New AC Jr Owner - Programming Help

[milkman55]

I was trying to use the seasonal variation tables for the on and off times for the light. I must have something wrong with the syntax, but I thought I copied it right out of the owner manual.

I have since changed the ON and OFF times to specific times and the lights are working, but I would like to go back to the seasonal variation.

LT1 is the MH 150w
LT2 is the white LED lights

I was trying to have the MH turn ON 60 minutes after sunrise and OFF 60 minutes before sunset.
The white light was coming on at sunrise and off two hours after sunset.

I figured out my Temp statements (lines 3&4) that turns the light ON and OFF at certain temps (for heat control) was overriding the first light statements, but still do not have it all figured out. LT2 never did come on anytime day or night.

Are they any other inefficiencies in my code?

Thanks for the help.

Here is my program (changed the order of some of the components so all the plugs would fit in the DC8) -

LT1$-A1
LT2$-A2
PM1#-A3
PM2#-A4
HET%-A5
ALM%-A6
CO2&-A7
COL&-A8


If Sun 060/-060 Then LT1 ON
If Sun 000/120 Then LT2 ON
If Temp < 80.0 Then LT1 ON
If Temp > 81.0 Then LT1 OFF
If Temp < RT+-0.5 Then HET ON
If Temp > RT+0.0 Then HET OFF
If Temp > 79.0 Then COL ON
If Temp < 79.0 Then COL OFF
If Time > 00:00 Then CO2 ON
If Time > 00:00 Then PM1 ON
If Time > 00:00 Then PM2 ON
If FeedA 000 Then PM1 OFF
If FeedA 000 Then PM2 OFF
If Time > 00:00 Then ALM OFF
If Temp > 82.0 Then ALM ON

 

[Deleted member 143833]

If Sun 060/-060 Then LT1 ON

The above will turn on LT1 60 mins after sunrise and off 60 min before sunset.

If Sun 000/120 Then LT2 ON

The above will turn LT2 on at sunrise and off 120 min after sunset.

Positive is after while negative values are before (rise/set).

Is this what you are seeing?

 

[milkman55]

No, but I think lines 3&4 were messing up the SUN statement. I have removed line 3 and it may work. I never did see LT2 come on, but I will try again.


On these statements -

If Temp > 79.0 Then COL ON
If Temp < 79.0 Then COL OFF

Is there a better way to do this? My fan is constantly going on and off when the temp goes slighly over or under 79 degrees?

 

[Deleted member 143833]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14043056#post14043056 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by milkman55
No, but I think lines 3&4 were messing up the SUN statement. I have removed line 3 and it may work. I never did see LT2 come on, but I will try again.

If was this statement:

If Temp < 80.0 Then LT1 ON

Basically it says to turn LT1 on whenever temp < 80; if you remove this 1 line (and leave the off); then LT1 will follow the program but will turn off if temp goes high.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14043056#post14043056 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by milkman55
On these statements -

If Temp > 79.0 Then COL ON
If Temp < 79.0 Then COL OFF

Is there a better way to do this? My fan is constantly going on and off when the temp goes slighly over or under 79 degrees? [/B]

Spread out the temerature range; in effect you are telling the controller to hold the temp within .1 F which is not reasonable. You can also add a Max Change to hold the COL off for time so to not short-cycle (or hold it on); like this:

Max Change 010 M Them COL OFF

Will keep COL off for 10 minutes no matter what happens with the temp.

 

[d0ughb0y]

you should do it similar to your heater.

If Temp > RT+0.5 Then COL ON
If Temp < RT+0.0 Then COL OFF
If Temp < RT+-0.5 Then HET ON
If Temp > RT+0.0 Then HET OFF

I think the current value of RT is around 76F
If you think that is too cold for your tank, you should use absolute temp values instead of the seasonal values.

 

[milkman55]

Thanks for all the input.

Where do you find the "advanced" programming statements like "Max change". I did not find much in the aquanotes manual. It referred to the aqua controller manual which just showed basic examples.

 

[Deleted member 143833]

Max Change is documented in the Jr manual, page 21 under Hystersis.

 

[milkman55]

Thanks, I will read it more carefully.

It is difficult to pull all the pieces together if you are doing this for the first time, but I am really impressed with all the capabilites and I have only scratched the surface.