Solved-Aquacontroller\EB8 question

[Deafasa]

Has anyone seen their EB8 go wonky? Mine was working fine yesterday, then I tore down my tank as we have hard wood floors getting installed. Everything was moved to a smaller tank, but now I have nothing but problems with the EB8. First any outlet that was on, stayed on. Any outlet that was off stayed off. I flashed the Apex lite with the latest firmware, which made it worse. The outlets would be on if I unplugged and plugged the EB8 back in, but in about 10 seconds when the Apex lite finished initializing, all the outlets would turn off and stay off. Manually turning them on from the apex display or the webpage did not turn the outlets on. I then re initialized everything on the Apex, which I am assuming is a factory reset, which didn't change anything. I deleted the module from the Apex, and then it wouldn't detect it. I changed the aquabus port on the EB8 that the Apex is connected to, and then the EB8 was detected by the aquacontroller. I unplugged the EB8 again and then plugged it back in. Now I think it is semi working, but I won't know for sure until the heater is set to go on or the timer for the lights to go on in the morning happen. If that works, then it is just the outlet that the 50 watt heater is connected to that is having issues.
Anyone ever go through this and was there a solution? I don't even know if the issue is the EB8 or the Apex.

Update: It is back to outlets that are on stay on, outlets that are off stay off.
Thanks for putting up with that rambling post.
Jeff

 

[ChrisV]

Have you tried the support forum that Neptune runs?

 

[Deafasa]

No, because either questions seem to go unanswered or the answer is contact Netptune support. I do have a support ticket open, but I don't expect a lot from that except box it up and send it to us and we will take a look. I'll create a post there as well, but honestly I have more faith of getting a response here. The response may not fix my issue, but if a forum user has seen the issue I feel confident they will share their knowledge.
Jeff

 

[Reefer508]

Can you try a different aquabus cable? If you were closer, I could lend you one to try.

 

[ChrisV]

Yeah I've had bad luck contacting Neptune, but I've had good luck with the other users on their forum. Another option for getting more eyes on the question is reef2reef.

What model/generation do you have?

 

[Deafasa]

I did post on Neptune's forum and someone suggested the same as Reefer508. I think that is the issue. I jiggled the cable and the outlets all switched to their correct state.
I'm assuming that it isn't a straight USB male to male cable and Neptune has a custom wiring pinout.
It is an Apex lite.
Thanks,
Jeff

 

[ChrisV]

I did post on Neptune's forum and someone suggested the same as Reefer508. I think that is the issue. I jiggled the cable and the outlets all switched to their correct state.
I'm assuming that it isn't a straight USB male to male cable and Neptune has a custom wiring pinout.
It is an Apex lite.
Thanks,
Jeff

I think it actually may be a standard cable. Worth a google.

 

[Deafasa]

Worth a google. Thanks. Looks like I can try and hit Microcenter today. Normally I would have looked that up, but still running around with my hair on fire getting the house ready for the flooring. Next up is trying to paint a couple of rooms before they come to do the floors. Knowing my fish won't be to cold or get cooked is a big relief.
Jeff

 

[ChrisV]

Good luck!

 

[salthobby]

It's actually not that bad to get them to help. First you need to open a ticket that you said you did. Now you have to schedule a call back time. Or you can try calling them as long as you have your ticket number they will take your call if someone answers. They also want you to download a link so they see what's going on and sometimes will fix the problem remotely.

 

[Deafasa]

I will give Neptune lots of bonus points for being willing to help, no matter how old your gear is (okay if I opened a ticket for my ancient AquaController two I'm not sure what would happen, but they go way way beyond what a lot of places will do.) I did get an email asking me to add them to my fusion account so they could take a look. The answer was indeed the aquabus controller cable. A new male to male USB A cable took care of it.
Jeff

 

[ChrisV]

I will give Neptune lots of bonus points for being willing to help, no matter how old your gear is (okay if I opened a ticket for my ancient AquaController two I'm not sure what would happen, but they go way way beyond what a lot of places will do.) I did get an email asking me to add them to my fusion account so they could take a look. The answer was indeed the aquabus controller cable. A new male to male USB A cable took care of it.
Jeff

Awesome! Glad to hear it. Crisis averted.

 

[Cooper2]

This is a great example to think about. In the proximity to salt water and the inevitable salt creep and exposure, its not a matter of if a connection will go bad, its when its going to go bad. Most automotive supply stores offer small packets (almost like ketchup packets) of electrical terminal grease. One packet will last forever if applied with a Q-tip to plugs and sockets. A little preventive maintenance can save you from heartbreak later! While the new cable you replaced seemed to solve your issue, you only replaced half the connection.... Put a thin film of grease on that new cable and plug it in several times to clean and coat the female socket. I even put a little on my 110V plugs. No more green spots and they go in and out way smoother. Give it a try!

 

[Cooper2]

If you'd like the convenience of using the regular USB cables you probably have lying around, get yourself some of these babies on Amazon. The pinout is universal, so no compatibility problems. Many types are available from the old square printer type to the phone style micros. Handy for emergencies or using what you got!....