Why does a controller go dead ??

[nemo's janitor]

:) Why does a controller go dead (block)??

I have an educated (grd8) guess that the controller blocks to protect it;s self and the system. I have noticed that other AT devices block if there are shorts or software problems.

So maybe this is why AT have not had any controller recall as eluded to in previous posts. We never had the option to unblock devices before. I say this because i had the opportunity to test a few controllers that were blocked. With the latest PC software they were able to be unblocked along with PU's that had lost outlets.

This brings me to the questions as to why do they block? Most of the cases i have been involved in relate to power surges and water/salt creep.

So is it a feature of your Aquatronica to brick to save other devices and keep the PU operating without affecting your aquarium??

Hmm.... never thought of it that way.:D

:) So from now on when a controller go's dead my attitude will be: The Aquatronica has most probably just saved your tank. Now lets find out what caused the controller to block, preventing false instructions to the PU's and other devices...

Is that what Aquatronica intended? :D

[RobbyG]

Back in 2006 Aquatronica did make some sort of statement to the effect that the controllers was designed to always do specific things in cases of emergencies. Like when a PC is connected, during the short hand over interval the Sensors would all go into a safe mode until the PC took control. As far as bricking, Im not very sure on that but I am pretty sure that almost 90% of the failures in All controllers is due to salt water or saltwater vapor.

[nemo's janitor]

RobbyG what brought me to this was i was testing the dosing pump thing and pulled a USB cable out of the box of spares i have. on connection the controller bricked. I did the unblock thing and it was successful. Plugged the cable in again and it bricked again. So i was able to brick the controller at will. I then did the same thing with a PU and it also blocked. I am now convinced that it is a feature of the AT system.
BTW the USB cable i used was one i removed due to water damage.