jacksonpt
New member
~ WARNING ~
I like to write, and I'm excited about this, so this post will probably get pretty long.
Last winter, after much consideration, I broke down and bought an Apex. I went with the Jr because I didn't think I needed the more advanced monitoring and additional expansion capabilities of the more expensive model. For the most part, I was right. But the inability to use a breakout box with the Jr (and thus, the inability for the Jr to use float switches as triggers) turned out to be hugely limiting. So in the 10 months or so I've had the Apex, it's basically been a fancy timer for lights, dosing pumps, and my ATO. I do have it monitoring my temp, but not actually controlling it (which I should be doing, but I digress).
For the past few months I've been trying to make water changes easier, because the easier they are to do, the more likely I am to do them. And with a growing bio load and no skimmer, water changes are key to my tank's overall well-being. Using some pretty basic programming based on time of day, I was able to get an automatic water change routine established. Basically, at a set time of day, my ATO turned off, a drain pump would kick on and pump out old water, and a supply pump would replace it with new salt water.
Nothing earth shattering, but it worked. If... and this is a HUUUUGE if...
If my old salt water bucket was empty and in place.
AND
If my new salt water bucket was full and in place.
Guess how many times the auto water change routine kicked on without one of those 2 things being true.
So I took the automation out of it. While I still technically controlled the water change with my apex, the apex really just served as an on/off button for the different pumps. I still had to be by the tank to turn things on and off as appropriate. If I forgot about the drain pump, I could (and did, once or twice) overfill the drain water bucket. Not a good solution.
So fast forward to this week (drumroll please)...
I have a new routine in place that will complete a full water change on its own. I start the process off by manually turning a specific outlet on, then setting it back to auto... then the Apex handles the rest.
This gives 95% of the automation I liked about my first solution, without it being able to run without my "authorization".
I've run the routine a few times and it's working like a charm. I'm still tweaking the timing a bit (how long a pump is on or off for) to optimize everything, but the process is working really well. I make sure the drain bucket is empty, the fill bucket is full, I start the routine, then I walk away. I'm digging it.
Basically, here is what happens -
For me, being able to do this takes the Jr from an overpriced timer to a worthwhile purchase.
I like to write, and I'm excited about this, so this post will probably get pretty long.
Last winter, after much consideration, I broke down and bought an Apex. I went with the Jr because I didn't think I needed the more advanced monitoring and additional expansion capabilities of the more expensive model. For the most part, I was right. But the inability to use a breakout box with the Jr (and thus, the inability for the Jr to use float switches as triggers) turned out to be hugely limiting. So in the 10 months or so I've had the Apex, it's basically been a fancy timer for lights, dosing pumps, and my ATO. I do have it monitoring my temp, but not actually controlling it (which I should be doing, but I digress).
For the past few months I've been trying to make water changes easier, because the easier they are to do, the more likely I am to do them. And with a growing bio load and no skimmer, water changes are key to my tank's overall well-being. Using some pretty basic programming based on time of day, I was able to get an automatic water change routine established. Basically, at a set time of day, my ATO turned off, a drain pump would kick on and pump out old water, and a supply pump would replace it with new salt water.
Nothing earth shattering, but it worked. If... and this is a HUUUUGE if...
If my old salt water bucket was empty and in place.
AND
If my new salt water bucket was full and in place.
Guess how many times the auto water change routine kicked on without one of those 2 things being true.
So I took the automation out of it. While I still technically controlled the water change with my apex, the apex really just served as an on/off button for the different pumps. I still had to be by the tank to turn things on and off as appropriate. If I forgot about the drain pump, I could (and did, once or twice) overfill the drain water bucket. Not a good solution.
So fast forward to this week (drumroll please)...
I have a new routine in place that will complete a full water change on its own. I start the process off by manually turning a specific outlet on, then setting it back to auto... then the Apex handles the rest.
This gives 95% of the automation I liked about my first solution, without it being able to run without my "authorization".
I've run the routine a few times and it's working like a charm. I'm still tweaking the timing a bit (how long a pump is on or off for) to optimize everything, but the process is working really well. I make sure the drain bucket is empty, the fill bucket is full, I start the routine, then I walk away. I'm digging it.
Basically, here is what happens -
- I manually turn on the AWC virtual outlet, then immediately set it back to Auto. A min time statement prevents it from turning back off for a set period of time.
- This triggers my ATO to turn off, my drain pump to turn on, and another virtual outlet (being used as a timer) to turn on.
- old water is drained out
- when the virtual outlet timer times out, the drain pump turns off and the supply pump turns on (I have a float spliced into the power cord to prevent overfilling)
- after a set period of time, the AWC virtual outlet resets to OFF, which turns the ATO back on and sets both the drain and supply pumps to off.
For me, being able to do this takes the Jr from an overpriced timer to a worthwhile purchase.
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nicely done! I can tell that at some point down the road i will be drinking this kool aid.
