LokiInGT Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 Had some fellow reefers over yesterday and we were trying to figure out how moisture made its way into an Apex controller that sits in a place that there is no moisture (just dust). It appears that moisture somehow made it through the inside of the PH probe cable and into the controller. Even this is crazy to imagine, because the controller sits in sealed entertainment center under a TV (and beside a Wii, HTPC and stereo receiver) with the probe running first down and under a wall and then up and over the back of the aquarium to the side of the entertainment center. On top of this I have plastic and rubber rapped around the cables as they go under the wall. There is no sign of water on the outside of this cable or anywhere else but sure enough it is inside the coax plug of the probe. I was able to dry it out and clean it up a little on Saturday, and by today it had moisture in it again. Unfortunately Neptune Systems claims the water damage is my fault and will not fix the controller. Has anyone else here besides the few folks I trade emails with experienced this problem with Apex PH probes ? There is definitely an instance of it occurring on another brand but just curious on the Neptune Systems stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 If the cable / sheath isn't well sealed, you can wick water a long distance. If the controller is below the water line there's pretty much no limit to how far capillary action can carry water. Probably going to be difficult to prove, but it's definitely scientifically possible. What I would have a hard time believing is how it got from the cable inside the controller unless it's hard wired inside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AquaJohn Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 (edited) could the probe have been placed all the way under water ? the top of them are suposed to stay out of the water. Like if it was in the sump and when they do a water change the sump over fills and goes over the top of the probe ? Edited December 20, 2011 by AquaJohn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LokiInGT Posted December 20, 2011 Author Share Posted December 20, 2011 AquaJohn, this probe was listed as fully submersible and it was fully submerged but not very far down (cable run to get to the tank was pretty far). It could be that they should not list the probes as being submersible and I would have mounted it where this could not have happened. Of course now I will never trust submerging one again, hahahaha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LokiInGT Posted December 20, 2011 Author Share Posted December 20, 2011 Jestep, yes I agree, I am going to open the inside of the cable today so that maybe I can share out some further information. The one thing that really makes me scratch my head is that they did an initial repair on the controller for the same problem and sent it back to me with no mention of water damage. I plugged it in for about 4 to 5 hours with it still not working after I received it back and then packaged it back up to send it back again. This time they opened it up and stated it had water damage even though it was mounted in a dry, water safe place with no way water could get to it drip or by cable drip. The cables literally go down and under a wall, through a plastic water seal and then up the wall to the controller.. I am still wondering if I didnt just peave the Neptune Systems guy off and he set this up. They don't state that they have any kind of warranty so I guess I was lucky to get any response at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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