Controllers behave weirdly without internet

  • Thread starter Thread starter Raiden
  • Start date Start date
  • Tagged users None

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Total: 0, Members: 0, Guests: 0)

R

Raiden

Member
Joined
Mar 28, 2022
Messages
181
Reaction score
14
Location
Orlando, FL
Never really got to see how Hydros behaves when internet is down, but mine has been for a bit and they seem to randomly reset things or something.

Sometimes I hear alarm going off, where it's really only set up for leak detector, or outlets shut down, not sure which, but at least ones controlling return pumps. Things seem mostly run as they should, but every now and again a pump might shut off for 30 seconds or something.

I get that Hydros wouldn't be able to control WiFi devices or me being able to change things without internet, but would've expected them to at least keep running the same, not seeing some ghost reading from sensors to intermittently shut down pumps or whatever is causing that.

This kind of behavior is happening to two collectives, I'm sure third one would be doing the same, but it is much simpler and mostly in the garage.

As an example in past 30 minutes I heard return pumps on WaveEngine pump ports shuts down twice for few seconds, enough to hear some slurping. On another tank, return pump on XP8 outlet shut down for few minutes last night. All of them have some rules to cause this due to sensors or modes, but nothing is happening to cause it aside from no internet.
 
Raiden said:
Never really got to see how Hydros behaves when internet is down, but mine has been for a bit and they seem to randomly reset things or something.

Sometimes I hear alarm going off, where it's really only set up for leak detector, or outlets shut down, not sure which, but at least ones controlling return pumps. Things seem mostly run as they should, but every now and again a pump might shut off for 30 seconds or something.

I get that Hydros wouldn't be able to control WiFi devices or me being able to change things without internet, but would've expected them to at least keep running the same, not seeing some ghost reading from sensors to intermittently shut down pumps or whatever is causing that.

This kind of behavior is happening to two collectives, I'm sure third one would be doing the same, but it is much simpler and mostly in the garage.

As an example in past 30 minutes I heard return pumps on WaveEngine pump ports shuts down twice for few seconds, enough to hear some slurping. On another tank, return pump on XP8 outlet shut down for few minutes last night. All of them have some rules to cause this due to sensors or modes, but nothing is happening to cause it aside from no internet.
Click to expand...
Internet and wifi are two different things. You can loose internet without loosing wifi unless you use a ISP provided router and they have it setup to stop wifi if communication with ISP is lost. The controller will breathe a green yellow color when it is just no internet. If it is breathing red it is no wifi. I have seen mine breathing green and occasionally breathing red when the internet is down. I think this is because the router gets overloaded with all the devices trying to access the missing internet. I have my own router separate from the ISP cable modem so my wifi will continue to work with no internet.
 
I understand how internet connection works.

Issue is when internet is down, Hydros is not behaving correctly. In my case imagine it could connect to router, but internet was not accessible.

I can't really know what it is doing as I can't see its status. But whatever firmware is doing trying to perhaps reach servers or something has a bug that causes some weirdness with sensors or 10v inputs where intermittently it think it needs turn an output off or sound an alarm, etc. This morning while internet was still down return pumps turned off about 5 times for few seconds, alarm went off twice for few seconds. Alarm should only be due to wet leak sensor. Pump off is only d4iven by 0-10v switch. As soon as internet was fixed, all the gremlins left. Same thing was happening two both collections I have that are quite different.
 
Screenshot_20240826_220106.png

This is log from last night. This is 0-10v switch that triggered bunch of times through the night while internet was down. No one was sitting there flipping switches =D

Similar pattern on leak sensor and bunch of others.

Screenshot_20240826_220419.png
 
When my internet was out for 5 days straight there was a 5 day gap in the graphs. I was able to connect via my phone in bluetooth mode since my phone still had internet via mobile. I have internet losses all the time and have not seen the issues you are seeing. I have a collective of 15 controllers. Those graphs are just graphs of input sensors. There are no graphs for outputs.
 
Last edited:
Raiden said:
Those are inputs
Click to expand...
The outputs have logs you can see when they turn on and off using the logs. How are you doing that using relays to convert the output power to a input on a sense port or a 0-10v input?
 
Not sure what you are asking. Stuff like 0-10v and leak sensors are inputs? And later those drive various other effects.
 
And issue is that while internet was out, those inputs had "ghost" reading of being turned on, be it 0-10v switch thinking it's been flipped or leak sensor detecting that it's wet. Causing alarms to go off or output to turn off that are tied to those inputs being on.
 
I was talking about skimmer off and return pump off. How are those inputs generated?
 
Raiden said:
0-10v switches
Click to expand...
So they are switches used to manually turn off those devices using a 0-10v input. Does each have a separate output they control and then that output is used to turn off the proper output using the depends on settings? Just curious how you have it setup.
 
It's different and obviously the underlying issue of those inputs having ghost readings is the problem. But yes most end up in an output that's turned on or off by the input and then maybe another output is dependent on that.
 
I have button boxes on one of my 0-10v inputs in my garage to turn on pumps for dispensing out of the reservoirs, turning on a light over my work bench. There is one button to let the Hydros know that it is ok to use the contents in the mix tank. And there is a switch that when turned on will lock out all the others and also halts my AWC. I ise that one when I go out of town for a few days. I made my own boxes and I have not notices and issue when the internet was out. I will have go check my graphs to see.
 
Yeah it's not really something you notice unless you are near the tank and it's causing loud sounds like alarm or return pump stop causing siphoning sounds.

And while this may seem somewhat cosmetic at first glance (maybe overflows the skimmer if it's not tied to return pump running or water level in the sump type thing), I really would want even that fixed, but perhaps in some setups this could cause actual problems.

Also it may take half an hour or maybe even hours for it to happen once, wasn't something happening constantly. Maybe 2-3 alarm that evening and heard pump being off once. Next morning next to another tank 2 alarms and 3-4 pump offs.
 
Ok I got a screenshot of the button box inputs setup and I did have several internet issues Sunday and it was long enough that I got alerts for it for all the controllers. I turned the bench light on a few times when I was out there working on things. Also I did dispense some DI water Sunday for use in testing. The Button Voltage input is a input I setup so I can monitor the voltage for the input used for the switches. All of these inputs monitor the same 0-10v input but it looks clean to me. The bench light input is setup to stay on for 30 minutes when pressed I believe. That way the light will go off if I forget to turn it off. I usually just turn it on and let it shut it backoff though.


IMG_1723.png
IMG_1724.png
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top