GHL newbie, questions on pH, alarm e-mails and lots more

[JeremyGelber]

Hi,

I've used Aquatronica kit at home for the past 3 years and am pretty familiar with programming it. However for my small office tank I've gone with GHL since it appears to be more solidly built. So I've got the 3eX all set up and it's working inasmuch as it turns the lights on and off (no dimming yet) and keeps the temperature constant.

I want the system to send me e-mails when an alarm happens. That is very easy if the PC is connected to the GHL, but seems harder when the GHL is running stand-alone. Currently all that happens is I get an e-mail saying "alarm" but no details inside. I added things like [SENSOR1] to the text of the e-mail but that didn't work. Any advice or links I can read about this? The AQ stuff sends an alert when the level sensor switches or indeed anything else (leaks, pH, salinity, temp, everything) plus an hourly status update; the GHL doesn't seem to be able to do the same thing.

I calibrated my pH probe using the 7.0 and 9.0 solutions, and it's reading 7.65 currently. However, a Salifert test puts it at more like 8.15, which sounds dramatically more sensible. The tank is well aerated and there is no obvious reason why the pH should be so low. I'm going to try recalibrating with PinPoint 7.0 and 10.0 solutions so the most accurate part will be 8.5 rather than 8.0, but has anyone else had problems with pH measurement? How important is placement of the probe with regards to this?

My conductivity probe is working fine, however I like to look at density in terms of ppt salinity and aim for 35ppt. You can switch the units in the GHL, however the alarm only seems to be based on a deviation using mS. I'd like it to alert me if my ppt is <34 or >36, how do I do that?

I ordered some LEDControl-1 units which should arrive at the end of the week. Do these come with the required cables to plug into the GHL, and do they just go into the L1 ports? I'm trying to control 3 LEDs and I'm wondering if I've been a bit stupid by buying 3 of the LEDControl-1 units rather than the LEDControl-4 unit but I got a bit frightened by having to strip power cables and screw wires into ports. Was that the wrong thing to do?

Lastly, is it possible to do a firmware upgrade over LAN or do I need to physically plug a laptop into the GHL USB connector? Since this is an office setup I've got a bunch of desktop computers and wasn't planning on bringing in a laptop specifically to do this but so far each time I've tried a firmware upgrade it failed. I DID manage to upgrade the PAB powerbar over the LAN though.

Thanks a lot and sorry for all the questions!

Quick updates:

I recalibrated the pH probe using 7.0 and 10.0 solutions, and it's still reading 7.63 after calibration. I used a test strip and it shows 8.1-ish. No idea why this should be so wrong, and theoretically very bad news for my tank inhabitants although everything seems to be thriving.

On the firmware, I attached a laptop via USB and it connects fine. I started the firmware upgrade, it got as far as turning off the powerbar but then crashed out with error 28 (no communication). Everything turned on again just fine, but I'm not hugely confident about doing this again because I've seen some forum posts about dead firmware which would be a real bummer.

[Wirus]

Any advice or links I can read about this?

Yes, dynamic content is similar to User defined Webpages - same tokens can be used.

Lastly, is it possible to do a firmware upgrade over LAN

No, only USB or RS232 is possible (LAN stack is part of the firmware, so update via LAN is not possible)

[Blahenazo]

for the emails try this message (its possible to send out emails as various condition cyclic is possible ) and also on alarms etc...
but you can make it send out whatever you want even with bunch of tokens

it just its has a limitation so you might want use multple message:
for example my info on switch and light send out this

using this email message in the profilux k( its using the label of the socket / illu settable in plc )
<em>$$ALMS$$

verlichting
$$REPS[32][01]$$ $$ILLD[xx]$$ - $$ILLV[xx]$$
$$REPE$$

switches
$$REPS[32][02]$$ $$SWID[xx]$$ - $$SWIS[xx]$$ [$$SWIC[xx]$$]
$$REPE$$</em>

I get
<strong>
no alarm - all OK

verlichting
Simu blauw wit - 0%
Simu orange rood - 0%
- 100%
- 100%
- 100%
l - 100%
verlichting sump - 0%

switches
Heater Temp2 - Off [0.0 A]
Chiller Temp3 (v - Off [0.0 A]
verlichting disp - On [0.1 A]
verlichting disp - On [0.0 A]
verlichting disp - On [0.0 A]
verlichting disp - On [0.3 A]
Heater Sump Temp - Off [0.0 A]
Koeler Temp 3 (v - Off [0.0 A]
ATO zoet - Off [0.0 A]
Sturing Magneet - Off [0.0 A]
Dosering kalkrea - On [0.0 A]
Verlichting Sump - Off [0.0 A]</strong>



are you using a new ph probe / ghl probe ?
for your calibration are you sure you entered the correct calibration fluids values when you started the calibration ?
plz also give use your ADC values
about the placement of the probe , its is not possible that placement of probe would make a 0,5 ph diffence in a normal flow aquarium. but there are GHL probe containers that can be used.

idd voor de salinity it seems the alarm is idd in ms but you should be able too convert your PPT difference to ms by a conversion table it will be close enough and your alarm will work.

nobody stops you to too connect a power plug / or outher plug to your lec control and use a plug to your fixture then its still easily detachable and etc...


Forget updating Firmware over LAN it doesn't work for the P3 ex and it will never work. it only works for some parts. my advice for firmware updates is clear and allways the same
but the GHL serial cable , buy a 'known' working serial to USB convertor and use that for firmware updates.
Another benefit of the serial via usb way is also that is WILL ALWAYS recover from the failed P3 firmware upgrade. &lt;==== nice to know you don't need to send in your P3 if a FW is fucked.


configuration and day to day manage works perfectly over lan / wifi ( via wifi bridge ) don't but the wifi adaptor , you NEED to use the ethernet port that is on your P3 to take full potential of your P3

[JeremyGelber]

Thank you SO SO SO much for the replies, that's really helpful.

The pH probe ADC values are 435 and 101 calibrated off 7 and 10 respectively. Do those sound right?

I took a sample of tank water home with me and put my Aquatronica probe into it, the pH did measure lower than I expected but still 7.93. I can't figure why the pH would be this low since the tank is well aerated and not a lot of stock. I would guess that keeping the water in a container for a couple of hours hasn't helped. But whatever, the GHL is now reading 7.46 so it's going DOWN rather than up!

[Wirus]

Maybe there was a difference in temperature of the reference solutins during callibration. You can give a temp or use the one from temp probe. I personally use very small test tubes with only 1-2 ccm of calibration liquid and put the tube into the tank to get same temperature as the water.