Near Disaster - Hydros Power Strip

[mescobar]

Last night I was heading to bed when I noticed my nano tank wave maker was still on. It should have turned off with the scheduler set on Hydros. I opened the Hydros app to discover that both the controller and power strip were unresponsive. I reset the power going to the devices in hopes that they would reconnect to the network and be accessible via the app. When the controller rebooted, the temperate read over 83 degrees! The hydros power strip lost connection to the controller and failed with the heater outlet turned ON. Had I not checked the tank, the heater would have boiled everything in the tank to a crisp. I had relied solely on the controller to manage the heater because surely the heater outlet failsafe mode would be OFF and not ON, right?

Surely, Hydros would have sent me a notification if it disconnected from network or temperature exceeded the safe zone, right? After all, I had email notifications enabled, but did not receive such an email until I rebooted the controller and energy bar at 12:29am... Maybe the controller hadn't lost connection to network but only the power strip? If this was the case, the controller should have communicated that it lost connection to power strip to the end user, or emit a loud sound, or something/anything! Maybe its my fault for putting the hydros controller in a drawer where the LED lights wouldn't bother me.

Looking at the temperature graph, the power strip must have disconnected past midnight the night before, reconnect around 10ish where it turned on the heater after falling out of cold safe zone. Then disconnect around 12pm and proceed to heating the tank thereafter until the anomaly was finally caught at 12:30am.

Thankfully, the inhabitants are doing just fine, tank is filled with softies and LPS only. Perhaps I need to trust my Hydros controller less and put an inkbird in-between to prevent this from happening again in the future. Not sure if you can set "if disconnected/un-responsive turn off X-outlets" within the hydros app. Nothing like this has ever happened with my Apex controller setup. There's something to be said about the reliability of having a hardwired ethernet and USB connection between modules. Having the Hydros controller talk to the power outlet exclusively over WiFi is problematic, its a shame theres no ability to connect to the controller physically, without having to buy a separate product. I'm also surprised that the controller/power strip can't communicate over Bluetooth or their own proprietary wireless protocol.

Anyways, thanks for letting me vent about my potential disaster that wasn't. Anyone else have similar issues with hydros power strip?

 

[Jimbo327]

Good save! Heaters are one of top reasons for wiping a tank. I don't know too much about Hydros, but maybe there is a way to set it to always fail OFF even if communication is cut.

 

[Cereal Killer]

The hydros support site often says that the wi-fi power strip is not to used for anything critical. I have been using the Hydros controllers since last July. No problems, except some setup stuff that was the result of me not understanding. From the getgo I saw many complaints about the wifi power strip dropping off, etc. I never used it because of that. Why they still make it available, I don't know.

 

[bakbay]

I use an Inkbird in front of the Apex & Hydros. I don’t trust them to manage things, just monitoring only.

 

[mescobar]

Good save! Heaters are one of top reasons for wiping a tank. I don't know too much about Hydros, but maybe there is a way to set it to always fail OFF even if communication is cut.

I'll have to dig into the app. I see an "if Input/Dependency Unavailable" action to "Turn On/Off" option, maybe this is the desired setting. I'll probably go the safe route and put an inkbird in front like the others suggested.

 

[Jimbo327]

Yes, I always put my Ranco temp controller in front of the APEX power. And I still rock the Eheim Jager glass heater because they also have a temp controller built in. Call me paranoid. LOL. I have triple redundancy for heater.

 

[REPOWER]

Which controller do you have? Having inkbird as primary and hydros as secondary is the way to go. My heater has temp control, plugged in to the inkbird then to a Hydros output.

 

[mescobar]

I'm using the hydros X3 + power strip, inkbird has been ordered, will be my primary control moving forward. I don't trust the cheap-o no-name heater attached temperature knob.

 

[Jimbo327]

I don't trust the heater attached temperature knobs either, so I set that to like 84F. It should never trigger, but if all else fails, you have that knobs as a last chance to save your tank. LOL.

 

[REPOWER]

I'm using the hydros X3 + power strip, inkbird has been ordered, will be my primary control moving forward. I don't trust the cheap-o no-name heater attached temperature knob.

Curious if the firmware is up to date on your X3. I ended up with the Launch and XP8 which has power monitoring and alerting. When I was setting them up initially, I would get an email from Hydros when either device goes offline (powered off or no wifi connection.)

 

[DanK.Reefer]

I run Hydros on 3 tanks. The issue with the WiFi disconnect can be solved by using a separate dedicated 2.4ghz WiFi access point. Hydros actually recommends this on their website in the setup section. I had some Wifi connectivity issues for the first 3 months or so of use until I set this up. After setting up the dedicated router I have not had 1 single Wifi problem that was over a year ago. You can also set up the Hydros to alert you if there is a lost connection to the Wifi strip but this is not a default. You can actually set it up to have an audible alarm for any level of alert and then set up what level of alert you want for each event.

I have to admit that I was pretty frustrated with the lack of a wired ethernet connection at first as well. Now that I have set the system up per the instructions of Hydros I have no issues with connectivity. The dedicated 2.4ghz access point was $20 on Amazon. Coralvue didnot feel the need to make their own because there are already hundreds of models available. This is the single most important piece to having stable connection to the Hydros system. I highly recommend it you will not regret it.

Hydros also explicitly states do not put heaters direct drive dosing pumps, or anything mission critical on WiFi strips. Wifi strips are good for things like lights, cooling fans, skimmer pumps, UV sterilizers. I use 1 to control some chinese black box lights and another to control my ATS and skimmer. I talked with another guy who used one to turn on different accent lights in the living room for different alerts on the system so he could tell if there was an issue if he was just sitting there. As to why they still sell them... they are far more affordable than the 8 outlet power strip that is actually a stand alone controller in it's self. Maybe all you need is an outlet to turn on a cabinet light when you open the door, or turn on a fan if things get a little warm.

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[DanK.Reefer]

Oh I also use inkbirds for my heaters an IM Helios on another tank. I don't trust anything with stand alone heater control other than a heater controller.

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[laverda]

Your heater should be set 1-2 degrees higher than your controller. That way if your controller sticks on the heater will shut off 1-2 degrees higher then with the controller. Don't rely in the temp marking on your heater. Test it and adjust.

 

[JojosReef]

This has me very worried as well. I have two Hydros wifi strips running and want to swap them out for an XP8 whenever I get the funds. I'd rather not have something like the heater hinging on there being an uninterrupted WIFI connection or not--which reminds me I should get the inkbird and the Helio set up...

 

[mescobar]

Your heater should be set 1-2 degrees higher than your controller. That way if your controller sticks on the heater will shut off 1-2 degrees higher then with the controller. Don't rely in the temp marking on your heater. Test it and adjust.

I like the idea of calibrating the heater knob as you described in theory, but in practice it seems trivial to play with knob and error prone to get the temperature exactly 1-2 degrees warmer than controller. The temperature sensor in the heater is likely to degrade over time and be completely off if the heater goes into a failure mode.

Would much rather put that trust in a completely redundant system like an Inkbird that uses PID to regulate the temperature accurately.

 

[Cereal Killer]

This has me very worried as well. I have two Hydros wifi strips running and want to swap them out for an XP8 whenever I get the funds. I'd rather not have something like the heater hinging on there being an uninterrupted WIFI connection or not--which reminds me I should get the inkbird and the Helio set up...

I have the XP8 with my heater controlled by it. No problems with my Eheim heater, which I always have trouble setting. The XP8 also has the temp prob on it to control the heater along with the power port. It turns on at 76.5 and off at 78.0.

 

[DanK.Reefer]

I have the XP8 with my heater controlled by it. No problems with my Eheim heater, which I always have trouble setting. The XP8 also has the temp prob on it to control the heater along with the power port. It turns on at 76.5 and off at 78.0.

XP8 has a temp probe? Is this a new development? I don't have any sense ports on my XP8, just the data bus ports where the collective is connected.

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[Cereal Killer]

XP8 has a temp probe? Is this a new development? I don't have any sense ports on my XP8, just the data bus ports where the collective is connected.

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Sorry I was incorrect. The temp probe is connected to the Launch as is the power cord to the heater. Thanks for catching my error.

 

[DanK.Reefer]

This is why I still use an Inkbird for heater control and the Hydros as a saftey net incase the inkbird fails (not likely). The inkbird is far more reliable than just about any heater control you can find. The only reason they stick on is if both of the temp probes somehow find their way out of the water. I am sure there may have been at least 1 suck on failure at some point but still very rare.

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[drexel]

Ranco, Inkbird or IM Helio, as I would never trust a wifi based power strip for anything critical like a heater, ato or return pump. You're just waiting for disaster to happen at that point. It's all about redundancy in this hobby and being prepared. Heater controllers are not that expensive and are worth ever penny if set up properly. I use IM Helio's (which are connected/controlled by an apex on one and hydros on another) on two of my tanks and a Ranco on my son's tank. A $50 heater will destroy your tank if left unchecked/controlled. I've seen it happen multiple times and I've seen the destruction it causes, so it's not worth it to skimp on a heater controller, especially if you're spending triple that for a tiny frag of some crazy named piece. Not to mention all of the money spent on your fish (and the food you feed them all the time). If spending $90 on a heater controller is out of your budget, then you better be able to check your temp on a daily basis.
Most of the animals we keep can survive cooler temps, but not the other way around.