Apex conversion to GHL

OP
OP
Billldg

Billldg

My Gem Tang Is Watching You
View Badges
Joined
May 14, 2018
Messages
17,478
Reaction score
121,894
Location
Georgia
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Yes, using the Mac video and the my connect video. Just tells you to power cycle and wait 30 seconds

No directions for it not working
Did you use a Static or Auto IP address?
 

Hydrored

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 25, 2019
Messages
4,010
Reaction score
15,226
Location
The great state of Texas
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Did you use a Static or Auto IP address?
Neither, following this-



It has just been turned on for the first time, the hotspot network never shows. Everything is in German on the display

Edit: I just plugged in the SA doser that came with the KHD and all my devices find that fine, it's the P4 not showing a hotspot at all
 
Last edited:
OP
OP
Billldg

Billldg

My Gem Tang Is Watching You
View Badges
Joined
May 14, 2018
Messages
17,478
Reaction score
121,894
Location
Georgia
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Neither, following this-



It has just been turned on for the first time, the hotspot network never shows. Everything is in German on the display

Edit: I just plugged in the SA doser that came with the KHD and all my devices find that fine, it's the P4 not showing a hotspot at all

You will need to change the language on the P4 screen.

Let me see what I can do.

@Ditto
@Vinny@GHLUSA
 
Last edited:

Hydrored

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 25, 2019
Messages
4,010
Reaction score
15,226
Location
The great state of Texas
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
@Hydrored

Are you using a 2.4 GHZ, 5 GHZ, or dual router?

Dual, but again it's not showing the GHL hotspot from the P4 itself. The SA doser shows fine and can connect to it.

The issue isn't my wifi, it's the P4 will not show it's hotspot connection to any device in my house

I changed the language to english and did a factory reset also. Nothing came of the factory reset.

Edit:

I set up GHL Control Center, ensured the proper driver was installed, whenever I connect the USB cable the P4 freezes completely. If I disconnect the cable it stays frozen until I power cycle it.

If I leave the cable plugged in a power cycle it I get data OK frozen on the screen.

I really dislike apex products and was intentionally moving away but I could have setup 2 2016's and tridents by now

So at this point, I give up on GHL, this was my exact concern when I asked if it could be done with a mac. The answer is still a hard no when the equipment doesn't work.
Capture.PNG


Edit:

Got it to connect by running in compatibility mode and here's what it shows-
Capture.PNG


Even the stand alone doser fails to connect and the app crashes. GHL setup is pathetic, what a joke. I can’t believe this equipment is being compared to Neptune, the quality “feels” better but none of it works. What a waste of a day dealing with this. I’ll be boxing all of this equipment up and returning it.

5DEB2292-4AA5-4023-9DC9-05410EB92D3A.png


How does anyone update the old firmware on any of this equipment without a pc? All of the directions say connect via a usb.
 
Last edited:

wmb0003

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 3, 2020
Messages
334
Reaction score
437
Location
Auburn AL
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
Dual, but again it's not showing the GHL hotspot from the P4 itself. The SA doser shows fine and can connect to it.

The issue isn't my wifi, it's the P4 will not show it's hotspot connection to any device in my house

I changed the language to english and did a factory reset also. Nothing came of the factory reset.

Edit:

I set up GHL Control Center, ensured the proper driver was installed, whenever I connect the USB cable the P4 freezes completely. If I disconnect the cable it stays frozen until I power cycle it.

If I leave the cable plugged in a power cycle it I get data OK frozen on the screen.

I really dislike apex products and was intentionally moving away but I could have setup 2 2016's and tridents by now

So at this point, I give up on GHL, this was my exact concern when I asked if it could be done with a mac. The answer is still a hard no when the equipment doesn't work.
Capture.PNG


Edit:

Got it to connect by running in compatibility mode and here's what it shows-
Capture.PNG


Even the stand alone doser fails to connect and the app crashes. GHL setup is pathetic, what a joke. I can’t believe this equipment is being compared to Neptune, the quality “feels” better but none of it works. What a waste of a day dealing with this. I’ll be boxing all of this equipment up and returning it.

5DEB2292-4AA5-4023-9DC9-05410EB92D3A.png


How does anyone update the old firmware on any of this equipment without a pc? All of the directions say connect via a usb.
Getting the device connected to the internet is the hardest part IMO but once you have it connected(for me anyway) it stayed connected and was good. Also using the GCC program with a computer is easier than trying to setup the hotspot via the app/phone. And during initial setup of the KHD and dosers was easier to setup with computer/GCC program. Also I think a computer is needed to update firmware, hopefully someone else with more experience can confirm this.
 

Hydrored

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 25, 2019
Messages
4,010
Reaction score
15,226
Location
The great state of Texas
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Getting the device connected to the internet is the hardest part IMO but once you have it connected(for me anyway) it stayed connected and was good. Also using the GCC program with a computer is easier than trying to setup the hotspot via the app/phone. And during initial setup of the KHD and dosers was easier to setup with computer/GCC program. Also I think a computer is needed to update firmware, hopefully someone else with more experience can confirm this.

I believe it's misleading to say GHL can be managed with a Mac, that's if you want to use Parallels or something similar and still has it's issues like freezing the P4 non-stop. Either way, all of the GHL equipment was accepted for a return, never dealt with something so frustrating to get connected. Even with the standalone doser with KHD the app work connect then freeze, so even that was a bust.
 

wmb0003

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 3, 2020
Messages
334
Reaction score
437
Location
Auburn AL
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
I believe it's misleading to say GHL can be managed with a Mac, that's if you want to use Parallels or something similar and still has it's issues like freezing the P4 non-stop. Either way, all of the GHL equipment was accepted for a return, never dealt with something so frustrating to get connected. Even with the standalone doser with KHD the app work connect then freeze, so even that was a bust.
Yeah, I agree the way they go about getting their devices connected seems very lacking. I can setup a $10 smart plug,outlet, or switch in 5 min and have no issues years later. There has to be a better way.

Sorry you had issues but maybe if they see enough people returning items due to connectivity issues it will force them to improve.
 

Breadman03

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 30, 2015
Messages
2,250
Reaction score
2,022
Location
Luzerne County, PA
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Yeah, I agree the way they go about getting their devices connected seems very lacking. I can setup a $10 smart plug,outlet, or switch in 5 min and have no issues years later. There has to be a better way.

Sorry you had issues but maybe if they see enough people returning items due to connectivity issues it will force them to improve.
Connectivity is my only complaint about my KHD. It's a roll of the dice whether I'll get it to pull up on my iPhone app, and is why I'm unlikely to go full Profilux until connectivity and programming improve. I believe Apex has the clear lead on today's user interface.
 

wmb0003

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 3, 2020
Messages
334
Reaction score
437
Location
Auburn AL
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
Connectivity is my only complaint about my KHD. It's a roll of the dice whether I'll get it to pull up on my iPhone app, and is why I'm unlikely to go full Profilux until connectivity and programming improve. I believe Apex has the clear lead on today's user interface.
I will say for whatever reason the reliability of the connection is better with my new Profilux than it was with my old Doser/KHD setup. I would get timeouts quite frequently(daily) through the iPhone app; but since getting the new Profilux and running the doser as slave, I do not get them anymore. My biggest complaint was the initial wifi connection, but once I got through that, I have had no issues with it staying connecting.
 
OP
OP
Billldg

Billldg

My Gem Tang Is Watching You
View Badges
Joined
May 14, 2018
Messages
17,478
Reaction score
121,894
Location
Georgia
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I added some fresh water to lower the salinity of my mixing tank recently. I let it sit a few days before I used a refractometer to take readings and compare. I will have to say it's split literally...UGH!!! Both read high initially, my refractometer read 1.028 before adding fresh water to the mixing tanks. I just took a reading of the mixing tank, and the GHL is currently reading 1.0244. After the addition of water, my refractometer currently reads 1.026 as of today.

The GHL read low.
Screenshot (297).png


While the Apex salinity probe is reading 38.2.

Screenshot (298).png


Which is 1.0288 conversion, which is high.

The problem with the GHL could be the temp conversion, but, we will see. I have not calibrated the temp probes of either the GHL or Apex temp probes in my mixing tank.
 

JXNATC

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Oct 1, 2021
Messages
460
Reaction score
1,826
Location
28211
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
This should be quite enlightening. I decided to go with hydros as I’m a new salt and also like the redundancy. But prior to the release of the hydros, I was considering both apex and ghl. I would have gone ghl despite the price.

very interested to read your take on ghl compared to your wealth of experience with apex. Not knocking either as a hydros user. Just like to learn
I'm curious if you find the smaller hydros power bars to be limiting at all?
 

BeltedCoyote

Philosopher king of the Memes
View Badges
Joined
Aug 11, 2019
Messages
7,425
Reaction score
36,786
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I'm curious if you find the smaller hydros power bars to be limiting at all?

havent used them yet. But hydros just came out with a much more intricate power bar. More akin to the apex
 

Mywifeisgunnakillme

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 17, 2020
Messages
1,765
Reaction score
1,890
Location
Gig Harbor
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I added some fresh water to lower the salinity of my mixing tank recently. I let it sit a few days before I used a refractometer to take readings and compare. I will have to say it's split literally...UGH!!! Both read high initially, my refractometer read 1.028 before adding fresh water to the mixing tanks. I just took a reading of the mixing tank, and the GHL is currently reading 1.0244. After the addition of water, my refractometer currently reads 1.026 as of today.

The GHL read low.
Screenshot (297).png


While the Apex salinity probe is reading 38.2.

Screenshot (298).png


Which is 1.0288 conversion, which is high.

The problem with the GHL could be the temp conversion, but, we will see. I have not calibrated the temp probes of either the GHL or Apex temp probes in my mixing tank.

I don't trust the GHL salinity sensor at all... It's never been accurate compared to refractometer and precision hyrdrometer, which read the same... Yes it is always low, but randomly fluctuates as to how low...
 

wmb0003

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 3, 2020
Messages
334
Reaction score
437
Location
Auburn AL
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
I added some fresh water to lower the salinity of my mixing tank recently. I let it sit a few days before I used a refractometer to take readings and compare. I will have to say it's split literally...UGH!!! Both read high initially, my refractometer read 1.028 before adding fresh water to the mixing tanks. I just took a reading of the mixing tank, and the GHL is currently reading 1.0244. After the addition of water, my refractometer currently reads 1.026 as of today.

The GHL read low.
Screenshot (297).png


While the Apex salinity probe is reading 38.2.

Screenshot (298).png


Which is 1.0288 conversion, which is high.

The problem with the GHL could be the temp conversion, but, we will see. I have not calibrated the temp probes of either the GHL or Apex temp probes in my mixing tank.
I would change the GHL measurement to
PSU, the kg/l is slightly lower than the standard specific gravity(this link does the conversion https://reefapp.net/en/salinity-calculator) but you are actually at 1.0274 sg according to the GHL probe. I think there is a link on GHL’s website that goes into more detail about the probe readings. Ill link it too if I can find it again.

edit: found it https://www.aquariumcomputer.com/kn...ty-calculators-vs-profilux-calculated-values/
 
OP
OP
Billldg

Billldg

My Gem Tang Is Watching You
View Badges
Joined
May 14, 2018
Messages
17,478
Reaction score
121,894
Location
Georgia
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I don't trust the GHL salinity sensor at all... It's never been accurate compared to refractometer and precision hyrdrometer, which read the same... Yes it is always low, but randomly fluctuates as to how low...
It's more accurate than the Apex sensor, I am just trying to see how much more. That's what I am trying to see. It will take some time as they degrade over time.
 
Back
Top