Going back old school

[+Hydro]

I have had nothing but complicated problems with my digital aquatics reefkeeper elite. I'm actually only going to tell you the most frustrating parts. Started with problems during setup...my $100 powerstrips ($500 total) didn't come with the needed patch cords. Had to order an additional $20 cord for each ($100 with shipping) and wait another week to actually set it up. I contacted DA though their forum about this and they told me they were supposed to include the cord but my (5) powerstrips did not. They did not offer to send me any and locked the thread that I was complaining on. Then although all of my components were brand new they all had to be updated...every little part including all the power strips. Well updating isn't that simple. Each piece has to be disconnected and individually updated...not just once but several times...each time updating to a newer firmware until the latest version was installed. This took hours b/c there were 8 pieces. After having problems updating the net box we contacted DA again to find out that this part had to be sent in to be update....waited another week...and guess who paid for shipping! We were having problems getting the DA to go online and to this day, almost a year later, it still won't work. This is because DA won't work with dial up or wireless cards and that is all we have available. We found this out the hard way after hours and hours of trying different things to make it work. There are no instructions that say wireless cards or dial up will not work, DA told me after lots of wasted time trying. Again you are getting the short version!

ORP sensor ($100) never worked properly right out of the box and still doesn't work properly.

Salinity probe I ordered a year ago is still on backorder

PH probe worked properly until I updated the head unit then the readings were all over the place

Replaced the PH probe and got the same results.

Bought high and low water detectors for the sump, the came with NO instructions and just loose wires with no plugs installed. You had to connect the loose wires to the loose plugs they supplied...so right out of the sump there is an open connection with wire nuts attaching it. I'm sure these connections are already corroded.

Basically this thing is a glorified timer for me. It turns on and off my lights, my heater, and my chiller.The lights were setup to turn off if the temps got too high which made me feel a little more comfortable about leaving my aquarium. Well it was able to dissapoint me once again. I had one of the plugs recently go out so it no longer turned on and off the fan with my frag lights. Before I could even send it back it sealed its own fate. I came in about 2 weeks ago and ALL of my MH lights were on, probably all night. It of course didn't turn the fans to cool the lights, the chiller, and it didn't turn off the lights when my tank reached 84 degrees, up from 77 the day before. I reset the entire unit and it did it again the very next night. I now have a bucket of dead sps that couldn't handle the temp swing, lost hundreds. I pulled out all of the powerstrips and went back to standard timers for my lights and fans. I still have the head unit and one powerstrip that I have to use to control my chiller and heaters until I can get something else. I'm sending it all back to DA to be repaired and then it will be for sale. Before this happended I actaully met the owner at a hydroponics tradeshow and he gave me his card and said to contact him if I had problems, when I did he said "you should really be contacting support for stuff like this". Problem is that support hasn't been very much help, we figured out most things on our own.

I'm so frustrated I can't stand it, spent well over $1,200 for the DA system, spent at least 20 hours on it setting it up, updating it, working on it, contacting DA for help, and now taking it all back out and rewiring everything and probably $500 worth of coral....all lost. I hate DA with a passion and wouldn't recommend anyone to even use one to monitor a mud puddle. I know that some people have those controllers without any problems, consider yourself lucky IMO.

[offroadodge]

I understand your frustration, it seems 1 out of 10 units work properly. I have the LITE and have had no problems, but all i use it for is a "glorified light timer". I never felt confident enough to try and controlle the chiller or CA reactor. It runs all the lights and fans (not with the temp probe) but by the timing of certain lights. I guess you coud say i dont trust its PH and TEMP probes. Other than that i like it cause i dont have to have a bunch of old fashioned wheel timers. Also they offered me an update but found that everyone was having problems with it so i NEVER have updated it, it still has the factory set-up in it. I like keepn it SIMPLE, lights ON at this time-lights off at this time, same for the fans. When T5s come on so does one set of fans, When MH come on so does another set of fans. Now if i could just wire my exhaust fan on chiller to only come on when the chiller is on i would be set, thats another project.

[Teresa]

How incredibly frustrating!! As I get more and more into this hobby I am realizing that the only companies worth doing any business with are those with superior customer service. Companies are going to have to realize soon that if their customer service doesn't catch up to their technology - then they won't have any customers to do service with. I think it's important that we share this information to save each other from having the same headaches. On the flip side of that token - I think it's incredibly important that we share with each other which companies have superior customer service (sometimes at the detriment of their own profit). We need to support those that truly care about this hobby! That being said - I will say I have had amazing experiences with captainsalty's (ebay), reefcleaners.org and seahorsesource.com. I'm not yet willing to spend a ton of money on technology - but the goods I have purchased from these retailers stand out in my mind due to their excellent customer service.

Thanks for the heads up Steven!

[pbnj]

When I was considering controllers, I really knew very little about them, so I based my decision almostly exclusively on customer service feedback. DA had horrible CS reviews and Neptune Systems had excellent CS reviews, therefore I went with the APEX Lite. I've only had one problem with the LED display dimming, but I sent it in for repairs and got it back within 5 days working perfectly.

[+Hydro]

I think that DA problem is that they have expanded the system too quickly without focusing on individual components. My system for example had multiple problems from hardware to software. I feel like thier system is a work in process...a great exmple is the update offered that Jemermy has never done. Why would you offer an update that creates problems when there was no problems in the first place. My update instantly made my ph probe useless...it usually reads about 8.7 or higher. I of course tried to recalibrate it and even bought a new sensor trying to fix this problem. My ORP reads around 600-700, which isn't right, and if you unplug the ORP probe from the unit the figure never changes.

[Myvirtue]

i think da spent all there money on marketing/advertising and forgot to include customer service or a decent product.... i havent invested nearly as much as u did. i just bought the reefkeeper light and had several issues. Digital aquatics remind me of shady car salesman.

[scottyk]

I wish this was posted like a week earlier. I just bought a RKE Net! I will tell all of you how it goes with it when I return home from Iraq and get a tank set-up.

[+Hydro]

I wish you luck and hope you get home soon. Hopefully you won't have any problems with you DA unit...but honestly if you can send it back I would if I were you. Get the APEX instead, I've never used the APEX but I haven't heard a single person complain about one yet.

[Mike M.]

APEX-Neptune Systems

They lost the marketing war to DA. They are a bunch of engineers, not business oriented at all and its why they lost the marketing race. They DO, however, have a good product. I have run the Apex controller over a year, I've added a WXM module and a Dimming module and an HD4 outlet box in addition to a second Energy Bar 8. I did have a heck of a time with the HD4 box so I won't lead you to believe that I haven't EVER had an issue, but we were able to get it straightened out.

I CAN recommend the APEX controller and Neptune Systems. I have been satisfied overall and have a fairly complicated application of the controller with 20 outlets plus WXM and Dimming functions. The system runs well as long as you program effectively. The advanced programming language is not entirely intuitive and does require one to use their noodle to make sure an outlet works properly. That said, the advanced programming language allows you a great deal of flexibility.

I hate hearing how much trouble you had Stephen. WIth a system like yours, appliances should make your life easy, not add hassles. I would recommend the Neptune systems controllers to you and I know you have probably talked at length with Mark about your DA woes.

Mike

[RotaryGeek]

Wow I have the reefkeeper lite and never had a problem with it. I hadn't updated anything, and it is just an expensive timer. But it was mainly for a controller for my heater. Still works perfect after a couple of months service.

[+Hydro]

Don't update it and you might be all right. My concern with using the DA to control my heater is what if it sticks on? That is exactly what happended to 8 of my individual plugs connected to my MH lighting (might as well have been 8 heaters)...came on for no reason in the middle of the night twice. These 8 plugs were supposed to cutoff if the tank got to 80 degrees, they didn't do that either. Right now I have my DA controlling my heaters but I'm going to be doing away with that after I get some old school controllers for that too. I found an old school relay box that can control the power for my lights if the tank starts to overheat, it has a 120 volt trigger cord that powers the main relay that supplies power to my ballast. I plug this cord in to a controller that we use in hydroponics that is an overheat shut down, also has a 15 min delay timer. If the tank overheats the power is cut to the trigger cord and it tuns off all of my lights.

[mooric]

Sorry to hear you have had such a rough time with it. I have been running my RKE w/NET for about a year now without much trouble. The couple times I have had problems, DA has been quick to resolve them. I use it for everything from Lighting timers, temp control of heater and extra fan, and my ATO. I performed the update to the system software last year, and had a problem with the NET module but I was able to get it resolved without sending back to DA. I just had to send them the dongle you use to connect the devices to your computer for updates. Since that can only be done by them. Also the old temp probe went bad last year and they sent me the new updated one under warranty. Though their process is kinda wonky. I had to purchase the new one then send them the old one with the invoice for the new one and the CASE# so they could send me the refund. Had I known more when I purchased my controller I might have looked closer at Neptune but overall I am satisfied.