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Unread 01/31/2018, 08:49 PM   #1
reefsahoy
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Ups on apex fusion?

I’ve had power fluctuations causing my apex fusion to lose the address to my eb8. Whenever this happens, I lose control of everything plugged into the apex. I’ve been lucky enough to have caught this the two time it’s happened and was able to correct the problem quickly. Im concerned that it may happen when I’m on vacation or at some time when I’m not available to correct the issue. I’m considering putting a ups backup on my apex fusion. The concern I have is that all my lights and chiller is plugged into the apex and if power goes out will a ups be able to handle that power draw? Any advice from Neptune would be greatly appreciated.


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Unread 01/31/2018, 10:13 PM   #2
kurt_n
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Neptune itself most likely won't reply... this is primarily a user-helping-user forum. If you're specifically looking for input from Neptune, probably want to open a support ticket with them directly.

However... I'll take a stab at unraveling a few things here!

So first off, Fusion is just a cloud-based service that communicates with your Apex base unit (not your EB8) and gives you access to it through the web-based Fusion portal. Other more network savvy folks can correct me, but I don't think Fusion can really "lose" the address of your Apex due to a power glitch. Fusion might not be able to connect to your Apex due to power issues at your house, but that's more of an issue with your internal network and not the Apex.

Even if you can't "see" your Apex through the Fusion service, you haven't lost control of everything. Granted... you can't turn things on or off manually, but the Apex is still controlling your outlets based on your programming. The programming lives in the physical Apex base unit, and not on Fusion. Once your Apex is programmed, you could totally remove internet access to it, and it would still chug along doing its thing.

In addition to that, even if your EB8 became disconnected from your base unit - total communication failure - it would still revert back to the outlet state you gave in your "Fallback" statement. If you're not familiar with 'Fallback', take a look at the Comprehensive User's Guide.

But to answer your original question, you can use the Aux Power port on the Apex Base unit to get power from a UPS and it will only provide power to the base unit and not the EB8. Assuming you also have a UPS on your router and any network devices between the internet and your Apex, you would be able to "see" your Apex through Fusion when your power is out. Check out the User's Guide for more info on different setup scenarios using a UPS.


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Unread 02/01/2018, 04:08 AM   #3
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This will help explain what Kurt was saying.

https://forum.neptunesystems.com/sho...n-at-MACNA2013


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Unread 02/01/2018, 05:46 AM   #4
reefsahoy
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kurt_n View Post
Neptune itself most likely won't reply... this is primarily a user-helping-user forum. If you're specifically looking for input from Neptune, probably want to open a support ticket with them directly.

However... I'll take a stab at unraveling a few things here!

So first off, Fusion is just a cloud-based service that communicates with your Apex base unit (not your EB8) and gives you access to it through the web-based Fusion portal. Other more network savvy folks can correct me, but I don't think Fusion can really "lose" the address of your Apex due to a power glitch. Fusion might not be able to connect to your Apex due to power issues at your house, but that's more of an issue with your internal network and not the Apex.

Even if you can't "see" your Apex through the Fusion service, you haven't lost control of everything. Granted... you can't turn things on or off manually, but the Apex is still controlling your outlets based on your programming. The programming lives in the physical Apex base unit, and not on Fusion. Once your Apex is programmed, you could totally remove internet access to it, and it would still chug along doing its thing.

In addition to that, even if your EB8 became disconnected from your base unit - total communication failure - it would still revert back to the outlet state you gave in your "Fallback" statement. If you're not familiar with 'Fallback', take a look at the Comprehensive User's Guide.

But to answer your original question, you can use the Aux Power port on the Apex Base unit to get power from a UPS and it will only provide power to the base unit and not the EB8. Assuming you also have a UPS on your router and any network devices between the internet and your Apex, you would be able to "see" your Apex through Fusion when your power is out. Check out the User's Guide for more info on different setup scenarios using a UPS.
Thx for your reply, but the fusion apex loses control of everything. The reason I know is my return pump goes off, my lights are all off, and nothing is “running” as programmed”. Every outlet was off and not following the fall back state. The apex wouldn’t even turn on and I couldn’t even communicate to it via WiFi until I actually opened a tix for apex and they “dialed” in and told me the apex “lost” the eb8 address and they had to “locate” the new address and in a hour or so I get control again under a different address. I then have to reconfigure and reprogram every single outlet to the new address. After the first time it happened, I screen save my current config and program so I could reload my program without thinking. Sure enough I came home one day and it happened again. I asked someone at home if the lights “flickered” and it was confirmed as I thought. So to reconfirm, my house lost power, apex lost eb8 address as well as the network (wireless was working thru the house after I confirmed with laptop), apex couldn’t turn on ( I unplugged/plugged unit and both “N” on eb8 and head unit lights up and then shuts off), eventually when Neptune “dialed in” told me address lost, I had to reconfigure and reprogram. Luckily I was available because if it was a weekend or longer away, I would have lost everything.



Last edited by reefsahoy; 02/01/2018 at 06:19 AM.
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Unread 02/01/2018, 11:46 AM   #5
alemone
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Apex seems to be sensitive to power surges and outages. I am having an issue with all my devices losing their original aquabus addresses and acquiring new ones after a power surge/fluctuation. That arguably was caused by starting/restarting the Cor 20 pump.

A UPS is probably a good idea. Don't plug the Cor into the Apex outlets.


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Unread 02/01/2018, 10:23 PM   #6
kurt_n
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Quote:
Originally Posted by reefsahoy View Post
Thx for your reply, but the fusion apex loses control of everything. The reason I know is my return pump goes off, my lights are all off, and nothing is “running” as programmed”. Every outlet was off and not following the fall back state. The apex wouldn’t even turn on and I couldn’t even communicate to it via WiFi until I actually opened a tix for apex and they “dialed” in and told me the apex “lost” the eb8 address and they had to “locate” the new address and in a hour or so I get control again under a different address. I then have to reconfigure and reprogram every single outlet to the new address. After the first time it happened, I screen save my current config and program so I could reload my program without thinking. Sure enough I came home one day and it happened again. I asked someone at home if the lights “flickered” and it was confirmed as I thought. So to reconfirm, my house lost power, apex lost eb8 address as well as the network (wireless was working thru the house after I confirmed with laptop), apex couldn’t turn on ( I unplugged/plugged unit and both “N” on eb8 and head unit lights up and then shuts off), eventually when Neptune “dialed in” told me address lost, I had to reconfigure and reprogram. Luckily I was available because if it was a weekend or longer away, I would have lost everything.
I always suggest treating the Apex just like you would a computer and putting it on a UPS so it doesn't inadvertently get fried by power glitches. But what you're describing does not seem normal at all, and I'd open a support ticket with Neptune... especially if this unit is still under warranty. Something doesn't sound right, especially since it is not following FALLBACK commands.

Yes, a UPS will help eliminate the voltage fluctuations but it sure seems like some is functionally wrong with the unit.

[Edit: Is this the new 2016 Apex, or the older Apex Classic?]



Last edited by kurt_n; 02/02/2018 at 08:38 AM.
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