Page 1 of 1

Overheat triggered improperly several times...

Posted: Wed May 10, 2017 5:35 am
by MisterTang
In the last couple of days, my RA has thrown an "overheat" flag. The first time it happened was curious, because I was fairly certain that my tank hadn't managed to get up to 82.5 degrees when the heater is set at 78-79 and that's controlled by both the RA and the heater thermostat and my tank is in the basement where the temp doesn't fluctuate too much - unfortunately, because it happened at some point in the night, my tank was 71.9 degrees in the morning. Fortunately I'm just cycling it right now and working out these kinks so it's not a catastrophe.

However, the second and third times it happened made me quite certain something else is in play. The portal indicates the temp has never gotten above 79.5, let alone 82.5.

So what could be causing this? In the interim, I've disabled the overheat temp shutoff ports and the overheatTemp in my code, because there isn't any apparent overheating actually occurring.

You can see the major dip here where it went from between 78-79. The next slightly smaller dip is when the overheat triggered again and I was monitoring it that time (I set a rule on the RA Portal to email me when it dipped to 76.5). The third time it triggered I caught it fairly quick and that's when I compiled out the overheat detection entirely. My RA Portal code has not triggered to e-mail me for overheat temp, nor does it show that it ever reached overheat temp.
Image

Code relevant to heater/overheat (in its current state with things commented out, but didn't change values used)

Code: Select all

void setup()
{
    // Ports turned off when Overheat temperature exceeded
   // ReefAngel.OverheatShutoffPorts = Port3Bit;
    // Use T1 probe as temperature and overheat functions
    ReefAngel.TempProbe = T1_PROBE;
  //  ReefAngel.OverheatProbe = T1_PROBE;
    // Set the Overheat temperature setting
   // InternalMemory.OverheatTemp_write( 825 );
}

void loop()
{
    //Heater on/off temp
    ReefAngel.StandardHeater( Port3,780,790 );
}
Any suggestions appreciated. I'd prefer to be able to have the overheat protection in there for summertime.

Re: Overheat triggered improperly several times...

Posted: Wed May 10, 2017 11:09 am
by rimai
Are you using a very long extension?

Re: Overheat triggered improperly several times...

Posted: Fri May 12, 2017 3:06 pm
by MisterTang
Not using an extension. This is the one that came with it when I first purchased in late 2014.

I additionally set up some portal alerts while troubleshooting this issue and got this portal e-mail today:
Forum ID: MisterTang
Current Value: 185
Temperature 1 >= 79.8
HIGH TEMP
Alerts if the temp is high

So either my tank was brought to near-boiling in the space of a few minutes and then back down to 79 degrees, or something isn't right :lol:

Maybe I'll just try one of the new sensors I bought from you that arrived today?

Re: Overheat triggered improperly several times...

Posted: Sat May 13, 2017 6:08 am
by binder
sometimes there is a false reading from the sensors. it happens and then returns to normal right after that. I have code in the libraries to detect the random spikes and not report them. actually, if the temperature changes more than 10 degrees (i think, have to double check) in 1 second, that reading is ignored. you have the ability to change that value. so I'm not sure why it's happening for you unless that code was removed or it's being bypassed.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

Re: Overheat triggered improperly several times...

Posted: Sat May 13, 2017 10:22 am
by MisterTang
binder wrote:sometimes there is a false reading from the sensors. it happens and then returns to normal right after that. I have code in the libraries to detect the random spikes and not report them. actually, if the temperature changes more than 10 degrees (i think, have to double check) in 1 second, that reading is ignored. you have the ability to change that value. so I'm not sure why it's happening for you unless that code was removed or it's being bypassed.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

I haven't messed with the library code. I know I had talked about it, but you made a good point for not doing so.

I have played with the temp sensor and it is definitely bad. It was oscillating from 185-0-185 over and over. I now have two so I have a little more peace of mind.

Re: Overheat triggered improperly several times...

Posted: Sat May 13, 2017 10:26 am
by binder
ok. good to know. yeah a faulty temp sensor could cause the problem no matter how much fail safes you put in the code.

I just meant that it was possible that a section of code could not have been activated for whatever reason or an update (not by you) could have removed some code. that's all.


Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk