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Re: unit randomly resetting

Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2012 3:40 pm
by mcgyvr
estanoche wrote:so, new testing results... with my old VGA cable removed and a junk box cable installed the resetting stopped - but the cables I found around the house don't seem to be high enough quality to have all 15 wires connected (as my relay box doesnt seem to be responding on all the relays)....

next step - source a 15 wire VGA cable... found this one that looks promising... http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/AIM ... bYQ6X7U%3d
Like I was saying above.. Find one with the ferrite bead on it (the cylindrical looking bump/box on the cable before the plugs. I've got a clamp on bead ($0.50) on order to clamp around the stock cable to do some testing. I really think that will solve the problems and something like that should be implemented into the PCB (cheap SMT ferrites). (I'm gonna PM Roberto about it)

Re: unit randomly resetting

Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2012 4:10 pm
by estanoche
yeah - well my RA cable does have it, and I will be sure that future cables have it to. In my case, the ferrite that is on the cables that shipped with my RA apparently arent good enough :)

Re: unit randomly resetting

Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 10:45 am
by mcgyvr
estanoche wrote:yeah - well my RA cable does have it, and I will be sure that future cables have it to. In my case, the ferrite that is on the cables that shipped with my RA apparently arent good enough :)
Interesting.. Mine does not have one on it.
I just got a new RA main board and its still having reset issues (4 times last night),etc... I'm gonna do a little troubleshooting this weekend. Hopefully we can get this sorted out.

Re: unit randomly resetting

Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2012 5:48 am
by Sebyte
For many years I was a Radio Ham, and I used Ferrite Toroids on leads to stop electrical or radio frequency feedback into local TV sets.

IMHO if you loop a lead through a Toroid a couple of turns it is more efficient than the fettite beads you find on SVGA leads.

You can get ferrite Toroids from electronic surplus stores or from one place online that I know http://www.surplussales.com/inductors/F ... oro-3.html

Re: unit randomly resetting

Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2012 9:57 am
by estanoche
Sebyte wrote:For many years I was a Radio Ham, and I used Ferrite Toroids on leads to stop electrical or radio frequency feedback into local TV sets.

IMHO if you loop a lead through a Toroid a couple of turns it is more efficient than the fettite beads you find on SVGA leads.

You can get ferrite Toroids from electronic surplus stores or from one place online that I know http://www.surplussales.com/inductors/F ... oro-3.html

I was thinking about testing introducing interference since my system is stable on the new VGA cable... tried it with an RC car radio, but nothing - not really sure if that radio would be powerful enough to create the interference.

Wouldnt that be something if all of this is because some neighbor of mine has a HAM radio hobby! ugh... unlikely, but still lol

Can you think of anything else I could use that would introduce interference - other than a HAM or CB?

Re: unit randomly resetting

Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2012 10:58 am
by Sebyte
Apart from RF getting into the cabling, which is unlikely unless there is a transmitter within 200 metres. Arcing from dirty switches or relay contacts is normally the cause of induced spikes.

However, you can get noise from a computer and also from cell phones. Just place a cell by a loudspeaker and you will hear it send a transmission to tell the nearest tower it is still online every minute or so.

Microwave cookers have also been a source for interference, as have fluorescent lighting. Even MH ballasts can give out radiated noise that can effect micro processors.

If you have only recently started to have this problem, think about what has changed locally, new appliances, other electrical items not functioning correctly. If you live in a condo mains born interference can come from adjacent apartments through the wiring cables. This is less likely in a house.

Intermittent faults are always a pain in the butt to trace. Good luck!

Re: unit randomly resetting

Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2012 4:41 pm
by estanoche
Thanks! For reference, this problem has been going on for probably 6 months or more and it started after I messed with my unit one day updating programming, etc.... I'm hoping the replacement cable I ordered will have all the wires in them so I can use all my relays, BUT currently the system is up, running, and 100% in operation (sans relays #6 & 7 on box # 1 which apparently don't have wires for them) with my junk drawer VGA cable.

My replacement cable will be here Saturday according to UPS :D So we will see!!

I'm 99% sure I have a damaged VGA cable between my relay unit to box #1 - from my experience I would recommend everyone else that has this problem look at their cables. My old installation (I have since remedied it) had the cable leaving my RA head unit, and then making a 90 degree bend to go over to the relay units... the bend would get moved, etc every time I needed to reprogram the unit cuz I would pick it up, bend the cables around, etc.

Re: unit randomly resetting

Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2012 4:58 am
by treetopflyn
Has anyone found anything that works? I have never been able to get to the unit before it resets to see what the screen looks like but I know that everything is switched off because the whole tank goes silent ,except for the overflow, for about 3-7 seconds. For now I have unplugged my main pump and skimmer pump from the relay box and have them plugged into a regular outlet.

I have moved stuff around, unplugged the jumpers and it's still doing it. :cry:

Re: unit randomly resetting

Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2012 2:51 pm
by treetopflyn
Picked up a 6' one of these today at a Tiger Direct store for $10. I'll report back it it works or not

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... CatId=4466

Re: unit randomly resetting

Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2012 3:47 pm
by mcgyvr
I put snap on ferrites on the temp/ato/serial cables (1 wrap around the core each) and its still resetting.
I thought it might be something with the wavemaker ports because it seemed last night to relate to when the wavemaker was switching on but now I'm not so sure as now its been turning off the daylight port/light only now during a reset as far as I can tell. (What happens is the backlight just turns on, the red led flashes and the daylight goes off for about 2 seconds then right back on..I guess thats a reset) I don't notice any other ports changing and the actinic light stays on for sure the whole time)

Is it possible to write some code to log (or just display on the main screen) why its resetting? Like is it the watchdog reset or brown out detector reset? (I don't write code really well let alone reading mcu reset flags so I have no idea)

And can anyone check my code to make sure there isn't a problem there causing all this.. I just changed a few things from the preloaded code.

Code: Select all

#include <ReefAngel_Features.h>
#include <Globals.h>
#include <RA_Wifi.h>
#include <Wire.h>
#include <OneWire.h>
#include <Time.h>
#include <DS1307RTC.h>
#include <InternalEEPROM.h>
#include <RA_NokiaLCD.h>
#include <RA_ATO.h>
#include <RA_Joystick.h>
#include <LED.h>
#include <RA_TempSensor.h>
#include <Relay.h>
#include <RA_PWM.h>
#include <Timer.h>
#include <Memory.h>
#include <ReefAngel.h>

void setup()
{
  ReefAngel.Init(); // Initialize Controller
  ReefAngel.AddStandardMenu();
  ReefAngel.AddDateTimeMenu();  
  ReefAngel.FeedingModePorts = Port5Bit | Port6Bit; // Turn off Ports 5 and 6 when Feeding Mode is activated
  ReefAngel.WaterChangePorts = Port1Bit | Port5Bit | Port6Bit | Port7Bit | Port8Bit; // Turn off Ports 1, 5, 6, 7 and 8 when Water Change Mode is activated
  ReefAngel.OverheatShutoffPorts = Port3Bit | Port4Bit | Port7Bit; // Turn off Ports 3, 4 and 7 when overheat occurs
  ReefAngel.LightsOnPorts = Port3Bit | Port4Bit; // Turn on/off Ports 3 and 4 when Light On/Off menu option is selected
  ReefAngel.OverheatProbe = T1_PROBE; // Use Temperature probe 1 to check for overheat
  ReefAngel.Relay.On(Port8); // Always on
}
void loop()
{
  ReefAngel.LCD.DrawLargeText(COLOR_STEELBLUE,COLOR_WHITE,28,121,"My Reef"); // Display Reef Angel banner
  //ReefAngel.StandardATO(Port1); // Standard ATO
  ReefAngel.SingleATO( true,Port1,2000,0 ); //Single float switch
  //ReefAngel.MoonLights(Port2); // Moonlights or Refugium
  ReefAngel.StandardLights(Port3,30); // Actinic Lights
  ReefAngel.StandardLights(Port4,0); // Daylight Lights
  ReefAngel.StandardLights(Port2,17,30,12,30);  //Setup Algae Turf Scrubber light to turn on at 6:30PM and off at 12:30PM
  ReefAngel.Wavemaker1(Port5); // Wavemaker 1
  ReefAngel.Wavemaker2(Port6); // Wavemaker 2
  ReefAngel.Relay.Set(Port6,!ReefAngel.Relay.Status(Port5));
  ReefAngel.StandardHeater(Port7); // Heater
  ReefAngel.PWM.StandardDaylight(); // Dimming for Daylight Channel
  ReefAngel.PWM.StandardActinic(30); // Dimming for Actinic Channel
  ReefAngel.ShowInterface(); // Display everything on the LCD screen
}

Re: unit randomly resetting

Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2012 4:02 pm
by treetopflyn
Well that didn't take long. The new cable with ferrites didn't help it's still resetting. arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Re: unit randomly resetting

Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2012 4:15 pm
by rimai
I think it is inductive spike from your wm pumps.
Did you try putting them in always on or disconnecting them?
It is definitely a watchdog reset.

Re: unit randomly resetting

Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2012 4:34 pm
by mcgyvr
rimai wrote:I think it is inductive spike from your wm pumps.
Did you try putting them in always on or disconnecting them?
It is definitely a watchdog reset.
My wavemaker pumps have been unplugged since last night because I thought that was it too and just sitting here for the last 30 minutes it has reset 2 times.. Wavemaker timer is still set for 15 minutes so the relays are still going when they should but no pumps are plugged in..

Re: unit randomly resetting

Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2012 11:25 pm
by treetopflyn
rimai wrote:I think it is inductive spike from your wm pumps.
It's not that mine does it at night when my WM pumps are shut off.

Re: unit randomly resetting

Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2012 3:36 pm
by estanoche
Update from my side of the world - received the new VGA cables from mouser, and they work perfectly, (ordered from here: http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/AIM ... bYQ6X7U%3d) must have the right # of wires. They do not have ferrite loads on them, so I will see if interference is still an issue. But for now, all relays are working, no resets, RA is back to 100% working.

What I've seen through this thread and my testing is that I had two problems.... #1 was interference, which I solved by removing my ballasts from immediate proximity to my RA cabling. Once I reorganized my cabinet the unit stopped going to the wierd date/time when resetting, BUT it was still resetting...

reorganized cabinet...
Image

that leads me to problem #2 - I had a bad wire.. I suspected this because the issue didnt solve itself when I reorganized the cabinet, and the reset that was seeing then is the same as if you just plain unplugged the VGA cable from your RA angel. Try it yourself - leave the RA running, unplug your cable. It should reset just like you see it doing now, which to me indicates a short in the wire.

you can see a damaged shield on one of the wires here
Image


So - ask yourself - is it resetting and giving you a random nonsense date/time, or just resetting.. and then trouble shoot from there.. These ballasts we use are nasty sometimes!! :lol:

Re: unit randomly resetting

Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2012 3:59 pm
by Sebyte
Glad you tracked it down at last :D

Re: unit randomly resetting

Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 9:59 am
by mcgyvr
well finally got time to #1 reread this post (DOH) and #2 play around with the RA..
I pulled the SCL/SDA jumpers and the resetting has stopped completely and my time is running perfectly (was running too fast).. I gave it a week just to test after pulling the jumpers and have no problems at all now..
Much happier.. :)