maybe on the same outlet.
If that doesn't work I would unplug the DC8 from the controller and the outlet, then plug everything back and see if it reboots itself. Also unplug the controller.

What I did if there are any commands that you are not using at all I would delete them. I think I ended up deleting over half of the default commands. Hope this helps

I am experiencing my heater outlet not working. This is not good because it caused a 6degree temp drop last night.

 

[ReefArtist]

lilchris - thanks for the advice.

Here is what I've done.
1. Rewired everything - nothing was wrong.
2. Removed every command not being used. It now only has my lights:
LT1$-A1 //MH 1
LT2$-A2 //MH 2
LT3$-A3 //MH 3
LT4$-A4 //Actinics 280g
LT5$-A5 //Actinics Sea Horses
LT6$-C3 //Fish Room Light
MON&-B1 // Moon Light

If Time > 10:30 Then LT1 ON
If Time > 20:30 Then LT1 OFF
If Time > 10:00 Then LT2 ON
If Time > 21:30 Then LT2 OFF
If Time > 10:15 Then LT3 ON
If Time > 20:35 Then LT3 OFF
If Time > 07:15 Then LT4 ON
If Time > 21:45 Then LT4 OFF
If Time > 09:15 Then LT5 ON
If Time > 20:30 Then LT5 OFF
If Time > 07:15 Then MON OFF
If Time > 21:45 Then MON ON
If Time > 21:30 Then LT6 ON
If Time > 07:30 Then LT6 OFF

Very simple and I even cut out the moon phase and just have them coming on/off just like my lights.

3. I moved all the wires (pH, ORP, Temp) so they aren't touching - which to me is crazy they need to provide shields cables if this is a problem. They are coming out of the same controller - sheesh!

4. Tested all my lights individually - they all stay on when I'm not using the DC8.

5. The light that is not working I moved from A1 to A5 - the problem followed.

6. Made sure the phone cable isn't touching anything - this is hard believe me - I have 8 tanks and lots of wires. They are close but not touching!

7. All cables, wires, etc are original - even the 7' phone cables.

8. This morning I was reading about power cords messing things up. I cut all my ties that took me hours to run - we'll see around 11am if this made a difference.

This is crazy to have to go though all this. I checked their web site and it's like nothing. Some pointer would be really nice instead of having to guess to what the problem might be.

 

[clp]

I've sent you an email.

Curt

 

[lilchris]

ReefArtist
Did you find out anything? Please keep us posted. It is starting to become a trend for me to have to unplug the unit every few days in order for everything to work. It kinda ridiculous.

 

[ReefArtist]

Well here's an update:
I've been messing around with all my wires - still goes down. yesterday (Friday) Curt and I worked on it all day and now I'm down to using the DC8 and AC3 - disconnected DC4HD and moon lights. At least things stayed up for a few hours.

After working on this all day Curt wanted me to update my software (I just purchased it and did even look to see if the software was the latest) - it wasn't. So, because you have to change your router I had to wait until this AM. Only to have it not work! This is really starting to wear on me! Now of course the AC3 is completely down as it must have cleared the memory before it could actually replace these files. Here's the error message I'm getting:
TFTP Daemon Binding to 192.168.1.100

Ready...
Assigning Dynamic IP!
Client 192.168.1.50:1024 .\aqua.bin, error: Timeout

Yes my firewall was disabled as was my scanning software. I removed the DHCP from my router.

So now I have to remove everything and put it all on timers - at this point I know my lights will be on all day as my timers have never failed me. I'm going to be gone all morning so - this is the only way to get my lights up and running.

No I'm still not happy!

 

[lilchris]

I am in the same boat as you. I just looked through your build tread and I see you have A LOT more at stake than I do. I am not impressed w/ the controller. I have to unplug my controller every few days to get everything to work correctly.I know I only have a Jr. but it was 3 bills and that is no chump change. I feel I shouldn't have to unplug the thing every few days to keep it running correctly, if something happens because I unplug it, guess what, Neptune sys will not warranty my product. Honestly, I don't think the controller is the problem, I think it is the DC8. Every time something is not on I look at the screen and shows that the component is on. I unplug the component and plug something else like a power head to see if power is there and nothing. Then I unplug the DC8 and plug it back in and it works.

 

[ReefArtist]

Really sorry to hear all the problems you are having lilchris. I've been working with Curt extensively getting my problems resolved - here's what we've done to date:

1. checked my programming, if it has been rebooted, type of lights, wiring configuration, checked the CNTL Stat numbers.

2. I waited for lights to fail and then sent CNTL stat numbers - everything was good as communications.

3. I isolated my DC8 from the rest of my network, so that only the DC8 and AC3 were communicating. Rebooted the system and waited for MH to come back on.

4. Saturday AM I needed to update my AC3 firmware software but it failed. As it turned out the AC3 has issues with MS Vista and that's what I was using.

5. Saturday Night I used a different computer that has XP to communicate and update the firmware. It took a few tries but it finally work and the firmware was updated.

6. Sunday AM - so far everything has come up as programmed, no light failures etc. I have the complete network up as I had laid out - no problems . If my lights continue to operate I'll be going to my next step and adding other items - more actinics, Ozone, Cal Reactor etc.

 

[clp]

lilchris,
Send an email to support@neptunesys.com. I'm not sure what you are referring to about not warranting your system. If something is broken, we'll fix it.

 

[lilchris]

Just thinking out loud. From what I have seen over the past several months, I don't think I will have to worry about not getting quality help and support. I will send you an email.

 

[ReefArtist]

Curt,
Thank you very much for all the help - even over Sat and Sun that is unheard of support from other systems. everything seems to be working great and it mainly just needed a firmware update to get the other units talking to each other.

Thanks,