Temp probe #3

[waverz]

So i got my replacement temp probe from Neptune today, this time i am taking no chances. I GENTLY placed the probe in a plastic baggie and GENTLY placed it into my overflow so only the tip of the probe is submerged. The last one only lasted 3 weeks, hopefully by not getting this one wet it will last longer. The reason i emphasised the word GENTLY was because when i asked why i had 2 bad probes go bad in 2 months time the gentleman on the phone said the reason they go bad is abuse by the user.

I just don't get it, I ran my ACII probe for over 2 years w/o a single problem, and i even bought it used! I decide to upgrade to the ACIII and get 2 duds in a row.

Anyway, i just hope this one lasts at least as long as it's under warranty, if not, you will see another post from me.

Wish me luck.

[lvreefer]

Maybe try a different location. Its possible the water current is banging it around against something.

[twinreef]

same thing with me. there temp probes suck. Thats why I'm buying a different controller a ProfiLux. Neptune blames it's customers for there faulty equipment. What makes me laugh is that they don't stand behind there product and let the blind fight for them. My so called new temp probe also died in less then month.

[Dadekster]

That was the one thing that had me worried when I bought my AC3. Now 4 months later my temp probe reads 122 degrees out of the blue and I haven't touched it since the day I put it in my sump. Bought mine 15th of November, I have a funny feeling its not covered anymore. Shame since the rest of the unit is working flawlessly and that one or two things are sort of dependent on working temp probe:(

[MrVociferous]

Same thing just happened to me...I noticed the lights went out early, looked over at the controller and it said it was 122. My Aqua Jr is only 1-2 months old.

[60Cubed]

I lost my temp probe as well. It was reading 98F and held my chiller on. I had a reef club meeting at my house and a member made a comment that my tank was sweating. It had gotten to 62F and the tank was sweating on the outside! Scary. I bought a new one and, knock on wood, it is still good. Seems hey have had a problem with them. Maybe need to change manufacturers.

[marc nichols]

I've had to replace two in 3 months. It resides in the sump with nothing to cause impact or electrical interference. AC has been good about replacing them but still contend it is a customer generated fault. All else aside, if this many are failing, then the product isn't sufficient for the job it has to do. They are now encapsulating them in resin I believe but I doubt that is the solution and I hope they are in fact simply trying to get through old stock while they affect a new design. If that is the case, I wish they would fess up so we would understand the situation rather than cause some of us to consider purchase of a competitive unit.

[twinreef]

I just stop using the temp probe and for now I'm using a ranco temp controller. I'm in the process of buying a different controller. In which time I'll throw the AC3 in the garbage in small little pieces.

[60Cubed]

In which time I'll throw the AC3 in the garbage in small little pieces.

I'll buy from you first. I don't like the temp probe but I do like the controller. LMK when you get your new whatever controller. I will give you something $$ for it.

Lance

[dtaylor123]

I am another temp probe abuser, I have ruined two of them. I think the problem with the probes are they go bad when they get wet! Maybe if we tape them on the outside of the tank and figure out the heat transfer then recalibrate the temp probe, we can get a good reading. Although in hindsight maybe the abuse occurred when it was shipped, I have heard the UPS people like to take the probes out of the box and twirl them around. Okay, these are very absurd comments and all not true (except I have had two fail), just like the supposed abuse we users do to the temp probes. I replaced mine with a $6 Coral Life probe and that works great! I can't use it on the controller, but I can see my tank temp.

[twinreef]

It's a miracle that the Neptune defenders are not here already.

[vid151]

HI My name is Dave and too abused my probes

had 2 fail the first one took 9 months the second one 2 weeks

I went to the expence to keep one new one on the shelf as a spare in my house ....

when promped with a reason was told abuse ....

oh well anyone else looking at the new DA Reefkeeper elite?

[twinreef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12378227#post12378227 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by vid151
HI My name is Dave and too abused my probes

had 2 fail the first one took 9 months the second one 2 weeks

I went to the expence to keep one new one on the shelf as a spare in my house ....

when promped with a reason was told abuse ....

oh well anyone else looking at the new DA Reefkeeper elite?

I was thinking of that controll. I'm just waiting to see when it comes out and how people like it.

[clp]

It certainly has not been my intention to blame customers for a failing temperature probe. What I have said is that the only way we have been able to replicate the problem is to physically bend the temperature probe to reproduce the failure mechanism we were seeing in the majority of the failing probes. There are likely other ways that the probe is damaged other than user abuse; I just don’t know what it is. Maybe it was just too fragile? Anyway I’ve given many customers the benefit of doubt and have replaced probes for free that are way out of warranty.
Anyway we are now encapsulating the probes in epoxy, and the probes are much more robust and a cracked sensor is much less likely to occur. Since this change the field failure rate has declined as well, so I’m confident that the root cause of the problem has been found.

Curt

[rsw686]

My second probe failed at some point today. The probe never gets moved and is barely submerged in the water.

My AC Jr is less than a year old. The first probe failed within two weeks of owning the unit and while I was on vacation. I have a camera on the tank and the lights were off in the middle of the day. I had to get somebody to stop by my house, plug the heater in the wall and reprogram the unit so the lights would not turn off at a certain temp.

Luckily I got smart after the first event, even though I was told the failure rate is next to none, and programmed in some statements to turn the heater on and the fan off if the temp went over 99F. This way the built in heater thermostat could be used. It is sad when the bi-metal strip in the heater is more reliable.

I will be contacting Curt about another replacement. I really wish I would have just returned the unit when the first probe failed. I am now out the money for this one in the long term as it is not reliable.

[kngfisher]

add me to the list....how long are these covered? bought AC3 may 07 and probe just went tonight. Have the probe in my overflow so nothing bothers it.....wish it could have failed before I had gone to the only LFS that stocks these and not after midnight when about to go out of town.....

[dnance01]

I thought I was alone in the probe problems.
I got my ACIII last year with the small probe. It went bad with the temp showing 122 degrees. Curt did a warranty replacement for me. The one I received was the large probe. It lasted a few months. I purchased my third probe. This one died under warrenty, so I'm waiting on my replacement.

As far as duplicating the issue - looks like I have the perfect environment for it. I had no concern about getting it wet - I thought it was supposed to go in the water. Maybe next time, I'll slip it into a pvc pipe - it won't detect sudden temperature changes - but then again how often do we have sudden temperature changes?

I did have a near disaster the first time that it went out because the temp showed 122 degrees, my chiller ran non-stop, my lights stayed off, and the temperature sank to around 70 degrees (my chillers stop point). I did have the alarm module plugged in, but It got unplugged.

I didn't have it in my programming before, but I saw
kenargo's post in another thread and followed his suggestion to put this in as a safeguard:

If Temp > 85.0 Then COL OFF
If Temp < 72.0 Then HET OFF

That way if the probe breaks, it won't "won't cook or cool your tank too much."

[mflamb]

Oh I feel better now...my temp probe started reading 122 today.
What kind of warranty on these.

[kngfisher]

Got an email/PM from curt with some great info.
-------
Hi,
I'm sorry to hear about the problem you are having with the temperature probe. To confirm that it is the temperature probe, unplug it from the controller. The reading on the AquaController should be around 20F. If so, it is the temperature probe (part # PRBTMPJR), and it needs to be replace.

The warranty on probes is 90 days.

Curt
---------


I will check it when I get home and in the meantime, order a new/replacement probe. Thanks for the assistance.

[darkcirca]

Well I finally was able to call Neptune Systems today as Curt said they'd give me a replacement even though I was out of warranty. I wanted to have the replacement sent first, that way I don't have issues with the thing (since it is programed to do this and that when temperatures change - that's rsw686's job, not mine ;) ).

Personally I don't get how I can be on my 3rd temp probe and it hasn't been a year. I don't see how it is that difficult to make something that lasts. Even the Ranco works great. I do a lot of stuff with reptiles, and I use another thermostat called a Herpstat for them. The Herpstat has never failed me, and you can do whatever you want with the probe (unlike the ACJr which has to be set perfect and never moved/touched/bent.

I don't feel like I trust the ACJr anymore, which is tough since there is a lot of money invested in that. I am somehow able to rely on the Herpstat to control the temperature for my breeding colony of geckos, and even a Ranco to run an incubator. You'd think they would be the ones having problems, since their temp probes are stuck in small areas, sometimes even in water, as well measuring and controlling temperatures over 100F.

Strange if you ask me. I pay a lot more for this product, but my cheap products seem to out perform it.

Maybe others have had a lot better luck than I have, it's just not comforting to think about what is going on.

What bugs me the most, this thing will read a ridiculous high number, then randomly start working again, like something is loose. Very annoying since it hasn't ever been touched since we put it in. We shall see how round #3 goes.

[vvolfe1]

Well joy,
My temp probe on my ac jr is straying by + or - 5 degrees everyday, sometimes by the hour. I really enjoy buying cheap products for a lot of money. I'm kind of suprised though with neptunes reputation they'd not recall the defective ones. Mine has been hooked up since Jan 14. Kinda crappy it already has issues.

[pherbert]

I was just about to buy one of these but now I think I'll save my money and just get a Ranco. That and my timers should do the job for about $200 less.

[Dirt4dinner]

I just had my 4th temp probe go bad....I have only had the AC Jr. since Nov. That's one every other month. I'm so sick and tired of this deal. This time I lost nearly $200 in corals that I had just received from an online order.

Every time it goes bad, I mail it in and they replace it...but that process takes a week and costs me shipping money. I am going to attempt to buy a different probe, I am sick of them making me ship in these faulty products, I paid more than enough for the AC Jr. when I bought it, I feel like I am making monthly payments to keep it working properly.

[kenargo]

Sorry about your loses, if you don't mind could I ask a few questions about yout failure???

What happened when the temp probe failed? Did the temp fail high or low? Did you have code in your program which protects against temp probe failure?

(refer to: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1265152)

[Dirt4dinner]

Each time the probe has failed it has resulted in the temp on the probe reading very high, and then very low and so forth. It swings from 55 to 95 on the AC Jr. I don't have a code in there to protect, and can't think of any way to do it. What did you have in mind? I haven't checked out that link yet, so I will do that now, it might answer my question.

[USC-fan]

Glad I plan to use my reefkeeper to control my heaters/fans....

[60Cubed]

I had that probe runnibg for a while with no issues. I have also had a probe failure on my other controller. I have had my new one for about 9 months with no issues. I run my chiller off my ACIII with no issues!

[kenargo]

Once you check out the thread you will see some ideas which make a few assumptions about a tank and include program lines to take them into account.

Primary assumption is that:

* Tank temperatures don't tend to run much higher or lower than the set point.
* If the tank temp is higher/lower than the tank set point by (fill in the blank) degrees (I use 4) then there is likely something going wrong and personal attention is required.
* Temp probes fail high; usually above 100 but not always or they fail low (usually lower than 30 but not always)
* Adding code to:

1) turn off the heater if the tank temp is < 'n' below tank set point protects from cooking the tank when the probe fails low
2) turn cooler off if the tank temp > 'n' above tank set temp protects from cooling the tank too low
3) Turn on ALM when either 1 or 2 happens.

I use 'n' == 4; my tank never drifts +/- 3 and that change (IMO) is safe; been there, done it, survived it.

[darkcirca]

We have put safeties in our ACJr that if the temp goes over x it will turn the heater on (the heater itself is set to turn off at a certain temp as well), and the lights back on. I lost 2 probes already, and Rich was kind enough to send me my 3rd even though the 2nd was out of warranty.

I will say, the new probes are huge compared to the old ones. I'm hoping it holds up better as well.

Besides having some safety clauses, you can add a night light to light up as an alarm, that way you notice it, or even some sort of buzzer. I prefer the light, that way at 2am when it goes off, I don't have a heart attack from the noise.

[Dirt4dinner]

I wish you luck on the new "larger" version. That's the one that just went out on me...took 2 months, just like the old ones.

Sorry...I'm still WAY frusterated!

[Topbloke72]

I'm also on my third temp probe now. My old one ( new large version) was reading 122 degrees yesterday, so I just ordered a new one which set me back over 30 bucks with shipping.

So I've spent over 60 bucks now on temp probes for the Aqua Jr, which I purchased under a year ago.

Seems like neptune are making some nice coin on all these probes going wrong due to customer " abuse".

[nickts40]

The unit seemed to be working fine for two weeks even though a couple of times the pH would drop to 7.0 and the ORP would jump to 500. One day the temperature probe was reading 114 F when the actual tank temp was 79. I called Neptune and they said that a faulty temp probe could cause funny readings with pH and ORP. I had it replaced by Neptune but even though the new probe reads the correct tempertature the pH and ORP are still jumping all over the place again. The pH and ORP work just fine without the temp probe. Has this happenend to anyone else?

I guess the answer is YES!