IceCap Digital Pocket Tester Review

JCTReefer · Sep 27, 2018

According to some people I've talked to, the Scionix meter and Icecap are the same meter. Not 100%, but that's what I've heard. They certainly look the same to me. This was coming from a retailer who sells the Scionix meter.

Skep18 · Sep 27, 2018

JCTReefer said:
According to some people I've talked to, the Scionix meter and Icecap are the same meter. Not 100%, but that's what I've heard. They certainly look the same to me. This was coming from a retailer who sells the Scionix meter.

Darn near same price point too! lol. Given 99.9% of things are made in China and relabeled, I think its probably a safe bet they're the same thing.

corey01 · Oct 26, 2018

Just a heads up for anyone who uses these. my pen was off. it would account for a lot of trouble I have had lately. comparing against a refractometer it was off by quite a bit. showing 1.026 in the tank when in reality was more like 1.010 I dont 100% remember but off by a lot. so I brought things back up to normal and followed the video posted earlier calibrating the pen with a brand new bottle of BRS calibration fluid. try as I might following the steps over and over I could not make it function properly. I contacted Coralvue and explained the situation. and here is some key news that needs to be circulated around. if your pen came with a silicone cup originally it is a gen 1 and CAN NOT BE CALIBRATED OR ADJUSTED IN ANY WAY. well that's just dandy to know. nothing can be done to it apart from the reset to default setting. anyway I ended up getting a new replacement pen. still need to try it out and see if it reads my calibration fluid properly. but I wanted everyone to be aware of this, as nowhere that I seen or heard did anyone make any mention of it. Props to coralvue for the quick turnaround on my issue and replacing the pen under warranty but these are really too expensive to be having any issues with at all, I am less than impressed.

Skep18 · Oct 26, 2018

corey01 said:
Just a heads up for anyone who uses these. my pen was off. it would account for a lot of trouble I have had lately. comparing against a refractometer it was off by quite a bit. showing 1.026 in the tank when in reality was more like 1.010 I dont 100% remember but off by a lot. so I brought things back up to normal and followed the video posted earlier calibrating the pen with a brand new bottle of BRS calibration fluid. try as I might following the steps over and over I could not make it function properly. I contacted Coralvue and explained the situation. and here is some key news that needs to be circulated around. if your pen came with a silicone cup originally it is a gen 1 and CAN NOT BE CALIBRATED OR ADJUSTED IN ANY WAY. well that's just dandy to know. nothing can be done to it apart from the reset to default setting. anyway I ended up getting a new replacement pen. still need to try it out and see if it reads my calibration fluid properly. but I wanted everyone to be aware of this, as nowhere that I seen or heard did anyone make any mention of it. Props to coralvue for the quick turnaround on my issue and replacing the pen under warranty but these are really too expensive to be having any issues with at all, I am less than impressed.

Tools aside, how does one's rank get to 1.010 without noticing something is off? Don't you add a typical amount of salt during WC?

I'm not trying to be overly critical but this is the second review like this. You have to be doing like fresh water WC for weeks to get down to 1.010.

All in all I'm glad to hear you got good support. Hopefully their Gen2 fixed these issues.

corey01 · Oct 26, 2018

Skep18 said:
Tools aside, how does one's rank get to 1.010 without noticing something is off? Don't you add a typical amount of salt during WC?

I'm not trying to be overly critical but this is the second review like this. You have to be doing like fresh water WC for weeks to get down to 1.010.

All in all I'm glad to hear you got good support. Hopefully their Gen2 fixed these issues.

yeah not 1.010 just googled a refractometer lens much closer to 28-29 ppt or 1.019 like I said I didn't remember for sure but it was off by quite a bit. and yes I noticed something was off that's what led me down the path to begin with. I have had a lot of life things going on the last few months. now im packing things up for an inevitable move. first started with a lot of corals losing color and receding heavily. some STN on a few of my acros I kept a close eye and tested as I always do but nothing seemed "off" but nothing had been acting quite right. finally dug out an old refractometer that I hated its why I got the pen in the first place. the refractometer can take 5 different samples back to back and get 5 widly varying results. well got some fluid and started attacking the salinity as that was all that was left. and even with the half broken meter it was telling me something was very wrong. only let it go as most of the time when I have "problems" if I leave it alone it fixes itself. I tend to make any small issues much much worse when I start chasing and changing things in my tanks. I killed half the coral in a tank once doing emergency water changes with high alk fresh saltwater.

I imagine the pen simply drifted over time. and I use it to make SW as well as measure my tanks. over time the readings in both must have simply gotten lower and lower.

Skep18 · Oct 26, 2018

corey01 said:
yeah not 1.010 just googled a refractometer lens much closer to 28-29 ppt or 1.019 like I said I didn't remember for sure but it was off by quite a bit. and yes I noticed something was off that's what led me down the path to begin with. I have had a lot of life things going on the last few months. now im packing things up for an inevitable move. first started with a lot of corals losing color and receding heavily. some STN on a few of my acros I kept a close eye and tested as I always do but nothing seemed "off" but nothing had been acting quite right. finally dug out an old refractometer that I hated its why I got the pen in the first place. the refractometer can take 5 different samples back to back and get 5 widly varying results. well got some fluid and started attacking the salinity as that was all that was left. and even with the half broken meter it was telling me something was very wrong. only let it go as most of the time when I have "problems" if I leave it alone it fixes itself. I tend to make any small issues much much worse when I start chasing and changing things in my tanks. I killed half the coral in a tank once doing emergency water changes with high alk fresh saltwater.

I imagine the pen simply drifted over time. and I use it to make SW as well as measure my tanks. over time the readings in both must have simply gotten lower and lower.

That makes more sense. With life happening too, I could understand.

As you said, I hate using my refractometer as well. People tout their accuracy but in my experience with them, I used them in homebrewing beer and this hobby, the finite gradations are difficult to read as well. The blue line isn't always sharp. Etc.

I love the pen overall but this is a good reminder to break out the refractometer every once in a while.

JCTReefer · Oct 26, 2018

I have the gen 1 with the silicone cup. It used to be more accurate without. After a reset, it now reads spot on with the cup. When I mix red sea blu bucket, I know it mixes to 1.025 using 1/2 cup per gallon. So if it's reading something off from that, I usually verify with a calibrated refractomter. It's stayed accurate for the last few months. I'm considering buy a gen 2. Just in case this one starts getting way off.

Skep18 · Oct 26, 2018

I just tested my water with both my IceCap and a calibrated BRS refractometer. Both agreed at 35ppt give or take 0.2ppt

PigFarmer · Oct 26, 2018

mine ended up going into error mode after I did the factory reset...it lasted bout a week after. it's in the dump now. waste of hope and $ imo

Jeff Willetts · Oct 26, 2018

Awesome write up!

Skep18 · Oct 26, 2018

PigFarmer said:
mine ended up going into error mode after I did the factory reset...it lasted bout a week after. it's in the dump now. waste of hope and $ imo

Dang. Sounds like they're support is pretty good. Could probably still get in touch with them if you so desired, however I suspect your mind is made up at this point.

Mike Ducharme · Oct 27, 2018

Well you sold me lol. It never hurts to have multiple ways to test and this send to be accurate with the SG. Temperature it's always hard to get a true reading groin multiple devices. I typically average my temp readings from a few different tests. Will be purchasing One of these soon, thank you for the time and effort of into this.

PigFarmer · Oct 27, 2018

Skep18 said:
Dang. Sounds like they're support is pretty good. Could probably still get in touch with them if you so desired, however I suspect your mind is made up at this point.

to be honest I had so many different issues with mine I simply didnt want a warranty replacement. I went ahead and got the Milwaukee digital refractometer and I love it. it's not as simple and quick as the pen but its accurate, reliable and I have confidence in its readings.. I never had any of that with the icecap

JCTReefer · Oct 27, 2018

You know, I've found good refractometers to be accurate. But they are finicky. You have to know how to use them. For example. We keep our house at 65 degrees. My Brs refractometer sits in the closet. When I take it out of the case and shoot it with an infrared temp gun, it's about 65-66 degrees. These are "Supposed" to be ATC refractometers. But, if your instrument is 65 degrees and your solution is 77 degrees the solution is going to adjust to the temp of the instrument and readings are gonna be way off. "Solutions more dense, reading higher Specific gravity" I have literally warmed the solution up to 70 degrees. And warmed the refractometer up to 70 degrees, took a measurement and calibrated it. Then took a measurement 5 minutes later and it had changed due to it heating up more. Just from holding it from body heat. If you stand under a heat lamp in the bathroom, you can literally watch the specific gravity drop as the instrument heats up and the solution gets less dense[emoji15]. So with my system at 77-78 degrees, I always try and heat the calibration solution and refractometer up to about 77 degrees to get consistent readings. And verify with a infrared temp gun. I think that's where a lot of people get mixed result with refractometers. I use this procedure when comparing the results to the icecap every so often. All in all, refractometers are kind of a pain. That's why I was so excited when this meter came out. It sucks people have had issues with it. Including myself. It seems their customer support is good though.

d5332 · Nov 12, 2018

The icecap gravimeter IC-32 is literally garbage, a trinket.
This item is super inaccurate. has already been replaced via warranty. Calibration is lost after only a few uses.

Total and complete garbage, literally a useless trinket.

timkenagy · Dec 23, 2018

Nstocks said:
I've beed using the Milwaukee for around 2 years. Great piece of equipment other than the lends needs wiping a lot to prevent a false reading from the last test and mine has slight rust. It does need calibrating often but I think that should be true with anything as critical as salinity.

If I hadn't got the Milwaukee today, I'd go for the Icecap purely because I use so many disposable syringes!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/100-3ml-Du...ttes-Disposable-Plastic-USA-Sale/141813874339