DA Reefkeeper Elite - Honest User opinions

Reef or Die

Reef or Die

New member
I am looking to purchase a reef keeper elite for my new setup really soon and
I would like to hear pros and cons from any reefers that are using or have used this controller

I had a reef keeper 2 for a few years and was happy with it.
I am considering getting the base model ($350) without the net access cause

1- I am not sure it's a necessity for me ( but it would be nice ):spin3:

2- I hear it is very tricky / difficult to set up and have read others saying they have experienced a lot of problems :angryfire:

I know most are going to say go Apex but I prefer the look and heavy duty feel of the RK Elite

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts :bounce1:
Thanks!!!
 
I've been using an RKE for about 4 months now.

I'm very satisfied with the performance. It does everything I need it to. Using myReef 2.0 I found it wasn't hard to program.

My only concern is that I've had the headunit crash on me twice. I had to unplug the head unit and plug it back in to reset it. If you program your default settings correctly this won't cause any major issues immediately, but you would want to catch it within a day or two.
 
I know this is for the Elite but I hope I can share my experience with the Lite version.

I am on my phone and will have to keep it short but I wouldn't touch a DA product if they were the only controller left. My system has had multiple problems and customer service is less than stellar.

My system started shorting out so I sent it in. DA was nice at first and extended my warranty. I was happy. They sent me my system back a few days later. I waited about 2 months before my new tank was setup before I set up my system again. When I set it up, the issue came back. The exact same issue as before.

I contacted customer support and was told "that is impossible because we sent you a whole new system". I asked what to do and they told me to ship it back to them so they could fix it....again....and on my dime.....again!

I wrote back that I wasn't going to do that and they should have fixed it the first time. They responded that that wasn't an option and I should be happy they even extended my warranty in the first place. So now my system is jerry-rigged to work right. If I bump the temp probe, it shorts out. I zip tied the probe wire to the power cord to keep it stable.

It is a nightmare and I won't even consider DA in the future. Neptune has my full fledged support on my next upgrade.

You've been tapped!
 
First let me say I'm not a computer guy so but this is my experience using the computer "SID inteface so far....

I just got my RKL-Plus and I have to say, it's not been a lot confusing to me.The explanations are either tough to find or non existant. I've been playing with mine just trying to get a lamp to turn on/off to test it and it's frustrating. (tank isn't running yet).

The PC software sometimes fails to "see" the system you have hooked up so you can't do anything. - Then- It final does boot-up correctly, shows the gear you have hooked up to it but then it's fussy to work with...


I'm regretting my purchase the more I play with it. I want to be fair and give DA a chance since it is new to me but damn, in this day and age it should be too hard to click a few settings and hit "save".


If you have any real questions about this gear, go the DA website and look at what you have to do on "first" setup with the "SID" connection.

It would make a watchmaker proud :)


DA directions - "run around your house 3 times beating a pot with a spoon made of ebony and west african goat horn - then -......." :)
 
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DA directions - "run around your house 3 times beating a pot with a spoon made of ebony and west african goat horn - then -......."

LOL!!! Hey, capitols rock. You made me laugh so hard first thing this morning I spit out some coffee. Lol!!

This is exactly what I was afraid of.
It's unbelievable that such a high priced item would come with these types of issues, short outs, cust service and having to Jerry rig it to get it to work right.

Anyone else care to share their experiences
 
I have both RKE and RKL and have had no issues with either. They have saved my aquariums several times when the ac went out, now ask me about my chinese made trane ac and I will tell you it is a piece of ?
 
I too have had a reef keeper lite and I manage 2 sets of lights, 4 powerheads, return pump, skimmer and auto topoff float switches with zero issues. Not to say your issues aren't valid. It just seems that there have been some bad apples shipped out. Here's to hoping I didn't jinx myself now.....:fun5:
 
I have a RKE and have been using it for over a year. I use it to control light, doser, heater, fuge light, ato, skimmer shut-off, moonlights. It's very easy to setup using myReef. But after the initial setup, I do all the programming changes on the head unit. I don't use the Net module and have no need for it.
 
The basic programming on my 2 RKEs I had, and RKL I had were easy enough to do. I do like the look of their head unit and its color options over the Apex head unit, though I use the Apexjr now and have no head unit.

I was very let down on their features side, even things like the NET and especially Tunze control took forever to come out. They still lack a good amount of features over the Apex. While one could think the RKE package coming with the 2 PC4s being better than a single 8 outlet EB8 strip as being better, I finf the RK PC4 strips morelimiting than Neptune 4 outlet strips if you expand. 2 of the PC4 outlets are rated to a max of 3 amps, not alot with some heating and lighting.

The customer service side was mixed for me. They did fix a non warranty problem of mine for free(aside from my paying all shipping) that I caused, it was the head unit buss cable port snapping off the board. But, it was a s-l-o-w process, taking over 3 weeks from when I initiated the 1st email, through the ignored/missing emails, to when i got it back. That was with priority mail to them and 3 day UPS back. Neptune was an RMA number within minutes, and had it there and back in just over a week.
 
Been using the Elite w/NET for about a year now. Being gone for business, it has been nice being able to check on the tank, and see if there are any alarms. I can also check the graphs to make sure that things are coming on and off as they should. That being said, if you don't need the NET, then don't get it. My current set up includes 3 PC4s, 1 SL1 and the NET. I run my lights, my skimmer, my ATO, and all pumps and heaters off of the RKE, except for the Vortec, just seems silly to do that. I have my skimmer activated by a pressure switch in the skimmate locker, so that it will shut off when it is full. I have the ATO kick on for 15 minutes when the float level drops. I get constant feedback from the entire system. I know that people have had problems with them, but I found mine on sale a while back, bought it, and have been happy with it ever since. Take it for what you will.
 
I bought the RKE just a few weeks ago and have yet to get it set up on my tank. I bought the TM4, NET, MLC (moon light controller) and other stuff. First the TM4 temps show as error on the NET graphs so useless for monitoring remotely. I posted on their support forum and within a day I got a response. They were able to reproduce the issue and it will be fixed with a firmware update on the NET module. When....who knows.

The NET module works pretty well except for the temp issue. The head unit does display the information correctly on the TM4 so at least it works.

Customer service has been pretty good and I've called twice and posted on the support forum and received prompt service in each interaction. I did a ton of research on the controllers out there and I kept coming back to this one. I did have some issues with my Neptune 2 and hated it just because of the extreme pain the head unit was to interact with to get my programs to run correctly so I probably looked away from the Apex a little because of that.

The Apex and RKE on paper look good and a lot of people have opinions about the two. Opinions about the RKE negative in nature (some justified) originate from a few who have legitimate issues they encountered but overpower the conversations related to this debate. The thing is I doubt using a complex system will not result in some type of issue. I haven't used the Apex but so far testing with the RKE has been painless except the NET/TM4 issue I stated. I won't say I regret my purchase but I'm not willing to send it back to only run into some issues with the Apex (not that I would).

This said I could bail on the NET module and just take an old computer you want to replace, and set it up using MyReef to run all the time and then put some remote access on it like LogMeIn and just access it when you need it. Just my 2cents
 
Love my rkl.. Just bought a full rke for my new tank. There is a learning curve.. They could use some user research there...
 
I'm ok with my RKL now. I still can't calibrate the pH probe, but everything else works fine. But I agree 100% with Capitolrock that the instructions and supplemental info available on the website are almost useless. Perhaps they make sense to someone who has used a prior version of a DA controller, but from my perspective they seem to be deliberately obfuscatory.
 
i have both. rke over 3 yrs and apex about 3 months. honestly because i have had rke for longer and i grow on it i feel more comfortable with it so far. but on the other hand Apex does not look like a bad system either. apples to apples i believe Apex has more to offer in all fields (devices and customer service) than rke.
 
Awesome info guys!! At the $350 price point with out Net I am going to give it a try. For my needs which will be pretty basic, temp, fan, heater, T5 lights, moonlights and ATO I think it will work well and shouldn't give me too many headaches. I hope.

So the my reef app is only available for the elite with Net? Correct
Figure this is a dumb question but I am new to all this technological reef stuff

Thanks for the responses.
 
I have a rkl and wish I had gone with a rke as they are not limited to only 4 modules.

I've always received a quick response from da through emails MD on their forums.

Also, the myreef program is only a beta so bugs are to be expected. That said, it has been in the beta phase for a long time.
 
Been using my Elite for almost two years with no problems. Its not too difficult to figure out how to run it on the head unit as long as you have a little common sense and very easy to setup if you do it through the computer.
 
I'm using an RKL. Mine had a few problems out of the box... was missing some cables and the temperature probe wire was loose from the connector. DA sent me replacements free of charge.

Other than that, so far so good. One thing to note, the outer outlets 1 and 4 of the PC4 power strip are mechanical relays, each have an 8 amp rating, and are pretty much compatible with everything. However, they are mechanical and will eventually wear out. The inner outlets 2 and 3 are solid state relays, each with a 3 amp rating, and are more reliable long term since there aren't any moving parts. Good for stuff like the ATO pump that cycles on and off a few times every hour, 24 hours a day.

Unfortunately, the solid state relays aren't compatible with everything, and my aqualifter ATO pump was one of those incompatible devices. Due to the way the aqualifter drew current, the relay would stick in the "on" position despite the on/off setting on the controller. I corrected this problem by placing a Belkin power strip in between the outlet of the PC4 and the aqualifter.

This is a known issue and the workaround is reliable. Just keep it in mind so you don't empty out your entire ATO reservoir like I did.
 
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