neptune dc8 or temp controller. Buy or borrow for a couple of weeks

[CoralBeauties]

I am in a small fix.  I upgraded to a controller (aqua jr) that uses the dc8 to control the lights and heater.  One of my light circuit on the dc8 has decided to stay on and not turn off.  I need to send it back for repair but have no way of controlling my heater.  Thought if I could buy or borrow a dc8 or temp controller then I would be able to send it back for service.  I called neptune and was pretty dissapointed that they didnt offer any type of loaners while the customer's unit was being fixed.  What is really a pisser is this dc8 is only 2 weeks old. 
thanks
Jeff

[chromiumlux]

No warranty for replacement? With it being only 2 weeks old seems like they would replace it asap for you.

[cyberwollf]

You can't temporarly run your heaters without the controller?

[Wall_Tank]

Did you try where you bought it from?  or did you buy direct from Neptune.  Only being two weeks old, would think you could get it swapped.   The aquarium industry is pretty odd though.

The DC8's you need to be careful what outlets you plug things into.   Which port is not switching, and how big of a light was plugged into it?


I can help you out,  I have some old X-10 based hardware that should work fine with the ACjr.

[CoralBeauties]

I was pretty put off when neptune told me to send it in and whey would fix it and get it back out to me.  I purchased it from premium aquatics.  I did contact them and they didnt have any loaners but offered to pay the shipping of the dc8 out to neptune.  My heater will only run on a controller of some sort.  I have gotten away from individual heater thermostats they have been too unrealiable for me.  (not too much better off now though)
Jeff

[Wall_Tank]

It is not wise to have a heater without an over-ride.  Use the ACjr to operate the heater, but set the controller on the heater just higher than your desired temp.   Redundancy is critical

For what it is worth, if your heater is on, and you accidentally unplug the control wire between the ACjr and the DC8, the outlet will never switch.  Also, as you have found, any mechanical relay or Solid State Relay can fail.  And they tend to fail on.

[GreatWyte]

Sorry to hear you're having problems with your controller.It's a bummer neptune or premium aquatics doesn't have a loaner for you to use. In all honesty it's pretty much standard operating procedure for warranty repairs tho. Not just for neptune but most items in general. I'm sure you're not happy about the whole thing. But I believe they are good units and hopefully you will have years of trouble free use out of it once they get it back to ya.
I have gotten very good sevice from neptune. I have emailed them several times and gotten promp and helpful responses. So hopefully their repair dept. is speedy as well.
To expand a bit on wall_tanks comment-

For what it is worth, if your heater is on, and you accidentally unplug the control wire between the ACjr and the DC8, the outlet will never switch.  Also, as you have found, any mechanical relay or Solid State Relay can fail.  And they tend to fail on

If the contoller loses power, or the connection cable is unplugged, and the dc8 still has power the outputs stay in the state that they were last switched into. So a heater or chiller would remain on if that is the state they were in when the controller lost power. When I first set mine up I had my controller power plugged into the power strip that my pumps were on. So when I would shut down the power strip to feed or whatever it would keep my chiller or heater on past the set point.

[CoralBeauties]

Yes wall_tank has brought up a very important flaw in the way I am using my heater.  I will be purchasing 2 300 watt heaters and using them in tandum with the thermostats set several degrees above my controller set point for the insurance of overheating.
jeff

[JSLeedy]

If you still want a DC8 I have one you can borrow for a few weeks.  I won't need it from a few months.

[Joel]

I don't have a dc8 but I have a heater controller I can loan you if that will work for ya.

LMK....Joel

[CoralBeauties]

Thanks for all of the offers.  Jsleedy stopped by tonight and brought his dc8 for me to use.  I was bragging to my wife last night how fish people take care of their own.
Thanks Steve for the use of the dc8
Jeff

[JSLeedy]

Don't tell to many people.  I actually don't do anything good for the club and am a real jerk according to someone around here.  I wouldn't wat to ruine my image. .

Thanks for the frags.  I hope they do as well in my tank as they were in yours.  By the way your tank looks great.

[CoralBeauties]

The second call to neptune was totally different.  he was helpfull and actually told me how to fix the dc8.  just smack the unit several times to unstick the contacts that have gotten stuck.  After a few good whacks  it was fixed.  He told me that circuits 4 and 8 are  circuits that will not take as strong of a surge as the other circuits and not to run a high demand load on those 2 circuits.  i wish he would have told me that on my first call,  would have saved alot of hassle.
jeff

[Wall_Tank]

I would only run something like a small powerhead on the contact that stuck.  If it stuck once, it may stick again.  I thought I had explained the outlet thing, but I must have been talking to someone else.

Outlets 1,2,3,5,6,7 are solid state relays, these will handle higher current loads.  Run lights, big motors and big heaters on these.  Outlets 4 and 8 are mechanical relays.  These also have a soft start function.   These outlets work well for using small power heads that you want to cycle on and off.

For all of you Neptune folks.  The Neptune Forum on RC is quite helpfull too.