Thoughts on AC Programming

[jackthestrat]

it's an AC J, friend


btw thanks for all your help here, you're my favorite by far today

 

[expatgoalie]

I would change your temp range to something much smaller than a 2 degree swing. More like 0.2. Also, I would suggest having your fuge / moon lights turn on and off opposite your metal halide. This will make the system a bit more stable (in regards to pH), as it takes about an hour for photosynthesis of your fuge to get going, and vice versa for your tank.

A01- LT1- PC Actinics
A02- LT2- Metal Halides and cooling fans
A03- LT3- Moon lights and fuge light
A04- HE1- Heaters
A05- PM1- Powerheads Left
A06- PM2- Powerheads Right
A07- CO2- CO2 solenoid
A08- ALM- red LED alarm light


If Time > 09:30 Then LT1 ON
If Time > 21:30 Then LT1 OFF
If Time > 10:30 Then LT2 ON
If Time > 20:30 Then LT2 OFF
If Temp > 83.0 Then LT2 OFF
MAX Change 015 M Then LT2 OFF (once off, stay off for 15 minutes)
If Time > 10:30 Then LT3 OFF
If Time > 20:30 Then LT3 ON
If Temp < 79.0 Then HE1 ON
If Temp > 79.4 Then HE1 OFF
Max Change 010M Then HE1 OFF (once off, stay off for 10 minutes)
If Time > 00:00 Then CO2 ON
If pH < 7.9 Then CO2 OFF
Max Change 010M Then CO2 OFF (once off, stay off for 10 minutes)
If Time > 00:00 then PM1 ON
If FeedA 000 Then PM1 OFF
If Time > 00:00 then PM2 ON
If FeedA 000 Then PM2 OFF
If Time > 00:00 Then ALM OFF
If pH > 8.50 Then ALM ON
If pH < 7.9 Then ALM ON
If Temp < 77.0 Then ALM ON
If Temp > 84.0 Then ALM ON

Ok this is better, no??? I am playing with the AC simulator and for some reason, I have it entered as above but I can't get LT3 to trigger on/off.


Edit: I figured it out- you cannot code so the ON window is straddling two days at 00:00. All I had to do was reverse the on/off source and it works out.

 

[Reef55]

A01- LT1- PC Actinics
A02- LT2- Metal Halides and cooling fans
A03- LT3- Moon lights and fuge light
A04- HE1- Heaters
A05- PM1- Powerheads Left
A06- PM2- Powerheads Right
A07- CO2- CO2 solenoid
A08- ALM- red LED alarm light


If Time > 09:30 Then LT1 ON
If Time > 21:30 Then LT1 OFF
If Time > 10:30 Then LT2 ON
If Time > 20:30 Then LT2 OFF
If Temp > 83.0 Then LT2 OFF
MAX Change 015 M Then LT2 OFF (once off, stay off for 15 minutes)
If Time > 20:30 Then LT3 ON
If Time > 10:30 Then LT3 OFF
If Temp < 79.0 Then HE1 ON
If Temp > 79.4 Then HE1 OFF
Max Change 010M Then HE1 OFF (once off, stay off for 10 minutes)
If Time > 00:00 Then CO2 ON
If pH < 7.9 Then CO2 OFF
Max Change 010M Then CO2 OFF (once off, stay off for 10 minutes)
If Time > 00:00 then PM1 ON
If FeedA 000 Then PM1 OFF
If Time > 00:00 then PM2 ON
If FeedA 000 Then PM2 OFF
If Time > 00:00 Then ALM OFF
If pH > 8.50 Then ALM ON
If pH < 7.9 Then ALM ON
If Temp < 77.0 Then ALM ON
If Temp > 84.0 Then ALM ON

Ok this is better, no??? I am playing with the AC simulator and for some reason, I have it entered as above but I can't get LT3 to trigger on/off.

that looks pretty good... on the timer, set the time to like 02:00, hit reset, and start again. See what happens to timer LT3 then.

As a side note, I'd name your timers like this:

LT1 = ACT
LT2 = MH1
LT3 = FUG

or something like that so you know what each one is inherently.

 

[Reef55]

it's an AC J, friend


btw thanks for all your help here, you're my favorite by far today

AHH... sorry, thought you said AC3 my bad...

anyway, if you use Aquanotes with the serial connection, you can just copy and paste your code directly in.

 

[expatgoalie]

Mark is by far the best guy on the internet... Thanks a lot for your help. You saved me HOURS of work this weekend!!!

 

[Reef55]

Mark is by far the best guy on the internet... Thanks a lot for your help. You saved me HOURS of work this weekend!!!

Anytime! Glad to help

 

[expatgoalie]

Bumping this to the top to explain my recent frustrations-

I programmed my ACjr this weekend, or at least I tried to. I deleted all of the preceeding switch names and wrote out my own. Everything worked great with adding states until I got to line 21. As soon as I entered it, the controller just went blank. the backlight was still on and there was the underline cursor still present, but the test and main run panel was gone... I tried resetting and unplugging all connections to no avail. I called neptune and they said that with the ACjr you need to delete all pre-programmed states if you don't plan on using them before you program your own. They said something along the lines that the max allowable code lines is 42 and once that number is exceeded, the cpu reacts by freezing the unit.

I was quite disappointed as evidenced by my string of profanities after realizing I now owned what equated to a $275.00 paperweight, but Neptune agreed to send me out a serial cable to download a patch for their latest firmware release. Hopefully that fixes things...

I still am completely and totally amazed that the manual says ABSOLUTELY nothing about this critical error in programming. How can you not mention something that important?

 

[jackthestrat]

Bump for an awesome thread (thanks to Mark) that should be stickied.

 

[Casino]

AHH... sorry, thought you said AC3 my bad...

anyway, if you use Aquanotes with the serial connection, you can just copy and paste your code directly in.

You can also just hit enter on where you want to add a new command and add commands. Using aquanotes to program is so much easier.

 

[jackthestrat]

Was wondering if someone could take a look at this sketch of a program and let me know what you think...


A1 - LT1 - Dawn Lights (T5 x2)
A2 - LT2 - Dusk Lights (T5 x4)
A3 - LT3 - Fuge Light
A4 - HE1 - Heater #1
A5 - HE2 - Heater #2
A6 - FAN - Fan
A7 - ALM - Alarm
A8 - None


If Time > 12:00 Then LT1 ON
If Time > 21:00 Then LT1 OFF
If Time > 13:00 Then LT2 ON
If Time > 22:00 Then LT2 OFF
If Time > 22:00 Then LT3 ON
If Time > 11:00 Then LT3 OFF
If Temp > 83.0 Then LT1 OFF
If Temp > 83.0 Then LT2 OFF
Max Change 015 M Then LT1 OFF (once off, stay off for 15 minutes)
Max Change 015 M Then LT2 OFF (once off, stay off for 15 minutes)
If Temp < 79.8 Then HE1 ON
If Temp > 80.0 Then HE1 OFF
Max Change 010M Then HE1 OFF (once off, stay off for 10 minutes)
If Temp < 79.7 Then HE2 ON
If Temp > 79.9 Then HE2 OFF
Max Change 010M Then HE2 OFF (once off, stay off for 10 minutes)
If Temp > 80.0 Then FAN ON
If Temp < 79.8 Then FAN OFF
Max Change 010M Then HE2 OFF (once off, stay off for 10 minutes)
If pH > 8.50 Then ALM ON
If pH < 7.9 Then ALM ON
If Temp < 78.0 Then ALM ON
If Temp > 84.0 Then ALM ON