Hydros Control 2 , Control 4 and accessories question and answer thread.

n2585722

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I have 4 wifi strips and a wifi feeder. All have been doing good. I do have 8 controllers in the collective so if one has a wifi issue it will switch to one of the others as the wifi master. Not sure if that makes a difference or not.
 

FishyFishFish

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The question was more regarding if anything had changed over the last few days that might have made things worse. It sounds like that's not the case for everyone else so it must just be me!

I also had the Controller drop off-line once this week, which has never happened before.
 

solitude127

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I'm think about switching over to Hydros and have a couple of questions
1) it looks like the outlets are connected via wifi. what happens if the wifi is out? Does it need to be connected to wifi in order for the outlets to work as programed?
2) is there a way to have a constant display? I'm not always on my phone and I like to glance over to a display to see the parameters
 

n2585722

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I'm think about switching over to Hydros and have a couple of questions
1) it looks like the outlets are connected via wifi. what happens if the wifi is out? Does it need to be connected to wifi in order for the outlets to work as programed?
2) is there a way to have a constant display? I'm not always on my phone and I like to glance over to a display to see the parameters
There is also a XP8 with 8 AC outlets if you prefer wired outlets. The wifi strips will stay in whatever state they are in until communication is restored. If you loose power they will be off until they get a signal from the controller to turn back on. The X2 and X4 controllers have drive ports which I use for ATO, AWC and RODI solenoids.

At this time there is no way to have a constant display but I did not have one on my controller before either so I don't miss it. I usually have my iPad handy if I want to check on things.
 

Chee-tomorpha

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I setup a new Hydros X4 on my build. I'm experiencing the random disconnection of the power strip.

I have Google Mesh with an old Asus wireless router set to AP mode broadcasting the two separate 2.4 and 5.0 ghz bands. This router is plugged into the main mesh puck.

The only thing connected to the wireless band is the X4 and the power strip. No other connection is on the 2.4ghz band.

The signal strength at the tank loses one bar at times based on my Pixel phone's wifi icon.

The power strip currently has my skimmer and return pump plugged in. Skimmer will turn off if the cup fills. The return pump will turn off if the DT overflows.

My power strip loses connection for about 30 minutes consistently. I can view my home camera when I receive the notification even when I'm away from home. My house has 30+ IoT devices hooked up on the mesh and never experience any disconnects.

I've read through a few troubleshooting and have gotten this far. But I continue to get these random disconnects.

My unit also got the 242 update today. But the issue was happening on the 197 firmware as well.
 

n2585722

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I setup a new Hydros X4 on my build. I'm experiencing the random disconnection of the power strip.

I have Google Mesh with an old Asus wireless router set to AP mode broadcasting the two separate 2.4 and 5.0 ghz bands. This router is plugged into the main mesh puck.

The only thing connected to the wireless band is the X4 and the power strip. No other connection is on the 2.4ghz band.

The signal strength at the tank loses one bar at times based on my Pixel phone's wifi icon.

The power strip currently has my skimmer and return pump plugged in. Skimmer will turn off if the cup fills. The return pump will turn off if the DT overflows.

My power strip loses connection for about 30 minutes consistently. I can view my home camera when I receive the notification even when I'm away from home. My house has 30+ IoT devices hooked up on the mesh and never experience any disconnects.

I've read through a few troubleshooting and have gotten this far. But I continue to get these random disconnects.

My unit also got the 242 update today. But the issue was happening on the 197 firmware as well.
Is the wifi strip in line of sight to the access point? Unless you need the 5ghz signal on the access point I would turn it off. I assume the access point has a different name than the mesh network.
 

rtparty

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I setup a new Hydros X4 on my build. I'm experiencing the random disconnection of the power strip.

I have Google Mesh with an old Asus wireless router set to AP mode broadcasting the two separate 2.4 and 5.0 ghz bands. This router is plugged into the main mesh puck.

The only thing connected to the wireless band is the X4 and the power strip. No other connection is on the 2.4ghz band.

The signal strength at the tank loses one bar at times based on my Pixel phone's wifi icon.

The power strip currently has my skimmer and return pump plugged in. Skimmer will turn off if the cup fills. The return pump will turn off if the DT overflows.

My power strip loses connection for about 30 minutes consistently. I can view my home camera when I receive the notification even when I'm away from home. My house has 30+ IoT devices hooked up on the mesh and never experience any disconnects.

I've read through a few troubleshooting and have gotten this far. But I continue to get these random disconnects.

My unit also got the 242 update today. But the issue was happening on the 197 firmware as well.

Sorry to be a negative Nancy here but get used to it. They are terrible. CoralVue has replaced three of mine so far and the working units still lose connection randomly.

They will troubleshoot you through all sorts of steps and make sure your bars are in perfect line of sight (no water in between) and then tell you your network is the issue. Sorry.

Been through it multiple times now
 

Chee-tomorpha

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Is the wifi strip in line of sight to the access point? Unless you need the 5ghz signal on the access point I would turn it off. I assume the access point has a different name than the mesh network.
Correct, the SSID is different from the mesh band. As for the line of sight, there will be 1 partition wall and the cabinet, and about 20 ft away.

I'll turn off the 5ghz band to see if it helps.
 

Chee-tomorpha

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Sorry to be a negative Nancy here but get used to it. They are terrible. CoralVue has replaced three of mine so far and the working units still lose connection randomly.

They will troubleshoot you through all sorts of steps and make sure your bars are in perfect line of sight (no water in between) and then tell you your network is the issue. Sorry.

Been through it multiple times now

Today would be a full day of it running with the 2.4ghz AP so I hope things get better.

Here's the latest disconnect from today. It's strange how it's always about 30 minutes of being down. Do you get this timing as well?

1659069453625.png
 

n2585722

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Today would be a full day of it running with the 2.4ghz AP so I hope things get better.

Here's the latest disconnect from today. It's strange how it's always about 30 minutes of being down. Do you get this timing as well?

1659069453625.png
That is not the down time. You have repeat set to 30 minutes in you setup options so the the following message will be 30 minutes after the first regardless of how long it is off for. I would imagine it is only off for a second or two.
 

rtparty

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Today would be a full day of it running with the 2.4ghz AP so I hope things get better.

Here's the latest disconnect from today. It's strange how it's always about 30 minutes of being down. Do you get this timing as well?

1659069453625.png
Like mentioned above that's not your down time. That's just when the system alerts you the condition isn't present based on your 30 minute setting.

My disconnects are usually very short but some are 10-15 minutes if I sit there and watch it closely. Nothing else in my house loses connection like that including the X4 and XP8 right next to my wifi power bars. It got so annoying being notified around 12 times a day that I turned off notifications for it.

CoralVue replaced my wifi bars because they would actually power cycle when this happens. According to CV, "that's not supposed to happen and is very rare." Yet, I've had three of them do it now on multiple tanks. I was even walked through checking for stray current that was resetting the bars. Nothing found. Just faulty products.

I mean let's be real, these bars can be had for around $12-15 with a semi-bulk order from Ali. CV puts a different firmware on them but it doesn't make the internals better quality. $12-15 bulk means they are making them for $2-3. We can be generous and say it costs the manufacturer $5 to build. How high of quality can any single part be? Especially the WiFi chip in them. Good WiFi chips have significantly raised in price during COVID yet these bars stayed the same price.

I know one major company is now spending $40 per WiFi chip in their products. The 25 cent wifi chip in the power bars can't be of any quality. This is why I upgraded to the XP8 as soon as I could. Now I've had 2 of them with bad outlets.

So I figured my house, system, setup isn't compatible with Hydros or Hydros has lower quality parts than claimed. None of my Apex power bars have had issues in over 7 years. My $5 Amazon smart plugs haven't failed either. Over 2 years of use on multiple of them.
 

n2585722

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Like mentioned above that's not your down time. That's just when the system alerts you the condition isn't present based on your 30 minute setting.

My disconnects are usually very short but some are 10-15 minutes if I sit there and watch it closely. Nothing else in my house loses connection like that including the X4 and XP8 right next to my wifi power bars. It got so annoying being notified around 12 times a day that I turned off notifications for it.

CoralVue replaced my wifi bars because they would actually power cycle when this happens. According to CV, "that's not supposed to happen and is very rare." Yet, I've had three of them do it now on multiple tanks. I was even walked through checking for stray current that was resetting the bars. Nothing found. Just faulty products.

I mean let's be real, these bars can be had for around $12-15 with a semi-bulk order from Ali. CV puts a different firmware on them but it doesn't make the internals better quality. $12-15 bulk means they are making them for $2-3. We can be generous and say it costs the manufacturer $5 to build. How high of quality can any single part be? Especially the WiFi chip in them. Good WiFi chips have significantly raised in price during COVID yet these bars stayed the same price.

I know one major company is now spending $40 per WiFi chip in their products. The 25 cent wifi chip in the power bars can't be of any quality. This is why I upgraded to the XP8 as soon as I could. Now I've had 2 of them with bad outlets.

So I figured my house, system, setup isn't compatible with Hydros or Hydros has lower quality parts than claimed. None of my Apex power bars have had issues in over 7 years. My $5 Amazon smart plugs haven't failed either. Over 2 years of use on multiple of them.
The firmware in the wifi power bars has not been changed for Hydros. They did lock in the firmware version at the time they did all their testing. It is the same. They will work on a tuya platform since they are tuya protocol. Even some of the non Hydros branded strips will pair with the Hydros. Pairing them with the Hydros deletes the need for going to the tuya cloud and back. The communicate directly via wifi form controller to power strip. One issue is if the 5ghz channel and the 2.4ghz channel is the same name then the wifi strip will try and connect to 5ghz. The controller only uses 2.4ghz so the communication will be lost if that happens. MESH networks are bad about bumping devices up automatically. So there are issues on MESH networks because of this.

I have had my Hydros since they came out and have very little issue with the wifi devices. I have 4 of the power strips and the wifi feeder and it is rare for me to get an alert for any of the strips or feeder. I do get a lot for the controllers every time I loose the internet and that happens several times in a day. I have nine controllers so that is 18 alerts for every internet drop. It can happen a dozen times in a hour. I have had Spectrum out more times than I can count and they have not been able to fix it. Funny thing is I never had that issue when it was Time Warner. Ever since Spectrum took over this issue has existed. It is not the controllers fault that I loose the internet that often though.
 
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Chee-tomorpha

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That is not the down time. You have repeat set to 30 minutes in you setup options so the the following message will be 30 minutes after the first regardless of how long it is off for. I would imagine it is only off for a second or two.
Oh, shoot that's right. I did set it to remind 30 minutes.
 

Chee-tomorpha

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I had turned off the 5ghz band per @n2585722 last night. So far today, I have not received any alerts about the power strip losing connection. So that is a good sign. I had three lost connection alerts on Thursday. So fingers crossed this solves it.

If it does stabilize, it will make me more confident about adding another unit downstairs - I'm thinking X2 to control the RO unit and a power strip as fail-safes for the Tunze ATO and Kamoer AWC. I would like to use the XP8 but I don't have much to drive - still planning it out.

@rtparty what are your experiences with it aside from some dead outlets? Would you recommend or should I stay with the cost-effective option for my needs?

Also,
Have you experienced random alerts with the pH probe? I've had this happen a few times prior to setting up the AP. At one point, the probe reported a -0.24. I had 4-5 other instances where it reported outside my threshold and was beeping as I set the alert condition to red. It has not happened since setting up the AP for the power strip - strangely I can't understand why this would have any effect as the probe is connected to the X4.

1659117225273.png
 

rtparty

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I had turned off the 5ghz band per @n2585722 last night. So far today, I have not received any alerts about the power strip losing connection. So that is a good sign. I had three lost connection alerts on Thursday. So fingers crossed this solves it.

If it does stabilize, it will make me more confident about adding another unit downstairs - I'm thinking X2 to control the RO unit and a power strip as fail-safes for the Tunze ATO and Kamoer AWC. I would like to use the XP8 but I don't have much to drive - still planning it out.

@rtparty what are your experiences with it aside from some dead outlets? Would you recommend or should I stay with the cost-effective option for my needs?

Also,
Have you experienced random alerts with the pH probe? I've had this happen a few times prior to setting up the AP. At one point, the probe reported a -0.24. I had 4-5 other instances where it reported outside my threshold and was beeping as I set the alert condition to red. It has not happened since setting up the AP for the power strip - strangely I can't understand why this would have any effect as the probe is connected to the X4.

1659117225273.png

I had multiple issues early on with the pH probe but that was due to a metal halide ballast causing interference. Switched to a new ballast and the problem went away.

About 4-5 days ago my probe malfunctioned for a brief moment. Said my pH plummeted to like 0 and then came back. This was in the middle of the night with nothing turning on or off. Just a random glitch.

As for the XP8, if you plan to run Hydros long term it's worth the money IMO. I'd never trust anything mission critical to the wifi bars
 

Chee-tomorpha

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I just got another disconnect notice. I'm home and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. It took about 4 minutes from the initial notification to see it back online through the phone app. Is this typical or your disconnects, @rtparty?

1659119345101.png
 

Chee-tomorpha

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I had multiple issues early on with the pH probe but that was due to a metal halide ballast causing interference. Switched to a new ballast and the problem went away.

About 4-5 days ago my probe malfunctioned for a brief moment. Said my pH plummeted to like 0 and then came back. This was in the middle of the night with nothing turning on or off. Just a random glitch.

As for the XP8, if you plan to run Hydros long term it's worth the money IMO. I'd never trust anything mission critical to the wifi bars
What I have planned at this time, it maybe more than I would need. I am relying on the ATO/AWC components and software as the primary and the Hydros as the fail-safe. I will have to consider the XP8.
 

Chee-tomorpha

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Something came up yesterday that I'm trying to figure out. I have a skim level sensor in my skimmer cup. Yesterday my skimmer went crazy and flooded the cup. The right triggers happened as far as notifications, but the skimmer was not turned off.

It's my understanding that it should turn off when the skim level sensor is wet. But it did shut it down. When I manually put the sensor under water, it kills the skimmer.

The skimmer is plugged into the power strip - which continues to get random disconnection alerts multiple times a day. The output port is setup as Skimmer.

Screenshot_20220805-225525.png


Is the power strip at fault or is this in the control unit? If it's unreliable at just killing the skimmer, how much trust should I place on more critical systems?
 

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