brand new aquatronica should i keep it?

[AcroButcher]

Howdy all,
i just purchased the aquatronica premium + the dosing pumps. then naturally i stumble across this portion of RC. and there seems to be nothing but problems with crashing units. power strips breaking or not recognizing probs and a laundry list of misc problems. so my question is before i unwrap this bad boy...should i send it back and get a profilux or RK2 / neptune style controller without this long list of problems?

[nemo's janitor]

Keep it.
The new controller is far better than those you mention. IMO.

The problems you read on this forum are mostly related to the older controller. The new one ACQ110 is BRILL.

IMO !!! I do not see AT continuing with trying to have both controllers compatible with each other for very much longer. I would not be surprised if future updates are controller specific and all the new goodies are the same. One cannot expect the old controllers technology to be able to handle all the new modules. IMO

[AcroButcher]

i checked out the box. its ACQKIT110-USA so in essence its the new one with far less issues?

[nemo's janitor]

Yup, it has a better processor and bigger memory. I have not heard of any problems with the unit.

[NeveSSL]

I would second keeping it. :)

I'll be upgrading mine soon as well.

I can say this: Aquatronica and Aquarium Obsessed have been nothing but helpful in the two problems I've had. That has meant a lot to me and so I'm upgrading my system and keeping with AQ. :)

Brandon

[Bebo77]

i say dump it...

my unit has never worked properly... i would never but this controller again...

[RobbyG]

If you know about forums then you know that most people only log onto product forums to hash out problems or complain.

There are over 2000 Aquatronica's in use and this forum is Aquatronica's official forum for problem solving.

So you do the math and count up the amount of people that have posted about problems, then triple that number for fairness then subtract it from 2000 and then you have an idea of how reliable it is.

If more than 2% of owners have had problems I would be very surprised.



<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14075261#post14075261 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by AcroButcher
Howdy all,
i just purchased the aquatronica premium + the dosing pumps. then naturally i stumble across this portion of RC. and there seems to be nothing but problems with crashing units. power strips breaking or not recognizing probs and a laundry list of misc problems. so my question is before i unwrap this bad boy...should i send it back and get a profilux or RK2 / neptune style controller without this long list of problems?

[nemo's janitor]

Well said RobbyG. I have many systems that i have installed and look after. I have very few problems. Most times problems are customer (me included) related.
I make a big noise when something goes wrong. That's just my nature. Most times problems occur due to updates. once fixed the systems run without problems.
All my customers are very happy with AT.

[nemo's janitor]

I might add that the sms and Ethernet modules kept me in touch with most of my customers systems over the festive season. No casualties or tank crashes reported.

[RobbyG]

Nemo coming from you that gives a good representation since I know you have many many tanks running Aquatronica equipment so you would have a very good idea if the units where indeed faulty. And Thanks for the support Nemo.

BTW got an Iphone and wow, the Ethernet module home page looks very nice on it. For a guy like yourself this might be a good investment to diagnose problems when your on the road.

[AcroButcher]

awesome, thank you robbyg and nemo. i was really dreading sending it back. again thank you both.

[nemo's janitor]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14086478#post14086478 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RobbyG

BTW got an IPhone and wow, the Ethernet module home page looks very nice on it. For a guy like yourself this might be a good investment to diagnose problems when your on the road.

Yes they are awesome. I have got one of the first iphones. Not the latest 3G model. Unfortunately the browser only shows without icons.
My name is down for the latest model when my contract comes up for renewal in March. :D :D

[gigiba]

I love the system, but the support is a bit slow.

Are you sure the new control will not have the freezing problem? :confused: :confused: :confused:

My first one died shortly after a year....right on the time if you followed this issue in the forum. My current one is on its 7th month.

I know time will tell, but I hate the feeling that there is a big chance it will die after 1 year.

I wish I can get the new controller to get rid of this nightmare (if new controller can get rid of this issue) or move on to a different system.

Money is a big issue now for most people. I spent a lot of money for this system and I would expect Aquatronica offer at least the same quality of product and support service as Tunze offered in US.

[nemo's janitor]

OK Let me put it this way.

I work with a number of quality products. Aquatronica, Deltec, Giesemann, Tunze, Hydor, Hailea chillers, Tropic Marin, Two little fishes, Eheim, jager, van gerven etc. All have very good service and warranties. Aquatronica is one of the leaders in this group.

No i am not sure there will not be a freezing problem. But then i am also not sure i will still be alive next week. Jokes aside i believe the freezing problem has been addressed and sorted.

If you buy from the US i am sure "Will" from AO will give you very good service.

I am based in South Africa and get very good service from our distributor.

[RobbyG]

First point
Yes there was a batch of the first Gen controllers that had a problem and most of them went dead within 1 year. Nobody disputes that and it's well documented. I had one so did many other people, I now have a replacement that has been going almost 2 years and that has had no problems. The Controller that AcroButcher has is the new version that does not even have the same components as the old one so what are the odds he is going to have a problem at all?

Second Point
I have had many items on my tank fail in the last 3 years, I have had two pump failures, a ballast failure, an auto feeder go bad and numerous CO2 solenoids. The adage salt water and electronics don't mix is a fact, so when electrical items fail it's often times the corrosive environment that has compromised the equipment or it's just plain bad luck. I certainly don't sit around waiting for my Pump to fail or my controller to die.

Third point
Take a good look around at some of the other controller forums before jumping ship. None of them are perfect, all of them have problems. Some have temperature probes that give random readings and thereby turn on heaters and chillers by mistake. Others have numerous powerbar problems, some can't keep correct time, others have a limited or no upgrade paths and programs that fail to run when they should.
By comparison to many of the other models the Aquatronica is one of the soundest units on the market. I am so confident in my first generation aquatronica that even when I was offered a substantial discounted price on an upgrade to the newer model I stuck with my original, mainly because it has not missed a beat in almost 2 years.


<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14092380#post14092380 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by gigiba
I love the system, but the support is a bit slow.

Are you sure the new control will not have the freezing problem? :confused: :confused: :confused:

My first one died shortly after a year....right on the time if you followed this issue in the forum. My current one is on its 7th month.

I know time will tell, but I hate the feeling that there is a big chance it will die after 1 year.

I wish I can get the new controller to get rid of this nightmare (if new controller can get rid of this issue) or move on to a different system.

Money is a big issue now for most people. I spent a lot of money for this system and I would expect Aquatronica offer at least the same quality of product and support service as Tunze offered in US.

[coffeenut]

Mine has worked flawlessly for over a year now.. a few times operator error.. but .. who doesnt.

[gigiba]

Like I said I love the system.
The problem is --- I still see people have the freezing issue at this time and it is bothering me. Shouldn't the faulty batch gone by now?
why don't they recall this faulty batch of the controller when they found the problem?

Buy the new controller? and make the old one as spare? I would love to do that. Money is a big issue now plus I spent so much up front.

Anyway...:mad:

OP got the new controller... this is a great system.


Peace...

[coffeenut]

Besides.. i have 2 controllers (one back up) and i dont see any reason to buy the new one (2) yet..

[Paradiddle7]

I have a mixed review. I couldn't live without my AT and it does what I need it to do, but I've had some problems with it.

I've had 4 things break. PH Probe, Salinity Probe, ethernet module, and dosing pump. Will from Aquarium Obsessed has been very cooperative and easy to work with in getting me replacements (except for the dosing pump because of its short warranty).

I still haven't tested my new ethernet module to tell you if it even works. I also haven't setup my leak detector either.

I spent about 2k on my AT, but I don't think I would spend that much again. I think the Density and probably the ORP probe is a waste of money, unless money is no object. If I would have my ethernet module hooked up (I've just been too busy), it would be nice to get an alert on the density probe. Who knows if my auto-top off might break etc...

Does anyone have an experience with the RKE (ReefKeeper Elite)? For way less than half of what I spent on my RK, I could get all the same equipment, but I would be willing to be that the software and programmability, as well as intuitiveness (if that's a a word) of the RKE is far superior than my AT.

Reliability of my head unit has been perfect through numerous breaker trips and power outages.

I'll rate my experience on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the highest level of satisfaction in the following areas:

Head Unit and Reliability of the head unit computer: 10
Head Unit programmability/software: 7
PC Software:7
Response Time for AT putting out updates:8
Accuracy and Longevity of probes: 7
Warranty and Service: 10
Overall Satisfaction: 8.16

My perceived value of the control can't be measured really. The fact that my tank is ok and being controlled by the AT and the AT hasn't let me down (to the point of a tank crash), I'm 100% satisfied. I just don't think that I would expect more for what I've actually paid in dollars and time tinkering with it.

I'm not trying to bash AT here, I'm just being honest. I love my AT when people come over and they think it's the coolest thing out. I think that AT has to be careful or other controllers will eat their lunch in the future.

[jamesdawson]

I think Aquatronica could be a little more pro-active in dealing with the freezing issue.

They should release list of serial numbers of units at risk and offer to replace them with the new controller IMHO rather then wait for failures to occur. That would assuage everyone's trepidations here and quite possibly avoid a catastrophic tank failure(s) somewhere.

James

[NeveSSL]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14117092#post14117092 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jamesdawson
I think Aquatronica could be a little more pro-active in dealing with the freezing issue.

They should release list of serial numbers of units at risk and offer to replace them with the new controller IMHO rather then wait for failures to occur. That would assuage everyone's trepidations here and quite possibly avoid a catastrophic tank failure(s) somewhere.

James

Very well put.

They have been helpful for sure, but to be proactive would be best.

Brandon

[RobbyG]

Hi James
Just to answer yours and Gigiba question, I don't think that Aquatronica even knows the serial numbers of the bad controllers.
From what I understand there was a chip that was provided by another company that was flawed and many of them showed up the flaw after being run for a year or so. I don't think that AQ knew which controllers specifically had in batch of chips, but by now about 99% of them have been returned so there is only a small amount of them on the used market still.

Now that bring up Gigiba question, as to why we still keep seeing these units every once in awhile. The answer is that some people still have these older controllers sitting in their closets etc. these people have long since given up the hobby, many times they take them out and sell or give them away and the next owner plugs it in and 3 months later they start to get a freezing problem.

By now there are very few of these units left so it's not even something I would really worry about.


<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14117092#post14117092 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jamesdawson
I think Aquatronica could be a little more pro-active in dealing with the freezing issue.

They should release list of serial numbers of units at risk and offer to replace them with the new controller IMHO rather then wait for failures to occur. That would assuage everyone's trepidations here and quite possibly avoid a catastrophic tank failure(s) somewhere.

James

[SuperR*]

Does the Professional model come with a 2 year warranty? So anything in the package breaks it is replaced free?

[nemo's janitor]

The warranty is very good. Some things are replaced even if they are older than 2 years. depends on the circumstances. There are exclusions of course.
1) Water damage to electronics.
2) Lightning strikes.
3) Probes are excluded because they like all other probes, they need to be replaced at about 18 months.

You will have to check with Will because there may be shipping costs getting the goods to and from AO.
Non of my customers have ever had to pay for any replacements. Only probes.

[SuperR*]

robby your pm is full

[Dubge]

I just got the new head unit about a month ago and all of a sudden about a week ago I woke up in the middle of the night and noticed my canopy fan was still on and I thought that is funny before I went to bed the lights were out and the tank temp was at 80.4 and the fan shuts off when it is 79.8 and I had no idea what was going on so I looked at the aquatronica and it stated power unit 1 was disconnected so I cleared that and it proceeded to go through everything connected to it as well as my other 2 powerbars and everything connected to them, then after about 20 sec of clearing everything it started to recognize them again and everything was fine and my fan shut off. it has done this several more time in the past week but has not done it again in the past 2 days. Nothing is moved, loose or wet and everything is secure under my stand. Now what happens if that does it again but this time me heater is on.....I am going to cook my tank. Dont get me wrong I love this controller but it is almost at the point where if I have to worry about that failing and causing problems in my tank it will be time to get a different controller

[itsdarrow]

Was that an upgraded controller or a whole new purchase. I have a aquatronica new for 3 months and have had zero issues and i love it

[RobbyG]

Use an AC voltmeter and hold the ground lead in your hand and put the positive in the water, next on the powerbars (Metal Case) and check for any stray AC voltage. Sounds like you have a massive amount of stray AC

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14331112#post14331112 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Dubge
I just got the new head unit about a month ago and all of a sudden about a week ago I woke up in the middle of the night and noticed my canopy fan was still on and I thought that is funny before I went to bed the lights were out and the tank temp was at 80.4 and the fan shuts off when it is 79.8 and I had no idea what was going on so I looked at the aquatronica and it stated power unit 1 was disconnected so I cleared that and it proceeded to go through everything connected to it as well as my other 2 powerbars and everything connected to them, then after about 20 sec of clearing everything it started to recognize them again and everything was fine and my fan shut off. it has done this several more time in the past week but has not done it again in the past 2 days. Nothing is moved, loose or wet and everything is secure under my stand. Now what happens if that does it again but this time me heater is on.....I am going to cook my tank. Dont get me wrong I love this controller but it is almost at the point where if I have to worry about that failing and causing problems in my tank it will be time to get a different controller