Apex System - Review Part 2 by Cobraz

[Jennifer]

The firmware update that just came ot is suppose to fix this exact problem.

Even with the new product problems I am happy so far.
Of course mine has not had any real world trials other than currently reading my room temp (probe is not in water) and connecting to the internet.
I believe any problem I encounter will be handled quickly by Neptune and Curt.
He can even connect to your controller to diagnose and repair most problems right over the internet.
You of course have to have it connected to the "internet" at the time.

 

[Gary_leighton]

grounding problem

I was at the lfs today and seems they were have the same power problems with the apex. After a call to neptune there was finaly a fix and it wasn't firmware. I pulled the cover from the dc8 and there is a ground wire and nut attached to the cover. That ground screw was shorting out on the circut board. Tiny little scratch on the circut going to r8 near the bus ports. Easy fix. Take off the cover and look at the ground wire going to that cover. Make sure the nut is flat edge up. and put some electrical tape over the scratched part of the board. Seems they just didn't allow for enuff room for the nut to be on edge at the factory. Fixed it early today and it has been working perfect all day.

 

[Jennifer]

Good info Gary,

You say above dc8 but then you mention the bus ports.
Did you really mean the new EB8?

I may call neptune tomorrow and find out if this is something I need to do before I have my system up and running in the next week or so.

 

[Jennifer]

New Apex web pages Graphics Hack !

I decided to make myself some new graphics for the apex's web pages this is now what it looks like when I hit my Apex from the Net. Lan & Wan.
If I dig deeper into the files I could change the whole look of the page including Font size color and background color, etc.
I will prob end up doing that when I have a little more time.

I can let you guys know how I did it if you are interested.
The new graphics actually load faster from the Apex web browser because the file size is smaller than the original ones.

Oh and I know all of my stuff all says manual off.


Cheers - Jenn

 

[paulthomas]

I was at the lfs today and seems they were have the same power problems with the apex. After a call to neptune there was finaly a fix and it wasn't firmware. I pulled the cover from the dc8 and there is a ground wire and nut attached to the cover. That ground screw was shorting out on the circut board. Tiny little scratch on the circut going to r8 near the bus ports. Easy fix. Take off the cover and look at the ground wire going to that cover. Make sure the nut is flat edge up. and put some electrical tape over the scratched part of the board. Seems they just didn't allow for enuff room for the nut to be on edge at the factory. Fixed it early today and it has been working perfect all day.

I was in that same LFS last week. I'm glad to hear he got the power outage issue worked out. And thanks for that info.

Hrm. I've got one of the APEX units from the first run. As some of you may know, I haven't set mine up yet. For sh!tz n' giggles, I was planning on setting it up within a week to monitor my frag tank with live rock. I hope I have one of the good ones. But if there's a tank to test its dependability on, it's the one I've got going now, which has very little life in it.

BTW, I'd like to say that my initial impression of the display unit was not very good. Mine looked like it was used as a demo or something. It had fingerprints and light scratches/mars on it.

 

[Gary_leighton]

Good info Gary,

You say above dc8 but then you mention the bus ports.
Did you really mean the new EB8?

I may call neptune tomorrow and find out if this is something I need to do before I have my system up and running in the next week or so.

Sorry Jen Your right it is the EB8. I don't own the Apex yet Mine is on order.

 

[cobraz]

Got my replacement equipment last night - will hook it up today...and cross my fingers.
Jennifer - very cool... you gadget geek, I will PM you n how to do that - can I get another color than PINK ..LOL

 

[JohnK]

Any update? Fixed, not fixed?

 

[cobraz]

Update #3

UPDATE:

Part 3............

Well, now I have all the pieces again... and added a second EB8.
Oops now I need a USB to USB cable .. not in box...F%$&

Ok, now I have cable 3 days later...!

Hooked everything up.... there is a registry fix for the xml issues....added that.
Added the latest firmware upgrade.

It's on an working.... here is what I am now controlling.

EB1-1 Main Pump
EB1-2 Two MJ1200 for flow on wavermaker cycle
EB1-3 Reactor Pump
EB1-4 Heater
EB1-5 Moon Lights
EB1-6 Refugium Light
EB1-7 Skimmer Main Pump
EB1-8 Skimmer Recirc Pump

EB2-1 1st set of Tank Main Lights
EB2-2 2nd set of Tank Main Lights
EB2-3 3rd set of Tank Main Lights
EB2-4 Wireless Modem for Network
EB2-5 Emergency Cooling Fan for Main Display
EB2-6 Hood Cooling Fans
EB2-7 Empty - Always On (Future second backup heater)
EB2-8 Empty - Always On ( Live plug for water change pump)

EB1 1.4 Amps
EB2 1.9 Amps
Pretty good balance... may move some items around when finally happy with performance

Pictures to follow this weekend.............

 

[JayM]

Why would you control the wireless modem?

Just curious.....

Please let us know about the power issues too.....::

 

[cobraz]

Why would you control the wireless modem?

Just curious.....

Please let us know about the power issues too.....::

I am not - just used one of the electrical outlets as a Always on.
This way less wires all over the place and one less electrical strip.

I was going with a very clean look and less wires everywhere..