GHL issues - lemon or reality?

[pmanz]

I recently bought the GHL Profilux and KH Director. Sample head of doser (head 1) started slipping within HOURS of going into service. They required me to send it back where they said they sanded one of the axles and then sent back.

After re-installing, head 3 now squeaks and, 10 days later, head 1 is again slipping.

To get this up and “running” I’m into GHL for almost $2500 and basic functionality isn’t there. Im a heartbeat away from demanding a refund.

Is this more common than a person may hear with them or do i have a lemon. I ditched Trident and wont go back. Wondering if I need to look at another system.

So frustrated!

Paul

 

[Pod_01]

I have 2 GHL Dosers 2.1, that are 5 and 3 year old and no slipping. I do own KH director.

Try to run the Doser heads at slower speed to see if they slip.

I do find the dosing heads chirp when set to speed 3 that is used for KH director.

For dosing I have the speed set to slow.

If head 1 is not slipping when set to slow speed you could use that head for dosing the regent…

Good luck,

 

[pmanz]

Thanks. I can get over the chirping but I’d like all of the heads to work.

Never had this happen w/ Ecotech Versa, Red Sea ReefDose, or Neptune DOS.

 

[Lasse]

Doser 2.x or 3?

Sincerely Lasse

 

[BeanAnimal]

Sound like 2x if they are sanding a shaft. Which if true (for either) on a brand new unit is not what I would consider a reasonable resolution.

 

[pmanz]

It’s 2.2 slave. Literally started slipping about 2 hours after I got it running.

I’m moving away from Neptune Apex and have Hydros running on a 20 gallon softy lagoon as a trial/ test monitoring system.

I had a Trident before and, long story short, won’t do that again and want a titration based system which seems to leave me with the GHL or Alkatronic.

I figured the German product would be superior even if getting it set up had a steeper learning curve.

I figured that on my 180 SPS tank, GHL would be the better option. So, I went all-in buying Profilux bundle as well and was planning to move all of my Neptune system over to GHL in the coming months. I guess I was expecting Royal Exusiv / Abyzz caliber product and so far, this has felt more like “Direct From China” level product and customer service.

I reopened the trouble ticket last night. We’ll see what happens.

 

[Pod_01]

My suggestion would be to contact GHL (reply to original request through their ticket system) and tell them head 1 is slipping again and ask politely for a swap for new unit.
Obviously the initial resolution didn’t work and you may not want to be experimenting with incremental fixes. I am sure it is not cheap to ship the unit multiple times.

I am assuming this is brand new system and still under warranty!!!

Good luck,

 

[BeanAnimal]

My suggestion would be to contact GHL (reply to original request through their ticket system) and tell them head 1 is slipping again and ask politely for a swap for new unit.
Obviously the initial resolution didn’t work and you may not want to be experimenting with incremental fixes. I am sure it is not cheap to ship the unit multiple times.

I am assuming this is brand new system and still under warranty!!!

Good luck,

They can prove me wrong, but I assume they will require it to be shipped back again.

 

[Lasse]

During my more than 13 years of experiences with GHL dose pumps from doser 1 to doser 2.2 with slipping clutches I have only have a problem with slipping once and it was the first experiences with a used doser 1 back in 2012. True to my habit from my experiences with Aqua Medics SP 3000, I greased the hose. Shortly - I shouldn't have done that. GHL doser from 1 to 2.x should not be greased - However - doser 3 needs grease.

However, there is nothing you can do about the heads chirping when at speed 3.



Sincerely Lasse

 

[pmanz]

This was purchased new directly from GHL. Did not grease the hose.

 

[Koty]

My experience as of today

 

[pmanz]

@Koty had similar frustrations trying to get the system running. I bought the 2.2 doser to run off the Profilux and it took me a few days to get it running outside of a USB/ laptop connection and part of it was the updates it was requesting. Couldn’t tell you what i did to get it to work - felt like luck.

I don’t have easy access to a windows PC to plug things into (work laptop security is hyper secure because of my line of work so nothing can be plugged into it) so I did get the Profilux that will do over the air updates which I’m thankful for. Not sure if that is an option with the Doser 3 as a standalone?

Sorry to hear you’re having issues as well getting things up and running.

Paul

 

[areefer01]

It’s 2.2 slave. Literally started slipping about 2 hours after I got it running.

I’m moving away from Neptune Apex and have Hydros running on a 20 gallon softy lagoon as a trial/ test monitoring system.

I had a Trident before and, long story short, won’t do that again and want a titration based system which seems to leave me with the GHL or Alkatronic.

I figured the German product would be superior even if getting it set up had a steeper learning curve.

I figured that on my 180 SPS tank, GHL would be the better option. So, I went all-in buying Profilux bundle as well and was planning to move all of my Neptune system over to GHL in the coming months. I guess I was expecting Royal Exusiv / Abyzz caliber product and so far, this has felt more like “Direct From China” level product and customer service.

I reopened the trouble ticket last night. We’ll see what happens.

Abyzz does set a standard.

Not sure I understand the Trident comment - it is a titration based.

At the end of the day they all have warts. My only concern with any of them is their support accessibility. Even then I would see if I could work around it but that would be my primary.

 

[commod0re]

question: why’d you go for the older one? I also recently got into a GHL setup but I chose the Doser 3 and have had zero issues with slipping or installing firmware updates

 

[JeffB418]

I had a Trident before and, long story short, won’t do that again and want a titration based system which seems to leave me with the GHL or Alkatronic.

Hydros X10/IV is a titration based alk tester as well

 

[pmanz]

To clarify, Trident is colorimetric vs ph probe based and I don’t trust the colorimetric process relative to the ph probe process.

I picked the new 2.2 doser over a new 3.0 doser because I read the 3.0 had lubrication requirements that i wanted to avoid.

 

[pmanz]

I had a Trident before and, long story short, won’t do that again and want a titration based system which seems to leave me with the GHL or Alkatronic.

Hydros X10/IV is a titration based alk tester as well

This is actually the other option I suppose since Im already moving to Hydros on at least one system.

I’d need to look into how people like that on here.

Do you have any experience w/ the IV?

 

[BeanAnimal]

This is actually the other option I suppose since Im already moving to Hydros on at least one system.

I’d need to look into how people like that on here.

Do you have any experience w/ the IV?

I can't fathom how it can properly empty a beaker and not leave residual reagent or tank water after each test. But I don't own one and their website information is terrible.

 

[Seregus]

Same here - have had probably 10 units over time and never ever had issues. But I always used GHL tubing. Currently have two Dosers 3 SA but converted to slave and two Maxi 3 sa same converted…

I hope you sorted this since you can blame GHL for software not intuitive and new functionality released very slowly and glitchy… but dosing was never bad thing… probably you are very unlucky.

 

[JeffB418]

This is actually the other option I suppose since Im already moving to Hydros on at least one system.

I’d need to look into how people like that on here.

Do you have any experience w/ the IV?

I've been using it since prior to release as an early tester of the X10 and iV. It does work but it can be very particular to setup, which is really what gives it a black eye most of the time. I put together a guide on common setup recommendations here: https://forum.coralvuehydros.com/threads/iv-x10-setup-suggestions-improvements.2072/

Generally if you dial in the setup, keep things short, and dilute your reagent properly it can work fairly well. But it is alittle more DIY in setup since the pump and reaction chamber are seperate.

If you are more DIY handy, you can also use other hydros devices and/or pumps to use the alkalinity testing functionality. Hydros does not lock down the function to X10 hardware only. You can pull off making your own pumps or iV with other devices like the Launch. Generally the critical function is the reagent pump and getting something that can dose precision. You could pull off drain/fill pumps with other pumps as well. See more info here:
https://forum.coralvuehydros.com/th...t-x10-setup-recommendations-suggestions.2188/