Apex fusion, anyone know of a way to be notified if the memory fails and erases your notification program?

[A_Blind_Reefer]

So the memory failed on my apex which stopped all data logging and somehow erased ALL my advanced programming, including alarm notifications. All modules and sensors, etc. are still programmed (as far as name) and operational, the dos units and wavs are all running as normal so they must have their own memory. Feed modes are dead. The unit is still on and connected to fusion but fusion thinks all is well as the notifications are blank. Fusion has the heartbeat for when you’ve lost connection but nothing for a memory failure that disables your system and erases your notification settings. I think but am not certain as the programming is gone now, that everything that did have a fallback off statement locked off and fallback on locked on, even though everything is still talking to each other. I posted in the Neptune forum and emailed Neptune but haven’t heard anything on how to prevent this in the future. Off the top of my head I could plug some sort of smart plug power monitor into a energy bar outlet with a set on, fallback off statement and hopefully get a text from the smart plug. Ideas? I know this was a rare problem and probably won’t happen again but it’s a weakness I did not expect to come across. As all the alarm programming erased itself no alarms, even local at the display, triggered. Luckily I just randomly checked fusion and noticed that my dos water change volume was zero which triggered me to investigate. Going through the logs, they were blank for two days which meant my heaters and chiller which had a fallback off statement were locked off that entire time. Luckily it was caught in time. Neptune has set out a replacement that I should get in a couple days. Their customer service has always been phenomenal in my experience.

 

[blaxsun]

Other than a convoluted (still valid?) way to back up the configuration, I don't believe so. Neptune really needs to add a dongle feature so you can backup the configuration remotely or to a USB stick through AquaBUS.

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

Other than a convoluted (still valid?) way to back up the configuration, I don't believe so. Neptune really needs to add a dongle feature so you can backup the configuration remotely or to a USB stick through AquaBUS.

I agree, upgrading/reprogramming can be a pita. Especially if you have a robust system. It took me three solid days to upgrade from my classic to a a2 head unit a couple months back as my vision is worthless now. Neptune customer service is awesome in that they have offered to help me remotely when the replacement arrives. The disappearing alarm notification programming is very concerning to me as it could have been disastrous. You assume that the heartbeat is the lifeline if there’s a problem but if the head is still connected to fusion then there’s no problem even if there is. There should be a way to generate an alarm notification if the email alarm programming goes blank.

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

after googling a bit I found a YouTube on replacing the memory. It sounds like it's just an off the shelf 8gb sd card that craps out for whatever reason and can easily be replaced. If that is truly the fix, it would make more sense to have swapped out the memory myself vs a warranty replacement unit but they probably don't want us opening it up. Although I found similar posts about missing data, graphs, and logs, I have not heard of anyone else having all the advanced programming disappear and not get any notifications. I guess I'm just lucky.

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

Well my thought of a smart plug won’t work that easily. After digging in as deep as I can it appears that the outlets locked in whatever state they were in when the memory failed and not their fallback state. Hopefully Neptune comes out with a fix on their end.

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

Got the warranty replacement apex up and running so my system is back on autopilot. I’m still trying to figure out how to be alerted if this ever happens again, which I hope is never. I’ve been looking into a smart plug between an energy bar outlet and filter roller. The apex cuts the filter roller every feed cycle so if I could set up a smart plug to notify me if power has been either on or off continuously for twenty four hours I’d at least be alerted of a problem. My filter roller is not mission critical so if the smart plug fails it’s no problem. It’s hard for me to research these things with my vision. I’d prefer to stay away from cloud dependence if possible. I have an internet independent smart home controller that handles things locally and can run local protocol like z-wave and Wi-Fi which I would prefer over some random unknown amazon internet device on my network.

 

[C4ctus99]

Got the warranty replacement apex up and running so my system is back on autopilot. I’m still trying to figure out how to be alerted if this ever happens again, which I hope is never. I’ve been looking into a smart plug between an energy bar outlet and filter roller. The apex cuts the filter roller every feed cycle so if I could set up a smart plug to notify me if power has been either on or off continuously for twenty four hours I’d at least be alerted of a problem. My filter roller is not mission critical so if the smart plug fails it’s no problem. It’s hard for me to research these things with my vision. I’d prefer to stay away from cloud dependence if possible. I have an internet independent smart home controller that handles things locally and can run local protocol like z-wave and Wi-Fi which I would prefer over some random unknown amazon internet device on my network.

I don’t have a controller, so ould you try hooking up one of the outputs on it to a simple alarm? Choose a normally open contact or normally closed and wire up a simple LED notification light or an audible alarm. That way, if it defaults to factory settings you’ll be able to see (or hear) it.

i.e. NO contact with red light programmed to stay closed. If light goes out then your contact has opened and the programming may have defaulted to factory.
Or, NC contact with red light or audible programmed to stay open. If the unit defaults to factory NC, it completes the circuit and either you’ll have an audible alarm or a LED turn on telling you there’s an issue.

If the controller doesn’t have extra outputs then this wouldn’t work…

 

[ConsummatePro]

So the memory failed on my apex which stopped all data logging and somehow erased ALL my advanced programming, including alarm notifications. All modules and sensors, etc. are still programmed (as far as name) and operational, the dos units and wavs are all running as normal so they must have their own memory. Feed modes are dead. The unit is still on and connected to fusion but fusion thinks all is well as the notifications are blank. Fusion has the heartbeat for when you’ve lost connection but nothing for a memory failure that disables your system and erases your notification settings. I think but am not certain as the programming is gone now, that everything that did have a fallback off statement locked off and fallback on locked on, even though everything is still talking to each other. I posted in the Neptune forum and emailed Neptune but haven’t heard anything on how to prevent this in the future. Off the top of my head I could plug some sort of smart plug power monitor into a energy bar outlet with a set on, fallback off statement and hopefully get a text from the smart plug. Ideas? I know this was a rare problem and probably won’t happen again but it’s a weakness I did not expect to come across. As all the alarm programming erased itself no alarms, even local at the display, triggered. Luckily I just randomly checked fusion and noticed that my dos water change volume was zero which triggered me to investigate. Going through the logs, they were blank for two days which meant my heaters and chiller which had a fallback off statement were locked off that entire time. Luckily it was caught in time. Neptune has set out a replacement that I should get in a couple days. Their customer service has always been phenomenal in my experience.

I’m not sure if it’s too late for you or your system but I made a new posting outlining how I managed to resurrect my failing SD card onto a new card and saved all the programming and configuration. Mind you, my system has only just stopped showing graphs when I did this but you might want to try the restoration I outlined.

Apex no graphs: my SD card fix with preservation of programming

This week my Apex graphs started showing up blank on Fusion. Here’s my solution to at fixed the issue and saved my extensive programming in case it helps others. As usual YMMV and do at your own risk. I knew of the SD card issue but mine is under warranty still. Neptune checked in and...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

I’m not sure if it’s too late for you or your system but I made a new posting outlining how I managed to resurrect my failing SD card onto a new card and saved all the programming and configuration. Mind you, my system has only just stopped showing graphs when I did this but you might want to try the restoration I outlined.

Apex no graphs: my SD card fix with preservation of programming

This week my Apex graphs started showing up blank on Fusion. Here’s my solution to at fixed the issue and saved my extensive programming in case it helps others. As usual YMMV and do at your own risk. I knew of the SD card issue but mine is under warranty still. Neptune checked in and...

www.reef2reef.com

Thank you for this. I have already gone through the warranty exchange and have painstakingly reprogrammed the replacement apex. Like you, my system is pretty robust with a lot of modules and virtual outlets. I not only lost the graphs, but all the programming as well. Lesson learned, ALWAYS keep an updated summary report saved somewhere where you’ll actually remember where it is and what it’s named!