Heater programming on Apex

[srobertb]

I use a UPS for my aquarium. Everything is plugged into it but my lights. I use a Neptune Apex to control heating elements plugged into an EB832.

I would like to set it up so that if the power goes out, the heater shuts down to preserve the battery. Does anyone have any ideas?

 

[Doctorgori]

hmmm,
Interesting question…… I’m pretty sure if you watch the amps there will be a noticeable and consistent drop off when you manually shut off the heater…. not sure or aware of “amps” being in the programming language … following

 

[srobertb]

hmmm,
Interesting question…… I’m pretty sure if you watch the amps there will be a noticeable and consistent drop off when you manually shut off the heater…. not sure or aware of “amps” being in the programming language … following

It’s an expensive UPS. The whole point is that it shouldn’t fluctuate when the power goes out so there wouldn’t be anything on the Apex side to “sense” on its own.

When power goes out I lose my internet and apex connection so it has to be automatic.

 

[Doctorgori]

I thought the Apex read Amps off the 832 and displayed them on the dashboard…
are you sure if you switched off the heater, the amps shown on the dashboard doesn’t change? …
..might be moot anyway if you can’t program using power usage

 

[srobertb]

I thought the Apex read Amps off the 832 and displayed them on the dashboard…
are you sure if you switched off the heater, the amps shown on the dashboard doesn’t change? …
..might be moot anyway if you can’t program using power usage

I have no idea. I’m going to unplug the UPS tonight and see how long I get.
With the heater.

the issue is that during the day a chiller fights to keep the temps stable (no heater) due to the lights so unplugging it during the day wouldn’t be super accurate. I’m old and don’t want to stay up to see how long I can run with heater.

As for your point: it’s a marker without any other sensors so I appreciate the idea and thought! Whether it’s useable I do not know.

 

[SuncrestReef]

Read my tutorial on Apex Power Monitoring for step-by-step instructions to set this up using the “If Power Apex” command:

https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/neptune-apex-programming-tutorials-part-4-power-monitoring.698/

 

[Yodeling]

Easy, plug your heaters into a temp controller such as Ranco (it's far more reliable than Apex anyway) and don't run it off the UPS.

 

[whitemountainreef]

Read my tutorial on Apex Power Monitoring for step-by-step instructions to set this up using the “If Power Apex” command:

https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/neptune-apex-programming-tutorials-part-4-power-monitoring.698/

This right here. You have to turn on Power Monitoring and use a 12v power supply plugged into your Apex head unit to selectively turn outlets on or off based on whether your system is on battery backup or mains power.

And for what it's worth, if you're using your Apex as a thermostat, to control your heater by turning the outlet on and off based on the Apex's temp probe, you should probably stop. That's a good way to burn out that outlet on the EB832; even Neptune doesn't recommend using an outlet as a heater thermostat, despite having a profile called Heater that you can use. Better to use the heater's built-in thermostat to control it and let THAT fail instead.

 

[SuncrestReef]

This right here. You have to turn on Power Monitoring and use a 12v power supply plugged into your Apex head unit to selectively turn outlets on or off based on whether your system is on battery backup or mains power.

And for what it's worth, if you're using your Apex as a thermostat, to control your heater by turning the outlet on and off based on the Apex's temp probe, you should probably stop. That's a good way to burn out that outlet on the EB832; even Neptune doesn't recommend using an outlet as a heater thermostat, despite having a profile called Heater that you can use. Better to use the heater's built-in thermostat to control it and let THAT fail instead.

The EB832 relays are rated for over 1 million cycles. Reviewing my output logs, I see that my heater turns on and off about 50 times per day on average. At this rate, that's 18,250 cycles per year, so it would take over 54 years to reach 1 million cycles. I've been running my heater and EB832 this way for over 4 years with no problem, and I don't lose any sleep over it.

To clarify Neptune's guidance, they recommend using a heater with its own built-in thermostat or a separate heater controller in conjunction with the EnergyBar to act as a failsafe in case the Apex temperature probe fails, or the Apex somehow is stuck in the On position. It's not because you will wear out the EnergyBar outputs. However, most external controllers don't have a tight temperature range accuracy, so using the Apex as the primary control to turn it on and off allows you to keep a smaller temperature fluctuation, while still having the external controller there as the failsafe.

Here's the spec sheet for the relays: