Apex Breakout Box Extension Cable

[crs751]

I need to add a Breakout Box at my saltwater mixing station which is located in the basement away from the main display. I'd prefer to to purchase another PM module to connect to the breakout box. I saw on the Apex forum that the cable is a Mini 8-Pin DIN cable and that there are extensions available on Amazon. They are 10' long at best and I would probably need to connect four of them together to complete the run. This would still be less cost than buying another PM module but would there be signal loss in a cable run this long? Let me know what you think.

 

[jsker]

Let see if someone can answer your question:)

 

[gargola1]

Let see if someone can answer your question:)

I have the same issue they sell extension cables in amazon. Please anyone can elaborate on that.

 

[_AV]

Unlike aquabus, the breakout box doesn't carry much of a signal. It's an ON/OFF switch signal created by shorting the signal pin to ground, used primarily for float sensors (switching very infrequently) in this hobby. There is going to be some signal loss, but running a 100ft cable should not be a problem, especially if it's shielded.

 

[garbled]

You will be fine.. I have like 30ft wires running from my switches to my breakout box. A 10ft din8 extension won't hurt anything. There is no difference between wire before the breakout, and after. Keep it under 50 feet maybe?

Also.. you might just go look for a single 40ft din8 cable, rather than trying to piece together 4 of them. You will have less problems that way. I'm sure you can find one somewhere (probably not amazon).

 

[User]

I cut the din end off and put it on the end of a 75ft long cat5e cable... works fine. I had my apex in my fishroom and a bob at QT area for ATO, 50 feet away. I had it strung around door frames and through a ventilation chase.

 

[olaggie01]

Did that work? I've got a remote DOS and water tank in the garage and my tank is 75+ feet away. I'd like to add some float switches to the water tank in the garage. I've run some cat5 line in the attic some time ago.

I cut the din end off and put it on the end of a 75ft long cat5e cable... works fine. I had my apex in my fishroom and a bob at QT area for ATO, 50 feet away. I had it strung around door frames and through a ventilation chase.