Apex conversion to GHL

[Billldg]

Whether its GHL or Apex, I never use a leak sensor to control anything. I simply use it to alert me that something may be up. It is up to me to decide on what to do next. That's were me wanting to add my Abyzz A200 to my GHL comes into play. I don't need my GHL to do anything, I just need it to let me know that their is an alarm on my Abyzz driver, if possible. Its up to me to do the rest.

I agree @SPR1968, I have no confidence in the Apex flow sensors. I had watched my Apex flow sensors steadily drop. I have not had one fail yet, BUT, the drop off over a 6 month period is ridiculous. I know what the problem is, I will verify it when I do my return change out.

I blame Shaun for costing me a few thousand dollars though...LOL!!! ;Hilarious

 

[SPR1968]

Whether its GHL or Apex, I never use a leak sensor to control anything. I simply use it to alert me that something may be up. It is up to me to decide on what to do next. That's were me wanting to add my Abyzz A200 to my GHL comes into play. I don't need my GHL to do anything, I just need it to let me know that their is an alarm on my Abyzz driver, if possible. Its up to me to do the rest.

I agree @SPR1968, I have no confidence in the Apex flow sensors. I had watched my Apex flow sensors steadily drop. I have not had one fail yet, BUT, the drop off over a 6 month period is ridiculous. I know what the problem is, I will verify it when I do my return change out.

I blame Shaun for costing my a few thousand dollars...LOL!!! ;Hilarious

Ive got 3 Apex flow sensors

The main 2 Inch return failed completely after just few months

I have another that’s partially failed after a similar period and forget the leak detectors they are just completely unreliable

Im not replacing any of the Apex equipment if it fails, other than maybe basic salinity probe and even that’s rubbish I might as well dip my tongue in the tank! Lol

And in reality what the use of the ORP probe….

 

[ingchr1]

Look at it this way, is it more likely that you will have a tank leak requiring your return pump to be shut off or that a single sensor will fail shutting off your return pump when it doesn't need to be?

I believe it's the latter.

These types of things need to be taken into consideration when implementing any scheme on any controller.

 

[SPR1968]

Look at it this way, is it more likely that you will have a tank leak requiring your return pump to be shut off or that a single sensor will fail shutting off your return pump when it doesn't need to be?

I believe it's the latter.

These types of things need to be taken into consideration when implementing any scheme on any controller.

I agree

When I first set my large system up, I had a leak detector set so in the event of a leak anywhere it would shut the abyzz a200 off. The plumbing was all new and although it seemed fine you never know.

I woke one morning and heard the most unholy noises coming from the tank, and you can imagine my thoughts of doom and disaster and being murdered slowly by my wife! Lol

The rubbish leak detector was turning the Abyzz a200 on and off every few seconds because there was some moisture in the air….

Any detectors I have now are to alert me only and then I decide and on certain alerts I put a delay on to prevent ‘noise’ alerts from faulty signals etc.

However the only things I can trust so far are the cheap plastic float switches which I use in the sump to alert of main pump failure (because the Apex flow sensor doesn’t work!) and it will also shut down the skimmer and ATO if it’s triggered

Ive also got one in the sump if the water level gets to low to indicate ATO failure

Ill only be using float switches from now on for anything like this, the optical sensors etc just aren’t reliable

 

[Manny’s Reef]

By when do you plan on having final thoughts and conclusions? I may have missed it somewhere along the line. I've been watching this thread since you started but my memory is getting old on me.

 

[Billldg]

By when do you plan on having final thoughts and conclusions? I may have missed it somewhere along the line. I've been watching this thread since you started but my memory is getting old on me.

Not sure when I will give my final thoughts, but, I do like the GHL system. Just been busy with work and such, haven't had much time to tinker with the P4.

 

[Billldg]

I have had a little issue with microbubbles effecting my salinity probe. I may need to take it out and clean it with something.

 

[Billldg]

Starting to get my plan in order to replace my returns on my tank. I will switch to all GHL flow sensors. I do wish they made the diameter wider to help with head pressure. I also wish that the 2000ml flow sensor had a bidder diameter because you can't get conversion unions for it and the reading it what I want for my carbon reactor. I will have to go up to a 5000ml flow sensor, no big deal. I will end up maxing out the amount of flow sensors the P4 is capable of handling at 4, even though I will actually use 5, the 5th being on my UV sterilizer. I will just have to plug in the UV flow sensor periodically to make sure the flow is correct. I like the GHL flow sensors better because they do not use moving parts and are far less effected my debris coming loose in the tank.

 

[Billldg]

I was hoping to do it this weekend, but, the items needed to complete my return redo did not show up. I did start to program my GHL outlets though. Socket/Outlet 7 will be for my Abyzz return pump. I also added a feed pause for it.

Setting up the return pump outlet was pretty much straight forward and easy. I pretty much followed the instrustions on GHL international.

Then I created a feed pause. Again, the instructions on GHL International were very simple.

Then I assigned the Feed pause to my return pump.

I cropped out a specific section of the GHL International instructions, as I will also be doing this down the road. Notice how it talks about the skimmer delay function, and using programmable logic. I am just pointing out that it can be done.

Also, ALWAYS check out your programming beforehand, meaning hit the feed pause button and see what it does.

 

[David Cher]

question , did you use the Abyzz ghl interface cable ?

I was hoping to do it this weekend, but, the items needed to complete my return redo did not show up. I did start to program my GHL outlets though. Socket/Outlet 7 will be for my Abyzz return pump. I also added a feed pause for it.

Setting up the return pump outlet was pretty much straight forward and easy. I pretty much followed the instrustions on GHL international.

Then I created a feed pause. Again, the instructions on GHL International were very simple.

Then I assigned the Feed pause to my return pump.

I cropped out a specific section of the GHL International instructions, as I will also be doing this down the road. Notice how it talks about the skimmer delay function, and using programmable logic. I am just pointing out that it can be done.

Also, ALWAYS check out your programming beforehand, meaning hit the feed pause button and see what it does.

 

[Billldg]

question , did you use the Abyzz ghl interface cable ?

Not yet, but I plan on getting one. I would already have one if Coralvue didn't mess up my order...LOL!!!

 

[David Cher]

Not yet, but I plan on getting one. I would already have one if Coralvue didn't mess up my order...LOL!!!

so for the time being , when you use the feed pause mode , the return pump will turn off ?

 

[Billldg]

so for the time being , when you use the feed pause mode , the return pump will turn off ?

Yea, it will, until I get the cable to attach the Abyzz to the GHL.

 

[Billldg]

I learned something today. I already know this in my line of work, but, I now see if effects the comm of GHL as well. I currently have a 30m PAB cable ordered, unfortunately, it was part of my IOND order, and thus, not shipped yet. I picked up a 30m Cat5e cable locally. Make sure the cables you buy are shielded, as high voltage does effect them. I am have to move over some things from my Apex to my GHL system ahead of schedule because my Apex decided to crazy on me. While doing this, I must have bumped the cable that connects my Expansion 2 box in the basement and all of a sudden I started to get PAB Comm loss, and sensor alarms. I found out that it was because I bumped the PAB cable I bought and moved it right up against the plug for a GHL powerbar, thus, the interference. Just be mindful when buying none GHL PAB Cables.

 

[Billldg]

Well, do to a big issue with my other controller, I am starting to move everything else over to my GHL. I moved over my heater yesterday, but still need to figure out how to get the outlet to work the way I want it to and also have my BRS controller initially control the heaters. It can be a bit tricky trying to figure out how the program the GHL as they use a different algorithm to control temp on an outlet. I will have to play with it a bit, but, I use the controller as back up and the primary heater controllerBRS as the actual primary. I would rather have a cheaper controller hang up on me than a GHL powerbar. I still may simply do away with the BRS controller and simply use 2 outlets for my 2 heaters. That is one of the things I love about GHL , they actually rate their outlet relays at 15 amps, and are not afraid to do so.

 

[Billldg]

I added my T5's to my GHL today. I had already programmed the outlets beforehand, but below is how I did it in case some have never done it before.

First you need to set up your timers. So click on the hamburger on the top left to get you drop down screen and click processes.

After clicking processes you will get this

You click on a Timer 1-8 and program the time you want something like a switch to turn on and off, you will assign it later.

After that is done you can go back to the Dashboard. Then click on the hamburger on the top left and click on switch Channels.

Click on which ever switch channel you want to assign. For me it was 13 and 14.

Below is channel 13 on my GHL. First add a description so you know what the channel is. Now, to assign the timer that will turn on and off a switch at the certain time that you programmed, you will need to click on the Function and switch it to Timer, and then switch the number on the right to whichever timer you used. Always remember to save before going to another screen as it will not automatically save.

Oh, and don't worry about the alarms in the pictures, I think I messed up my Cat 5e cable while I was switching things over from my Apex to my GHL.

 

[Billldg]

I tried to do a honest comparison between my GHL and Apex system. Well, this will likely not happen as I am having nothing but issues with my Apex system, and thus, will fully convert to GHL in the next few days. I can not do a comparison and troubleshoot at the time, I do have a day job that pays the bills. I guess Apex has a life expectancy of less than 3 years before everything fails. I have had nothing but issues with the Apex ATK, then I have 2 EB832's causing problems, and now I can't even get the ATO pump to turn on.

 

[JNalley]

thanks for the effort @Billldg are you planning to continue to review/keep us updated on your GHL Stuff? I've been following, sort of biting my tongue, I actually went back through all 25 pages a day or so ago and was very appreciative of the information you've shared. My mind was made up going to GHL before I stumbled upon your thread, but now it's an absolute certainty, once I have the money, instead of buying my kid her first car, I'm getting a GHL (I kid, I kid).

 

[Billldg]

thanks for the effort @Billldg are you planning to continue to review/keep us updated on your GHL Stuff? I've been following, sort of biting my tongue, I actually went back through all 25 pages a day or so ago and was very appreciative of the information you've shared. My mind was made up going to GHL before I stumbled upon your thread, but now it's an absolute certainty, once I have the money, instead of buying my kid her first car, I'm getting a GHL (I kid, I kid).

No doubt on updating on GHL. This is not an end to this thread, it was just me saying that I can't do both and troubleshoot Apex at the same time. I am slowly switching to all GHL. I just have 6 more items to move over, and with my return redo it will only be 4. Who knows, with my going strictly GHL, maybe, it will give me time to learn GHL even better and help them become better.

Maybe this is for the best. It will allow me to concentrate on ONE controller and help others as best as I can.

 

[Billldg]

As I move things over, SO far it has been simple. I already showed you how to program a few things. I am hoping with me fully switching over, I will be able to help you more.

As always, their are a few great members that help out:

@Vinny@GHLUSA
@Ditto
@Lasse

I hope to be able to add my name to that list one day.

Don't sweat the delays on the IOND, I am also waiting, BUT, I know that when it shows up it will be the best.