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Apex controller board in the making!!!!


LOWRY_PT

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My Daddy and me....  We are making the board after the awesome model on youtube that has gray interior and orange bottom and black extrerior with a few modifications.

I have a 30 wide by 16 deep by 37 inch tall cabinet we are making and insetting the back by 8 inches ( Basically~ making an "I" shape to allow for me to mount my cabling on the back side ( still away from the sump etc.  

it will snuggle right under the lip of my stand facing outward to cover the ugly side of the stand.  I will be mounting 2 alarm lights on the side though that will be programmed. ~yellow non audible for warnings like low ato ~low alk ~ low ph ~ low temp etc,  and red audible for OMG the tank is falling apart. LOL..

 

i have a Break out box I got on etsy that has feed mode button  maintenance mode and a third I will program for lighting for photography. etc. and a KILL switch for anything drastic that I will program to kill every single thing. (incase of fire etc.). Im super excited.  I got the lunar module. ( love that moon). and the WXM module for my pumps.  Ordering the pm2 to allow for another breakoutbox for the floats and door switches etc.

 

I hope this works as good as it can be.  so far so good. dad drilled on set of holes an 1/8 of an inch lower than the other.  I tol him. "no biggie. it adds character".   who like that perfectly level crap anyways. LOL.  its coming along great though!!!!

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11 hours ago, MrsBugmaster said:

This will be nice when it is finished. I made a controller cabinet instead of a board. It is  so much nicer and safer, having all the cords out from underneath the stand an away from the water. Looking forward to see your progress  

This will be a cabinet yes. Recessed in 8 inches to allow me to store the liquids in back  and then tidy the cables. I’m super excited. Can I see a shot of yours? 

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Center console is laid out and drilled and painted grey. I think it will be awesome and I future proofed it my drilling out future modules expected. And my second DOS. The base is painted orange and I have trim. I am adding the led and will feed them off the 24v inlet on the eb832. I also have 2 alarms like I mentioned and I read someone takes it another step by firing off the led red or orange too. And I plan to add the led strips already to the back to change back ground I will add this strip to the underside and if it is red I’ll see it immediately and know something is wrong. . 

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2 hours ago, LOWRY_PT said:

This will be a cabinet yes. Recessed in 8 inches to allow me to store the liquids in back  and then tidy the cables. I’m super excited. Can I see a shot of yours? 

Sure here is mine. Bought a kitchen cabinet, put wheels under it, took the back off and put a board inside and mounted controllers on front and cords on back side. Put a magnet on back so I can remove if needed. 
 

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2 hours ago, LOWRY_PT said:

Center console is laid out and drilled and painted grey. I think it will be awesome and I future proofed it my drilling out future modules expected. And my second DOS. The base is painted orange and I have trim. I am adding the led and will feed them off the 24v inlet on the eb832. I also have 2 alarms like I mentioned and I read someone takes it another step by firing off the led red or orange too. And I plan to add the led strips already to the back to change back ground I will add this strip to the underside and if it is red I’ll see it immediately and know something is wrong. . 

We need pictures!

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yours looks awesome!!!!  magnets?  can you explain and yes Ill post a few..

 

so far I have the top and bottom cut and the bottom painted. along with the back panel ( drilled and the pass throughs cut.  This setup is basically an adaptation of reeferGil. I have wheels I will try if it works. or slides/.  ~. the plan is 2 EB832 acros the top, the head and then the etsy IO box I have below the left eb832 and then the modules below the right one.  bottom corner on th left will be 2 DOS and across the bottom is cut out for MP10 controller heaters and inkbird.  very hopeful this will look as good as I hope. LOL>..

 

apex board not painted.jpg

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phew....  what a job...got the cabinet together and only needed to make one small trim.  I do plan to have a different top and use marine spar on it and on the bottom on the BACK inside. ( plan to house the liquids there);  I made a few shelves for the back ( with holes for cords) and some little side shelves for power bricks.  

 

Needs touched up with painting. and then trim and staining for the outside of it.  stain will Match the stand. the trim does too. ~~then leds.  

 

The front is 6.5" recessed.~ and the back is about 9 inches recessed.

insdei of apex.jpg

back of apex controller.jpg

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AWESOME. I was wondering what I was gonna do for the back. was thinking cloth or velcro. I LIKE ... no LOVE this idea.  gonna steal youre awesomeness.....  THANK YOU!!!

I did decide the TOP will be a slate or tile top..

 

I will add a back but think I will leave the "way bottom open where I will keep the additives.  I dunno.  I guess i dont need to leave it open if the magnets pop off.  

 

will these work???

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BZ1B3NR/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

there are 8 of them and they  are not 12 buck each?  Im fine paying 12 each if i need those too???

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Those are all metal and will rust is they get wet. I know the ones I posted are expensive but they are sealed in a plastic. You know the saying...you get what you pay for. And considering what everything else in this hobby cost I think they are cheap in that respect. 

I have a marble tile top on mine too, it just wanted on yet in those photos.

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I have a lot of tile in my house so went through the crawl space and found what I wanted. A 12x12 piece fit perfectly. I still need to put the trim piece around the tile to finish it off. 
 

You may want to check with some of the stone places and see if they have any remnants and get it cut to your specifications. A granite, marble, or even quarts would look nice. 
 

 

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Got the painting done. WOW. what a PAIN~~~.  the top will be a solid piece and trimmed with some LED's hiding in it.~~ and marine spar applied. and applied to the bottom too.

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still have to trim the top bottom and sides.  apply the LED;  apply the orange hole covers. Apply the 6 shelves in the back to hold onto the power bricks etc.  and then marine spar and apply the apex stuff.  SO excited!!

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its really coming along.~~~~getting closer.  HOLY SCHMOLY...  now to let the marine spar on top dry and then add a second coat. and apply the goodies to the front. and the LED's.  SO hopeful it will all work out 

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getting started.  even got some Orange covers for the cords and will be labelling them for ease on reverse side.  the back side will be a challenge for cable management for certain.  

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I used these flat plugs on my energy bar. Makes everything fit nicer and looks sharper. You might want to look into these.

I was short 2 plugs and had to order more so in my photo you can see two of the plugs are still the regular ones. 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01IBICKIC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

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I saw those. I went looking after I saw your design —- boy —I like yours.


But —I chose to do the holes above so the flat plugs would not work well with the reverse of the cord. I do like your layout though. And they were only 1 foot long. I wanted 2 foot for more room. Since I was inset 8 inches. 

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