More tank shutdowns for now reason with GHL profilux

[lmm1967]

I'm now having random shutdowns of an entire tank - no alarms, no warnings - I walk in the house and notice one of my larger tanks is completely powered down. No lights, no flow - no nothing. With no errors indicated on profiux. Rebooted the expansion box - nothing - had to power cycle the power bar for it to start working again. Third time this exact thing has happened.

Between this now happening, the random emails about a temp of 120 degrees plus finding out you can't run 2 KH directors from one Profilux (yeah - now I have a $800 paper weight thanks to GHL not documenting their known limitations - gotta appreciate that) - I'm awfully glad I still have all the apex stuff sitting here.

BTW - support person acting like he has no idea about the phantom alarms and pretending I'm the only person with this problem is more than slightly annoying - and is the reason I'm here in a public forum rather than opening another support case which will get ignored.

This is turning out to be a $4400 mistake so far and I'm only 2 months in to GHL ownership.

 

[AZMSGT]

I'm now having random shutdowns of an entire tank - no alarms, no warnings - I walk in the house and notice one of my larger tanks is completely powered down. No lights, no flow - no nothing. With no errors indicated on profiux. Rebooted the expansion box - nothing - had to power cycle the power bar for it to start working again. Third time this exact thing has happened.

Between this now happening, the random emails about a temp of 120 degrees plus finding out you can't run 2 KH directors from one Profilux (yeah - now I have a $800 paper weight thanks to GHL not documenting their known limitations - gotta appreciate that) - I'm awfully glad I still have all the apex stuff sitting here.

BTW - support person acting like he has no idea about the phantom alarms and pretending I'm the only person with this problem is more than slightly annoying - and is the reason I'm here in a public forum rather than opening another support case which will get ignored.

This is turning out to be a $4400 mistake so far and I'm only 2 months in to GHL ownership.

Let me guess Thilo or Matthis F.. those two guys aren’t impressive at support. Call and talk to Vinny direct. He can help resolve it I hope.
@Vinny@GHLUSA

 

[Bj’s Reef]

Wow GHL has been good with helping me. I hope things get better for you. Keep us posted on how things are going.

 

[lmm1967]

Let me guess Thilo or Matthis F.. those two guys aren’t impressive at support. Call and talk to Vinny direct. He can help resolve it I hope.
@Vinny@GHLUSA

I would agree with your support group assessment.

 

[lmm1967]

Wow GHL has been good with helping me. I hope things get better for you. Keep us posted on how things are going.

When there is a simple "how do you program this" kind of question - they are quick and responsive.

When there is a problem or something up on their side - they go silent.

And yes - I'm still quite bitter about seeing a slave doser and KH director sitting on a shelf unable to be used.

 

[AZMSGT]

Can’t you return the KHD? The doser you I’m sure can employ later.

 

[TheOne]

Don't get me wrong I really liked my ghl equipment before I sold it all but some of us just want a "How to program for Dummies guide".

Since switching over to Apex I think I've finally settled. I like pretty pictures and how to videos that are short and to the point. You want to add something and you just click a button and it holds your hand while walking you thru it step by step. This is what I paid a premium for.

I just think ghl is more for the hobbyists who like to learn to write code and more into port forwarding, router setups and really getting into the technical side of things.

I will agree the ghl was built with higher quality as all the apex that I own seem to be more toy like. If they could put apex simplicity into the ghl equipment they would be miles ahead. Anyway, I hope you get it all figured out.

 

[lmm1967]

Can’t you return the KHD? The doser you I’m sure can employ later.

KH director bought as a slave set, opened, plugged in etc etc.

Returning is probably not a viable option since it's already opened & "used".

I can use the doser(s) for sure - I didn't plan on having to go out and spend another $459 just to get it working. Oh Well - lessons learned (again).

 

[Bj’s Reef]

I’m sure you can sell the kh director on them forum with out a problem.

 

[vangvace]

@TheOne most of the Apex for Dummies guides came from crowd sourcing verses anything from Neptune. Before fusion, Apex was advance mode where you had to learn/find the code online or do so many button presses on the display for not so much function.

The GHL equivalent might likewise be available in a variety of forums and languages from Europe. Adding wizards to their interface might be GHL's next evolution step?

 

[lmm1967]

@TheOne most of the Apex for Dummies guides came from crowd sourcing verses anything from Neptune. Before fusion, Apex was advance mode where you had to learn/find the code online or do so many button presses on the display for not so much function.

The GHL equivalent might likewise be available in a variety of forums and languages from Europe. Adding wizards to their interface might be GHL's next evolution step?

They should put those resources into things like - allowing me to use a strong password in the email settings. Or perhaps documenting simple hardware limitations. Heck - maybe someone tell me why the silly thing randomly tells me one of my tanks is suddenly 120 degrees, or - another grand idea - get it to stop shutting down my entire tank with zero reason, warning or notifications.

 

[TheOne]

@vangvace Yes, If ghl could setup a wizard it would simplify things so much for beginners just starting out.

For instance, A few weeks ago I setup an apex DOS to do automatic water changes all from my apex phone app. It held my hand and took me step by step thru setting it up. Also I just added a Trident to monitor alk, calc and mag not only did it take me step by step it showed a short video at each step. Break it down into simple terms and make the process so easy that it's impossible not to follow along.

I train people for a living and some people you would think were einstein himself and some you wonder how they managed to tie their shoelaces in the morning. The point is both can learn it's just in how they have to be taught.

@lmm1967 I'm sorry man. I definately feel your frustration. I went down that rabbit hole already. Wasted tons of time on ghl forums trying to learn stuff I could care less about.

 

[lmm1967]

@vangvace Yes, If ghl could setup a wizard it would simplify things so much for beginners just starting out.

For instance, A few weeks ago I setup an apex DOS to do automatic water changes all from my apex phone app. It held my hand and took me step by step thru setting it up. Also I just added a Trident to monitor alk, calc and mag not only did it take me step by step it showed a short video at each step. Break it down into simple terms and make the process so easy that it's impossible not to follow along.

I train people for a living and some people you would think were einstein himself and some you wonder how they managed to tie their shoelaces in the morning. The point is both can learn it's just in how they have to be taught.

@lmm1967 I'm sorry man. I definately feel your frustration. I went down that rabbit hole already. Wasted tons of time on ghl forums trying to learn stuff I could care less about.

At the end of the day - it's all good - frustrating, but that's what helps prevent us from becoming complacent.

You, being a trainer, might want to have a youtube channel and put 10 - 15 minute educational style or based reef related videos.

 

[ingchr1]

For the random temperature issue, try lowering the signal filter if you haven't already. I had a similar issue and lowing it from 5 to 4 fixed it.

I'm not sure how you have your Powerbar setup but I think it's a good idea for the sockets you can, have the initial states as On. This way if the Powerbar looses comms with the P4 the equipment will keep running. Depending upon what is causing this specific issue, it may or may not help keep your tank running. If it's something in the Powerbar itself then it may very well not help.

I have all of my sockets default On, except for the heaters. One of those I could probably default as On since they have internal thermostats (Ehiems). I may even undersize my backup and have that one default On. This way the tank would still have some heat if the controller were to fail. Still deciding what the best approach will be.

Having the sockets default On works in my case since my return pumps are straight AC (only on/off). My powerheads, skimmer and ATO are controlled by their individual Tunze controllers. My light (LX7) also controls itself. The only thing my P4 really controls is temperature. The rest is monitoring and convenience (e.g. maintenance and feed modes).

I also have two Powerbars with redundant equipment (return pumps, powerheads and heaters).

 

[Tristren]

I'm now having random shutdowns of an entire tank - no alarms, no warnings - I walk in the house and notice one of my larger tanks is completely powered down. No lights, no flow - no nothing. With no errors indicated on profiux. Rebooted the expansion box - nothing - had to power cycle the power bar for it to start working again. Third time this exact thing has happened.

Between this now happening, the random emails about a temp of 120 degrees plus finding out you can't run 2 KH directors from one Profilux (yeah - now I have a $800 paper weight thanks to GHL not documenting their known limitations - gotta appreciate that) - I'm awfully glad I still have all the apex stuff sitting here.

BTW - support person acting like he has no idea about the phantom alarms and pretending I'm the only person with this problem is more than slightly annoying - and is the reason I'm here in a public forum rather than opening another support case which will get ignored.

This is turning out to be a $4400 mistake so far and I'm only 2 months in to GHL ownership.

That does suck.
I’m surprised about the support issues though. I’ve had good experiences with that. Both with an issue they fixed and one they couldn’t. (Matthias F was someone I dealt with and he was helpful)
I did notice that there was a teutonic style that is certainly different from customer support over here. Less apologetic for any issues etc. But more to the point and they did try to understand what I was actually trying to do to see if they could provide a different solution.

If one of your power bars is repeatedly shutting down its presumably faulty. What did they say about that?


Cheers, Tony

 

[porter_painter]

Have you checked all your connections and connectors?

Appreciate your system sounds all very new, but years ago I had a misbehaving plug bar and it was because it had been salt splash on the comms cable and the little gold connectors had started to corrode.

Just made me think something like that might be occurring, or a damaged cable or something

 

[lexinverts]

I'm now having random shutdowns of an entire tank - no alarms, no warnings - I walk in the house and notice one of my larger tanks is completely powered down. No lights, no flow - no nothing. With no errors indicated on profiux. Rebooted the expansion box - nothing - had to power cycle the power bar for it to start working again. Third time this exact thing has happened.

Between this now happening, the random emails about a temp of 120 degrees plus finding out you can't run 2 KH directors from one Profilux (yeah - now I have a $800 paper weight thanks to GHL not documenting their known limitations - gotta appreciate that) - I'm awfully glad I still have all the apex stuff sitting here.

BTW - support person acting like he has no idea about the phantom alarms and pretending I'm the only person with this problem is more than slightly annoying - and is the reason I'm here in a public forum rather than opening another support case which will get ignored.

This is turning out to be a $4400 mistake so far and I'm only 2 months in to GHL ownership.

I'm sorry to hear about your troubles, and, believe me, I can empathize.
I had a problem with a P4 that lasted for months. I got quite frustrated with GHL support and was ready to throw in the towel. Then I got through to Matthias Gross (the owner, lead engineer) and he figured out my problem in about 15 minutes. Since then, I have not had a single problem with my GHL gear, and I couldn't be happier with it. With GHL in the USA, you have to understand that they have a very small support team, and dealing with any complex issues requires patience. Their stuff is better built than the competition, so the trade-off is quality for speedy service.

If you stick with it, I'm sure that Matthias Gross can help resolve your issue.

Good luck!

 

[MabuyaQ]

I'm now having random shutdowns of an entire tank - no alarms, no warnings - I walk in the house and notice one of my larger tanks is completely powered down. No lights, no flow - no nothing. With no errors indicated on profiux. Rebooted the expansion box - nothing - had to power cycle the power bar for it to start working again. Third time this exact thing has happened.

Between this now happening, the random emails about a temp of 120 degrees plus finding out you can't run 2 KH directors from one Profilux (yeah - now I have a $800 paper weight thanks to GHL not documenting their known limitations - gotta appreciate that) - I'm awfully glad I still have all the apex stuff sitting here.

BTW - support person acting like he has no idea about the phantom alarms and pretending I'm the only person with this problem is more than slightly annoying - and is the reason I'm here in a public forum rather than opening another support case which will get ignored.

This is turning out to be a $4400 mistake so far and I'm only 2 months in to GHL ownership.

Did you extend the cable of the temperature probe? Had a similar problem after I did. Adjusting signal filter and recalibrating the probe got this solved. Might also be something is creating interference, always found the GHL temp probes more sensitive to this, adjusting signal filtering could also help in that case.

A masterdoser would solve the KHD problem with the P4 not being able to control 2 KHD's, wouldn't it?

 

[lmm1967]

Thanks for all the replies / assistance.

Connectors all seem to be in good shape and solid.

All the GHL gear is less than a couple months old and hasn't had any water spills etc around it.

A master doser would solve the problem with the KD directory. My disappointment is - I have to run out and spend another $459 to by a master doser to replace one of my slave dosers - had there been any documentation leading me to question having more than 1 KH director managed by the profilux I would have spent the extra $50 (to go with a stand alone version rather than slave) when I purchased the setup.

There is 1 challenge with even that solution - I now will lose the "1 connection point to manage all systems" - which is a benefit to me. I'm not super keen on needing to manage most things from one place and then 1 or 2 things from another place. It's why I went with GHL and was looking forward to an ION director.

Unfortunately an ION director is now not even a consideration at this point in time - my confidence in GHL is too low and if I do stick with GHL I have to spend at least another $459 just to get what I already have working.

 

[AZMSGT]

Just a thought, Order a SA Ion, use that doser for your KH and use the present doser with the Ion on your system... Your not out anything then.

I understand that you’re sour on GHL and I hope your issue will resolve. Patience considering it’s the holidays.. bad time to have problems.