The X3 controller only is $200. The power supply is $20. The pH probe is $37. The temp sensor is $25. That is $282. The starter kits are $300 but come with either a leak detector or wifi power strip. They both are another $40. If you buy controller only you will also need the power supply as controller only is controller only. It does not come with the power supply.
Yeah this is the kind of stuff they need to fix in the firmware before I consider purchasing
Most of those is the wifi itself. CoralVue has no control over what wifi router a customer has. Like I said I rarely have an issue like that unless I am rebooting or changing firmware in thr controllers. If for some reason in a collective the wifi master switches to a different controller it will cause a power strip reconnect with the new wifi master but I does not take very long to happen. I do not run ATO, AWC or dosing from a wifi power strip. I also don't control my RODI solenoids with a wifi power strip. I use the drive ports for those which I have 6 of them on three different controllers. I have no problem using the wifi power strips for controlling heaters, skimmers, return pumps, cooling fans and other similar devices. I do have MP10's for flow pumps with a battery backup. My tank has been without power for over 4 hours so it had no return pump, skimmer, heater, cooling or lights for that amount of time. Every thing survived. In fact last February we had rolling blackouts for almost a week and it was below 32 degrees outside the house. At one point the power was off for 4 hours and on for 4 hours at a time. I guess they were going with 50% balance of on and off. They do have the XP8 that s a wired controller if you are worried about wifi issues and the power bars. So you can alway put mission critical devices on it. It has 8 AC outputs and has power monitoring on each output. Below is a output powering my skimmer on a XP8. Below that is the setup on that output.
yeah id skip the wifi things and just get XP8s. The idea was to control the heaters on one xp8 for tank1, and the heaters for tank2 on the other xp8 (same with PH). That's if the interface would allow me to separately control two tanks, or can it only handle one temp/ph probe per control unit?
The controllers are 2.4ghz compatible only. They will not work on 5ghz. So that is why you need a different name for the two. The wifi strips and the controller need to be on the same band. The router is the host. The controllers and wifi strips are just devices connected to you network.
You can have 4 temp probes on a X4 if you want to do that but it would use all of you sense ports. You just have enough ports to do what you are asking about since you will need two for pH, two for temp and two for water level. That leaves you 4 0-10v inputs and 4 0-10v outputs to use other that what is on the 2 XP8's. So if you want to add another sensor you may have to get a XS or one of the others to add to the collective.
I can't imagine what else id really want beyond those, don't think Id need the room for expansion. In cart, im prob looking around $1000 for all of that though, so maybe having one all encompassing controller isn't as economical as id hoped...
If you do ever need more all you have to do is pick out a controller and add it to the collective. Once in a collective they are like one larger controller with all the input ports and output ports shared between them. That is the beauty of the system. You don't have to replace the controllers you have to expand. You just need to add to them. You setup an input or output then choose the port you want to use for it. If you change your mind on the port all you have to do is choose another port in the settings. You don't need to create another input or output setup to change it.
If you have an X4 and 2 XP8's you have 3 controllers and have a collective already. I forgot to mention that.
I think it does on the controllers but the issue is the wifi strips and mesh networks that try and switch the bands. I don't use or need 5ghz at all. It is turned off on my router. It was causing issues with some of my other equipment. Namely my iPad.It would connect to 5ghz and it would take forever for thing to load on the internet. So there must be some kind of interference where I live. 2.4ghz works fine for me. if you want to keep you name the same you can always get a wired access point and assign a different name for it and setup your hydros to it and problem solved.
None of the Hydros controllers monitor salinity at this time. If you want to monitor ph or ORP but only one you can use the X3. If you want two pH/ORP ports you will need the X4. If you want to use the Hydros ATO kit you would need an X2 or X4. The X4 will do pH/ORP, temp and has 2 drive ports which you need to drive the ATO pump. To me that sounds like you best bet. If you end up needing more you can alway add a controller of you choice and start a collective. In a collective they share inputs and output with each other so it is like a larger controller. So it will expand when your needs grow. The pro versions are packaged with the XP8 controller and includes a buss cable and two terminator so you can create a collective with them. The XP8 is a controller with 8 AC output ports. All 8 have individual power monitoring. The wifi strips will not do that. Also the X4 does have 4 0-10v inputs and 4 0-10v outputs that can be used for various things.
im wondering if the direct input from the XP8 to the controller (being wired) eliminates these wifi connection problems people are having. Before I purchase, id want to be sure its the cheap wifi power strips that are loosing signal and not the unit itself. Then there's the difference between people having strong or weak wifi signals based on their provider/router/etc. If the units signal/connection is good (or as good as apex) id be happy with it wired to a XP8.
The XP8 technically has a controller built into it. The XP8 runs the same processor as all the other hydros Control units. Also it runs the same software as well. While it doesn’t have any physical input or probe ports, it operates the same way as other devices.
