AC Infinity Controller 69 WIFI

Well anyone else have problems with the controller 69? Port 4 went out on mine and now stuck with a fan that won’t operate unless I use the old controller. I have 2 of these, buyer beware. They are less than 2 months old.

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I’m just figuring out how to use the APP and the first thing, the APP wanted to do was update! :hugs:

Also, yay, flipped to reading temp in Celsius! :partying_face:

My Housemate, It…is so amazed at the abilities of the blonde, reading…woman.
:blonde_woman:t3: :open_book: :raising_hand_woman:t3:

:woman_facepalming:t3: :face_with_symbols_over_mouth:

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I have one of the WIFI versions which has been running about three weeks so far. Mine is sitting in a greenhouse that is getting up into the high 90’s recently running two supplemental fixtures. There has been a glitch or two that seems mostly related to the Android app but for the most part it has been doing what it’s supposed to do. Keeping an eye on it.

I find that the app is really required if you are doing anything complicated with automation. Doing it all from the controller is an option but it’s much easier from the app. Even then, it does have some confusing set-up things though a number of potentially useful features.

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A couple of notes.

Since utilizing this device, there have been multiple firmware and application updates. For each update, it is unclear what has changed and rather it seems that additional bugs get introduced. As of today, the latest version, the graphs on the remote app no longer seem to show anything and are completely blank.

In addition, the application has had numerous difficulties contacting the device via WIFI unless I manual power the controller off then back on. Sometimes there are missing periods of data collection which tends to indicate that the controller dropped it’s WIFI connection and doesn’t do a great job of reconnecting until it is reset by re-powering it.

However, the scheduled tasks as programmed continue to work as expected despite loosing connectivity to WIFI and the difficulties with the remote app.

What’s odd, though, even if the remote app indicates that it is having WIFI connection difficulties, the environmental heads-up display seems to update with real-time information. What it looks like to me is that the controller allows a single remote device to connect as a configuration administrator and, if the connection is subsequently glitched, it does not time out the original connection … and you can’t get control of the device until it is manually repowered.

So, there does seems to be some issues with current sw/fw version of this controller. I’m not a fan of products that have such issues particularly for newly launched platforms … it leads to eating into their reputation in a negative way. On the other hand, I tend to expect rock-solid performance with minimal user intervention when it comes to automation … confidence in the equipment is key in this realm.

This controller + WIFI is targeted to make things easier. The current state of the sw/fw doesn’t really help here. On the plus side, the actual automation portion, as programmed, has been doing what is expected even when loosing connectivity.

I’m hopeful these are namely a software / firmware issues that can be resolved over time. The primary issues being experienced seem to be software related and are mostly annoyances rather than show stoppers. AC Infinity is rapidly developing and pushing out updates so there is decent indication that they are working hard to correct deficiencies. However, someone that is not familiar with troubleshooting such problems may find the experience lack-luster and difficult to get around with the current software / firmware version.

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Thanks N_L! Unfortunate.

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Thanks for the feedback @Northern_Loki

I have one of these on backorder and am hoping they debug this stuff before mine ships.

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Hello, @Northern_Loki.

Have you contacted AC Infinity about this issue?

I recently contacted them over the RH Sensor in their Controller 67.

They were back to me in very prompt order. Within 24 hours the first time and quicker after that. Very responsive.

They listened to my concerns - they sent me TWO new sensors to test - and they even came here to look at my thread for the discussion…lurking, not a member (I suggested they do become a member, they declined). They said they’d elevate my concerns regarding the test results I experienced.

I do hope you get this sorted out.

Regards,
WHAB

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I have not. I’m primarily sensing software/firmware as the culprit and not the physical hardware. I expect it to improve over time.

And, they probably already know this thread exists. Marketing folk tend to keep their eyes on new product launches.

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Yes, you’re probably right about the Marketing personnel keeping on top of things.

However, Marketing can not address your Technical concerns.

I do wish you all the best with it!

wavy,
WHAB

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I’ve been watching this product and hoped to purchase it one day. Thanks for the real world updates @Northern_Loki . I’m looking forward to having it in the future.

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I bought two of their IONboard LED fixtures for use with this controller early in the season … both appear dead. Controller is still powered.

One stopped working a couple of weeks ago and the second went out today (cool weather). Albeit, it has been exceedingly hot this year and they may have exceeded the rated temperature. I suspect the power supplies went and that they do not have integral thermal protection. I may troubleshoot and dissect one when I get around to it.

The OPPRUI led fixture purchased in the same timeframe and located in the same area is still operating.

Pretty nice looking fixture and I like the form factor, disappointed that they’ve failed. Their new product lines do not appear bulletproof.

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been following along with these updates. I’m thinking I will stick to all my oldschool AC stuff and tents until the kinks are fixed with their newer electronics. Pretty shocked two lights went out on you. not trending very well so far. thanks for taking the time to put all this info out!

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If I were to make a recommendation, it would reflect what you’ve said. Hold out for a while until there is more reliability data and feedback from other users. Their fans I find to be great. Not as confident on these new product lines.

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Any one else have problems with their controller 69 and the clip fans from ac infinity. I’ve now had problems with 2 fans. They turn on ramp up and turn off over and over again, it happened to both fans at different times. I disconnect the fan from controller 69. Unplug fan and plug fan right back into power it works fine(using a cloudline s6 or t6 controller. Using the controller 69 it continues to do the on off until if feels like not turning on anymore, which I can then unplug connect to old controls and have it work fine. What are you doing ac infinity. I have 6 clip fans, 4 oscillating and 2 regular. I also have 6 cloudline t6 fans. The problem only happens with the oscillating fans and controller 69(so far).
Same problem with 3 different controller 69.
Oh and they worked fine until about 4 updates later from ac infinity

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I caught it doing that once with two LED fixtures attached as I was evaluating the controller. One of the two fixtures would turn on/off over and over at about one cycle per second. I can’t remember if it followed the port or the fixture when swapping the two. I had to unplug the fixture a couple of times to get it back to operating normal. It did not reoccur. Unknown reason.

I’m opinionated about embedded systems (software/hardware/etc) having some background there. Considering the number of oddball problems so far, they seem to be lacking good process and likely lacking some of the typical engineering accelerated lifetime and reliability testing. Such things are expensive and time consuming up-front and indicative of management, process, and staffing issues. It would take about ten questions directed towards their product engineering teams to figure out a course of action. Good design and release practices are well-understood in industry.

Such things can be a nightmare for a new product launch unless their whole plan was to beta test their new product lines on the community … not unheard of but also an exceedingly poor strategy. Dumb Dumb Dumb. Two of their new LED fixtures tits up here along with the odd behavior of the controller. A number of suspect design problems across the board.

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thats for sure. i think they should work on their products before launch. being a software/compter guy i cant understand who would sell something untested! at least customer service is decent. said we will ship out a new one right away and send the bad one back, no reason to send it back if the new ones will just do the same thing. right now its disconnected from the controller 69 and works fine. junk controller!!!

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@Northern_Loki any further updates on the Controller 69 Pro (aka wifi)?

I’m needing another 6" fan and I can get a T6 with a classic 67 for $150 or the latest version with the 69 pro for $200.

I’m waffling as i’m not sure if it’s worth the additional 50$ for the fancy new unit? :thinking:

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No new updates. I didn’t have a great experience at the time and am not using those anymore. The wifi worked but the Android application had a bunch of bugs. Primarily ditched the set-up since both attached fixtures failed in one season. I’m holding a grudge. Their fans are great.

With that said, I feel this, both the controller and the fixtures, was of ‘beta’ quality when purchased. It could be that they have improved since then … which is likely. If you’re going to buy, the extra $50 for WIFI capability is useful albeit data stored in the cloud.

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This is solid info which makes me think I’m going with the $50 cheaper classic versions. I’m not NEEDING the wifi or 4 item control so I can use the saved $50 on NUTES!

Thanks for the swift reply! Gonna hit that cart now :smiley:

:rofl: :+1:

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I bought one this year. Hope I have better luck with mine. Also got the 69 pro controller. After reading the thread I put a clip fan blowing on the driver to shed heat.

I was dismayed with the update thing since it did it once and was working fine after settings, then updated again and changed the clock and had to use schedule or else wait 24 hours for the light to come back on. :frowning:

I have been happy with previous purchases. I own 3 controllers, 3 fans and a tent all AC Infinity. Was not expecting to come across this kind of review of their products. We will see how long this light lasts I guess. I like the graphs available with the controller, the yields have been okay but I have only been on this light since June.

I have not experienced this. Been almost a year though at the time of my startup.

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