Get Started | Advanced Leak Detection

Advanced Leak Detection

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Advanced Leak Detection/Setup Via Fusion

In this Get Started we’ll take a look the Advanced Leak detector. The ALD has four front ports to accept four Leak Detector Probes. Plug one end of the included AquaBus cable into either of the AquaBus ports on the ALD and the other end into an available AquaBus port anywhere on your existing Apex system. It makes no difference which AquaBus port is used and you do not need to power down the system when connecting AquaBus accessories as the system is plug-and-play.

Solid Surface and Low Profile Leak Detection

The Advanced Leak Detector has 2 types of leak detectors available for use. First, is the Solid Surface Leak Detection Probe. It is designed to be placed on solid surfaces. This probe is perfect for inside the bottom of your aquarium cabinet. And, we add extra weight to this probe so that it stays firmly against any surface you set it on.

The second type of detector available is the Low Profile Leak Detection Probe The probe is low-profile so it slips easily under carpet; hiding it away, but giving you the peace of mind of leak detection.

How to find and prepare your ALD switches

When you first connect your ALD you will have four new tiles on your Apex Fusion Dashboard that will have unique names like SWX. Since the Advanced Leak Detector module only has four ports to connect each leak sensor, you will only receive four new SWX switches that are either already added to your dashboard.

You might have to open the ‘Lock box’ on the top right of the Apex Fusion dashboard to pull them out.

They will be labeled as ‘SWX_y’. The ‘y’ will be replaced with the input number (1-4)

Configuring your ALD switches

Now that we have our switches placed on the Dashboard it’s time to connect the Leak Sensors to the Advanced leak Detector. You will notice on the Advanced Leak Detector module above each port there is a label. The labels read as:

These labels will help you identify which ‘SWX’ switch on the Dashboard is connected to the port that corresponds to it as well as the Leak Sensor you plugged in.

The leak sensors work by switching between to conditions. The leak sensor is either OPEN or CLOSED.

OPEN = DRY
CLOSED = WET

(OPTIONAL) Test them out by using a wet paper towel and pressing it onto the bottom of the leak sensor. You should notice the ‘SWX’ switch on the Dashboard change from OPEN to CLOSED (will take up to a minute).

Email, Text, and Sound Alerts

Your ALD module leak sensors need to be tied to an alarm outlet in order to function as alerts. We have already configured you alert email address and phone number in your “System Get Started Guide.” Please refer to that guide if you have not set up your alerts.

Below you will see ‘??’ to remind you to ensure you’re typing in your switches names correctly and exactly as they show listed on the Dashboard.

First, we will program our ‘Base_Email’ outlet.

1. Click on the ‘Outputs’ button on your Apex Fusion Dashboard or open the ‘Base_EMail’ outlet

2. Add this to the programming window below.

If Swx??_1 CLOSED Then ON
If Swx??_2 CLOSED Then ON
If Swx??_3 CLOSED Then ON
If Swx??_4 CLOSED Then ON

*You may not need to put all four lines into the alarm. If you only have 1 sensor and have it plugged into ‘S1’ than you only need one line not all four.

Second, we will program our ‘Base_Alarm’ outlet.

1. Click on the ‘Outputs’ button on your Apex Fusion Dashboard or open the ‘Base_Alarm’ outlet

2. Add this to the programming window below.

If Swx??_1 CLOSED Then ON
If Swx??_2 CLOSED Then ON
If Swx??_3 CLOSED Then ON
If Swx??_4 CLOSED Then ON

*You may not need to put all four lines into the alarm. If you only have 1 sensor and have it plugged into ‘S1’ than you only need one line not all four.

Programming Energy Bar w/ ALD

The leak detectors can be programmed to work with anything! Let’s look at an example for turning off an Energy Bar outlet when the Advanced Leak Detector is alerted of a leak.

1. Click on the ‘Outputs’ button on your Apex Fusion Dashboard.

2. Decide and click on any of the eight outlets from your Energy Bar you would like to have turn OFF when it sees a leak sensor become active.

3. After clicking on the outlet you decided to go with you will be in the outlet’s configuration setup. Switch the ‘CONTROL TYPE’ to Advanced. You will see the programming window below open for you to add new programming. Add the lines below to it.

If Swx??_1 CLOSED Then OFF
If Swx??_2 CLOSED Then OFF
If Swx??_3 CLOSED Then OFF
If Swx??_4 CLOSED Then OFF

Notice in this example we have changed the ending result to ‘OFF’ instead of ‘ON’. This is because we want this Energy Bar outlet to respond to leaks by turning ‘OFF’.

4. So for a Skimmer that you might want on all the time except when water hits the floor you would program:

Fallback ON
Set ON
If Swx??_1 CLOSED Then OFF
If Swx??_2 CLOSED Then OFF
If Swx??_3 CLOSED Then OFF
If Swx??_4 CLOSED Then OFF

*Ensure that you are spelling the leak sensor switch names exactly as they appear on your Apex Fusion dashboard.

Finalizing your Advanced Leak Detector

This will conclude the walk through for your Advanced Leak Detector. Feel free to test it with a moist paper towel and make sure you’re getting Emails and alerts. As I mentioned before, CLOSED means the leak detector has encountered some moisture and now has a CLOSED circuit.

Testing the ALD probes is easy. Once you’ve added code to your selected outlets (see above) you can test the response of the ALD probes by touching a damp paper towel or even a wet finger a cross the metal probe sensors. You will see how sensitive the ALD probes and you can confirm your program changes are working properly.

Thank you for taking a moment to go through the Advanced Leak Detection guide.