New AC3, program issue

[RokleM]

I'm happy to report I finally got an AC3 It'll be replacing my Ranco, Medusa, Pinpoint PH probe, Milwaukee PH controller, and a half dozen timers.

I only have my DC4HD power and one expansion at this point so only a few things are plugged in. I whipped a program together this morning and moved a few things to the unit. Specifically I wanted to test the heat/fan function first as well as two sets of lights. The last to convert is my PH controller as that is the one that frightens me the most

My issue is, currently it's 78.7 and my fan is still on. It should have shut off at 78.9 (is there a <= function?). However, it does show as off status on the AC3. It's plugged into the "O" slot on the 4 port box, which I assume is A3 (and everything else seems to be working).

XX
OX

Note, this is a 2 pronged device, but I didn't see any limitations there in the manual.


AC3 status screen:
Apr 01 2007 20:26:38
Temp pH ORP
78.7 8.55 288
HE1 ON
LT2 OFF
FN1 OFF
LT3 ON
Power Failed: None
Power Restored: None


HE1%-A01 (Primary heater)
LT2$-A02 (One of my 400w lights on my 180)
FN1%-A03 (Fan over the sump)
LT3$-A04 (Expansion box, 500w ballast for 58, 250 MH frag)

If Temp < 78.7 Then HE1 ON
If Temp > 79.0 Then HE1 OFF
If Temp > 79.3 Then FN1 ON
If Temp < 79.0 Then FN1 OFF
If Time > 13:15 Then LT2 ON
If Time > 20:15 Then LT2 OFF
If Time > 13:00 Then LT3 ON
If Time > 21:00 Then LT3 OFF

 

[RokleM]

It's off now at 87.6. No clue. Anyone see any errors?

 

[elephen]

I have the same issues with the latest firmware update... Wish I'd of just stuck with the old firmware because now my controller is doing all kinds of other weird stuff - especially randomly not letting me login to the web interface.

 

[clp]

Can you manually turn on/off the outlets on the DC4 through the control & status -> manual control menu? It sounds like the control address settings are not correct on the DC4.

Curt

 

[RokleM]

I would agree it sounds like it's incorrect, however the other 3 outlets on that box work as planned. I will try to manually turn it on and off tonight.

 

[RokleM]

No luck. My temp is currently 79.4, so the fan is on as planned. I manually via the web interface on FN1 changed the box from auto to manual off and hit update. It updated the web page and showed the status as off. I hit status again to refresh the page and it still showed manual and status of off. The fan was still running. I plugged another device into the same spot (A03) and it powered up as well.

As well, I did it on the AC3 itself, same result.

I confirmed looking on the box that it's set to A1-4 as all 4 pins are up (as assumed since the other devices work fine). The heater and MH are powering on and off correctly and are confirmed visually or via the graph (temp raises and lowers as the heater turns on and off).

 

[schmidsa]

The only thing I can admit to doing that really caused unwanted results like this was to have the ALM on the same channel as a device. I think it is set to A9 by default so it shouldn't be your problem, but you might want to check it out.

When I added my second DC8, and my ALM and my FUG (refuge light) were both on A9, it caused some really odd results.

 

[RokleM]

No ALM's in my config. Everything I have programed is listed in the first post. I'm just starting to use it, so only 4 plugs are live right now.

 

[RokleM]

At this point I'm very confused.

At 10:05 socket4 was still on and it should have been off at 9:00.

HE1%-A01 (Primary heater)
LT2$-A02 (One of my 400w lights on my 180)
FN1%-A03 (Fan over the sump)
LT3$-A04 (Expansion box, 500w ballast for 58, 250 MH frag)

A04 This is my expansion socket. I have triple checked that this and the fan are plugged into the correct outlet.

I manually unplugged the A03 and the power DC4HD outet. I then disconnected and reconnected the supplied communication cable. Everything other than the fan should be off at this point, and it was. The fan registered UNK and was offline.

SO, I manually set the fan (A03) to on, and my MH expansion turned on (A04)??? I turned then turned off A03 and the lights (A04) turned off. I turned on AC4 manually and the lights turned back on?!?!

The only thing I can think is that either the cables are bad, or the wires are touching inside the box and A03 and A04 are actually tied together. I currently have both of them off and will manually turn them on tomorrow to ensure my lights turn on. As far as I can tell, A01 and A02 is working properly.

 

[RokleM]

FYI to everyone that is following the thread and/or helping. I worked with support today and confirmed that A03 and A04 are somehow tied together for control (i.e. performing an action on either A03 or A04 does it to both ports).

Have a replacement on the way. Great support and very helpful. :thumbsup: