lost date and time

[jnb]

I just sent this email to Neptune but thought it may be just as efficent here or help others with similar problems

Hi ââ"šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å“ I have a relatively new aqua controller ii. Up till now, it has operated perfectly. I use the direct connects only. One set of lights come on at 6 ââ"šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å“ they are a couple of lcds and they came on at 6am this AM. About 7:15 the power went out ââ"šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å“ first it went out for a couple of seconds, came on for 5 seconds and went out for 20 seconds and came on . The LCDs were not on when I walked up to the tank and at 7:30 when the main lights should come on, they did not. I took a look and controller had lost its date and time ââ"šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å“ all the timer setups, names, programs, etc were intact. I reset the dates and times and as I did the lights came on. There is a fresh battery in the unit and the low battery indicator was/is NOT flashing. I am not absolutely certain that I had both dates set i.e. maybe the tank date was still Jan 1 for all I know ââ"šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å“ but I do not expect this to be part of the issue.



I never expected to lose the times with a power failure and I think I have had one before (hey, Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ll go disconnect the power for a second again ââ"šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å“ I did, clock times intact) ââ"šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å“ still with the battery I would not have expected this



Please advise as, of course this is not right ââ"šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å“ thanks



Nick Boyd

 

[dougc]

I am using the direct-connect modules and have seen something similar what you describe, but under slightly different circumstances. In my case, I had unplugged and disconnected a DC4HD from both the power outlet and the RJ11 input cable. I can't remember which I did first, but I plugged in both the RJ11 cable and the power cord. I noticed a few moments later that the time and date were wrong. I'm not sure which action whacked out the controller, but I wondered at the time whether a power failure could have the same effect. You may have just provided confirmation of my suspicion that the AquaController could get reset by some event on the control line.

 

[jnb]

I did get a reply from Curt amd had followup questions - I suspect, as he seem to hint, that the controller is suspectible to spikes or other similar surges which concerns me because it means I can not really rely on the unit if I go out of town for a few days

But we shall see - he also indicated a surge protector may help - it didn't but I am willing to get a better surge protector or whatever I need to do. I can tell tell from his response if he means some kind of internal battery (not the 9 volt) - I was getting no low battery indicator - I am still in needed to resolve this

his reply:Hi,
Try simulating a power failure and see if the unit continues to run
(display still active). If not, then I suspect that the battery is
weak, and needs to be replaced. Otherwise it could have been a power
spike that caused the controller to reset the date/time. Make sure that
the controller's AC adapter is plugged into a surge protected power
strip.
Curt

I am using the direct-connect modules and have seen something similar what you describe, but under slightly different circumstances. In my case, I had unplugged and disconnected a DC4HD from both the power outlet and the RJ11 input cable. I can't remember which I did first, but I plugged in both the RJ11 cable and the power cord. I noticed a few moments later that the time and date were wrong. I'm not sure which action whacked out the controller, but I wondered at the time whether a power failure could have the same effect. You may have just provided confirmation of my suspicion that the AquaController could get reset by some event on the control line.