Unforseen Dis-zaster

[ratrod]

I posted awhile back about product disapointment and failure and how back-up is critical for the unexpected crash. Tonight I get home walk into the room and couldnt help but notice that everthing in my 252gal DT was dying and the fish would hardly move. Only a couple things came to mind that could cripple so many thing at once. I checked all the obvious things and then finally looked at the temp of the water it was 67deg F. I couldnt believe it! Another heater failure! These heaters are expensive about 200 bucks. There called Pro Heat 2. They come with thier own digital thermostat I cant believe this is the second one that has failed. Someone wrote in the last time that I posted that for instance three 300w heaters are better than one 1000w just for back up. Well, I think he was correct

 

[viper_930]

Sorry about your loss.
I'm sure you already figured it out, but the won bros heaters are known for failing. They either don't turn on or don't turn off.
I would recommend you try a seperate temperature controller if the digital thermostat is what you're interested in. The Ranco or Neptune Aquacontroller would be good choices.

 

[reefforbrains]

I would track them down and whoop some arse. You have a phone number for them?
I know this is a bad time to say it , but all the fancy LCD displays and so on are like Fancy lures, they arent made to catch fish, they are made to catch fishermen.
I would just switch back to a dual 500w set up of some normal heaters. JMO for what its worth

 

[ratrod]

Viper and Reeforbrains, I really appreciateyour imput. I didnt know that these heaters were known for being junk! Ive never had a problem with the good old stand and by stuff and have had reefs for 12yrs I thought I was upgrading. The company that makes these heaters need to have a few inserted in certain places, hopefully if it happens it will be with one that actually works!

 

[fishgeek01]

Originally Posted by ratrod
The company that makes these heaters need to have a few inserted in certain places, hopefully if it happens it will be with one that actually works!

I know this is not a laughing matter and I am sorry for your losses, but this statement made my day, it is so funny..... I feel like doing the same thing with some of my equipment to the manufacturers...LOL

:hilarious

 

[bonebrake]

The digital pH meters they sell on this site for $40.00 a piece are complete junk. I ordered two of them, tried to calibrate them as per the instructions (mind you, they did not come with their own calibration solutions, another $10.00), and they recorded the pH all over the place! Anywhere from -4.2 to 18.4. Real accurate eh? I emailed them two months ago about it and they have not returned my email.

 

[maxalmon]

From my experience, when it comes to ph probes you have to use whats called a "lab" grade and they have to replaced every few months.

 

[bonebrake]

Good to know Max, I thought I would save money by getting a cheaper one and all I did was waste $90 on two probes when I could have had one good one for ~$120.

 

[reefpro]

I have to tell you all I was in the same boat as you are... I went out and purchased a ReefKeeper 2 by Digital Aquatics and I absolutely love the device. It's very intuitive and it has a PH Probe that works perfectly and comes with a calibrating solution. It also has a PC hookup that will log your levels for you (temp/PH).
Very neat and WELL worth the money... it has an auto shutoff for the lights if you breach a certain temperature as well as the heater (at the plug level). A soft start if you're using metal halides.
It's a very good device and I wouldn't have another tank without one!
:happyfish :happyfish :happyfish

 

[ratrod]

I think the one thing we can all agree on is the goal of a reef keeper is to keep things alive, watch them grow, and a lot of times propagate. No doubt about it, this hobby is expensive. Its important that we all comunicate about the products we use for the well being of the forms of life we have chosen to be responsible for. Products that have been repeatedly known as failures should be posted on a site to prevent further death to our creatures, and ofcourse inserted into the manufacturers orfice of choice. I can sympathize with Bonebreak on the PH monitor, bought one of those a while back what a joke. The company I bought it from gave me my money back, but what a waste of time

 

[reefpro]

Originally Posted by ratrod
I think the one thing we can all agree on is the goal of a reef keeper is to keep things alive, watch them grow, and a lot of times propagate. No doubt about it, this hobby is expensive. Its important that we all comunicate about the products we use for the well being of the forms of life we have chosen to be responsible for. Products that have been repeatedly known as failures should be posted on a site to prevent further death to our creatures, and ofcourse inserted into the manufacturers orfice of choice. I can sympathize with Bonebreak on the PH monitor, bought one of those a while back what a joke. The company I bought it from gave me my money back, but what a waste of time
Completely agree!

 

[bonebrake]

Originally Posted by ratrod
I think the one thing we can all agree on is the goal of a reef keeper is to keep things alive, watch them grow, and a lot of times propagate. No doubt about it, this hobby is expensive. Its important that we all comunicate about the products we use for the well being of the forms of life we have chosen to be responsible for. Products that have been repeatedly known as failures should be posted on a site to prevent further death to our creatures, and ofcourse inserted into the manufacturers orfice of choice. I can sympathize with Bonebreak on the PH monitor, bought one of those a while back what a joke. The company I bought it from gave me my money back, but what a waste of time
Amen brother Ratrod!

 

[bacchus_fl]

Originally Posted by reefpro
I have to tell you all I was in the same boat as you are... I went out and purchased a ReefKeeper 2 by Digital Aquatics and I absolutely love the device. It's very intuitive and it has a PH Probe that works perfectly and comes with a calibrating solution. It also has a PC hookup that will log your levels for you (temp/PH).
Very neat and WELL worth the money... it has an auto shutoff for the lights if you breach a certain temperature as well as the heater (at the plug level). A soft start if you're using metal halides.
It's a very good device and I wouldn't have another tank without one!
:happyfish :happyfish :happyfish
I have been looking at these for awhile now. I was hoping to find one that had all the capabilities as the RK2 but with an ethernet port to have it hooked to my computer and online all the time. The only ones I have founf with that ability are 2 or 3 times as expensive with allot of stuff I won't use.
Tell me a little bit more about how the RK2 hooks up to your computer and tracks.
Not trying to take over the thread just interested. I only want one of these so I can feel at easy about my tank and so I don't have to spend so much time dreaming of ways to stick my faulty equipment in these manufacturers bad places.

 

[ridomart]

Everytime I try to save money it cost me more money. After the work & expence I go best I can get NOW!

 

[wattsupdoc]

Well the thread starter thought that was what he was doing. Going with the best. Everytime I open my wallet it costs me money.

 

[ratrod]

I also would like to learn a little more about the reefkeeper 2. If it works as good as I'm reading above it would be worth it. Since were all talkin about the junk failures we've had I'll add one more joke to the thread. Bought a float valve for my RODI so I could have a more consistant level in the sump, what a piece of crap lol, I will say this, this thing could be actually viewed as more respectfull junk than the other junk because it failed instantly instead of getting my hopes up initially and then taking a surprise enexpected crap on me when I'm not ready! The solution, used a toilet float valve, there cheap and rarely fail, and are able to handle the pressure from the RODI. I'll post some pics tomorrow if I can

 

[murph]

IMO probably more than 75 percent of all the equipment sold in association with this hobby is completely worthless, unnecessary or actually designed to fail after a certain period of time so replacement is necessary.
Sadly its not just this hobby's equipment FME either. Look at how long the manufacturers warranty last and the product will probably fail and need replacing a few days after that. I believe in many cases this is by design. Its time that we as consumers stop putting up with this and a good place to start would be a one day across the board retail strike meaning for a twenty four hour period no one buys anything. Sounds goofy but we may be surprised just how effective this could be.

 

[bonebrake]

Originally Posted by Murph
IMO probably more than 75 percent of all the equipment sold in association with this hobby is completely worthless, unnecessary or actually designed to fail after a certain period of time so replacement is necessary.
I couldn't agree more with this statement. What we really need is more hobbyists who have the knowledge and love for the hobby to make affordable, quality products. We are starting to see this some, but I hope this trend continues to grow.
:joy:

 

[reefpro]

The RK2 actually hooks up to your PC via a serial connection. Basically they sell you a "splitter" to allow you to split the temperature connection into two connections.
This splitter is nothing more than a telephone (RJ11) splitter and you can use any one you have in your house. They include an RJ11 cable and serial port to RJ11 adapter to hook it up to your PC.
You then download the package that allows you to connect and log on your PC and it allows you to actually look at the stats and read logs of your data.
It really is nice... the ONLY thing I would change is giving it an network port like you suggested so that I can control it from my PC without getting up.
It would be nice but unfortunately they don't have that.... but the device itself is awesome and I highly recommend it.
Thanks!
rp

 

[bonebrake]

So you can't control the RK2 from your computer? You can view the data, but if you want to make adjustments to something plugged into it you have to physically change things on the RK2 unit itself?
:notsure:
If that is the case, I'll wait for the RK3.