My Honest Opinion About The Alkatronic

[TMB]

Do you have access to your router from another computer? And can you see the Raspberry Pi in the device table?
If not, keep in mind that the Alkatronic will only communicate with one type of device at a time:
Bluetooth or WiFi, but not both at the same time.
So, if you open the app in your phone before the WiFi has completed its connection, the WIFI gets disabled.
In fact, after you complete the above process try disabling the Bluetooth in your phone before you power on the Alkatronic to be sure Bluetooth cannot interrupt the WiFi process.
Then wait 5 minutes and look for Raspberry Pi in the device table of the router again. It should show up.
Let us know hot it goes.

 

[markstubb]

honestly I'd just wait on the wifi until this next firmware shows up if it's giving you that much of a problem. Mine works fine, but the only thing you need wifi for is to populate their web portal graph. Once the new firmware comes out, you'll be able to manage it through the portal, which you can't do today. Today, all management is via bluetooth.

I remember having an issue connecting it when I first got it, but many months later, it's been working just fine. I always say with this thing is it works perfectly fine forever until you touch it and then you may just have to mess with it until you get it where you like it and it's fine again. That being said, it's gotten much more stable over time.

I'm sure youll get it sorted

 

[Sherman]

Ya. Now all calibration, setting change have to be by bluetooth.
The cloud version only can view the daily update and graph

 

[markstubb]

That's why i was saying it's not all that important to have wifi at the moment as bluetooth is basically the ruler of the configuration steps.

Once the firmware update comes out, you will probably have to get wifi working to experience the whole deal.

Their support on facebook is great, just send them a ring.

 

[Sherman]

That's why i was saying it's not all that important to have wifi at the moment as bluetooth is basically the ruler of the configuration steps.

Once the firmware update comes out, you will probably have to get wifi working to experience the whole deal.

Their support on facebook is great, just send them a ring.

I totally agree the facebook support is great.

 

[Twocoralsonetank]

Facebook support isn't great anymore, if you try to message them on Facebook you get a message that you need to contact your dealer you purchased it from to assist you.

I have access to my wifi and I can't see it connecting to it at all. Thats my concern. Tired connecting with 2 different routers, confirmed the SSID and password are correct. Its just not working.

 

[markstubb]

maybe try hard coding the wifi channel? do you do any sort of channel width modification? Just keep it at 20hz and try.

I run a fairly complicated wifi network and i remember my 2016 apex refused to connect to it. There was nothing I could do to get it to work other than to disable roaming on my access points, which I refused to disable for an aquarium controller haha

 

[Gudhjem]

Hey guys, just a note on my very early experience with the Alkatronic. I have a KH Guardian, it's been up for nearly a year. Thought I would give the Alkatronic a try since I'm not totally happy with the KHG, and have more than one tank anyway.

I just got the Alkatronic set up yesterday. Setup is easy, and overall this looks to be a polished and solid product, much, much more so than the KHG. The only complaint I have, and it's an important one for me since the device is under my stand in the living room, this thing is LOUD. I have what must be the new version with the so-called quiet kit already installed, but wow, those pumps A and C hum. It's right at an annoying frequency to (at least it is for me). It's not blender-loud, but you can hear it all through my house, including upstairs in the bedrooms. I'll have to try wrapping some sound deadening material around it to see if that helps, or I don't think I'll be able to have it test at night.

 

[markstubb]

I doubt you have the silence kit if it’s that loud. And if you do have the silence kit (easiest way to tell is the bottom two pumps are much smaller than the top two) and it’s that loud, something is wrong. Mines pretty danged quiet

 

[BrianReefer]

Hey guys, just a note on my very early experience with the Alkatronic. I have a KH Guardian, it's been up for nearly a year. Thought I would give the Alkatronic a try since I'm not totally happy with the KHG, and have more than one tank anyway.

I just got the Alkatronic set up yesterday. Setup is easy, and overall this looks to be a polished and solid product, much, much more so than the KHG. The only complaint I have, and it's an important one for me since the device is under my stand in the living room, this thing is LOUD. I have what must be the new version with the so-called quiet kit already installed, but wow, those pumps A and C hum. It's right at an annoying frequency to (at least it is for me). It's not blender-loud, but you can hear it all through my house, including upstairs in the bedrooms. I'll have to try wrapping some sound deadening material around it to see if that helps, or I don't think I'll be able to have it test at night.

I had the same issue and pinged support on Facebook. He told me the big pumps have dampers on them so when positioned right, should be fairly quiet. Move them around a bit - sometimes a tiny adjustment goes a long way. I needed to put a rubber band in between the damper and the pump to push it out a bit more and now it’s dead silent. Try it out while running that individual pump in prime mode so you’ll know when you’ve got it set.

 

[mitch91175]

Hey guys, just a note on my very early experience with the Alkatronic. I have a KH Guardian, it's been up for nearly a year. Thought I would give the Alkatronic a try since I'm not totally happy with the KHG, and have more than one tank anyway.

I just got the Alkatronic set up yesterday. Setup is easy, and overall this looks to be a polished and solid product, much, much more so than the KHG. The only complaint I have, and it's an important one for me since the device is under my stand in the living room, this thing is LOUD. I have what must be the new version with the so-called quiet kit already installed, but wow, those pumps A and C hum. It's right at an annoying frequency to (at least it is for me). It's not blender-loud, but you can hear it all through my house, including upstairs in the bedrooms. I'll have to try wrapping some sound deadening material around it to see if that helps, or I don't think I'll be able to have it test at night.

Can you post a picture of the inside of the unit?

 

[Gudhjem]

Here's a pic of my machine:

Small B & D pumps means new silent version right?

Brian, how did you move the pumps around?

 

[mitch91175]

Here's a pic of my machine:

Small B & D pumps means new silent version right?

Brian, how did you move the pumps around?

Yeah definitely new quiet model.

 

[BrianReefer]

Here's a pic of my machine:

Small B & D pumps means new silent version right?

Brian, how did you move the pumps around?

Literally just turn them a tiny bit, angle them a bit, in my case I cut a rubber band and squeezed it in between the pump and the rubber gasket behind it. You’ll notice big difference in sound with very small tweaks

 

[markstubb]

yep, that's likely the issue is there is part of the chassis touching the pumps that's resonating the vibrations of the pumps.

 

[Gudhjem]

I took a stab at manipulating the pumps, turning them clockwise and counterclockwise. I didn't have much success improving the noise; maybe a slight improvement on pump A. Pump C is worse than A since it has a higher ptich.

I suppose it's possible I just have a different idea than most as to what "quiet" means, and am more sensitive to the noise. My tank overall is as close to silent as I've ever heard, the loudest noise being the slight whir of the largest Tunze powerheads. My Alkatronic pumps are about as loud as an inkjet printer (if you're old enough to know what that is), and they are objectively much louder than the KHG pumps. I tried to attach videos of pumps A and C, but the forum wont let me upload the movies.

But, other than the noise, the alkatronic looks like a winner. Very cool device and looks well-built. I may post a more detailed comparison of the Alkatronic and KH Guardian once I have a bit more time with the Alkatronic.

Thanks for the suggestions.

--Steve

 

[BrianReefer]

Having my own issue with the Alkatronic now. Out of nowhere, it stopped measuring based on the frequency set in the app. It is only running when I manually trigger it. Unplugged it to reset and reconnected, tried changing the time interval and saving, nothing is working. Any ideas?

 

[Sherman]

I just message them yesterday when I see no update report on my cloud version.
Receive a reply today morning confirming my unit is online.
I verified my cloud version after reading the message.
Confirm report is updated again

 

[mitch91175]

FYI to all faithful Alkatronic users, the new firmware update is available and the app update should be available within the next 24 hours.

https://www.facebook.com/alkatronic...wYn4dk7XLNFq4gSOjvxyfTxpzNI6ak0IYVo&__tn__=-R

 

[mitch91175]

For some reason, it seems that my original edits to the first post have been altered without my consent. I 100% recall posting updates as time has gone by about using the unit and those comments no longer are shown. call me a conspiracy theorist, but some doesn't smell right in paradise. I can completely altering the first post with how I currently feel about the unit.