A couple Apex questions

BostonReefer300 · Apr 30, 2021

Hi All (especially @SuncrestReef or any other good samaritan Apex wizard)! I have a couple Apex questions I'd really appreciate some help with.

Fallback Off / Set On:
This is a super basic/ignorant question for someone who has been using an Apex forever, but I've never used this combo on any of my outlets. If I use this combo, what happens to the outlet's power if the Apex base unit loses contact with the outlet in question? Also, if an outlet is set to Fallback Off / Set Off, is the outlet's default state off all the time?

DHCP Off:
On my Apex classic, I was constantly annoyed by it losing connection to Fusion anytime the wind blew the wrong way with WiFi. When I upgraded to the new Apex, I thought those days were over but I recently had a major problem that I finally figured out thanks to both SuncrestReef and Neptune Support. Anyway, I read that by simply disabling DHCP in Network->Configuration, this would give me a static IP address and help solve Fusion connection instability. I did so and it seems to be working, but I want to make sure I did the right thing and this isn't going to somehow come back to bite me in the you-know-what.

Many thanks and I owe any/all a virtual beer for the help!

prdubois · Apr 30, 2021

With DHCP on: the IP address will renew when the DHCP lease is up and it may give you the same IP or it may assign a new one. That is what looses your connection to fusion.

With DHCP off: The unit will keep the same IP address it has and wont change.

ca1ore · Apr 30, 2021

Fallback tells the outlet what to do in the event it loses contact with the main brain. Set is the default position for the outlet under normal operating conditions. As example:

SET ON
FALLBACK OFF
IF Temp > 80 Then OFF

Outlet would be on all the time except when the temperature exceeds 80 degrees or the brain is off.

prdubois · Apr 30, 2021

Fallback = What happens when the outlet looses connection to the apex unit for some reason
Set = normal operation if not told to do anything else.

Fallback Off / Set Off = The outlet will be off unless there is a programming statement like a "If Time" or "If Temp" says otherwise.

Fallback ON
Set OFF
If Time 11:00 to 19:00 Then ON
If Temp > 81.0 Then OFF

Now, the outlet will normally be OFF except it will be ON during the desired lighting period of 11:00 - 19:00. Should the temp be high, the If Time statement will be overridden by the If Temp statement, shutting the outlet off until the temp drops below 81

A guideline for using Set -

If the device will normally be on more than half of the time, use Set ON, then use If statements to turn it OFF as needed - return pumps, wavemaker/circulation pumps, skimmers, reactor pumps, etc. typically fall into this category
If the device will normally be off more than half of the time, use Set OFF, then use If statements to turn it ON as needed - all forms of lighting are usually handled this way, along with, ATO pumps and such.

If using a variable speed device like Vortech MP## or Tunze STREAM pumps, it gets a bit trickier, because there is the added option to assign a profile via a Set statement besides just ON or OFF. But, a similar concept applies... use Set profilename to assign the profile which will be used most of the time (or at least more often than other profiles).... this can streamline the programming quite a bit.

[Vortech]
Set Reefcrst
If Time 08:00 to 10:00 Then Tidal
If Time 12:00 to 14:00 Then Tidal
If Time 16:00 to 18:00 Then Tidal

BostonReefer300 · Apr 30, 2021

prdubois said:
Fallback = What happens when the outlet looses connection to the apex unit for some reason
Set = normal operation if not told to do anything else.

Fallback Off / Set Off = The outlet will be off unless there is a programming statement like a "If Time" or "If Temp" says otherwise.

Fallback ON
Set OFF
If Time 11:00 to 19:00 Then ON
If Temp > 81.0 Then OFF

Now, the outlet will normally be OFF except it will be ON during the desired lighting period of 11:00 - 19:00. Should the temp be high, the If Time statement will be overridden by the If Temp statement, shutting the outlet off until the temp drops below 81

A guideline for using Set -

If the device will normally be on more than half of the time, use Set ON, then use If statements to turn it OFF as needed - return pumps, wavemaker/circulation pumps, skimmers, reactor pumps, etc. typically fall into this category
If the device will normally be off more than half of the time, use Set OFF, then use If statements to turn it ON as needed - all forms of lighting are usually handled this way, along with, ATO pumps and such.

If using a variable speed device like Vortech MP## or Tunze STREAM pumps, it gets a bit trickier, because there is the added option to assign a profile via a Set statement besides just ON or OFF. But, a similar concept applies... use Set profilename to assign the profile which will be used most of the time (or at least more often than other profiles).... this can streamline the programming quite a bit.

[Vortech]
Set Reefcrst
If Time 08:00 to 10:00 Then Tidal
If Time 12:00 to 14:00 Then Tidal
If Time 16:00 to 18:00 Then Tidal

Wow! Thanks for the great info!

BostonReefer300 · Apr 30, 2021

prdubois said:
Fallback ON
Set OFF
If Time 11:00 to 19:00 Then ON
If Temp > 81.0 Then OFF

Now, the outlet will normally be OFF except it will be ON during the desired lighting period of 11:00 - 19:00. Should the temp be high, the If Time statement will be overridden by the If Temp statement, shutting the outlet off until the temp drops below 81

Another question @prdubois: seniority for programming statements is based on increasing line code placement? So in the example above, the temp statement is senior (or will override) the time statement because it's on line 4 and the latter is on line 3? Many thanks