Aquatronica

[TheMoneyPit]

Any controller you buy is going to have problems, the good part about th AQ is that no one has had problems that could kill your tank out right.

Adding fresh water to correct inaccurate salinity readings could wipe your tank out very quickly.

 

[tehon3299]

Does anyone have a picture of how the level sensor is suppose to look when attached to the holder? I cant figure out how to attach it to the holder and do you need the clear cup it comes with?

 

[RobbyG]

Moneypit in all fairness to Aquatronica they did say clean the probe every 2 weeks and I would add you should also calibrate it every 2 weeks, based on my last expierence. If I had followed what they recommended I would not have had this problem but I left it for 5 weeks so the salinity reading was just way out. With that said, I am not happy with a 2 week interval, that is just way to short a period to have to mess with the probe. I wish somebody with a Refractometer (Hint to Nick ) could do a few readings over a 1 month period and let us know how badly the probe really drifts.

 

[RobbyG]

Oh I think we would have heard about it

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7126674#post7126674 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by HotHotHot
Not that have been reported on this thread. Yet.

Ed

 

[Psyire]

I just got my Salinity cal. fluid today so I'll be doing some probe tests over the next week. I have a refractometer to do some double checking.

 

[TheMoneyPit]

Here's what mine was doing;

AQUATRONICA
Sensor data stored at 2/7/2006 2:05 PM
******************
Conductivity
2/6/2006 2:30:00 PM 1024.89164506975
2/6/2006 3:00:00 PM 1024.86876901428
2/6/2006 3:30:00 PM 1024.87448766372
2/6/2006 4:00:00 PM 1024.87448766372
2/6/2006 4:30:00 PM 1024.88592569145
2/6/2006 5:00:00 PM 1024.90308455522
2/6/2006 5:30:00 PM 1024.89736469101
2/6/2006 6:00:00 PM 1024.94313040747
2/6/2006 6:30:00 PM 1024.90308455522
2/6/2006 7:00:00 PM 1024.97746489897
2/6/2006 7:30:00 PM 1024.88592569145
2/6/2006 8:00:00 PM 1024.94885221533
2/6/2006 8:30:00 PM 1024.85161452372
2/6/2006 9:00:00 PM 1025.24672101732
2/6/2006 9:30:00 PM 1025.18938753465
2/6/2006 10:00:00 PM 1025.16072990417
2/6/2006 10:30:00 PM 1025.19511978962
2/6/2006 11:00:00 PM 1025.22951842148
2/6/2006 11:30:00 PM 1025.2753968695
2/7/2006 12:00:00 AM 1025.24672101732
2/7/2006 12:30:00 AM 1026.0404041441
2/7/2006 1:00:00 AM 1025.42460921208
2/7/2006 1:30:00 AM 1025.3155532667
2/7/2006 2:00:00 AM 1026.3406733507
2/7/2006 2:30:00 AM 1027.68833990499
2/7/2006 3:00:00 AM 1032.67721073564
2/7/2006 3:30:00 AM 1034.3293973352
2/7/2006 4:00:00 AM 1035.78364064586
2/7/2006 4:30:00 AM 1037.75010149191
2/7/2006 5:00:00 AM 1042.38423018561
2/7/2006 5:30:00 AM 1041.7626623906
2/7/2006 6:00:00 AM 1041.38571346447
2/7/2006 6:30:00 AM 1042.81489531813
2/7/2006 7:00:00 AM 1037.04632302536
2/7/2006 7:30:00 AM 1039.91800039313
2/7/2006 8:00:00 AM 1039.91800039313
2/7/2006 8:30:00 AM 1044.15883411996
2/7/2006 9:00:00 AM 1044.05508103181
2/7/2006 9:30:00 AM 1036.27760514502
2/7/2006 10:00:00 AM 1035.69119540837
2/7/2006 10:30:00 AM 1035.61112042052
2/7/2006 11:00:00 AM 1028.32016259256
2/7/2006 11:30:00 AM 1037.7064144591
2/7/2006 12:00:00 PM 1039.35597756029
2/7/2006 12:30:00 PM 1041.21349348536
2/7/2006 1:00:00 PM 1041.37295035508
2/7/2006 1:30:00 PM 1034.19509646672
2/7/2006 2:00:00 PM 1045.8862904991

 

[TheMoneyPit]

BTW: Aquatronica never made the "every two week" cleaning recommendation, Ron from AO did. I've yet to see anything that Aquatronica put in writing about the maintenance of the salinity probe. I don't think I even received a userââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s manual with the probe when I bought it. 24 cleanings a year compared to Pinpoint's 4 times a year is a little too much. Not to mention Pinpoint will continue to give accurate readings if you never clean it, don't try that with the AQ probe. It would be easier, cheaper and a lot more accurate to test the water manually.

I know that I sound like a broken record, but the probe should never rust, and if it does it's a huge design flaw. It's not a "rust remover"; it's a salinity probe and not a very good one if you look at the readings I was getting.

I thought I should mention that the second probe I got from AO rusted within the 2 week period, so perhaps it needs cleaning a little more frequently then once every 2 weeks.

 

[RobbyG]

Pysire I look forward to your comparison over time. BTW why did you need calibration fluid? I heard that the Refractometer is very accurate, can't you just calibrate it based on a sample read with the refractometer?

MoneyPit thanks for that post, it is almost exactly like mine was reading except that I did not get a slow rise but a sudden jump when I calibrated the probe.

 

[RonBuck]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7133179#post7133179 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TheMoneyPit
BTW: Aquatronica never made the "every two week" cleaning recommendation, Ron from AO did. I've yet to see anything that Aquatronica put in writing about the maintenance of the salinity probe. I don't think I even received a userââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s manual with the probe when I bought it. 24 cleanings a year compared to Pinpoint's 4 times a year is a little too much. Not to mention Pinpoint will continue to give accurate readings if you never clean it, don't try that with the AQ probe. It would be easier, cheaper and a lot more accurate to test the water manually.

I know that I sound like a broken record, but the probe should never rust, and if it does it's a huge design flaw. It's not a "rust remover"; it's a salinity probe and not a very good one if you look at the readings I was getting.

I thought I should mention that the second probe I got from AO rusted within the 2 week period, so perhaps it needs cleaning a little more frequently then once every 2 weeks.

I'm sorry TheMoneyPit,

But the probe maintenance was from Derek's (the person I deal with from Aquatronica) mouth, to clean the probe every 2 weeks. I was wondering why my name keeps coming up in your replies? I didn't even get a chance to deal with you. I got hired just after you got ****ed off with the probe. There are a lot of people I have spent a lot of time and effort to help them. I never got the chance with you.

Thanks, have a great day!

 

[Psyire]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7138415#post7138415 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RobbyG
Pysire I look forward to your comparison over time. BTW why did you need calibration fluid? I heard that the Refractometer is very accurate, can't you just calibrate it based on a sample read with the refractometer?

That's how I calibrated my last probe, but I also need to calibrate the Refractometer. This way I can calibrate both to the same cal. solution and see what happens.

 

[RobbyG]

BTW MoneyPit, I was looking at my Bottle of Redsea ORP Calibration Fluid and it said in bold letters on the Front that ORP probes should be Calibrated WEEKLY. From what I have seen in other threads I think that most people calibrate all there probes on a fairly routine basis. (and yes I think it sucks but it seems to be a fact of life)

 

[Bebo77]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7126112#post7126112 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TheMoneyPit
Sorry, the price only includes the controller, sms module, power strip, temp probe, ph probe and calibration/cleaning fluids. But if enough people contact Jesse he may be able to work with you on price.

Newbury Park is north of Calabasas, near Westlake and Thousand Oaks. It takes me about 40 minutes (3 hours with traffic LOL) to get downtown.

when you have time let me know (PM)

i wanted to visit TATS in thousand oaks.. maybe i can swing by your place and see the ELOS as well let me know what weekend works well for you

Gabriel

 

[RobbyG]

I thought that you could just calibrate the refracto with some distilled water?

Please keep some notes on how the AQT Probe vaires from the Refractometer over the next month, it would be real nice to see how much the AQ drifts.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7143145#post7143145 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Psyire
That's how I calibrated my last probe, but I also need to calibrate the Refractometer. This way I can calibrate both to the same cal. solution and see what happens.

 

[TheMoneyPit]

I was looking at my Bottle of Redsea ORP Calibration Fluid and it said in bold letters on the Front that ORP probes should be Calibrated WEEKLY. From what I have seen in other threads I think that most people calibrate all there probes on a fairly routine basis.

Pinpoint recommends calibration "occasionally". Based on my experience with Pinpoint probes in general and the salinity probe in particular, you do not need to calibrate weekly or even monthly. My probe held it's calibration for a year. I'll let you know what Elos recommends when I receive the controller, and how long you can expect it to give accurate readings without recalibration. Maybe you can direct me to the "other threads" you've seen on this calibration matter, I'd love to read them.
Thanks,
Jim

maybe i can swing by your place and see the ELOS as well let me know what weekend works well for you

I hope to have the controller up and running by the end of the month. I'll drop you a PM when I get it and we can set up a time.

 

[tomasz]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7151534#post7151534 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RobbyG
I thought that you could just calibrate the refracto with some distilled water?

Please keep some notes on how the AQT Probe vaires from the Refractometer over the next month, it would be real nice to see how much the AQ drifts.

Yes, you calibrate it with RO water.

 

[Psyire]

No, you can't calibrate a refractometer with RO or Distilled water.

This is a common misconception. It has to be done exactly the same way you calibrate a salinity probe or any other device concerning salinity. (Calibration Fluid) I believe Randy Holmes-Farley has a write up on it somewhere on the net.

 

[RobbyG]

Read that in Marine Depot Catalog, guess they are a bad place for information LOL.

______
"No, you can't calibrate a refractometer with RO or Distilled water"

 

[sknoch78]

The instructions that came with my refractometer state specifically to use distilled water.

 

[scbasser5]

The instructions for my Milwaukee instruments refractometer with out a doubt say use RO or distilled water.

 

[Psyire]

I would suggest reading this article by Randy:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-06/rhf/index.php

Here is the excerpt in which he refers to what I was talking about:

It is widely believed that only pure water is required to calibrate refractometers. That fact is true of many refractometers, and is certainly appropriate for routine calibration, but it assumes that they were manufactured correctly and have not been damaged since manufacturing. As refractometers used by aquarists become less and less expensive (with some now selling for less than $30), there is every reason to believe that at some point they will no longer be accurate enough.

The only way to be sure that a given refractometer gives useful information is to check its accuracy in a solution similar to aquarium water. I believe that all refractometers should be checked in this fashion when first purchased, and again any time there is a reason to be concerned. For example, an aquarist might be concerned if an aquarium that had been running for years at a salinity of 35 ppt suddenly reads 39 ppt.

So what I really should have said is you shouldn't use RO or distilled water if you want truely accurate readings.