My Honest Opinion About The Alkatronic

[mitch91175]

I went down that path, so I sympathize with you. Spent many days going back and forth and have pages of FB messenger to prove it.

Eric was very helpful, but all they kept doing was making me try 100 different diagnostic things that never worked.

I sent my unit back to them and they supposedly "fixed" a messed up SD card. Sent it back, but then I started having the same issues you are.

Half the tests didnt get logged on the chart. Network connections came and went.

And Jonas ****** me off eventually (b/c he never can admit that maybe this product isnt perfect or has any flaws SMH), that I just returned it before I had to threaten to defective purchase to my credit card company.

For $1000, they should be upfront and tell users only buy it if you have a MAC.

Hey you gotta be truthful with your assessment that’s for sure. If we allow manufacturers to ignore our frustration then we should speak up about it and if they do not change their tune, then we speak with our wallets.

When I first received my unit I was frustrated as heck. Spoke up about it and they did the right thing.

Android is buggy as heck anyways, so I decided a long time ago to switch back to iOS. Have been happier ever since. I liked that Android allowed me to tweak, but when is was all said and done, decided to switch to iOS.

They really need to refine the setup of the Alkatronic or it will turn people off. Once setup everything works great, just getting to that point is what I see more frustration.

Loving my unit and glad that setup is behind me and enjoying a stable tank.

 

[Makers Marc]

Ty for that. I guess I will dust off the Ole mac book pro and see what she'll do. Lol. I know after the many hours of going back and forth and configuring this and that I really don't have much else to lose. I'm shocked that this is not a one off. TBH I just thought I was brain fartin on something small. I have read the manual, watched vids, read about every comment on every thread available before I started. I bought this in December and was switching to a bigger tank so I felt I should just wait rather than set it up to take it down and repeat. So I have had plenty of time to research and read about what it takes to setup. While I have seen some people struggling they always seem to get it right and working. You are the first I have heard that returned it. At some point enough is enough. Not there yet. Thanks.

Yep. I am a smart person and was willing to go above and beyond to make it work. I even made a spreadsheet to log every test and issue, then sent a video to Jonas to prove to him I am doing what i said i did.

It was hard to refrain from creating a post to tell the truth about the negatives of the alkatronic, especially since Jonas insisted that I had an "isolated" incident. Inferring it must be user error.

But with a lot more important things in my life, I passed on the chance to negatively post anything.

But after seeing your situation, I felt the need to speak out so you didn't feel you also had an isolated incident.

And you are right. 90% of comments on this thread are positive, and Im sure he wants to keep it that way.

 

[hart24601]

Despite my experience being easy and positive it’s good to hear experiences that had issues even if resulted in returning the unit. I am truly sorry you had so many issues, hate to see any reefer having problems with gear.

 

[mitch91175]

Yep. I am a smart person and was willing to go above and beyond to make it work. I even made a spreadsheet to log every test and issue, then sent a video to Jonas to prove to him I am doing what i said i did.

It was hard to refrain from creating a post to tell the truth about the negatives of the alkatronic, especially since Jonas insisted that I had an "isolated" incident. Inferring it must be user error.

But with a lot more important things in my life, I passed on the chance to negatively post anything.

But after seeing your situation, I felt the need to speak out so you didn't feel you also had an isolated incident.

And you are right. 90% of comments on this thread are positive, and Im sure he wants to keep it that way.

If you have a bad experience and it is a truthful bad experience, why shy away from posting about it? Every company out there should know that we are the consumer, not the other way around. I wish more people spoke up about this in this hobby in general. I know that I have had bad experiences and I do speak about them.

It is even worse with live stock. People sell others sick livestock all the time and no one speaks up about it.

Every manufacturer out there has their own set of issues to deal with. None of them are perfect, but how they handle those issues are what really matters. If they sweep it under the rug, eventually they will have a mound that no one will walk on (meaning they will eventually either go out of business or they need to get their house in order).

The support is great from Focustronic, but at the same time transparency should be 100% there. Same goes to the Trident. Transparency should be there. If there are issues let people know. Then we as consumers have the option to choose if we want to deal with those issues, wait it out, or go a different direction.

I'd support a company 100% if they are transparent with me. None of the snide remarks and funny remarks that I do see coming from others. I find it very childish personally and unprofessional, but again who am I right.

 

[mitch91175]

I feel for the people that invested in the Vertex Cerebra or the Mindstream or plug in any other manufacturer that promised this or that in this hobby and never came through. Marketing is one thing and all companies should do it, but deceitful practices shows the true nature of a company. We work for our $$$ and to be taken advantage of like that makes me sick to my stomach and just want to puke.

 

[Makers Marc]

Let me be clear, that the primary reason nothing was posted was because I went out of the country for a month (holidays) one day after it occurred.

When i got back, I was over it already and didn't want to relive the experience.

But yes, all merchants and sellers should be exposed for all the good and bad.

 

[richiero]

No issues with mine then again I have an apple phone and iPad , which are bit more simple to configure then android. To bad it didn’t work out for you. Like people mentioned above no product is perfect but this unit is so dang accurate and has begun to turn my tank around on a stability stand point. Hope you have better luck with the next product you try ..

 

[richiero]

Quick question I just realized my alkatronic didn’t spring ahead an hour this weekend it’s still an hour behind. Does it do this automatically or do I have to do it?

2. I just also noticed my alkatronic it getting air in the intake alk solution line anyone else experience this ?

 

[mitch91175]

Quick question I just realized my alkatronic didn’t spring ahead an hour this weekend it’s still an hour behind. Does it do this automatically or do I have to do it?

2. I just also noticed my alkatronic it getting air in the intake alk solution line anyone else experience this ?

Haven't experienced air in the line. Have you tried priming pump D?

 

[Johnic]

Have a problem with my Alkatronic. It’s been running for a free months then I calibrated the pumps and then recalibrated the PH meter. After that I was getting super low readings that didn’t match my Salfert or what the machine used to test at which was alk 8.7.
I now have to fool the PH meter to read higher to offset the bad readings. When i test the Alkatronic fluid it matches my Salfert and when i test the Salfert alone it matched the alkatronic until i recalibrated the ph meter the PH meter seems that it broken ? when i put it in 7 ph fluid it reads 7.45. If i calibrate to the 7 ph fluid then i get alk readings of 8.12 -8.2.
What can be wrong?

 

[nyknicks2544]

Where does everyone find these in stock?

 

[richiero]

https://www.saltwateraquarium.com/o...bwBXmnRa5qyJRr4VmmSEl1ykDmMNT8D8aAvZEEALw_wcB

 

[richiero]

Have a problem with my Alkatronic. It’s been running for a free months then I calibrated the pumps and then recalibrated the PH meter. After that I was getting super low readings that didn’t match my Salfert or what the machine used to test at which was alk 8.7.
I now have to fool the PH meter to read higher to offset the bad readings. When i test the Alkatronic fluid it matches my Salfert and when i test the Salfert alone it matched the alkatronic until i recalibrated the ph meter the PH meter seems that it broken ? when i put it in 7 ph fluid it reads 7.45. If i calibrate to the 7 ph fluid then i get alk readings of 8.12 -8.2.
What can be wrong?

Not sure did You contact Jonas ?

 

[richiero]

Haven't experienced air in the line. Have you tried priming pump D?

It’s fixed I zipped tied the ends of the barbs as suggested by some on this thread [emoji1303]

 

[nyknicks2544]

https://www.saltwateraquarium.com/o...bwBXmnRa5qyJRr4VmmSEl1ykDmMNT8D8aAvZEEALw_wcB

Thanks! That was the only one I could find and not sure how I feel about open box / used with something as expensive as this - I'll pay the extra $135

 

[richiero]

Text Saltwateraquarium tomorrow. I know they said they were parts in this week

 

[slojmn]

Does anyone know why I continue to get "time to calibrate pumps" when I calibrated them 10 days ago. It seems the machine continues to send me this alert. I figured it would stop once I went through the calibration process.

 

[SVP]

It’s fixed I zipped tied the ends of the barbs as suggested by some on this thread [emoji1303]

What do you mean you zip tied the ends of the barbs? Just want clarification if you don't mind thanks.

 

[SVP]

So I am back and I am having some issues that I honestly thought I had solved. So to bring my posts up to date I finally got everything calibrated and saved. Then tested calibration of pumps and ph probe and was well within posted limits of how many Ml each pump should produce in glass vials and probes values are within 9 hundredths of being correct(spot on 7 or 4)or less. I tested my reagent against my salifert and the difference was negligible (.71 ml titrant used of salifert/.74 ml of alkatronic new batch of reagent made). Jonas and I both agreed that I would just be chasing numbers to do a baseline calibration over such a small disparity. So I have noticed I am not getting any black dots mo charting of any data points. I also noticed that my app reads an entirely different dkh than what the machine says. So I know of one thing that might be the snafu I changed the name of my alkatronic to alkatronic frag tank with the serial number still included. But I can't access it on the cloud and can't access it properly on the app lite which I've uninstalled and reinstalled still no green dot. Could it be the name change? I'm not seeing it on my routers devices except when I reset it. Then only for an hour or so at the most. Just would like some ideas please as I am trying to get it working consistently. Not hit or miss. Thanks for any help or tips you can give.

 

[richiero]

What do you mean you zip tied the ends of the barbs? Just want clarification if you don't mind thanks.

I’ll send you a pic