Apex ato challenged

[reefkeeper78]

I've read through the new user guied and searched in here but still can't wrap my head around how to use or what the purpose of virtual outlets are for. I have a float switch (I have a second on order) and an aqua lifter pump thats going to be programmed for either oultelt 4 or 8. Thats as far as I got. I have no idea how to write the code for what I want. I want the top off pump to only run for 5 mins every 4 hours. I also want it to be able to be turned off via manual control. I want it to have a ph set point of 8.4 as well. I know what I want but can't put it into code..... can someone help me with this?

[Comtek]

OSC MMM:SS/MMM:SS/MMM:SS Then ON
this will give you OFF/ON/OFF based on the times
so you want 5 mins ever 4 hours
so...

OSC 0/5:00/235:00 The ON
this will turn your pump on 5 minutes every 235 minutes so 5 minutes out of ever 4 hours simple

if you want to use the float as a saftey so it does not overflow
assuming in the up position it's closed and it's connected to switch1

you code for the outlet as such
OSC 0/5:00/235:00 The ON
If PH > 8.4 then OFF
IF Switch1 Closed then OFF

if i'm wrong someone will chime in a make me look dumb no worries

[reefkeeper78]

I thought that I had to use a virtual outlet? There in lies my confusion

[Comtek]

i don't think one is necessary.
give it a try and report back here if it works or not.
if not i'll give it another go.

[aquamanic]

Here's another way with a couple of features:

Set OFF
If Switch1 CLOSED Then ON
Defer 1:00 Then ON
Min Time 30:00 Then OFF

The ATO pump will run any time it needs. The float has to be CLOSED (down) for at least 1 minute though. This gets around any sloshing causing the ATO to run.

Once the ATO runs, it won't run again for 30 minutes. This prevents a constant ON/OFF and is easier on your ATO pump. You can vary that based on your own setup and how much evaporation you have. Personally, I have a 1 hour interval and the ATO still only runs for about 2 or 3 minutes typically.

I would put a second float as a safety though. Put it about 1" higher than your primary float. For the second float, CLOSED is good though. IF it goes OPEN (meaning the float is UP) then that's bad and shut off the ATO and send yourself an email.

Doing it this way, if you unplug your BoB, then both switches go to OPEN and nothing runs. If you unplug your BoB and anything runs (other than you get an email), then that's BAD and you have to re-engineer things.

[swearint]

To answer your question about VOs. They are useful for doing things you couldn't do otherwise. A simple example is naming switches, normally not possible. The other main use is to isolate code. A Defer...OFF will apply to all OFF conditions within an outlet. If you need to use differing delays, again a VO would achieve the end result.

Todd

[Mpfaff77]

I use virtual outlets for all my switches. I can view the status of each float switch in the status page.

Sump_ Hi
If switch1 open then on
If switch 1 closed then off

Sump_Lo
If switch2 open then on
If switch2 closed then off

You get the idea. Can also put defer statements like mentioned above to prevent on off a lot.

With virtual outlets you can use " if outlet" statements too.

Hope that helped.

[reefkeeper78]

aquamaniac, I've created the virtual outlet so I can manually turn off the switch, data log it, and name it. I've also created an ATO outlet for the top off pump. Do I write the statement you wrote:

Set OFF
If Switch1 CLOSED Then ON
Defer 1:00 Then ON
Min Time 30:00 Then OFF

To the ATO outlet?

Thanks all for you time and effort, its appreciated

[RussM]

If you've created a VO to monitor the state of Switch1, then you might as well use it in your programming.

Instead of:

Set OFF
If Switch1 CLOSED Then ON
Defer 1:00 Then ON
Min Time 30:00 Then OFF

Use this:

[Sump_Low] (the virtual outlet)
Set OFF
If Switch1 CLOSED Then ON


[ATO_Pump]
Set OFF
If Outlet Sump_Low = ON Then ON
Defer 1:00 Then ON
Min Time 30:00 Then OFF

[reefkeeper78]

I have a ton of questions, sorry.......

So here is what I have for my top off program. It works fine. I thought that if I could make a virtual outlet for switches and then control them, It would be nice to have a water change virtual outlet then too.... thats where things went bad. Below is the codes I used, can someone explain to me why when I added the virtual water change outlet that the auto top off decided that no matter what the sump low switch gave for input, it just needed to run the auto top off pump untill my top off resivoir was almost dry. Thankfully I had enough fore thought to use a 5 gallon jug to minimize the fallout from this bad situation.


Sump_Low (virtual outlet)
Set OFF
If Switch1 CLOSED Then ON
If Switch1 OPEN Then OFF

ATO_Pump
Fallback OFF
Set OFF
If Outlet Sump_Low = ON Then ON
Defer 001:00 Then ON
Min Time 060:00 Then OFF

the above worked fine until I added the statement below

If Outlet Water_Change = OFF Then OFF
If Outlet Water_Change = ON Then ON

I think I may have reversed the on off side of things for the water change outlet but don't understand it enough to make sure for my self.

I aslo have my other float switches: 1 for sump high and 1 for ato empty

This is my attempt at the programs for the new switches:

Sump_High (virtual outlet)
Fallback off
set off
If switch2 = closed then on
If switch2 = open then off
If switch2 = open then text (how do I set it up to text me?)

Is it possible to run 2 switches together? What I mean is have a switch in the display tank and also a switch in the sump. Both would be used to detect a high tank level and both would follow the same actions.

ATO_Pump
Fallback OFF
Set OFF
If Outlet Sump_Low = ON Then ON
If Outlet Sump_High = OFF Then OFF
If Outlet ATO_JUG_MT = OFF then OFF
Defer 001:00 Then ON
Min Time 060:00 Then OFF

ATO_JUG_MT
Fallback OFF
Set OFF
Defer 001.00 THEN ON
If Switch3 closed THEN ON
If Switch3 open THEN OFF
If Switch3 open then text (how do I set it up to text me that its empty?)

[aquamanic]

You didn't post the code for the outlet Water_Change so your first question can't be answered.

As far as getting email notifications, you have to put those statements in your email outlet that's created by default (it's a virtual outlet also). In it, you would add multiple statements for conditions you want to know about, for example:

If Switch3 OPEN Then ON
If Power EB8_3 OFF 000 Then ON

All of your email program statements would end with ...Then ON so that any one of them will turn the email outlet ON. Then the controller takes it from there in terms of getting the rest of the message together and sending it out based on your email settings. You can't customize or alter that message though. The message will start with the particular alarm condition that caused the outlet to go ON along with the status of all your other outlets and probes.

[reefkeeper78]

I added this for a water change to my main pump, skimmer, my circ pumps my ato and the sump low outlets.
It worked fine for everything but the ato. It casued it to over fill the sump. When I erased it out of the ato outlet and sump_low outlets, it worked fine again.

Water_Change (virtual outlet)
If Outlet Water_Change = OFF Then OFF
If Outlet Water_Change = ON Then ON

Also, I don't get a chance to check my e-mail on a regular basis, so is there a way to set it up to text me instead?

[aquamanic]

I'm not sure what you're trying to do with that water change outlet. You're having it check the status of itself.

Yes, you can have both email and a phone text. For the alt email address, use valid syntax for a phone text, something like phone [email protected]. Complete instructions in the User Guide.

[reefkeeper78]

basicly with the water change outlet, I use the virtual outlet to turn off the main pump, skimmer, ato, etc with one button via phone, computer or display unit when I'm doing a water change. I figured this would work so I don't have to turn everytihng off one by one.

[Mpfaff77]

Under water change outlet you need not put if statements you have. Those need to go under outlets you wish to turn off when water change outlet is turned on. I have same setup. My water change is simply set off statement. I keep it on auto. When I manually switch on it turns off return pump and skimmer and ato pump