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Controller locks up when using ATO - Printable Version

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Controller locks up when using ATO - lumpylipton - 05-18-2018

Hi Rob, (I posted this in the DIY section yesterday, it should've been posted here, you can delete the other post)

I'm running into an odd issue.  When I don't use ATO, my controller seems to work fine.  However, when I'm using ATO, the controller always goes into a "locked up" mode after ATO runs.  The following happens:
1) The clock stops (it then just displays the same day day/time and never changes)
2) The "2 plugs" icon on the top far right of the screen turns red
3) Anything else on the screen that normally updates (like temperature, humidity, etc.) locks and doesn't change
4) The screen is still responsive, I can manuallly feed, go into menus, etc. etc.  The controller generally follows it's schedules (ie lights change their cycle throughout the day even though the display will  show whatever phase was on when it locked)
5) Heater control seems to fail, as in it will not turn off the heaters (or on) when the temperature hits the target.  This is the most concerning, I've woke up to a tank that's too warm or too cold depending on the state of the heaters when it locked up.  I've now disconnected the heaters from the controller to avoid this.

The controller seems to lock as soon as the ATO runs.  I have to power cycle it to reset, then it runs fine until the next ATO run, where it locks again.

I actually was able to replicate this in 4.10 and 4.20.  It does it every single time ATO runs.  My ATO is 2 float switches.

Any ideas as to what's going on?
Thanks,
Warren


RE: Controller locks up when using ATO - Rob F - 05-19-2018

Hi Warren, sorry for taking so long to reply, I'm away right now. That does seem a little odd, how long did it work without this happening? At this moment I'm not sure what to think, how much current does the pump draw? Someone just had a similar issue where the display was locking up and it turned out to be lack of power, maybe in your situation as the power supply is aging less power is being put out and when the pump comes on it causes this to happen. Do you have a larger 12v DC power supply to try? I think I sent you a 3.2amp power supply but typically a lot of these don't really put out what's claimed and I have had 2 go bad in the past.