A lot of heat, so I want to do this, please help!!!

[mariocaz]

Hi curt/guys,

Please help me...... here is making a crazy heat so the chiller is almost working/on all part of the day and I want to help it in the cooling of my reef.

The thing is that I want to OFF the MH bulbs when the Chiller goes ON, then when the Chiller goes OFF, ON the MH bulbs. (With my AC3)

Also ON the T5 bulbs when the Chiller is ON and OFF the T5 bulbs when the chiller is OFF.

I did it but the the problem is that also is ON and OFF the MH/T5 bulbs in the night when the chiller is ON/OFF

So I want it but only in the day, is that possible ???

Really you will help me a lot, please tell me and thank you so much in advance!!

Mario

[mariocaz]

please heeelp!! =(

[aquamanic]

I can help you with an Apex, not an AC3. You need to add an If Time statement near the end that overrides the outlet on/off state based on night time hours.

FWIW, I wouldn't cycle my lights on/off like that. I think you'll shorten the lives of the MH bulbs.

[schwaggs]

Can you post the commands you are using for each of your lights?

[mariocaz]

Ok here are my instructions that I put in my AC3:

If Time > 12:00 Then T5_ ON
If Time > 14:05 Then T5_ OFF

If Time > 14:00 Then MH1 ON
If Time > 14:05 Then MH2 ON
If Time > 14:10 Then MH3 ON

If Time > 21:50 Then T5_ OFF
If Time > 21:55 Then T5_ OFF
If Time > 22:00 Then T5_ OFF

If Time > 21:29 Then T5_ ON
If Time > 23:00 Then T5_ OFF


Then my chiller is like this:

If Temp < 25.5 Then CHI ON
If Temp > 25 Then CHI OFF

But in this season to down/cool .5°C is doing it in 2 hrs. more or less, so if I have the MH Lights ON all the day then the Chiller also is working all the day and is a lot of electricity and heat in the room,

That is why I want when the chiller is ON then OFF the MH and turn ON the T5 ligths

And when the Chiller is OFF then have the MH lights ON

I set it like that but also is ON and OFF the MH/T5 lights in the night. =(

What do u think and how could I do this without ON/OFF the lights in the night ?

Thank you so much my friends!!

[mariocaz]

Help please!! =(

[mariocaz]

Bump.

[pyton]

how old is the chiller?

Also can you split your lights so they are one in the morning off MID day and on in the evening?

The hottest part of the day is noon to 2pm if you can work around those times that would be best. You do not want to cycle your lights on and off it will ruin the bulbs.

You might want to get a small fan and blow it across the top of your tank while the lights are on. Nothing huge just big enough to blow across the water and move the heat from the MH away from the tank.

[mariocaz]

Hi pyton,

I don´t think that I can ruin the bulbs, because when the chiller is ON to cool .5°C at least is ON as 2 hours, so 2 hours I will have the T5 ON and the MH OFF and when the MH bulbs are ON, at least are ON like 1 hour with 30 minutes until the Chiller is ON again.

So what do you think ?

My chiller is like 1 1/2 year old.

I need something like this..............

If Time > 12:00 Then T5_ ON
If Time > 14:05 Then T5_ OFF

If Time > 14:00 Then MH1 ON
If Time > 14:05 Then MH2 ON
If Time > 14:10 Then MH3 ON

If Timer CHI = OFF Then T5_ OFF
If Timer CHI = ON Then T5_ ON -------------- ( but how to avoid that the T5 lights also ON/OFF with the Chiller after 23:00 ?? )

If Timer CHI = ON Then MH1 OFF
If Timer CHI = ON Then MH2 OFF
If Timer CHI = ON Then MH2 OFF

If Time > 21:50 Then MH1 OFF
If Time > 21:55 Then MH2 OFF
If Time > 22:00 Then MH3 OFF

If Time > 21:59 Then T5_ ON
If Time > 23:00 Then T5_ OFF

[pyton]

Okay what I meant by ruining your bulbs.

If you turn them off and back on they are firing 3 to 4 times a day. This will reduce the life of the bulbs.

How many T-5's do you have?

Why don't you split the morning and evening times.

turn T-5 on at 730am and off at 1130pm
turn MH on at 8am and off at 11am

turn T5 on at 5pm and off at 11pm
turn MH on at 6 PM and off at 10pm

Run your T-5 more and your hot MH less
Split up the hottest part of the day.

OR split one of the plugs on the MH and when they are on the fan is on blowing across the tank during the hot months.

The programming is not possible due to the limitations of the device (ACIII) to do the fancy programming you need an Apex.

[ciphros]

I agree with pyton that running the bulbs (so each portion of the tank gets light, but not all at the same time) may be best. However, if you create a dummy timer called DAY that is on during the time you want your lights to be on, but off at night, you can add an IF Timer DAY = OFF Then T5_ OFF (and same for the other T5 and MH timers) to force them off at night. Put that after your If Timer CHI statements and it should take care of your issue.