Troubleshooting
===============

Alarms and Faults
-----------------

When the pH, EC, or temperature of your water is outside of the alarm bands you set in the setup menus, an alarm will activate and the red ALARM light will flash. You can view current alarms by pressing the Alarm button if the ALARM light is flashing. The ALARM light will now be steady.

Understanding Alarms
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alarms can sometimes be expected, as usually the pH and/or EC of your untreated water will be outside of the alarm bands when you are just starting out or right after a water change. Give the control some time to bring the pH and EC to their setpoints and the alarms will deactivate.

Common Alarm Causes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Potential causes of unexpected pH and EC alarms:

Low Water Level
  **The water level in your reservoir drops below the tip of the EC probe.** This is the most common cause for a pH or EC alarm, and can be easily corrected by adding water to the system to bring it back up to the "full" level. All hydroponic systems lose water due to evaporation, but check for leaks if your water level drops unusually quickly.

Empty Solutions
  **Your pH correction solutions or nutrients are empty.** Make sure the suction tubes leading to the pumps are fully submerged in solution/nutrients.

Tubing Issues
  **There is a kink, leak, or clog in your solution/nutrient tubing.** Ensure your tubing is connected properly and is not kinked.

Rapid Changes
  **The pH or EC of your water changes more quickly than the controller can correct.** This is typically the result of you adding water or manually adding nutrients.

Common Problems and Solutions
------------------------------

Probe Readings Unstable
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Symptoms:** pH or EC readings fluctuate rapidly or don't stabilize.

**Solutions:**

* Ensure probes are properly submerged 2-4 inches below water surface
* Check that water is circulating properly
* Move air stones away from probes
* Clean probe tips and recalibrate
* Replace old or damaged probes

Cannot Calibrate Probes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Symptoms:** Calibration fails or won't complete.

**Solutions:**

* Ensure calibration solutions are at room temperature
* Check that solutions are not expired
* Wait longer for readings to stabilize (minimum 30 seconds)
* Clean probe tips gently and try again
* Replace probe if consistently fails calibration

pH/EC Not Reaching Setpoint
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Symptoms:** Controller runs continuously but doesn't reach target values.

**Solutions:**

* Verify solution containers are not empty
* Check for kinked or clogged tubing
* Ensure blend time is appropriate for your system
* Verify pumps are priming correctly
* Check custom gains are set to 100% (unless intentionally adjusted)
* For pH: verify you have the correct pH solution (up vs down) installed

Controller Overshooting Setpoints
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Symptoms:** pH or EC goes past target and oscillates.

**Solutions:**

* Increase blend time to allow better mixing
* Reduce custom gains for affected solutions
* Ensure water is circulating properly throughout system
* Check that system capacity is set correctly

WiFi/FLORATek Connect Not Connecting
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Symptoms:** Cannot connect to FLORATek Connect or WiFi shows disconnected.

**Solutions:**

* Verify WiFi credentials are correct
* Ensure FLORATek is within range of WiFi router
* Try resetting WiFi connection and reprovisioning
* Check that WiFi connectivity is enabled in settings
* Verify Remote Access Subscription is active

Getting Help
------------

If you have any questions or concerns while setting up or using your FLORATek system, please contact us for support:

* Website: www.tetraponics.com/contact
* Email: support@tetraponics.com

When contacting support, please have ready:

* Your FLORATek 4 model and serial number
* Software version (found in About screen)
* Description of the issue
* Any alarm codes or error messages
* Photos of your setup if applicable