Apex Heater Malfunction

[LVReefer94]

I noticed last night that I've had this issue for months now and I can't figure it out. They claim plugging your heater straight into the apex is bad because of the numerous duty cycles that happen. I purchased an ink bird controller and quickly realized that thing is junk. it couldn't keep a temp swing tighter than 3 degrees... so I plugged my heater straight into the outlet and called it a day. temp super stable at that point.. but now I notice that for some reason multiple times a day my heater will outlet will turn on and off immediately within 1 second and I check the temp and it doesn't need to come on per the apex at least. because of that my heater outlet switches on and off 50-75 times a day depending on room temp!!!!! just on/off on/off on/off so many times for no reason. I decided to check my programming and it was Fallback OFF Set ON If Temp </> blah blah blah. The Set ON was a mistake on my end, so I changed it to Set OFF and wipe my brow.. I checked my heater graph today and its still doing the same thing just rapid on and off cycles while temp probe says the temp is okay and not going up and down rapidly. I ran the heater task function and set my parameters, I checked the programming to see if something changed and it took away the Set ON/OFF command. Has that been my issue this entire time??? No Set Command needed I'm guessing?

 

[RobB'z Reef]

I don't profess to be an Apex expert but I run two 600w brs titanium heaters directly from my apex and they work flawlessly. I have them set to split a 24hr day so they alternate for wear and tear. This is the program I am running. Have had this in place for almost 5 months now without a hiccup.

Fallback OFF
If Tmp < 77.3 Then ON
If Tmp > 77.7 Then OFF
If Time 00:00 to 11:59 Then OFF
If Output BackupHeat = ON Then ON
If Output Maintenance = ON Then OFF
If Output PumpStatus = OFF Then OFF

 

[SuncrestReef]

Yes, when trying to control an output between a range of input values, you should not use a Set command. The reason is because the Apex evaluates each line of code from top to bottom, and the last line that’s True will set the output on or off. It does this once per second for each output. If the temperature drops below your specified limit, the heater turns on. But the moment it warms up to that low value, the Set OFF command becomes the last True statement and turns it off before it ever reaches the upper limit.

The same is true for using a range of pH values, or for maintaining the water level in a barrel between a low and high sensor. Never use Set when trying to maintain a range.

For more tips, see my series of Apex tutorials:

Articles by SuncrestReef

www.reef2reef.com

 

[LVReefer94]

I don't profess to be an Apex expert but I run two 600w brs titanium heaters directly from my apex and they work flawlessly. I have them set to split a 24hr day so they alternate for wear and tear. This is the program I am running. Have had this in place for almost 5 months now without a hiccup.

Fallback OFF
If Tmp < 77.3 Then ON
If Tmp > 77.7 Then OFF
If Time 00:00 to 11:59 Then OFF
If Output BackupHeat = ON Then ON
If Output Maintenance = ON Then OFF
If Output PumpStatus = OFF Then OFF

yeah im hoping the Set ON/Set OFF command was my issue

 

[LVReefer94]

Yes, when trying to control an output between a range of input values, you should not use a Set command. The reason is because the Apex evaluates each line of code from top to bottom, and the last line that’s True will set the output on or off. It does this once per second for each output. If the temperature drops below your specified limit, the heater turns on. But the moment it warms up to that low value, the Set OFF command becomes the last True statement and turns it off before it ever reaches the upper limit.

The same is true for using a range of pH values, or for maintaining the water level in a barrel between a low and high sensor. Never use Set when trying to maintain a range.

For more tips, see my series of Apex tutorials:

Articles by SuncrestReef

www.reef2reef.com

John always coming in with the answers!!

Fallback OFF
Set OFF
If Temp < 76.5 Then ON
If Temp > 77.5 Then OFF

That was my programming, so my set command was my issue for it just going on/off more times in a day than your eyes blink??? Lol

 

[SuncrestReef]

John always coming in with the answers!!

Fallback OFF
Set OFF
If Temp < 76.5 Then ON
If Temp > 77.5 Then OFF

That was my programming, so my set command was my issue for it just going on/off more times in a day than your eyes blink??? Lol

Yes, with that programming it would cycle the heater between 76.4 and 76.5 over and over, but never get to the 77.5 limit.

Once “If Temp < 76.5 Then ON” is no longer True, then Set OFF is the last True item in the list.

 

[LVReefer94]

Yes, with that programming it would cycle the heater between 76.4 and 76.5 over and over, but never get to the 77.5 limit.

Once “If Temp < 76.5 Then ON” is no longer True, then Set OFF is the last True item in the list.

Thank you sir! I thought to reach out to you via facebook like I normally do but I figured you probably get tired of that from everyone asking questions all the time haha.

 

[ca1ore]

Defer command can be useful as well.