Should I can the idea of automated testing?

[michealprater]

Really at my whits end with my neptune trident. I know tridents arent perfectly accurate, but they are good at repeatability and trends. I absolutely hate manual testing, and i am one that prefers the frequency of the trident testing and cant see myself doing it multiple times a day. I been working a new build (shameless plug if you want to check my tank thread), so a couple of weeks ago, I decided to take my trident offline that was working perfectly fine. I followed the shutdown procedure to a tee and set the trident to the side until the new build was up and going. While I had it down, I figured I would go through and do routine maintenance on it. So I cleared all the lines, and the manifold (all of which were clear, but I figured running hot water through them wouldnt hurt), cleaned the cuvette and reassembled the trident. I have done this a few times before, its old hat.... or so I thought. I followed the setup procedure to put the trident back on line on the new build. After initializing, I have had nothing but "no sample water", "test A, B and C" fails. I have run through the troubleshooting steps, and every thing appears to be functioning just as it should... yet it kicks errors out. One exception would be, the pill is no longer spinning now. I posted on the neptune group and the responses have been reach out to support. Now mind you, this is the same group that does nothing but bash neptune support all day long. So I am scared to even waste more time and sanity working with them, who will run me through all the things I have already done. They do have the advanced replacement program now, but that is an additional $200, to fix a unit that was $600 initially. So just throwing more money at another product that I am not certain wont just leave me in the same predicament again. I have browsed at the other automated testing units, and they are just flat out, out of my price range, and none of them have glowing reviews. Not sure exactly if there is a fix to my problem, or if I am just venting here.... either way, any insight would be much appreciated.

 

[KrisReef]

Contact Neptune Support. They may have upgraded their support system along with the new $200.00 upgrade?

Otherwise, spend the money on reagents for DIY testing and flush Neptune outta your system.

I think this might be one of the support techs? Waiting for you to call.

 

[Reeferbadness]

I had the same problem with the pill not spinning and Neptune actually replaced my Trident (it was less than 1 year old). Option B was for them to walk me through how to fix it, which was a bit beyond my technical competence, so they sent me a refurbished Trident and i sent my unit back. Def give them a call.

 

[Dom]

While automation has its place in the hobby ( think vacation ), I think that it is
over-used at the detriment of the tank.

This is not a hobby where you can "set it and forget it". In my view, the more automation you deploy, the more disconnected you become from your tank.

I'm with @KrisReef... flush it!

 

[Reeferbadness]

While automation has its place in the hobby ( think vacation ), I think that it is
over-used at the detriment of the tank.

This is not a hobby where you can "set it and forget it". In my view, the more automation you deploy, the more disconnected you become from your tank.

I'm with @KrisReef... flush it!

I wouldn't really call automation set and forget... i can monitor my Trident, RS ATO, RS Doser remotely and make adjustments from anywhere (like when traveling) - for me, this is a total game changer when traveling (which i do a lot) so i can just have someone feed the fish and not worry about most adjustments/changes while away.

 

[michealprater]

I had the same problem with the pill not spinning and Neptune actually replaced my Trident (it was less than 1 year old). Option B was for them to walk me through how to fix it, which was a bit beyond my technical competence, so they sent me a refurbished Trident and i sent my unit back. Def give them a call.

Mines a few years old.

 

[michealprater]

I wouldn't really call automation set and forget... i can monitor my Trident, RS ATO, RS Doser remotely and make adjustments from anywhere (like when traveling) - for me, this is a total game changer when traveling (which i do a lot) so i can just have someone feed the fish and not worry about most adjustments/changes while away.

This right here… he gets it.

 

[KQuillan]

Good luck!! Mine crashed too, under 1 year. After dealing with support often, they are sending me a new unit. HOWEVER, they just got parts in and not expected to have any units available for a minimum of five weeks!

 

[OctaviusBrine]

I feel your pain I’ve had a lot of trouble with there products in general. There great when they work but they can make you want to smash them against the wall when they don’t. This may sound silly but it’s what I found wrong with mine this last time. Have you taken off there filter and tried running it. I could blow through it and it seemed fine but it would give me no sample errors. Once I took it off it worked just fine. I’m waiting on a new one from them but they seem to just keep forgetting to send it to me and then supposedly are doing inventory so idk when I’ll receive the new filter.

 

[ReefHunter006]

If the magnet isn’t spinning then the motor might be dead or loose. This happened to me.

Basically the motor shifted out of place for the magnet. I used a piece of tape and it’s back to new.

I agree, Neptune support excels at wasting time.

I loathe dealing with them every quarter.

Message me if it’s something you need details on.

 

[rtparty]

Give them a call and see what they can do. The Trident has been a game changer for me and I am FAR more in tune with my tank than before. Like all things technology wise, poop happens. I think I am right around 18 months on my Trident and had one hiccup where I kept getting a test fail. I took off all the draw and waste lines, blew them out, cleaned the cuvette, removed the drawer (this is by far the worst part of the Trident) and all has been well.

I guess when I want to really be in tune with my tank I will sit by it and plug my heater in and out manually. That will really get me in tune with everything

 

[Dom]

I wouldn't really call automation set and forget... i can monitor my Trident, RS ATO, RS Doser remotely and make adjustments from anywhere (like when traveling) - for me, this is a total game changer when traveling (which i do a lot) so i can just have someone feed the fish and not worry about most adjustments/changes while away.

Again, automation has its place in the hobby. And you are a perfect example of someone who has a genuine need.

 

[michealprater]

I feel your pain I’ve had a lot of trouble with there products in general. There great when they work but they can make you want to smash them against the wall when they don’t. This may sound silly but it’s what I found wrong with mine this last time. Have you taken off there filter and tried running it. I could blow through it and it seemed fine but it would give me no sample errors. Once I took it off it worked just fine. I’m waiting on a new one from them but they seem to just keep forgetting to send it to me and then supposedly are doing inventory so idk when I’ll receive the new filter.

Its an old model... doesnt even have a filter. It is drawing everything in the cuvette though, so its kind of moot. Its the pill in the cuvette that isnt spinning.

 

[michealprater]

If the magnet isn’t spinning then the motor might be dead or loose. This happened to me.

Basically the motor shifted out of place for the magnet. I used a piece of tape and it’s back to new.

I agree, Neptune support excels at wasting time.

I loathe dealing with them every quarter.

Message me if it’s something you need details on.

Now this is something I havent checked. It appears like there is a little retainer there that hold it in. It does look like it may be loose as well.

 

[michealprater]

If the magnet isn’t spinning then the motor might be dead or loose. This happened to me.

Basically the motor shifted out of place for the magnet. I used a piece of tape and it’s back to new.

I agree, Neptune support excels at wasting time.

I loathe dealing with them every quarter.

Message me if it’s something you need details on.

Should I just remove the retainer and remove the motor and see if the magnet is seated? I am not worried about voiding the warranty... its far to old to have a warranty.

 

[GARRIGA]

No experience with any of these auto testers yet after extensive research including the maintenance, replenishment of supplies and having to physically replace it or repair along with expected advancements I’ve concluded it’s less effort, time and cost long term to just send ICP tests out. I get things can suddenly change but aren’t those more likely involving pH, temperature, salinity or something tracked by ORP that can prompt manual testing? I know it doesn’t help remotely but can’t certain precautions be in place to minimize those issues. Not sure one needs to constantly adjust alkalinity every few hours since slowly over time life adjusts and how often have we heard another with happy corals discovering their alkalinity dropped to 5?

KISS might work.

 

[ReefHunter006]

Should I just remove the retainer and remove the motor and see if the magnet is seated? I am not worried about voiding the warranty... it’s far to old to have a warranty.

If the spinner works better when you lift the black motor towards the cuvette then that’s your problem. Here is a video of when I pushed it up and when I let it fall to the bottom. The piece should a little loose but mine fell off it was so loose.

 

[michealprater]

If the spinner works better when you lift the black motor towards the cuvette then that’s your problem. Here is a video of when I pushed it up and when I let it fall to the bottom. The piece should a little loose but mine fell off it was so loose.

mine is not moving at all. Ill give it a shot... nothing to lose really.

When your pill didnt spin was it giving you all the different sample errors like I am getting?

 

[ReefHunter006]

mine is not moving at all. Ill give it a shot... nothing to lose really.

When your pill didnt spin was it giving you all the different sample errors like I am getting?

Yes, my motor fell so far away it didn’t spin. The video was just of me adjusting that distance to so Neptune the impact the motor distance was having.

Even when it spin erratically in the video it gave large reading errors.

 

[michealprater]

Yes, my motor fell so far away it didn’t spin. The video was just of me adjusting that distance to so Neptune the impact the motor distance was having.

Even when it spin erratically in the video it gave large reading errors.

sorry for all the questions, does the retainer on it control the distance? it looks like you used tape, but my retainer is still intact.