DerrickH Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Ive recently installed and apex for controlling everything. However, Im second guessing my installation choice. Under my stand on the back wall there is a 3/4" x 6" x 48" plywood runner mounted on the back wall supports. I currently have the E8, controller, and WXM module all mounted to that. Im thinking that was a bad idea and need to remount it on the outside of the stand. I dont really want wires showing though and dont want to drill a bunch of holes in my stand. Where do you guys have yours mounted and if under the tank in stand, have you had any problems with your controller? I get about 2.5g of evap every 4 days or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 My power bar and modules are on the right side outside the stand. I was afraid to put It inside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mFrame Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 I have a hole in the end of my stand as well and have the controller and dc8s on a table to the side of the tank. I have one of these covering the hole (you can pick them up for about $5 at Office Max/Depot) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Bio)³ Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 I have everything mounted to the outside of my stand. I read somewhere in the manual that they do not recommend installing side of the stand where humidity and evaporation can get to the unit or any parts of the apex. maybe I didnt read that and my head just put it in there but I did not want to risk that type of cash to simple water failure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AquaJohn Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 Mine are all mounted in the garage a foot or so above the sump with the headunit velcroed to the door of my canopy lid. but I also have holes drilled thru the wall into the garage so most of my wires cant be seen when I have my glass doors closed. Makes a good place to hide all my audio video stuff for my entertainment system too. You also want to make sure to have drip loops on all the cords so water can't travel down them and nuke your apex. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offroadodge Posted April 1, 2012 Share Posted April 1, 2012 if you look at my build thread i made a cabinet inside my stand on one end to house all the electronics away from water and heat. (Jeremys 200G eorobrace build) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerrickH Posted April 2, 2012 Author Share Posted April 2, 2012 Im gonna move it to the outside of the stand tomorrow. Too late to mess with it now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Entropy Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 I have a RK2 and it has been in my stand since I got it (5-6 years ago). The display was mounted through the front of my last tank, but now it is inside just left of the front door. I was going to mount it outside, but I decided I don't look at it much execept when I am cleaning the skimmer in the morning which I have to open the door to do anyway. I wouldn't worry about humidity as much as spashing/salt creep. Just keep it away from the sump and you should be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerrickH Posted April 2, 2012 Author Share Posted April 2, 2012 Well its been acting up. Hell it sends me txt msg for no reason. "If PH < 7.6 Then ON".....PH was 7.99 and it txt me the statement! Also it looses net connection sometimes and its on its own lan cable straight to the router. The router log shows the mac addy connected but I cant connect. I cant login with http://apex.... I have to manually type the IP 192.168....245:port and then I can log in. Sometimes that wont even work and I have to reboot the dang thing and then the apex addy works fine. It has the latest firmware and Ive updated all the modules except the WWD for my vortech. status software="4.12_2A12" hardware="1.0" version.bmp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AquaJohn Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 the probe may be getting old or could just spike sometimes and if you have a voltage change it can cause the probe to read wrong too. and all it takes is a 1 sec spike for it to send the email. I had a stray voltage in my light fixture that was causing the apex to "shut down" to keep from frying it would come right back on but to get net access back I had to unplug the thing from the wall to get a hard reset. Using the reset on the head unit would not work. I would try unpluging it for 30 sec aand see if that helps . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 I have mine installed on the upper shelf of my BC29. Granted, I don't have a sump... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerrickH Posted April 2, 2012 Author Share Posted April 2, 2012 Well I get a ton of evap so this is bad. Im going to move it outside the stand. Also, my chiller is under there as well so Im sure thats causing problems. Just dont want a bunch of "items" outside the stand..... grr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mitch Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 you should relocate your chiller, unless you have the "exhaust" pumped out from stand. no sense in raising the ambient temp inside the stand just for the water in the sump to repickup the heat. btw, i have all of my electronics (apex controller, 2 x eb8, 2 x vortech controllers, router, etc - except battery backup) under my stand - no probs after 2+ yrs (knock on wood!). the wisest choice is to not put electronics in a moist environment (esp a salty one), but my chosen tank location doesn't allow for this. just my $0.02. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerrickH Posted April 2, 2012 Author Share Posted April 2, 2012 (edited) Think I will just move the chiller first and see what happens. It does exhaust to an open back stand but then hits the wall about 4" behind it and ends up back in the sump area. My evap is crazy and this is most likely the cause. I didnt think I would need a chiller with LED but I had it already, so plumbed it incase the AC went out in the house and in TX thats paramount. The chiller comes on once every few hours for about 15 minutes. I do have the temp parameters set pretty tight in the apex to reduce the run time on the chiller. comes on at 78.5 and shuts off at 79. Think I will put it on the left side of my stand and put a cardboard barrier between it and the stand up to the wall so any hot air exhausted from the chiller goes away from the stand instead. At least I used the clear nylon tubing instead of pvc, that would be a pain to redo. Off to lowes I go... Should I raise the temps on the apex and see if it stabilizes at 79-80? I had good luck with my old tank running between 77-78 so thats why Ive set them so tight. Be nice to just remove the chiller from the stand and have it as a backup only in the event the AC craps out. Edited April 2, 2012 by DerrickH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 If you want to know where mine is, it's under the tank in the cabinet with the sump, 2 dc8's mounted on each side of the top reservoir. Been that way for a couple of years. I course I clean everything once a year. I think this is the only hobby where you can play with electricity and water! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 Hey did you update the firmware manually when you got it? I had to hardware mine to my computer and update the firmware to the apex itself to fix some issues I was having. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 Ih ave my controller hooked up to wireless game router. I just disconnect the cable and hook it up to the laptop. But I have an AC3 not an Apex. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerrickH Posted April 4, 2012 Author Share Posted April 4, 2012 I have the latest firmware installed already, this apex was just built by neptune, they cant keep any on their shelves. I went to their site, and the download is the version I have installed already. I did update the other modules. I have not updated the WWD though and it looks like a pain in the keester to do so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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