[Delphinus]

Can't help you with the "replace a base with no eff" but FWIW my tank ran (albeit inhabitants-less) without a base unit for several months until I decided I wasn't quitting, then I just sent my base in for repair. It actually was surprisingly cheaper than I thought it would be, the biggest cost of the whole affair was the shipping both ways (which itself wasn't really THAT bad either).

Anyhow, so bearing in mind that I didn't experience actually replacing a base unit .. my understanding is that your EB8 unit will itself have some memory that will probably make it back into your base unit. Ie., whatever each outlet was running, it should probably remember. It will basically be your base unit functions such as alarms, virtual outlets, timers, etc. that you'll need to reprogram.

You may wish to consider sending your old one in for repairs. Then you can either sell it or keep it as a spare. After my Apex meltdown, I can say that for myself if money was no object I would buy a second controller and have them as a redundant pair and possibly arbitrating or watchdogging each other in the case that one goes berserk again that there would be a way to catch this sooner.

The "money not an object" thing not really having worked out yet, my more immediate solution was to put my heater on two controllers - the Apex AND a Ranco. That's just me though. I've also come to the opinion I need a smaller heater for my tank, which is now on the list of equipment to-buy as time rolls forward...

But I digress. Back to topic: good luck with the reprogramming..