Has anyone that pre-ordered seen their ION Director yet?

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areefer01

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Not seeing the same concerns as to number of units in circulation or fact they are separated from each other. Point of the exercise is to determine if each is seeing variations in testing the same exact sample of their water as Parker detailed in the video I posted. Goal is to identify how accurately the results match each other when the variable hasn't changed. Variable being their sample water or reference solution.

If GHL was aware of this problem then why did they send the units out? Perhaps they aren't aware because it doesn't occur with every unit. Perhaps going forward then each unit should be tested to confirm this isn't a concern.

You said "exact same sample of water". How is that going to be done? Maybe I'm being direct with the use of "same example" though.

My comment about GHL being aware is a direct relationship to general availability or lack thereof. It isn't available for a reason.
 

GARRIGA

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You said "exact same sample of water". How is that going to be done? Maybe I'm being direct with the use of "same example" though.

My comment about GHL being aware is a direct relationship to general availability or lack thereof. It isn't available for a reason.
Have you watched the video? I’m referencing how Parker took an exact sample of his water and performed continuous test against it yet saw different results.

Skip the “exact sample”. Use a reference sample and perform several tests against it to see how close each new results compares to prior(s).

Fauna Marine sells a reference sample with known values. This can be used to perform various tests and results analyzed.
 

areefer01

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Have you watched the video? I’m referencing how Parker took an exact sample of his water and performed continuous test against it yet saw different results.
Yes, watched it.
Skip the “exact sample”. Use a reference sample and perform several tests against it to see how close each new results compares to prior(s).

Got it. I thought you meant take a known water sample from a reef tank and pass it around. That isn't the case.

Fauna Marine sells a reference sample with known values. This can be used to perform various tests and results analyzed.

Yes, I keep one on hand to use with my Trident and manual kits when I need to calibrate or want to verify. It is a great solution that lasts 6 months after opening. I highly recommend keeping one on hand :)
 

GARRIGA

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Yes, watched it.


Got it. I thought you meant take a known water sample from a reef tank and pass it around. That isn't the case.



Yes, I keep one on hand to use with my Trident and manual kits when I need to calibrate or want to verify. It is a great solution that lasts 6 months after opening. I highly recommend keeping one on hand :)
Have you tried validating the Trident as I'm describing with the reference solution?

Perhaps BRS considers that one way to test the various options and determine which provided the lowest margin of error. Thinking ten consecutive test based on one per day or longer intervals.
 

areefer01

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Have you tried validating the Trident as I'm describing with the reference solution?

I have randomly pulled the sample line and placed it in a reference solution such as the Fauna Marin we are talking about? Yes, I have. It isn't something that I normally do as the Trident is mother or source of reference for me. It hasn't given me any reason to doubt it if that makes sense. To further answer though I also use ATI's ICP every 4 months give or take when I remember. I am somewhat skeptical of ICP but again use it as an outside source looking in.

I know the Trident does a combined test at noon. So just before noon a few minutes before I will pull a couple cups of water from a clean, rinsed, container while also collecting ATI's ICP sample. I then do a manual test with the kits I have (Hanna) alk, phosphate, and nitrate. Make some notes, send off ATI's ICP, and when results are back compare. Every time ATI's results align with the Tridents numbers and my manual tests from Hanna. Granted the Trident does ALK, Ca, and MG whereas manual tests do Alk, Phosphate, and Nitrate. Compare what I can.

Everything more or less is within their respected margin of error. Nothing has come back off if that makes sense.

Perhaps BRS considers that one way to test the various options and determine which provided the lowest margin of error. Thinking ten consecutive test based on one per day or longer intervals.

Honestly I don't know. As you can see above I only use manual test kits that are easy for me to use and consistent. Unless i do not get all the packet content into the vial usually the numbers / test results are good. I do not do great at the color / drop tests.
 

Lucas815

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Sooo..... Yeah that thing is great.

Setup took a lot of steps but was rather straight forward, no issue whatsoever.

I did 3 tests In a row.
Dunno why the 1st test gave 6 nitrate, but I did have some air bubbles in the tubes during that one.

I haven't compared to manual testing, but at least it's crazy consistent so far.

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robbyg

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Sooo..... Yeah that thing is great.

Setup took a lot of steps but was rather straight forward, no issue whatsoever.

I did 3 tests In a row.
Dunno why the 1st test gave 6 nitrate, but I did have some air bubbles in the tubes during that one.

I haven't compared to manual testing, but at least it's crazy consistent so far.

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Thanks, I am Looking forward to seeing a months worth of data.
 
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Lucas815

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Thanks, I am Looking forward to seeing a months worth of data.
So it hasnt been quite a month, but I can say so far i'm pretty happy and it seems to be working as advertised.

I frankly started doubting it was working well after the 1st day because values just kept rising day after day.

After all, it seems like it took a couple days for the sensor to "break in", and values stabilized after that.

Note that on june 12th, I had an issue with my auto water change which dumped quite a bit of RODI water in the tank. Salinity dropped to 31ppt. No harm done, but that's why values plummeted.
Between june 13th and 17th, I had to slowly add fresh saltwater and let it evaporate to increase salinity back to 35ppt

Nitrates seems a bit more wobbly, but I think that values are so low that the sensor is having trouble reading it accuratly. I have no doubt it would warn me correctly in case of high nitrate values.

I havent checked against the reference fluid yet, or even manual testing, so I cant testify of the accuracy of the results.
At least, the unit seems VERY consistent so far between tests, especially after the 1st week of use.

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IKD

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Thanks for sharing! Just curious, what has the probe life trend been for you? Some folks have had issues/questions about piece of equipment.
 

areefer01

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Thanks for sharing! Just curious, what has the probe life trend been for you? Some folks have had issues/questions about piece of equipment.

The probe life is a mystery. Also the units haven't been in hobbyist hands until recently so we should see some of that information as the months wind down.
 

Lucas815

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Thanks for sharing! Just curious, what has the probe life trend been for you? Some folks have had issues/questions about piece of equipment.
Still at 100%, nothing to report.
 

Lucas815

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Thanks for sharing @Lucas815 . Sorry if I missed it - when did you preorder your Ion Director?
I didn't pre order. Somehow, my local GHL vendor had at least one extra unit available, and I jumped on it as I knew it could be a LONG time before I had another opportunity to get one.
 

Lucas815

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The probe life is a mystery. Also the units haven't been in hobbyist hands until recently so we should see some of that information as the months wind down.
GHL has stated that the average expected probe life would be between 12 and 18 months, depending on the nutrients levels in the system.

They will replace it without question if it dies under 6 months.
 

areefer01

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GHL has stated that the average expected probe life would be between 12 and 18 months, depending on the nutrients levels in the system.

They will replace it without question if it dies under 6 months.

Right - how many tests per day, week, with that expectancy. Key component. Did they provide that?
 

Lucas815

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Right - how many tests per day, week, with that expectancy. Key component. Did they provide that?
@Vinny@GHLUSA please correct me if I'm wrong, but if I remember correctly, the number of tests does not impact probe life expectancy. It's more like how much time can it stay soaked in water, rather than how its getting "consumed" by each test, like a pH probe for example.

Now for the doser, that is another matter because the more you test, the more you pump, and the more you wear the heads.

Current recommended minimum tests is one per day
 

Lucas815

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An update on my experience.

So far, besides nitrates, the unit keeps being very consistant and reliable.

Nitrates is still a mixed bag, but it's not completly out of whack either. I'd say it's more useful to monitor a range, rather than a specific number.
If we compare to a regular test kit, I think that it's still more accurate and consistant, as opposed to looking at that dang pink color on the chart and guessing a number.

One anomaly occured, on a specific day. I forgot that my tests are at 8pm, and I started a feed mode at 7:55pm, which completly stopped the flow in the sump. One would expect that this would be irrelevant to the test, but here it is. I see no other variable that could have affected the test at this time.
I do not have the re-testing feature activated, so I cant say if this would have corrected the numbers.
Values were mostly corrected on the next day, and no issue occured after that.

A small downside is the rather fast consumption of Reference solution, especially B, as it's used by the IonD to store the probe between tests.
I'm down to 41% of A and 33% of B of the included bottles after a bit less than a month.
I purchased another 1L kit for about 80$CAD, which is not cheap and will only last about 3 months at 1 test per day.
The marketing line of "it's cheap to run because there's no reagent" is pretty misleading.
This unit runs on a subscription as much as any other automated testing machine.
I would prefer to have the tests run automatically once every couple days, or even once a week.

I consider myself a very happy Ion Director owner so far.

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timry2

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Unfortunately, GHL does not have any replacement sensors on hand and my ION-D has been down since the first week of June. Has anyone had any luck getting their bad sensor to work. I'm a GHL nut and I think I should have waited to buy the ION-D. The sensor only has a 3 month warranty and every month the unit is not being used is counting down on the overall warranty on the unit. Has any one with a defective sensor had their overall warranty extended?
 

sgrosenb

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I ordered mine in April 2021 and haven't heard anything in months. @timry2 I think your post just nudged me over the edge... I think at this point I'm going to request a refund... I'd love to have the ION-D but it sounds like they just can't get that probe right... Too bad as I'm a GLH fanboy as well.

If this thing had PO4 testing I'd probably hold out... but without it, I think it sways the decision to bail.
 

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