APEX - Strange Power Issue

[shaywood]

Hello everyone, while sitting here watching TV next to my tank, several APEX controlled items shutoff.  After a moment, or so, they all started again. I have an APEX 2016 head unit and two 832's.  It's as though the head unit rebooted, but only some of the controlled items turned off/on.  For example, the lights shut down, but my return pump kept going.  It appears that equipment on both 832's were impacted.  After staring back up, everything seems to be running fine. The indicator lights on the 832's remained orange the entire time.  Any ideas?  Is there a log somewhere that I can review?

[SuncrestReef]

When an Apex reboots, (whether intentionally or due to a failure), each output on your EnergyBars will behave according to their Fallback setting.  If Fallback is set to ON, then that device will continue to have power until the Apex completes rebooting.  If the output is set to Fallback OFF, then that device will shut down and only power back up when the Apex is back online if the programming calls for it to be on.  The best practice is to configure each output to behave appropriately during an outage.  For example, if your heater has its own built-in thermostat, then setting that output to Fallback ON makes sense since the heater will turn itself on and off as needed based on temperature, but if your heater does not have any thermostat, then you'd want to set it to Fallback OFF so it doesn't accidentally overheat your tank when the Apex is offline.

For full details on the Fallback setting, see this article:

https://forum.neptunesystems.com/showthread.php?8510-All-About-FALLBACK

[shaywood]

Excellent response! I'll check the fallback states for each item.  Now I have to figure out why it rebooted.  Is there a log anywhere?

[SuncrestReef]

11 minutes ago, shaywood said:

Excellent response! I'll check the fallback states for each item.  Now I have to figure out why it rebooted.  Is there a log anywhere?

In Fusion, you can go to the Diagnostics screen which may show some relevant info, but there's really no way to know why an Apex reboots unexpectedly.

[Totroc3]

I have had the same issue. I also have the 2016 units and found that replacing the old aquabus cables resolves it. 

[shaywood]

Thanks for the reply.  I doubled checked the cables to ensure everything is plugged in correctly.  The random reboot only occurred one time (so far).  Will monitor. Thanks

[obrien.david.j]

3 hours ago, Totroc3 said:

I have had the same issue. I also have the 2016 units and found that replacing the old aquabus cables resolves it. 

Is the idea that cables may corrode in time, and not make reliable connections?

[SuncrestReef]

4 hours ago, obrien.david.j said:

Is the idea that cables may corrode in time, and not make reliable connections?

Yes, corrosion can cause random issues like reboots, missing modules, abnormal operations, etc.  But don't just check the cables.  Corrosion inside any AquaBus port (even without any cable plugged in) can cause problems since all the ports are on a single bus.

[Totroc3]

8 hours ago, obrien.david.j said:

Is the idea that cables may corrode in time, and not make reliable connections?

That and the tension from the original cables hanging with slight tension pulling at them from their own weight over the years. 

[shaywood]

My system did another random reboot today. It's been 9 days since the 1st one. I had checked the cable connections between the two EB832's and head unit. Next, think I'll replace the two cables. Is there a particular cable that provides the power to the head unit? If that doesn't work, I might replace something else, but what?  The head unit?

[Totroc3]

On mine it was the cable that went from the head unit to the EB832. I went on Amazon and bought a male to male USB 2.0 cable for $3 and have never had the issue again. I have since replaced that same cable on my other 2 apex units.