DIY Breakout Box for the Apex

[rbredding]

I took a look at http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1847474">THIS THREAD ON REEF CENTRAL</a> and decided that I'd try my hand at it...

Here are the results (and a couple pictures of the process..

(no need to duplicate the step by step instructions because the post above is an excellent resource)

In the case of my cable (purchased el-cheap-o on Ebay), My pin/color assignments were:

PIN # - Wire Assignment (used as)

Pin 1 - Brown (switch input)
Pin 2 - Red (switch input)
Pin 3 - Orange (switch input)
Pin 4 - Yellow (switch input)
Pin 5 - Green (switch input)
Pin 6 - Blue (switch input)
Pin 7 - Purple (not used)
Pin 8 - Black (ground)


When I wired the tombstones, I used pins 3 & 4 on the jack so that it corresponded to the center two pins on the RJ11 connectors that I had.

obviously, the black ground wire connects all the #3 pins on the jacks to each other and to the ground wire from the cable.

The breakout box works by sensing a closed circuit (or open circuit) along any of the six inputs (and the ground). When the circuit along that line is triggered open/closed... the apex does whatever the assigned action is (start a pump, stop a pump, sound an alarm, turn on a light, turn off a light, etc...)


It's pretty simple. Once you know which pins are associated with which wires on your individual cable (99% of them are like mine or substitute a grey wire for my black wire), you're good to go..

Several other people in the thread linked above have other examples of where they made their own breakout box... (including [IMG]http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/showthread.php?t=51941">Angiegreenwell</a> on this site)

I spent less than $15, but I had the tools and the RJ11 connectors already.. (I also make up my own Cat5 Ethernet/phone/coax cables)
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[mojo]

Good idea on the RJ11 connectors. I made my own breakout "bar" using a terminal strip with a bunch of screw terminals, but the ground ended up being a pain (because all 6 points needed to use the same ground screw).

Where did you get the box with the nice cutouts for the RJ11 sockets?

 

[rbredding]

In order to program the APEX:
Since I connected the breakout box directly to the base unit, my switches are Switch1-Switch6

You can immediately start using them in your programming when you attach the breakout box I just put them in the individual outlet programming like this: (for my top off pump)
Set OFF
Fallback OFF
If Switch1 = CLOSED Then ON

The Apex does not display "switch status" on the status page so in order to view status of the switches, you create a virtual outlet.
You go to the module setup page and add an EB8 (I started mine at address F1). When you do this, it gives you 8 new outlets which can be configured on your outlet configuration page. I named them VO_# for each Virtual Outlet (see picture below - I have them all set to off, I must set them to AUTO in order to view whether the individual switches are ON or OFF)

Edit:

mojo;629262 wrote: Where did you get the box with the nice cutouts for the RJ11 sockets?

I bought it on Ebay.. I think it was around $7 Made by Leviton (I purchased the RJ11 sockets from the same company - they were about $1.50 ea)
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[schwaggs]

Rbredding;629278 wrote: You go to the module setup page and add an EB8 (I started mine at address F1).

Nice writeup! One tip for you is that if this is anywhere near the water, coat both the RJ11 plug and socket contacts with Silicone Grease (available at the auto parts store) to prevent corrosion.

Also, to create virtual outlets add a DC8 (not EB8).

 

[rbredding]

Schwaggs;629534 wrote: Nice writeup! One tip for you is that if this is anywhere near the water, coat both the RJ11 plug and socket contacts with Silicone Grease (available at the auto parts store) to prevent corrosion.

Also, to create virtual outlets add a DC8 (not EB8).

Thanks....


but, why not an EB8 ? (worked on my system)

 

[angiegreenwell]

Wonderful writeup. Initially I found the reef central post confusing. This post does a much better job explaining the wiring, especially for the ground wire. I would also NOT recommend buying a plug and soldering the wire to the plug. I tried and found it impossible. Buying a mini din 8 cable is the way to go. Most stores don't carry them so ebay is really the only way to go.

 

[rbredding]

angiegreenwell;629707 wrote: Wonderful writeup. Initially I found the reef central post confusing. This post does a much better job explaining the wiring, especially for the ground wire. I would also NOT recommend buying a plug and soldering the wire to the plug. I tried and found it impossible. Buying a mini din 8 cable is the way to go. Most stores don't carry them so ebay is really the only way to go.

THANKS! I actually had to re-wire it because it wouldn't work and I couldn't figure out why. I use the wire color/pin assignments that were given to me from the manufacturer (but they were wrong - HAHA!!)

After testing continuity with a multimeter, I determined the correct wire color/pin assignment and re-wired the tombstones..

so...
APPARENTLY, they AREN'T typically the same wire color/ pin assignment as I stated above.. (the information the manufacturer gave me corresponded to every example I could find on the internet - so I ASSUMED it was correct)

Another thing I like about this setup is that it was simple, and I was able to completely rewire the tombstones in about 5 minutes...

 

[angiegreenwell]

I had to do the same thing with the multimeter. What I like about having everything in a line with yours is the easy wiring. Mine was a pain to fix the wiring as once you put the keystones on the next level, you could not change the wiring on the ones below without a lot of effort. It is one of those things that the second one will be a lot quicker to build than the first.

Given how the apex break out box requires you to wire each and every ground to the same terminal of the break out box itself, I think this is a major improvement. Just wire the jack and you are ready to go.

 

[schwaggs]

Rbredding;629540 wrote: but, why not an EB8?

Take a look again... you can't manually add an EB8 to an Apex config, you can only manually add a DC8 (the DC8 is the only one that you manually assign an address to as well)... :unsure:

 

[rbredding]

Schwaggs;629751 wrote: Take a look again... you can't manually add an EB8 to an Apex config, you can only manually add a DC8 (the DC8 is the only one that you manually assign an address to as well)... :unsure:

yes sir.. you're correct.. the DC8 is the module I added...