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View Full Version : controller went crazy !!!

nava405
10/13/2009, 08:55 AM
it's AC Jr. and i have been using it for almost a month, it's been working perfect till now. all the sudden that the lights started to turn on ( when it's not suppose to ) and made werid noise like there's not enough power, and i tried to have it turn off with manual control, and it didn't work. I also tried to unplug the controller to have it reset, and still same thing happened.. so now i have to unplug the power from DC8 to have it turn off.

Anyone know what's going on ? why all the sudden it went crazy ?!?!
kenargo
10/13/2009, 10:13 AM
It sounds like one of the outlets in the DC8 went bad...

Do the other DC8 outlets still control properly (it could be a cable oxidized and needs to be replaced)?
nava405
10/13/2009, 04:04 PM
It sounds like one of the outlets in the DC8 went bad...

Do the other DC8 outlets still control properly (it could be a cable oxidized and needs to be replaced)?

well the onese that were acting werid were 01 and 06, however, the cable looks very clean and it's place no where near the water since my sump is in another room. So it sounds more like DC8 than the controller?
five.five-six
10/13/2009, 04:12 PM
andy,
can we see your slate?
nava405
10/13/2009, 05:03 PM
Yes mark, the controller looks normal, but when it was acting werid, i coulnd't turn the lights off with controller, however, when i just set it as "on" the noise of bulbs went away. BTW are u selling your AC 3 ? lol.
kenargo
10/13/2009, 05:07 PM
well the ones that were acting weird were 01 and 06, however, the cable looks very clean and it's place no where near the water since my sump is in another room. So it sounds more like DC8 than the controller?


Yes, I agree with your conclusion; if the other ports are working and only 1/6 are not then it sounds like a DC8 but just to be sure you might want to try this...

Scan your program and verify that there isn't anything that does look right.

If all looks well then save off your program and timers and perform a reset (reset all if you don't mind recalibrating probes) then add back your program and see if the problem persists.

The reason I make this suggestion is that I have seen a number of cases where power brown-outs have resulted in some memory scramble in a some controllers locally and the init brought everything back to working. A surge protector is always a good idea on anything computer.

If the DC8 still acts incorrectly then you would have satisfied that it isn't the controller 100%
nava405
10/13/2009, 05:55 PM
well here's the thing , it doens't happen all the time, such as right now, everything is normal again, so it's hard for me to find out what's going on here..... but luckly i caught it this time, if i wasn't home, and the tank might just overheat or something , u never know.
kenargo
10/13/2009, 06:39 PM
well here's the thing , it doens't happen all the time, such as right now, everything is normal again, so it's hard for me to find out what's going on here..... but luckly i caught it this time, if i wasn't home, and the tank might just overheat or something , u never know.


That suggests a different issue and you might want to contact neptune and they can walk you through some built-in diags that can test the integrity of the communication link; they might also be able to suggest some things to look for as you work through the problem.
RobsReefs
10/13/2009, 06:53 PM
i was having almost the same problem and i found a thread talking about electrical interference so i rerouted my control cable to the dc8 "that was ran with many others" and now it seems fine. 3+ hrs now. cross my fingers!!! have you changed any wiring?
cato
10/13/2009, 07:07 PM
I has some similar issues with my jr about a year ago. I updated the firmware as Curt suggested and problem hasn't returned since.
nava405
10/13/2009, 10:18 PM
the wire you mean that one that goes from controller to the DC8 ? so that was the problem for you guys ?