Mastertronic Amazing

[Joe31415]

Supposedly they're going to send me two (hopefully two) replacement hoses. In the mean time, I pulled apart the two leaking pumps and both of them have their tubing split all they along their length. I assume Pump C is ready to split as well, but I can't remove it to check.
Does anyone have any idea how to remove it? It's tucked behind the case. Even if I could reach the latch on the right side to release it, it still wouldn't have enough space to clear the motor shaft.
From the looks of it, the only way I can see to remove it is to remove the entire case, or at least move it forward an inch or so (so I don't have to remove all the hoses that are routed through it).
I can do that, but if I have to I'll just get a new hose first. If it's that big of a project, I'll replace it as long as I'm in there.

Which reminds me of another question that's been bugging me since I got this. Why are they shipping these with Pump C not fully latched into place? It seems to me that buying and attaching stickers telling you to push it in, the manual telling you to push it in, customer support dealing with machines that aren't working properly because the user never fully seated it and everything else, it would have been cheaper and easier just to have someone do that before they're shipped out.

I have to assume there's some reason to leave it like that.

 

[paul01609]

Im Sure you have to remove all the insides to replace that part, don’t think it’s a hard job,but if you join there Facebook group they will send instructions how to do it

 

[sssky]

I will give my input here as I have the Alkatronic, Dosetronic, Reefbot and now the Mastertronic to replace my Reefbot. I also have had the KH Director. Let's just say I love automation - I am also a techi so this sort of stuff doesn't bother me in the least.

If you have SPS, the Alkatronic is the way to go. If you dose a multi-part product (I do Triton, 4 part), the Dosetronic is of extreme value. I test 6x/day and have my 7 dosing amounts that vary throughout the day based on consumption.

I have had the Gen 1 Reefbot for a couple of years (going to be selling mine here soon). It has worked well but had its glitches. One of the limitations is only 8 vials (Mastertronic is 12). The testing time is long (as much as 45 minutes). I found the Reefbot to not be quite as accurate as the Mastertronic in my phosphate test. It was very close, but not like the MT.

I just recently bought the Mastertronic. I was waiting as long as I could to see how the ION Director was going to pan out...tired of waiting. I followed the instructions carefully and got it up and running with no issues really. Couple small things not documented in the manual, but figured it out with no issue. If you take your time, follow the directions carefully and do all the upgrades up front, you will be good to go. The most important thing with the Mastertronic is to calibrate and verify the measures carefully. For example, for the first few verifications, my syringe was at 0.59 rather than 0.6 cc (as recommended by the manual)....I kept redoing the calibration until it was 0.6. If you have all the calibrations perfect, your results will be dead on. I got it up and running and tested phosphate, nitrate, Mg and iodine with no problem. I will be adding KH to check my Alkatronic on a weekly basis. When I did my first test of P04, it came back as 0.066...I checked it against my Hanna checker....0.07...so dead on.

The other thing I recently did was setup a dedicated 2.4GHz router on my Orbi router. By doing that I get much more reliable connectivity on these IOT devices...they like plain ole 2.4GHz.

Finally, I put all of these electronics on a small battery backup so that if I get any glitches on the power, it doesn't mess with the electronics. The Focustronic and ReefBot devices utilize a Rasberry Pi as their brains and they are really sensitive to power glitches.

In general, Focustronic's support has been excellent for me. If you use the proper channels of their email or application, I have always gotten a response within a day or less. It really annoys me when I see people post on FB or something and don't have an answer within an hour ...especially on a Sunday.

Here is a recent picture of my tank...I have had some decent success...

Hope this helps.

Could you please please elaborate why you think Alkatronic is better than KH director since you own both?

 

[scottsweet]

duplicate

 

[sculpin01]

I can't speak to the KH Director, but the Alkatronic/Dosetronic combo has been excellent for me. Very accurate and stable. Only issues I have has have been from WiFi disconnects leading to the machines hanging. However, the fix was simply to power cycle and they started working promptly thereafter.

 

[scottsweet]

Could you please please elaborate why you think Alkatronic is better than KH director since you own both?

Sure. First is the software. The Focustronic software and charting is far easier, more intuitive and more user friendly from a mobile perspective. If you are strictly on a laptop, they are similar from a viewing perspective, but from the Focustronic/Alkatronic mobile app perspective (I use an iPhone), it is WAY better than GHL’s software.

2nd is control. The Alkatronic/Dosetronic integration is excellent. I dose Triton 4 part and the level of control and ability to change dosing, etc is far more intuitive and easier than the GHL software. The dosing schedule is far easier to create and the dosing amounts on any one time is very easy to create, monitor, change, etc. I have been able to easily figure out the dosing times (I do 7x/day) and can control each time individually. When I want to change the day’s overall dosage, it is very easy - takes only a few keystrokes. Then it is easy to copy the one dosing programming to all 4 of the dosing parameters. For GHL, this effort is very complicated. Also, it is even more complicated if you want each dosing time to be different over the course of the day. Finally with GHL, it is complicated to change the day's dosage as a group (and for the 4 parts) if you choose to have different dosing amounts on each time within a day.

See Below....with GHL, you can't even create the schedule I have below without a major effort. And if you wanted to copy this to the other 3 pumps (other 3 dosing parts), it is really complicated. I have figured out over time how to flatten my alkalinity consumption throughout the day and therefore get my programming where I want it. Scheduling this out on GHL would be a very complicated task. One could argue there there is no need for this...but at the time when I was creating the programming on the GHL, I found it really hard to get any consistency of dkH throughout the day when I did measurements.

The programming below I have done manually over time. The Alkatronic/Dosetronic can figure this all out automatically with the "SDA" feature if you want...I just found it easier for me to do it manually over the course of a week or so. It also changes over time so having this finite control is so easy with the s/w from Focustronic.

GHL’s software is far more convoluted and the ability to manipulate, change, copy these parameters is just not at the same level or ease. In some cases you simply can’t do it the way one would think. You are forced and limited to think/do the GHL way which is not intuitive. The owner, Matthias, has “his” way of how it should be…not the intuitive way that the average person would think, it should be.


Finally is the hardware. GHL hardware in of itself is quite good. But anything with connectivity, Bluetooth (or the lack thereof), wifi reliability, programability and s/w is atrocious. Alkatronic / Dosetronic hardware is solid and upgradability is straightforward. The internals of the KH Director are a bit more complicated and subject to sensitivity with tubes and seals. The fact that the probe is horizontal vs vertical introduces some idiosyncrasies that you really have to pay attention to. The rubber seal for the probe expanded over time due to the exposure to saltwater and started to leak….GHL’s response was I was wrong and I did something that mess it up. Matthias' response was "I have never seen this before...you must have..." This is Matthias' way...if he hasn't seen it...it can't possibly be true....

For dosing, GHL requires you to use a separate dosing device to put the fluids in/out of the KH Director. I love GHL dosers (I have 4), but the availability/cost of components are all proprietary. Again, the wifi connectivity is not reliable. Third party dosing pump tubing is very hard to find and GHL will not tell you what to use/buy other than their own...which is ridiculously overpriced. I finally found a silicon tubing version that will work, but it took a long time of trying different sizes. The heads are also proprietary. The pumps/tubes from Focustronic are easy to find because they come from a well known third party supplier and its easier to buy the components yourself and do the maintenance/replacements as needed.

The one major ding on Focustronic h/w is it’s sensitivity to power glitches. It doesn’t like power glitches at all…ever. The brain is based on a Raspberry Pi and it is hobby/toy grade gear whereas the GHL h/w is bulletproof in that regard. I put my Focustronic gear on a small APC and always wait several seconds or more when cycling power. You will never have a GHL device simply stop working requiring to find/reprogram an SD card…GHL simply don’t use them. That said, upgrading the firmware can get tricky on the GHL... I have had my schedules completely lost after doing an upgrade.

Hope this helps…

 

[sssky]

Sure. First is the software. The Focustronic software and charting is far easier, more intuitive and more user friendly from a mobile perspective. If you are strictly on a laptop, they are similar from a viewing perspective, but from the Focustronic/Alkatronic mobile app perspective (I use an iPhone), it is WAY better than GHL’s software.

2nd is control. The Alkatronic/Dosetronic integration is excellent. I dose Triton 4 part and the level of control and ability to change dosing, etc is far more intuitive and easier than the GHL software. The dosing schedule is far easier to create and the dosing amounts on any one time is very easy to create, monitor, change, etc. I have been able to easily figure out the dosing times (I do 7x/day) and can control each time individually. When I want to change the day’s overall dosage, it is very easy - takes only a few keystrokes. Then it is easy to copy the one dosing programming to all 4 of the dosing parameters. For GHL, this effort is very complicated. Also, it is even more complicated if you want each dosing time to be different over the course of the day. Finally with GHL, it is complicated to change the day's dosage as a group (and for the 4 parts) if you choose to have different dosing amounts on each time within a day.

See Below....with GHL, you can't even create the schedule I have below without a major effort. And if you wanted to copy this to the other 3 pumps (other 3 dosing parts), it is really complicated. I have figured out over time how to flatten my alkalinity consumption throughout the day and therefore get my programming where I want it. Scheduling this out on GHL would be a very complicated task. One could argue there there is no need for this...but at the time when I was creating the programming on the GHL, I found it really hard to get any consistency of dkH throughout the day when I did measurements.

The programming below I have done manually over time. The Alkatronic/Dosetronic can figure this all out automatically with the "SDA" feature if you want...I just found it easier for me to do it manually over the course of a week or so. It also changes over time so having this finite control is so easy with the s/w from Focustronic.

GHL’s software is far more convoluted and the ability to manipulate, change, copy these parameters is just not at the same level or ease. In some cases you simply can’t do it the way one would think. You are forced and limited to think/do the GHL way which is not intuitive. The owner, Matthias, has “his” way of how it should be…not the intuitive way that the average person would think, it should be.


Finally is the hardware. GHL hardware in of itself is quite good. But anything with connectivity, Bluetooth (or the lack thereof), wifi reliability, programability and s/w is atrocious. Alkatronic / Dosetronic hardware is solid and upgradability is straightforward. The internals of the KH Director are a bit more complicated and subject to sensitivity with tubes and seals. The fact that the probe is horizontal vs vertical introduces some idiosyncrasies that you really have to pay attention to. The rubber seal for the probe expanded over time due to the exposure to saltwater and started to leak….GHL’s response was I was wrong and I did something that mess it up. Matthias' response was "I have never seen this before...you must have..." This is Matthias' way...if he hasn't seen it...it can't possibly be true....

For dosing, GHL requires you to use a separate dosing device to put the fluids in/out of the KH Director. I love GHL dosers (I have 4), but the availability/cost of components are all proprietary. Again, the wifi connectivity is not reliable. Third party dosing pump tubing is very hard to find and GHL will not tell you what to use/buy other than their own...which is ridiculously overpriced. I finally found a silicon tubing version that will work, but it took a long time of trying different sizes. The heads are also proprietary. The pumps/tubes from Focustronic are easy to find because they come from a well known third party supplier and its easier to buy the components yourself and do the maintenance/replacements as needed.

The one major ding on Focustronic h/w is it’s sensitivity to power glitches. It doesn’t like power glitches at all…ever. The brain is based on a Raspberry Pi and it is hobby/toy grade gear whereas the GHL h/w is bulletproof in that regard. I put my Focustronic gear on a small APC and always wait several seconds or more when cycling power. You will never have a GHL device simply stop working requiring to find/reprogram an SD card…GHL simply don’t use them. That said, upgrading the firmware can get tricky on the GHL... I have had my schedules completely lost after doing an upgrade.

Hope this helps…

Holy shet. This is such nice write up. Thank you a ton!!

 

[scottsweet]

Holy shet. This is such nice write up. Thank you a ton!!

See you are also a local. Feel free to PM me...I can show you my setup. I don't know if you are member of BAR or?

 

[sssky]

See you are also a local. Feel free to PM me...I can show you my setup. I don't know if you are member of BAR or?

You mean the Facebook group ? Yeah I certainly am !

 

[AquariumSpecialty]

If anyone is interested, we have a small batch of Mastetronic units arriving next week. Pre-Orders will be guaranteed a unit.

Focustronic Mastertronic Automated Water Tester

State of the Art Colorimetric Photosensor Water Testing Machine Mastertronic is the latest addition to Focustronics' product range of automated water testing equipment that is capable of measuring Nitrates, Phosphates, Magnesium, Calcium, and Alkalinity. Mastertronic will be able to communicate...

www.aquariumspecialty.com

 

[Joe31415]

Supposedly they're going to send me two (hopefully two) replacement hoses.

Has anyone else been dealing with the leaking pumps? They still haven't shipped my replacement heads yet.

 

[anthonymckay]

Has anyone else been dealing with the leaking pumps? They still haven't shipped my replacement heads yet.

The only time I've head a leaky pump was when I kept putting changing the hose according to the maintenance schedule and the pump wore through it. Since then I keep 2-3 of each hose for each of the different pumps on hand so that I can change them when required and hopefully avoid leaks.

 

[rocket098]

Anyone have issues with the actuator mine is having the motion error

 

[Joe31415]

I've never seen that error. However, I assume when you say actuator, you're talking about the motor that moves the syringe up and down, the plunger up and down or the whole syringe assembly back and forth.
Have you power cycling the unit or recalibrating the syringe yet? That may be all it needs as stepper motors, in those situations (moving something back and forth), are usually programmed to relearn where they are when first powered up.
Off the top of my head, when you power up the mastertronic, one of the things it does is move those three motors to one or both of their endstops. If you can trigger it to do that, it might clear the error.

 

[Joe31415]

I just googled Mastertronic Motion Error and found a number of people on a facebook page speaking about a "motion stuck" message. If that's what you're seeing, I see some potential fixes, but I have no idea if they work or not.

There's lots more, these are just the first two I happened to see.

 

[rocket098]

Yep that’s exactly it. Thanks for the help. No luck clearing it I’m in contact with service department.

 

[rocket098]

Anyone ever replace the actuator and where did you get it.

 

[Joe31415]

I'm now having a possible issue with the alk measurement. A few weeks ago my alk suddenly jumped from 8ish to 12ish. I couldn't think of any reason why that would have happened. After a few days I checked my other tank and got something more normal, so I assumed it was the tank and not the Mastertronic.
Since then it's been giving me high readings, but I assumed it was something on my end.

Yesterday, however, I picked up some corals from the LFS and was curious what their alk was it. I pulled a sample and tested it. It read 12.15. Then I pulled a sample of the tank I was going to put those new corals in (this tank isn't regularly tested). It also said 12.15. That's also when I noticed all the "12ish" readings I've been getting have all been 12.15 (or within .01 of that).

I figured this would be a good time to recalibrate the stepper and syringe. While doing this I noticed that the intake tube that draws in RODI was floating and therefore not actually drawing any water in, though I have no idea how long it's been like that. In any case, I fixed that, recalibrated the stepper, the syringe and Pump A (which is getting really loud).

After all that, I ran another alk test and got 11.42, lower, but still likely wrong. I did drag out my Hanna checker, with it's bottle of reagent that's probably been open for a few months, but it still gave me a reading of 8.7, which I suspect is correct, or considerably closer to correct.

I'm going to order some new alk reagent for the mastertronic, but I'll probably do one test by hand first (actually, maybe I'll do a test by hand with what I already have in the vials) and see what that says.

I also need to test some water change water to see what that says. Actually, I'm curious if plain RODI will give me a high reading as well.

What's really bugging me is that during this same time period, maybe started a few weeks earlier, my calcium jumped from about 440-450 up to 490-500 despite the fact that my calc doser had run dry. I'm not sure when it happened, but I've left it off for the past few weeks and it only finally dropped back down in the last few days. I did check that against a Hanna tester and confirmed it's likely the correct number.