Help understanding fusion alarm for my heater

ddc0715

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 8, 2018
Messages
1,149
Reaction score
642
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
i have added greater detail a few posts down. So I have my power alarms set for my heater. I allowed the heater to run for a few days before setting the alarm. Per instructions. Today I have been getting an alarm that says my heater is using touch power or outside the max range what. Originally I used the default values that the fusion provided. And after looking at it today the default max value change from 200 to 501. I did not make this change so whats does this mean.
 
Last edited:

RobB'z Reef

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Apr 23, 2020
Messages
2,783
Reaction score
5,773
Location
Eau Claire
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
So I have my power alarms set for my heater. I allowed the heater to run for a few days before setting the alarm. Per instructions. Today I have been getting an alarm that says my heater is using touch power or outside the max range what. Originally I used the default values that the fusion provided. And after looking at it today the default max value change from 200 to 501. I did not make this change so whats does this mean.
Not much to go on, what sized heater are you using? I wouldn't set any alarms based off power draw on a piece of equipment before just running it and learning how it operates under normal conditions to establish a base line.
 

SuncrestReef

That Apex guy
View Badges
Joined
Jan 18, 2018
Messages
4,214
Reaction score
9,214
Location
Oregon
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
How much above the alarm range is it reporting? If it's just marginally higher, then you can probably just adjust the upper limit in the power alarm settings. If it's significantly higher, then either the EB832 didn't yet have enough data to accurately analyze when you set up the alarm, or there could be a legitimate problem with the heater drawing too much power.

Read my Apex Power Monitoring tutorial for more details on where to adjust the alarm threshholds:
 
OP
OP
ddc0715

ddc0715

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 8, 2018
Messages
1,149
Reaction score
642
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
ok here is the details.
so when I set up the power usage alarm for one of my heaters I followed the instructions and let the device be monitored for a minimum of 24 hours, it was more like 72 hours.

Capture.JPG

when I first set up the power usage alarms I used the default values that the apex provided for this aqueon heater 300w heater, which was a min of 0 and a max of 203. according to that watts graph above, this would be correct. and the instructions said that the apex would pic the best from me based on its monitoring of the device usage so i trusted it / did not question it.

yesterday I got several alarms that read.

2021-03-02 11:26:23 NEW-HEATER W is greater than 203 (320)
2021-03-02 11:27:42 NEW-HEATER W is greater than 203 (324)
2021-03-02 11:29:10 NEW-HEATER W is greater than 203 (321)

I have been playing with the alarms off and on because not knowing what I'm looking at, they got on my nerves and I turned them off. but turned them back on a few days ago or before 3-02-21 , the above mention errors have not returned as of 3-3-21

so today I went into the power usage alarm settings to look at the max power setting. it has changed from 203 to 501, I did not make this change. can some please explain to me what is happening here, according to the graph this heater has been in the 300 plus range for some time?

Capture 2.JPG

I'm still new to the apex, so I'm a bit confused as to why the power usage on my heater went from a steady "under 200" from 1-28-21 to 2-23-21 in the beginning, to a steady "over 300" from 2-23-21 to 3-3-21. this heater is located in my refugium under my cheato or has the cheato has grown on top of it
 
Last edited:

SuncrestReef

That Apex guy
View Badges
Joined
Jan 18, 2018
Messages
4,214
Reaction score
9,214
Location
Oregon
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
That is odd. I have a Finnex 300w heater, and it typically maxes out at around 280 watts in my EB832 graphs:

Screen Shot 2021-03-02 at 11.30.30 PM.png


You might want to contact Neptune Support about the power usage alarm value changing to 501.
 
OP
OP
ddc0715

ddc0715

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 8, 2018
Messages
1,149
Reaction score
642
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
That is odd. I have a Finnex 300w heater, and it typically maxes out at around 280 watts in my EB832 graphs:
after seeing your graph i now wonder why mine looks so up an down when yours looks a stead on then off. could it because im running two heaters?
 

SuncrestReef

That Apex guy
View Badges
Joined
Jan 18, 2018
Messages
4,214
Reaction score
9,214
Location
Oregon
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
The difference in our graphs is probably due to me zooming in to less than a day of data, and yours showing many days of data. The graphs average and scale the numbers on the graph.
 
OP
OP
ddc0715

ddc0715

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 8, 2018
Messages
1,149
Reaction score
642
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
i did remove a few power-sucking generic wavemakers from the system, so tomorrow I'm going to look at the outlets to ensure i have not plugged something back into the wrong plug. after zooming in on this date and time closer I'm even more perplexed the graph says my heater was at 1w between 11:26 and 11:29 am. but the alarm said i was between 320-324w during this time frame.
Capture.JPG


Capture 2.JPG
 
Last edited:

SuncrestReef

That Apex guy
View Badges
Joined
Jan 18, 2018
Messages
4,214
Reaction score
9,214
Location
Oregon
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
One thing to be aware of whenever you are looking at Apex graphs: The graphs sample the data based on the interval set under the Apex Misc Setup screen. I believe the default is every 10 minutes:

Screen Shot 2021-03-03 at 12.03.58 AM.png


So the numbers plotted on these graphs will be averaged over that interval rather than exact moment-by-moment values. The numbers used within the programming and the alarm settings will be the actual real-time values, but the graphs aren't that precise or detailed.
 
OP
OP
ddc0715

ddc0715

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 8, 2018
Messages
1,149
Reaction score
642
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
redirecting this to a more detailed thread.

 

Clear reef vision: How do you clean the inside of the glass on your aquarium?

  • Razor blade

    Votes: 146 60.8%
  • Plastic scraper

    Votes: 66 27.5%
  • Clean-up crew

    Votes: 84 35.0%
  • Magic eraser

    Votes: 43 17.9%
  • Other

    Votes: 65 27.1%
Back
Top