Reef Angel Forum

I’m having expansion woes! I’m ready to admit that need some serious help!

I’ve been using a dimming expansion for quite a while, but recently I came into a bunch of used equipment that was taken from a working system. However, I have been having a bit of trouble, and I don’t know whether to blame the “new” equipment or something else.

What I’ve just added (in addition to the dimming expansion):
Expansion hub
Relay Expansion
Salinity Expansion
Single Water Level Expansion

After adding the above expansions, I noticed that my lights would occasionally blink or go off, even if the dimming expansion were the only thing connected to the expansion hub. Also the salinity and water level expansions would not give stable readings. I was advised to replace the expansion hub, and that seemed to work well.

However, I still seem to be having issues:
1. The salinity reading is stable now when doing calibration, but it slowly drops over time.
2. This morning I had an ato timeout, and the water level readout currently says 0% when it’s actually at more than 100%.
3. When I connect the relay expansion and plug my LED’s into them (2 Evergrow d120’s), my lights occasionally blink off for a moment and back on. I can hear the relay’s click. When I plug them into a power strip not controlled by the RA then they don’t blink off, though my wife said some channels did occasionally go on/off for extended periods yesterday.

Occasionally over the last year I have had seemingly random low ph readings that trigger a warning, but jump right back to normal again. Could this be caused by stray voltage? I checked for that once and didn’t find any, but maybe I should check again.

I’m not sure what to do to troubleshoot things. I’ve tried plugging everything in one expansion at a time, and they seem to behave about the same regardless of what is/isn’t plugged in.

Ted

Tested for stray voltage earlier today, it's only about 12 volts.

Do the modules work right by themselves connected to the hub?

rimai wrote:Do the modules work right by themselves connected to the hub?

Are you asking if the modules work correctly when connected to the hub one at a time? I did start out this way, but I've now tried so many configurations that I don't remember 100% what I've tried. I guess I need to start over again and write down the results. I do have a whole box of spare RA goodies now, so maybe I will just set up a test station in a separate tank. I have a spare RA head unit, water level module, dimming module, salinity module, relay box, and various other things. Unfortunately I don't have another good expansion hub (I do have one that seems to be no good).

I may have a leak in the water level, will test that later today, so that could account for its behavior.

Also, some light channels are still occasionally going off then coming back on again a few minutes later. For example, yesterday I noticed that one of the blue channels was off for a while, then the next time I looked it was back on again.

I didn't like to have the relay expansion blipping on and off frequently and cycling the lights on and off, so I plugged the lights back into a regular outlet for now till I can get it working.

Ok, I'll do more testing and report the results. If it seems I'm missing something or should check something specifically let me know! Thanks.

I connected Salinity, Water Level, Dimming, and Expansion Hub, and Relay Expansions. Results:

1. Relay Expansion. Problem: Relays briefly power off more than once a minute even with no load (nothing plugged in to it).
With all other expansions disconnected from the expansion hub it still clicks off, but it doesn't when connected directly to the relay box. When I plugged the lights into the relay expansion it was still solid.
2. Salinity Expansion. Problem: Reading slowly drops by about .5 point every hour. When connected straight to the relay box it drops at the same rate as.
3. Water Level Expansion. Still testing.

I wonder if you have problems on the main relay box connector.
Can you swap that relay box with the expansion one?
Also try different usb cables between the relay box and the hub.

Can will try that. Thanks.

Couple of extra tips:

Make sure the cables going in/out of the expansion hub are good and tight and don't move. I had an issue with the one from the relay box to the expansion hub and solved it by securing the cable to the aquarium stand with zip ties so the plugs wouldn't move.

The water level problem could be an air/water leak in the pipe or tubing. Make sure your pipes are glued together well. Seal the area where the tubing goes into the pipe (I used epoxy). Make sure the connection from the tubing to the water level sensor is good and tight.

--Colin

rimai wrote:I wonder if you have problems on the main relay box connector.
Can you swap that relay box with the expansion one?
Also try different usb cables between the relay box and the hub.

I tried this and it didn't help

cosmith71 wrote:Couple of extra tips:

Make sure the cables going in/out of the expansion hub are good and tight and don't move. I had an issue with the one from the relay box to the expansion hub and solved it by securing the cable to the aquarium stand with zip ties so the plugs wouldn't move.

The water level problem could be an air/water leak in the pipe or tubing. Make sure your pipes are glued together well. Seal the area where the tubing goes into the pipe (I used epoxy). Make sure the connection from the tubing to the water level sensor is good and tight.

--Colin

Thank you Collin, I'm planning to check the cables to see if they are causing the issues, though it doesn't seem likely at this point.

I think you're spot on regarding the water level issue. I haven't had any issues recently since I made sure things were properly sealed.

Salinity Module Update:
I had an extra salinity module and probe, and put them in, and the reading no longer drops continuously, but it does go up and down quite a bit (anywhere from 28 to 35).

any update on your salinity probes? i have a similar issue with my salinity probe except min goes up not down. it went from 20.1 to 88.1 in 10 hours. when i test in the calibration solution it stays at 35, then i put it in my tank and i get readings of 20. my hydrometer is telling me its 31. any ideas?? i am at a loss.

I'm afraid it is still very much unresolved. I've charted what happens with 3 different probes on two different modules that I'll post sometime when I get a chance.