Ah! Neptune apex freak out

Discussion in 'General Reef Topics' started by Annie3410, Aug 20, 2013.

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  1. Annie3410

    Annie3410 Teardrop Maxima Clam

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    So, about 1700 this evening I noticed my controller alarming, to find the temp probe reading 84 degrees and my ph probe reading 8.6. All day today, my probes have been reading 77.5-78.5 degrees and 7.9-8.15 ph. I looked at the graph to find that both skyrocketed up withing 30 min of each other for no apparent reason, I checked my temp using my TDS meter, cause that's all I have, and it reads 77 degrees. What would cause both my probes to lose their minds at the same time, and how do I fix it. I can manually check temp and turn heater on for a bit, but not all night tonight.... Plus, I just got $90 worth of coral from Happy Coral today... Help please...
     
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  3. Annie3410

    Annie3410 Teardrop Maxima Clam

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    Ps, everything in the tank looks fine. Fish, corals, inverts all look normal with good PE
     
  4. Corailline

    Corailline Super Moderator

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    It is a dry heat, yeah right !
    Do it the old fashioned way as you already described. Check the parameters the way you would without the controller.

    Nothing looks stressed therefore the controller is for some reason giving errors.

    Start look at sites like this:
    Neptune Systems Comprehensive Reference Manual | AquaNerd


    Proceed slowly and with caution, it's most likely a malfunction. Most likely no intervention is warranted if all livestock looks stress free.
     
  5. Annie3410

    Annie3410 Teardrop Maxima Clam

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    Right, all is good right now, but how do I control my temp tonight while I sleep? I have an old, too small heater, that I don't really trust, but I guess I could hook it up for the night. The controller is still reading funny. Would a firmware update be in order? Recalibrate probes?
     
  6. Corailline

    Corailline Super Moderator

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    It is a dry heat, yeah right !
    Re calibrate the probes. If you really think the tank is at 84 F, put some ice cubes in a plastic baggy and float them and repeat as needed.

    Your running LED's per signature so lighting has not heated up the tank.

    If ambient temp in the room is good the tank is most likely fine.
     
  7. Annie3410

    Annie3410 Teardrop Maxima Clam

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    Whew! Second restart of the apex straightened things out. Temp was good per my TDS meter, so I figure the controller was just reading really weird which it was. House hasn't been hot so no reason the tank would heat up unless my heater stayed on unnecessarily.

    Everything is reading right where it was before, but that was weird. Probably doesn't need to be an ASAP anymore, but has anyone else had both probes go haywire at the same time? ImageUploadedByTapatalk1377047659.206709.jpg
     
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  9. OnlyTono

    OnlyTono Spaghetti Worm

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    I've had me Neptune system for about a year and half now, and I can't say I've seen two probes go goofy before.

    The first questions that came to my mind when I read this where:

    • Are the probes both plugged into the base unit, or are they being run off a module such as the PM1? If through a module, check the aquabus cable or the PM1 itself
    • have you had any power fluctuations recently that you know of: i.e. low voltage, brownouts, etc.
    • Is the unit being powered by a battery backup? if so, check the backup, make sure it's delivering 'clean' power. those batters can get old after a while.
    • maybe stray voltage in the tank? I know that can sometimes have an effect on PH probes, but not sure about temp probes.
    • Do you have the Apex set to compensate for temperature when reading PH? if so, if the temp probe went bad, then that may affect how the PH would be measured, making it appear both had gone bad.

    Those are just some guesses, not sure if that helps or not, but it may provide afew places to start looking to figure out what's going on.