Neptune APEX Reliability (Shocking in my experience!)
U
User1
Guest
I'm not sure what sort of cost it would incur Neptune but I guess they could offer a "pro" line similar to KitchenAid counter top appliances. That line has a 5 year warranty for example but you are paying for it. During our outage I noted one of the things that went out was our toaster (Pro line of Kitchen Aid). They didn't even blink and said sure, will arrive in 7 to 10 days. I guess that is what you get when you pay dang near 400 dollars for a toaster
I should clarify why I commented on the color and base design. My back ground is in computers, its infrastructure, networking, telephony, and military avionics. I'm used to stuff being in boxes or racks or of similar design. That is all. I believe those that said the design is what it is to help reduce cost is a valid reason and example.
I say this as the Blue Angels are flying over my neighborhood
Mical
2500 Club Member
Yes. To keep your iPad from going to sleep, update the Auto-lock setting. To do this, go to your iPad Settings > Display & Brightness > Auto-Lock. Set Auto-Lock to "Never". This will keep your screen awake, but still respect your screen dimming settings.
Jon Fishman
Cleveland Ohio, buy/sell local!
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I have tried just about all the major brands of controllers while helping friends set up the electronic for their Aquariums. I came to the conclusion a long time ago that Neptune is the master of Advertising and Marketing. I use an Aquatronica controller and have been using one since 2005. My old 2005 unit has a better display and is still has more flexibility than the Apex. My 2015 Aquatronica Touch controller is light years ahead of the Apex in almost every way and it was thankfully just a single head unit drop in replacement with full backward compatibility. I have also used GHL and they are also super well built and reliable. GHL would be my second choice in controllers, it is good stuff but is a bit more expensive than Aquatronica and the interface is not nearly as intuitive.
The secret sauce that makes people compelled to buy an Apex is the Marketing and the Fusion software. I give a lot of credit to Neptune for making a very versatile interface that is eye candy through and through. The problem is, what good is a nice GUI if all the hardware and firmware underneath that is poorly done. I have heard Apex owners mention problems that make me cringe. Problems like the Temperature readings going all over the place. The Salinity probe giving random readings. The controller locking up! Power Bar disconnects! Anyone of these things can wipe out your tank.
In 15 years I have never had an issue with any of my readings or programs. All I have had to do is the expected ORP and pH probe cleanings and replacements. I still have my 15 year old power bars and temp probes, level sensors, leak detectors and all my original modules still working fine. Even my Salinity probe is 4 years old and the last time I calibrated it was two years ago, and that was just because I got fresh bottle of cal solution and the reading was a fraction off from what was on the label. Even my 15 year old ACQ110 controller is in a box ready to be dropped back into place should it be needed.
I know that most companies will have issues at the start of a product release and even into maybe the first year, maybe two. After that period I would expect everything to work properly and behave as a true life support system (AkA Bullet proof in operation). Sadly the Apex and most of it's sub systems do not.
Anyway as the other poster in the previous page stated, the problem is that most people have never tried another brand of high end controller, so they are not 100% confident in controllers and probably never will be.
The secret sauce that makes people compelled to buy an Apex is the Marketing and the Fusion software. I give a lot of credit to Neptune for making a very versatile interface that is eye candy through and through. The problem is, what good is a nice GUI if all the hardware and firmware underneath that is poorly done. I have heard Apex owners mention problems that make me cringe. Problems like the Temperature readings going all over the place. The Salinity probe giving random readings. The controller locking up! Power Bar disconnects! Anyone of these things can wipe out your tank.
In 15 years I have never had an issue with any of my readings or programs. All I have had to do is the expected ORP and pH probe cleanings and replacements. I still have my 15 year old power bars and temp probes, level sensors, leak detectors and all my original modules still working fine. Even my Salinity probe is 4 years old and the last time I calibrated it was two years ago, and that was just because I got fresh bottle of cal solution and the reading was a fraction off from what was on the label. Even my 15 year old ACQ110 controller is in a box ready to be dropped back into place should it be needed.
I know that most companies will have issues at the start of a product release and even into maybe the first year, maybe two. After that period I would expect everything to work properly and behave as a true life support system (AkA Bullet proof in operation). Sadly the Apex and most of it's sub systems do not.
Anyway as the other poster in the previous page stated, the problem is that most people have never tried another brand of high end controller, so they are not 100% confident in controllers and probably never will be.
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U
User1
Guest
But what if we have?
I was 100% confident in my other choice, Reef Angel just as much as I'm 100% confident on my Apex.
I think the OP has run into some issues and is choosing to go another route. I'm not sure if one or the other will be better for them but wish them nothing but success with the next choice. As we all should has being hobby members.
On the other hand to say others haven't tried something else is a problem, well, that is just wrong. There is no meter or gauge how many people are happy with Neptune products other than the overall success of the company. Since they are still in business and have several products in high demand I'd wager business is good.
Let us not turn the thread into a bashing of any product because there is a lot of people, as noted by someone else better than me, who use apex products are are silent on it. Good or bad experience we don't hear from them.
Thales
Valuable Member
Yes it is an opinion....stated as fact - "And Neptune's playschool design, plasticy build quality, and pathetic reliability certain make it "cheap."
Sorry you are frustrated!
RR
What a lazy argument.
Its an opinion stated as an opinion, and further clarified as being an opinion. It's not a riddle.
I understand your lazy argument just fine. That stupid saying can be applied to darn near anything. Again, not a riddle. Thanks for the compelling contribution.
"Have a great day."
Obvious troll is obvious. I'm an idiot for feeding. sigh
Thales
Valuable Member
I am not a troll and you are not an idiot. You are however, putting emotion and intent into what I have been saying that is not there. Very often 'have a great day' means 'have a great day'. Not sure that there is anything I can do about it, but I do think it matters to the community at large. I am not trying to fight with you at all, just point out things I think are important, just like you have been doing. You don't see what I was getting at that that is fine, but no need to ratchet up a fight that isn't actually being fought.
Dubs83
Valuable Member
Mine has been riddled with issues. Randomly disconnecting. Unable to reconnect to the WiFi. Once, it just started flashing all the module status LEDs but remained connected to Fusion. It looked like I was able to manipulate outputs and outputs were in auto but later found out it wasn’t actually turning anything on or off. FMM failed. All of the flow sensors failed within a year. All 4 PMUPs seized. I’m unable to hail anyone on their forum. This thing is great at what It does when it actually does it. My job includes me being gone half the year and without fail, something always goes wrong within 24 hours of me leaving and it’s ALWAYS Apex related.
Dude you have got to stop. My message was asking you to stop. Seriously. Stop.
This has been a ongoing issue ive always had with Neptune. Their warranty is the worst I uave ever dealt with and they are not customer friendly at all. I so want to switch to GHL but I have spent a LOT of money into the neptune and I will never get anything close to it and ive onkt had it for about 10 months. The jr I had worked great. They were like night and day. And the worst thing about it is they dont seem to care and dont care to fix anything.
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