Mini Tide shut down unexpectedly

[Biggen]

Im sitting here in the living room and I see my tank all of a sudden go dark. Its in the middle of the light cycle so i know something is wrong.  I unplugged the Mini Tide’s PSU and plugged it back in and the light turns back on within about a minute. However, I cant access the light in the Bluefish App now. It says the device is offline and it wants me to do the blinkup procedure in the wifi settings all over again.

 

Did the IoT Imp bite the dust?  Any troubleshooting ideas?

[Thrassian Atoll]

Wifi lost connection sounds like.

[Biggen]

1 minute ago, TILTON said:

Wifi lost connection sounds like.

I thought the same but that shouldn’t cause the light to turn off.

 

I can access the light again but its “flaky”.  Sometimes it will show me the graph and my lighting parameters and then other times it says device is offline.

 

Wifi is stable as a rock. Sitting next to the access point.

[Thrassian Atoll]

2 minutes ago, Biggen said:

I thought the same but that shouldn’t cause the light to turn off.

 

I can access the light again but its “flaky”.  Sometimes it will show me the graph and my lighting parameters and then other times it says device is offline.

 

Wifi is stable as a rock. Sitting next to the access point.

Same thing with mine.  Once it wouldn't connected for like 12 hours.  Kept saying redo blinkup.  Wouldn't log in.  Sometimes the graph works.  

 

Heres a thread I started about it.

 

 

[NanoRox]

So is this a common issue then?  I ask because mine was just shipped to me today so hoping I didn't make a mistake.

[Thrassian Atoll]

3 minutes ago, Duane Clark said:

So is this a common issue then?  I ask because mine was just shipped to me today so hoping I didn't make a mistake.

I think it's pretty common.  It's not a huge issue in my opinion.  It would be nice if there was a turn on button without being connected to wifi.  Dave is actually making me a hybrid right now, so it hasn't steered me away from the lights.

[Biggen]

It seems to be working better now. I can log back into the Bluefish app and see all of my settings.

 

My concern is about the light just shutting off out of nowhere. It shouldn’t do that.  If we are out of town for several days and it does that, that could spell trouble.

[DaveFason]

17 hours ago, Duane Clark said:

So is this a common issue then?  I ask because mine was just shipped to me today so hoping I didn't make a mistake.

Not at all. Literally over a thousand of these out there. This can happen with updates through the APP. 

17 hours ago, TILTON said:

I think it's pretty common.  It's not a huge issue in my opinion.  It would be nice if there was a turn on button without being connected to wifi.  Dave is actually making me a hybrid right now, so it hasn't steered me away from the lights.

Not common but can happen when updates hit with the app or Electric Imp. 

15 hours ago, Biggen said:

It seems to be working better now. I can log back into the Bluefish app and see all of my settings.

 

My concern is about the light just shutting off out of nowhere. It shouldn’t do that.  If we are out of town for several days and it does that, that could spell trouble.

The app or backside can update from time to time. This can cause a 1-30 minute blackout from that I have seen. 

 

I know it is the hardest thing NOT to do but leave it alone for a few. If you start unplugging, starting over or re doing the Blink Up it will only cause more issues because it only will update partially. 

 

Another item is the signal of your WIFI. Depending on how many devices are connected it can play a major factor. It may "say" great signal but when 5-10 devices are using the spot at once janky things can happen. 

[OldManSea]

17 hours ago, Biggen said:

Im sitting here in the living room and I see my tank all of a sudden go dark. Its in the middle of the light cycle so i know something is wrong.  I unplugged the Mini Tide’s PSU and plugged it back in and the light turns back on within about a minute. However, I cant access the light in the Bluefish App now. It says the device is offline and it wants me to do the blinkup procedure in the wifi settings all over again.

 

Did the IoT Imp bite the dust?  Any troubleshooting ideas?

This happens once every few months with mine.  It turns out always that there was a momentary weakness in the wifi signal (I have a logger or otherwise wouldn't have noticed) and the light blinks off when the wifi signal comes back.  I have learned from experience that the way to handle this is to do NOTHING.  Turning off and on causes issues that generally requires reinstallation.  The light will come back on in a few minutes without intervention.  This is not unique to Bluefish.  My AI Hydra's do exactly the same thing at the same time.  Both units are on tanks in the same room.  Like the Bluefish, the way to handle is to do nothing and they come back on in a few minutes.

 

Curiously, if I just turn off WiFi both lights tend to be just fine.  I think it is the momentary flickering in the signal from time to time that causes the units to turn off and then back on.

[DaveFason]

53 minutes ago, OldManSea said:

This happens once every few months with mine.  It turns out always that there was a momentary weakness in the wifi signal (I have a logger or otherwise wouldn't have noticed) and the light blinks off when the wifi signal comes back.  I have learned from experience that the way to handle this is to do NOTHING.  Turning off and on causes issues that generally requires reinstallation.  The light will come back on in a few minutes without intervention.  This is not unique to Bluefish.  My AI Hydra's do exactly the same thing at the same time.  Both units are on tanks in the same room.  Like the Bluefish, the way to handle is to do nothing and they come back on in a few minutes.

 

Curiously, if I just turn off WiFi both lights tend to be just fine.  I think it is the momentary flickering in the signal from time to time that causes the units to turn off and then back on.

Thanks for chiming in too!

 

I initial reaction is to always figure what it is. Interesting that yours is due to WIFI. I live in a house built in the 50's with 1.25" plaster walls. Where my tank is I get terrible signals but never run into anything like yours. I will check to see what it could be for reference. 

 

-Dave

[Thrassian Atoll]

It seems like Bluefish issues are somewhat common according to the forum.  I know you have sold a ton of units and haven't heard much Dave, but these threads always get some people talking about their issues.

 

I would chalk it up as anything else with wifi having issues, but my Bluefish acts up way more than my Apex.

[DaveFason]

54 minutes ago, TILTON said:

It seems like Bluefish issues are somewhat common according to the forum.  I know you have sold a ton of units and haven't heard much Dave, but these threads always get some people talking about their issues.

 

I would chalk it up as anything else with wifi having issues, but my Bluefish acts up way more than my Apex.

The issues that were happening are from ~ year ago (majority of  threads that you will read ). Of course a few things will pop up here and there but the app within the last year has become very stable. However WIFI signals will be something more and more people will talk about soon ( not just with our aquarium equipment ). With SO many people adding Alexa's, routers, phones, tablets, computers and other WIFI devices signals look "good" but really are not. I am planning on adding and extra router and a few extenders to help compensate all of the tech. 

 

A few lingering issues I have found with recent threads...

• Connecting to 5ghz signals - must be 2.4 ghz ( 9/10 times people do this )
• Incorrect passwords
• Office WIFI signals blocking certain devices without approval 
• Accidentally forgetting username/PW and being "blocked" out
• Going into " Extras " to create custom lighting schedules 

Next time your device does this give me a time estimate and then snap a picture of the back of you IMP card ( white SD looking card ). I will look into the backend and see what the issue was. 

 

-Dave

 

 

[Thrassian Atoll]

2 minutes ago, DaveFason said:

The issues that were happening are from ~ year ago (majority of  threads that you will read ). Of course a few things will pop up here and there but the app within the last year has become very stable. However WIFI signals will be something more and more people will talk about soon ( not just with our aquarium equipment ). With SO many people adding Alexa's, routers, phones, tablets, computers and other WIFI devices signals look "good" but really are not. I am planning on adding and extra router and a few extenders to help compensate all of the tech. 

 

A few lingering issues I have found with recent threads...

• Connecting to 5ghz signals - must be 2.4 ghz ( 9/10 times people do this )
• Incorrect passwords
• Office WIFI signals blocking certain devices without approval 
• Accidentally forgetting username/PW and being "blocked" out
• Going into " Extras " to create custom lighting schedules 

Next time your device does this give me a time estimate and then snap a picture of the back of you IMP card ( white SD looking card ). I will look into the backend and see what the issue was. 

 

-Dave

 

 

Sounds good!

[Biggen]

Thanks Dave for the input. Perhaps it was just an update that caused the issue.  Ill keep an eye on it but hopefully it was just an isolated thing.

 

Im a network engineer so wireless is my “thing”. I actually use a dedicated Ubiquity AP in my home because of all the wireless devices that we all have nowadays...

[RollaJase]

I get disconnection issues from time to time but not once has it caused my unit to turn off or reboot. I have found these issues to coincide with BlueFish maintenance on their end. Even if the light is disconnected in the app I can usually still access the light and make changes which sync when the light comes back online.

[OldManSea]

10 hours ago, DaveFason said:

Thanks for chiming in too!

 

I initial reaction is to always figure what it is. Interesting that yours is due to WIFI. I live in a house built in the 50's with 1.25" plaster walls. Where my tank is I get terrible signals but never run into anything like yours. I will check to see what it could be for reference. 

 

-Dave

This room also has poor reception but it is when the WiFi "stutters" that the problem occurs.  The logger has a 3 light system of green - good signal, yellow - borderline signal and red - no signal.  If the signal goes from green to red, or back from red to green, then the lights are fine.  Sometimes it rapidly goes green-yellow-green-yellow-green yellow....  This is when the Nanobox and AI lights shut down.  The computer(s) often indicate that they are connected to the internet during these episodes but the internet is actually frozen.  When the stuttering stops the lights come back on in less than one minute and the computer's talk to the internet again.  I have no idea how/when the lights interact with the internet but the stuttering seems to initiate something.  I don't know if it helps, but the LED on the card lights up when the stuttering stops and goes back and forth from red to green a few times, then the green blinks a few times and the light comes on.  I assume some sort of similar signaling is going on with the AI light but there are no indicators on it, it just clicks back on.  It takes about the same amount of time as the Nanobox in that they both come back on within a second or two of one another.