NateDawg Posted March 2, 2020 Share Posted March 2, 2020 (edited) Greetings everyone, I wanted to share a prototype device that uses the Apex DC24 2 pin ports to control more outlets without having to buy another energy bar. This one has two outlets that can either be connected together to have two outlets controlled by one 24V port or two outlets that are controlled separately by two 24V ports. The outlet box also has a display that will show the voltage, current, wattage, and kilowatt hours being used from the devices. These units are great for if you need just one or two more outlets or want to control one or two outlets in a different area from where the main Apex controller is. I finally was able to build and test this one out and will be doing tests on it to see how well it does through a calcium reactor setup. Outlet A will control the CO2 regulator solenoid and outlet B will control the pump that supplies the the calcium reactor. The photo above shows the unit turned on with both outlets turned off. The photo above shows the unit with outlet A on and outlet B off. And this photo shows both a solenoid and a pump plugged in and running. The photo above shows the connectors that this unit plugs into. I've still got a few things to work out with the circuitry inside and the design of the unit but so far, it seems to be working really well. If anyone is interested, I will probably start selling these units for basically just parts cost. And if anyone has any questions or input on the device, feel free to post them or message me them as I always enjoy feedback. Thank for reading!! Edited March 2, 2020 by NateDawg 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuncrestReef Posted March 2, 2020 Share Posted March 2, 2020 Please clarify, are these outlets controlled by the 4-pin 1Link connector, or the 2-pin 24v accessory connector? Since 1Link carries both AquaBus communications and 24v power, plugging any non-Apex module into a 1Link could confuse the Apex communications bus. I'm hoping you simply meant the 2-pin connector. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NateDawg Posted March 2, 2020 Author Share Posted March 2, 2020 So this unit runs on the two pin 24V DC terminals that are on the energy bar and other Apex modules but can also be run using the DC voltage portion of the four pin 1Link ports. I could be wrong but I think the default "LINKA_2_9" tile controls both the 1link and the 24v dc output. But maybe the default name is just confusing me and the 1link is actually a separate tile than the default "LINKA_2_9" tile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuncrestReef Posted March 2, 2020 Share Posted March 2, 2020 The "LINKA_x_x" outputs are the 2-pin 24V DC accessory ports. 1Link ports don't actually have any output name, and you wouldn't be able to tap into the 24V pins of the 1Link because there's no actual way to turn 1Link On or Off. Only after you plug an Apex module into a 1Link does the module dictate what outputs are presented. For example, if you plug in a WAV, there will be one new output presented to you. A DOS will produce two new outputs, one for each pump head. I just wanted to make that clarification. But your design is pretty cool, and I bet you could sell a ton of them on the Facebook Neptune group. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NateDawg Posted March 2, 2020 Author Share Posted March 2, 2020 4 minutes ago, SuncrestReef said: The "LINKA_x_x" outputs are the 2-pin 24V DC accessory ports. 1Link ports don't actually have any output name, and you wouldn't be able to tap into the 24V pins of the 1Link because there's no actual way to turn 1Link On or Off. Only after you plug an Apex module into a 1Link does the module dictate what outputs are presented. For example, if you plug in a WAV, there will be one new output presented to you. A DOS will produce two new outputs, one for each pump head. I just wanted to make that clarification. But your design is pretty cool, and I bet you could sell a ton of them on the Facebook Neptune group. Aw, thanks for that info, I tried researching about the outputs but turned up with almost no information whatsoever as to whether or not the 1link and 24V pins were connected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdxmonkeyboy Posted March 2, 2020 Share Posted March 2, 2020 Looks super cool. Would be really nice to have additional apex plugs Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NateDawg Posted March 2, 2020 Author Share Posted March 2, 2020 (edited) 12 minutes ago, pdxmonkeyboy said: Looks super cool. Would be really nice to have additional apex plugs Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk Agreed, makes it nice to not have to spend alot of money on another energy bar. Edited March 2, 2020 by NateDawg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuncrestReef Posted March 2, 2020 Share Posted March 2, 2020 Would a single outlet work if there’s only one 24v port available? For example, I have a FMM module in my garage for my mixing station, and it has one 24v port that’s open. (Edit: Never mind, I just re-read your post about a single port.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NateDawg Posted March 2, 2020 Author Share Posted March 2, 2020 23 minutes ago, SuncrestReef said: Would a single outlet work if there’s only one 24v port available? For example, I have a FMM module in my garage for my mixing station, and it has one 24v port that’s open. (Edit: Never mind, I just re-read your post about a single port.) Yep, it will work with a single port. I'm deciding if I want to design a single outlet style of this design just for things like mixing stations that are generally in a different area than the main Apex unit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R-3 Posted March 2, 2020 Share Posted March 2, 2020 (edited) Nice work Nate!! I'll have to swing by one of these days and check this thing out in action Edited March 2, 2020 by R-3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorseReef Posted March 2, 2020 Share Posted March 2, 2020 I would be interested in having one of these guys. let me know when it could be available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NateDawg Posted March 2, 2020 Author Share Posted March 2, 2020 37 minutes ago, R-3 said: Nice work Nate!! I'll have to swing by one of these days and check this thing out in action 30 minutes ago, MorseReef said: I would be interested in having one of these guys. let me know when it could be available. For sure! Tomorrow I will be getting about 20 of the circuit boards etched and will be putting an order in for more components so these will hopefully be available soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NateDawg Posted March 4, 2020 Author Share Posted March 4, 2020 Update: got 15 of the circuit boards milled today and am getting some quotes on bulk component orders. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuncrestReef Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 I'll take one when they're available. There's definitely a market for this. I don't know if you follow the Neptune Community Forums or the Neptune Facebook group but people frequently ask how to use a 24v port to control a 120v relay, and the solutions presented are usually pretty ugly (both in complexity and aesthetics) or challenging for non-skilled DIY'ers. You could easily sell these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NateDawg Posted March 4, 2020 Author Share Posted March 4, 2020 31 minutes ago, SuncrestReef said: I'll take one when they're available. There's definitely a market for this. I don't know if you follow the Neptune Community Forums or the Neptune Facebook group but people frequently ask how to use a 24v port to control a 120v relay, and the solutions presented are usually pretty ugly (both in complexity and aesthetics) or challenging for non-skilled DIY'ers. You could easily sell these. For sure! I'll be getting prices and stuff figured out and I will be just selling these for the cost of parts since it's a hobby for me and I enjoy building this kind of thing. And thanks for the links, I didn't know about them till you mentioned them and I will for sure take a look. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuncrestReef Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 4 minutes ago, NateDawg said: For sure! I'll be getting prices and stuff figured out and I will be just selling these for the cost of parts since it's a hobby for me and I enjoy building this kind of thing. And thanks for the links, I didn't know about them till you mentioned them and I will for sure take a look. Yes, the Neptune Community Forum dates back to 2013 and is a wealth of knowledge. That's where I learned most of my Apex skills, and I'm a frequent contributor there. The Facebook group is less useful as there's no easy way to search it for relevant posts, and the members tend to be more novice and frequently hostile (as is common for Facebook). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffreyH Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 I can't even tell you how many outlit splitters I have on my Apex. I should really invest in another power bar at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raptor72 Posted March 5, 2020 Share Posted March 5, 2020 Following along. I just ordered an Eb4 when I really only needed an extra outlet. Great job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdxmonkeyboy Posted March 14, 2020 Share Posted March 14, 2020 Yes, the Neptune Community Forum dates back to 2013 and is a wealth of knowledge. That's where I learned most of my Apex skills, and I'm a frequent contributor there. The Facebook group is less useful as there's no easy way to search it for relevant posts, and the members tend to be more novice and frequently hostile (as is common for Facebook).Facebook not helpfull?? LolSent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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