Help: My GHL stand alone is very off

[cuong]

I've had the GHL 4 pump standalone for almost a week. I'm currently testing out the unit and I find pump 1 & pump 2 when running continuously only dose 41 ml - 43 ml per minute, not 60 ml/minute as stated. I then proceed to calibrate both pumps by increasing pump 1 to 79ml (60ml + 19ml to compensate) and pump 2 to 77ml ( 60ml + 17ml). I want to dose 80ml of calcium & alk, so I set number of doses to 8, and amount to 10ml in 24 hours.
The next day (after 24 hours), pump 1 only doses 40ml, and pump 2 only 42ml. I have not tested pump 3 & 4 yet.

Could someone tell me what I did wrong or this unit is not that accurate at all ? I mean it's so way off target. I'm very disappointed

thanks

 

[AQD_ottawa]

If dosing things like calcium and alk (solids in suspension) the dosing rate will naturaly fall this is why the unit has the option to calibrate per pump so you can get the correct flow rate adjusted to the element you are dosing. The flow rate will also be effected by any restrictions in the pipe work leading to or leading from the doser, this include head pressure, or drop back of fluid. This sort of thing is standard with any doser you buy, the beauty of the profiLux is that it allows you to compensate for such things.

I would also really check and double check you have your figures on 24 hour dosing period correct as by looking at the figures pump 1 and 2 are dosing pretty much the same, if there was something wrong with the unit you would not get two pump performing equally our of calibration. By correct figures I mean how are you working our it only dosed 42ml in 24 hours.

If you need more support regarding this please email me at sales@aqua-digital.com other than that speak to Pat who your purchased of of and he will guide you further.

 

[Ken Good]

I would just add that the 60 ml is an estimate. The first thing you should do is calibrate each pump to measure how much each pump performs compared to the estimate. Then you should enter in the actual numbers in the place of the estimated amount of 60 ml. I think that the easiest way to run the pumps is the automatic setting. Set the ml per dose and the number of dosing per day and the computer will do the rest.

Ken

 

[cuong]

Thanks for the reply.

I've only tested the unit with RO/DI water so far, no actual Calcium or Alk liquid used yet.
I calibrated both pump 1 & pump 2 after found out that they only dosed half the amounts I programmed using "Auto" mode.
In my previous post I said I increased the amount to ~79/80 ml from 60 ml when doing calibration to compensate for it.

I just confirmed again that it only dosed half of what I expected. I programed it yesterday ( in auto mode) to dose 8 times at 20ml each; And today after 24 hours I measure 78ml for pump 1 and 80 ml for pump 2.

I mean both pump work fine but no where they perform close to the specs.
The performance is not getting any better when I use the actual Calcium & Alk liquid.

I guess I just have to live with it but kind of disappointed.
I've already talked to Pat. He asked me to let you guys ( GHL) know first.

May be my unit is defective ?

 

[AQD_ottawa]

Hi

No the unit is not defective, and no reason to be disspointed You are adding when you should be subtracting.

Please read my post under my tank build thread in regards to doser set up.

Example - Dosers will dose different rates based on head, tube type and various other reasons. Mine is set in timed mode and dosed only 8ml in the allocated 10ml set dose rate, this was due to head. So flow rate was dropped to 50ml this increased the dose rate up to 10ml as it should be.

it is expected you have to calibrate the doser to your needs as not one person system is the same and GHL can not take that into account they can only give a factory default for you then to adjust to your personal enviroment

if you need further explanation to this please join the support forum www.aquariumcomputer.com/forum or email me where we can discuss further

 

[cuong]

OK thanks. I'll re-calibrate/readjust the flow rate on them. I'll let you know.

The guide also says to run all pumps continuously for 15 minutes before program/use to improve life time. So does it mean to press down & hold the red button of each pump for 15min to force it running ? Is there a way to program them to run continuously for 15min right away ?

thanks

Hi

No the unit is not defective, and no reason to be disspointed You are adding when you should be subtracting.

Please read my post under my tank build thread in regards to doser set up.

Example - Dosers will dose different rates based on head, tube type and various other reasons. Mine is set in timed mode and dosed only 8ml in the allocated 10ml set dose rate, this was due to head. So flow rate was dropped to 50ml this increased the dose rate up to 10ml as it should be.

it is expected you have to calibrate the doser to your needs as not one person system is the same and GHL can not take that into account they can only give a factory default for you then to adjust to your personal enviroment

if you need further explanation to this please join the support forum www.aquariumcomputer.com/forum or email me where we can discuss further

 

[AQD_ottawa]

Hi

Use timed mode for this (manual mode). Do not get confused when i say manual mode I am not reffering to manual over ride mode by pressing the front buttons

 

[Matthias Gross]

The guide also says to run all pumps continuously for 15 minutes

this is understood wrong
the manual says that the pump must not be active longer than 15 minutes, after 15 minutes activity there should be at least a pause of 15 minutes
of course it makes no sense to run the pump manually for 15 minutes to improve life time ...

regarding the calibration:
1. let the pump run manually for 1 minute
2. measure the volume which has been pumped in this time
3. enter this value for "flowrate of the pump"

as Ken said - ProfiLux does the rest - you need not to recalculate the wished amount - just enter what you really want to have

 

[P_Foster]

Hey Cuong,
Did you try putting the doser pump at the same level as the resevoirs as opposed to above the resevoirs as per our conversation on the weekend?

I would be interested to know what the difference was on the output from the pumps being at the same height as opposed to elevated.