My Neptune Apex web interface compatible DIY reef controller
- Thread starter d0ughb0y
- Start date
Moomin1967
New member
D0ughb0y,
Do the probes need to be read so often, if the interval were reduced to say once every 2 mins, and polled, overall power draw on the 5v supply could be reduced.
Do the probes need to be read so often, if the interval were reduced to say once every 2 mins, and polled, overall power draw on the 5v supply could be reduced.
d0ughb0y
Active member
I can't say for sure if it is drawing too much current. If it is, arduino voltage regulator will run hot and arduino itself may hang or reboot. You can add some timing condition in the main loop to change the interval. The current code simply reads as fast as the stamp can do in order to get a good rolling average on the reading. If interval between reading is long, rolling avg may not be needed.
Moomin1967
New member
From the 5v arduino im pulling 5v pwr for, *channel SSR board, LCD, RTC, the PWM of my W10's, 2 1 wire probes, pulling low the ATO swithes, plus any other I2c to come. I moved the 8 channel relay board on to its own 5v supply.
The Arduino is running pretty warm, I cased the project up over the weekend, looks I need to decouple the 5v line, the RTC now keeps changing to some date in 2069 and losing the time.
Given the EZO probes support a sleep mode this would help to reduce loadings, just a thought
M
The Arduino is running pretty warm, I cased the project up over the weekend, looks I need to decouple the 5v line, the RTC now keeps changing to some date in 2069 and losing the time.
Given the EZO probes support a sleep mode this would help to reduce loadings, just a thought
M
Are you talking about the cond and org probe readings spikes
Moomin1967
New member
The rolling average may not be needed, but trending could be a useful tool, any any spiky readings could be treated as miss reads or errors. Just a thought
d0ughb0y
Active member
The 8 channel relay board was not meant to use 5v from arduino.
the I2c is probably the best candidate to put on its own 5v supply.
If you have a 2a or higher 12v supply, you can just use a buck converter ($1 on ebay) to power the i2c 5v using 12v for input.
looks like the lcd and rtc may come tomorrow. I'll wire up my test circuit to get the cond sensor working.
I'm moving mine to Due also. Using the controller as webserver and for the touchscreen but the Mega is just not fast enough.
Only thing is that you require a lot of level switchers for changing the 5V signals to 3.3V. If the only reason is the extra memory, you might want to move some sensors to a dedicated Arduino.
Moomin1967
New member
Ok, I'm a bit confused what is the benefit/purpose of having both a touch and web interface.
Slow, which part is slow? it is after all an aquarium controller, we are not exactly plotting particle collisions, lol
D0ughb0y,
I just read an interesting post on Facebook. We were talking about temperatures and what everyone keeps theirs at. One guy posted says he uses Apex's season tables to have a variable temperature setting based on the seasons. Is there a way to set this up with this current build?
I just read an interesting post on Facebook. We were talking about temperatures and what everyone keeps theirs at. One guy posted says he uses Apex's season tables to have a variable temperature setting based on the seasons. Is there a way to set this up with this current build?
Moomin1967
New member
I really kee to do this too, from two aspects 1 energy reduction and 2 follow natural seasons (well the inverse of)
I looked at Barrier Reef the 12ft water temp between summer to winter is 29C - 21C respectively.
Based on my home in the UK, adjusting the temp seasonally would save 20% energy cost, (sorry work for a multi national with 750 propertities and an electricity bill of $120M PA, down from $155M 2yrs ago through investment in tech, and renewables, its a mind set now.)
There is a shift in day length by an hour or so also.
With the probes, balancing the water chemistry should be possible over this temp range, as long as bio load is factored into the mix, if indeed that were an issue.
d0ughb0y
Active member
It should not be hard to add one.
Can you get more details on how it is setup?
Change monthly? weekly?
I can add this when I do the LED code, as that will have the seasonal sunrise/sunset function.
d0ughb0y
Active member
I take it there is factory default, and you can enter your own table?
so there are 365 entries?
You will probable get better information from rrbigdog than me. What I did find on a quick google search was this:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2052509
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2052509
d0ughb0y
Active member
moomin, I think you reverse season for light to save energy, but not for temp.
so for summer, you want to run the tank at a higher temp, and in winter, lower temp. If you use reverse season, you will need to heat up your tank to a higher temp during your winter time since it is summer down under.
for light, you use reverse season. During summer, you run the light shorter, and winter, you run the lights longer.
The current chauvet code sort of will do the temp change for you, but only twice a year. For fan, you set the on/off temp, say around 78F, and for heater, you set the on/off temp, say around 74F. During summer, only the fan will activate and temp is higher, and during winter, only the heater will activate, and it keeps the tank temp lower. This keeps it simple. If the temp setting is variable everyday, then you can end up running the heater in summer and the fan during winter.
I don't know if I want to run my tank at 69F (21C).
so for summer, you want to run the tank at a higher temp, and in winter, lower temp. If you use reverse season, you will need to heat up your tank to a higher temp during your winter time since it is summer down under.
for light, you use reverse season. During summer, you run the light shorter, and winter, you run the lights longer.
The current chauvet code sort of will do the temp change for you, but only twice a year. For fan, you set the on/off temp, say around 78F, and for heater, you set the on/off temp, say around 74F. During summer, only the fan will activate and temp is higher, and during winter, only the heater will activate, and it keeps the tank temp lower. This keeps it simple. If the temp setting is variable everyday, then you can end up running the heater in summer and the fan during winter.
I don't know if I want to run my tank at 69F (21C).
