New Neptune probe shipped dry

[Clownfishy]

Just opened my new Apex and looking at the red probe, it looks like the fluid has been leaking and the probes is new. Is this an issue?

 

[hybridazn]

It shouldnt be, soak the probe in vinegar for about 30 minutes or so and then calibrate. I believe the red probe is orp so calibration won't be needed

 

[Clownfishy]

Thanks. The other issue i have is with the salinity probe. Just calibrated and when I put it in the aquarium it read 35. After few minutes it dropped to 0. I recalibrate and it read 34.9 when I put it in the aquarium and is now reading 1.1. Do these take a while calibrate?

 

[Clownfishy]

I pushed the probe deeper into the water and now it is reading 36. It may not have been in the water far enough so I will keep on eye on it.

 

[Dom274]

Just opened my new Apex and looking at the red probe, it looks like the fluid has been leaking and the probes is new. Is this an issue?

Here's the rub - Apex probes are the only ones that I have ever seen that "Must be stored wet". I did pool maintenance for 15 years and PH & ORP probes were always shipped/stored dry. They can sometimes take a couple days to settle down and read properly though.


http://www.poolweb.com/ph-sensor-ch...zTYYL_WAvdJPT1CayrDLUPigqn15nF8kaAseXEALw_wcB

 

[Clownfishy]

I am not convinced mine is working correctly. II this now in the aquarium reading 191. I will give it a few days as I have been told they need to settle but if not, I will contact Neptune as clearly a lot of liquid was lost as can be seen from the picture. The good news is that the Salinity probe is now working so that was my fault for not submerging it enough!

 

[Dom274]

I am not convinced mine is working correctly. II this now in the aquarium reading 191. I will give it a few days as I have been told they need to settle but if not, I will contact Neptune as clearly a lot of liquid was lost as can be seen from the picture. The good news is that the Salinity probe is now working so that was my fault for not submerging it enough!

A few days is no where close to enough time. The Apex manual states that it will take a week or two for the ORP probe to settle down.

 

[dealseer]

Mine came dry too. Bummer. But I’ve long since switched to GHL. Never looked back.

 

[Bxer]

I’ve had two ph probes show up dry. One was to be used as a spare and the other came with the new 2016 Apex. Neither could hold calibration no matter what. Contacted Neptune and got the run around with no resolution. Still love my Apex but the dead probes hurt a little.

 

[Salty Carlo]

Thanks. The other issue i have is with the salinity probe. Just calibrated and when I put it in the aquarium it read 35. After few minutes it dropped to 0. I recalibrate and it read 34.9 when I put it in the aquarium and is now reading 1.1. Do these take a while calibrate?

try to avoid getting air bubbles in the salinity prob as it will effect the reading. I have seen some reefers make a pouch out of filter floss and put the probes in it so air bubbles won't effect the readings.

 

[tastyfish]

The probes don't need to have lots of water in the caps, just not dry out. Some fluid seepage has been reported before and Neptune have said it won't affect it. The probes just need to be "wet".

With your salinity probe, get it in the tank in a position away from pumps and any other wires. Run it upside down, shake it around, do a rain dance, perform an exorcism, but don't even think about calibrating or taking a reading from it for the first two weeks. It needs to settle down.

Once calibrated, use to monitor salinity swings and don't rely on for salinity readings. Use a refractometer or digital salinity monitor.

 

[Clownfishy]

Many thanks. The salinity probe is working fine now so that was a user error! I contacted the company i brought the Apex from and they contacted their supplier. They have kindly arranged for a new ORP probe to be sent to me as they believe it should not be sitting 178 after 24 hours in my aquarium. I suspect the little water that was in the cap was not reaching the probe sensor.

 

[Dom274]

Many thanks. The salinity probe is working fine now so that was a user error! I contacted the company i brought the Apex from and they contacted their supplier. They have kindly arranged for a new ORP probe to be sent to me as they believe it should not be sitting 178 after 24 hours in my aquarium. I suspect the little water that was in the cap was not reaching the probe sensor.

I'm trying not to be mean, but you have literally done everything wrong from the get go it seems. I'm not posting to pick on you, but it's situations like this that give Apex a bad name. I would suggest you just return everything now, as you have unrealistic expectations. Your probe wasn't stored "dry". There would have been more than enough humidity within the cap to keep the probe usable. Did you even read the manual? It's pasted below for you and your LFS's convenience, since it's apparent no one has any clue on ORP probes. How do I know no one has any clue about ORP probes? Here's mine at 176 after a healthy cleaning.

Notes on ORP probes: The ORP probe comes calibrated from the factory and should not require calibration in normal use (remove the cap before using). If however you feel you do need to recalibrate it, there are instructions in the manual on how to do it. It is not as simple as the pH probe calibration and requires a special powder called quinhydrone along with pH 4 and pH 7 solutions. Mixing the quinhydrone with pH 4 and 7 solutions gives you calibration solutions of 86mV and 263mV respectively, creating the low/high solutions these probes require for two point calibration. There is much information on the web as to this process and suppliers of the necessary solutions. Page 21 Version: 5.0 Packaged 240mV or 400mV calibration solutions can’t be used to calibrate the Neptune ORP probes because Neptune’s ORP probes require two reference points to determine slope (back to your geometry textbooks, quick!). However, your probe still should read 240 or 400 if immersed into one of these solutions. New ORP probes need some soak time in your tank before they will report accurate data. This ‘break-in’ process on a new probe can take a number of days, perhaps as long as a week. When you first immerse your new ORP probe in the tank it will read 125 – 140 but will steadily increment the mV reading by 2 – 3mV per hour, gradually tapering off to 1mV/hr. Normal ORP response is to rise and fall opposite pH but this won’t happen as the ORP probe is acclimating to your tank. When it stops its steady march and starts the rhythmic rise/fall during the day, that’s when break-in is complete. What number range it settles on is different for every tank. It could be anything between 250 and 400 – there is no right number. It’s more the pattern that develops and exceptions to that daily pattern that you will need to be aware of.


https://www.neptunesystems.com/downloads/docs/Comprehensive_Reference_Manual.pdf

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

Here's the rub - Apex probes are the only ones that I have ever seen that "Must be stored wet". I did pool maintenance for 15 years and PH & ORP probes were always shipped/stored dry. They can sometimes take a couple days to settle down and read properly though.


http://www.poolweb.com/ph-sensor-ch...zTYYL_WAvdJPT1CayrDLUPigqn15nF8kaAseXEALw_wcB

there are numerous PH probes that must be kept wet. Hannah and Milwaukie probes for example..

 

[Clownfishy]

Well thanks for the unfriendly response to a newbie Apex owner, makes me feel very welcome! To answer the question "did I even read the manual" the answer is no. Instead I watched the Neptune video on how to get started -


I also read some of this article http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-12/rhf/feature/index.htm and from that I took the following to be try -
" with the aquarium typically operating at 350-450 mv."

I also see that the documentation you listed below states -
"When you first immerse your new ORP probe in the tank it will read 125 – 140 but will steadily increment the mV reading by 2 – 3mV per hour, gradually tapering off to 1mV/hr.".
Well, mine has continually dropped in value not risen as the manual is stating. In fact today, 48 hours after being in my aquarium, it hit an all time low of 171.

I apologise if I am new to this but the products packaging was clearly leaking and from the readings I am getting after 48 hours it does not indicate any improvement. There is no excuse for shipping products with packaging that leaks and as a "customer" of Neptune and the price these aquarium controllers are, I am not the one that should need to worry about ensuring the packaging is fit for purpose.

I wonder if your own ORP probe is not quite what it should be as the manual you quoted states -
"It could be anything between 250 and 400".

Both the LFS and their supplier are happily replacing this probe without asking me to give it more time or fixing something or other so I dont see what the issue is?

I'm trying not to be mean, but you have literally done everything wrong from the get go it seems. I'm not posting to pick on you, but it's situations like this that give Apex a bad name. I would suggest you just return everything now, as you have unrealistic expectations. Your probe wasn't stored "dry". There would have been more than enough humidity within the cap to keep the probe usable. Did you even read the manual? It's pasted below for you and your LFS's convenience, since it's apparent no one has any clue on ORP probes. How do I know no one has any clue about ORP probes? Here's mine at 176 after a healthy cleaning.

Notes on ORP probes: The ORP probe comes calibrated from the factory and should not require calibration in normal use (remove the cap before using). If however you feel you do need to recalibrate it, there are instructions in the manual on how to do it. It is not as simple as the pH probe calibration and requires a special powder called quinhydrone along with pH 4 and pH 7 solutions. Mixing the quinhydrone with pH 4 and 7 solutions gives you calibration solutions of 86mV and 263mV respectively, creating the low/high solutions these probes require for two point calibration. There is much information on the web as to this process and suppliers of the necessary solutions. Page 21 Version: 5.0 Packaged 240mV or 400mV calibration solutions can’t be used to calibrate the Neptune ORP probes because Neptune’s ORP probes require two reference points to determine slope (back to your geometry textbooks, quick!). However, your probe still should read 240 or 400 if immersed into one of these solutions. New ORP probes need some soak time in your tank before they will report accurate data. This ‘break-in’ process on a new probe can take a number of days, perhaps as long as a week. When you first immerse your new ORP probe in the tank it will read 125 – 140 but will steadily increment the mV reading by 2 – 3mV per hour, gradually tapering off to 1mV/hr. Normal ORP response is to rise and fall opposite pH but this won’t happen as the ORP probe is acclimating to your tank. When it stops its steady march and starts the rhythmic rise/fall during the day, that’s when break-in is complete. What number range it settles on is different for every tank. It could be anything between 250 and 400 – there is no right number. It’s more the pattern that develops and exceptions to that daily pattern that you will need to be aware of.


https://www.neptunesystems.com/downloads/docs/Comprehensive_Reference_Manual.pdf

 

[tastyfish]

I'm trying not to be mean, but you have literally done everything wrong from the get go it seems. I'm not posting to pick on you, but it's situations like this that give Apex a bad name. I would suggest you just return everything now, as you have unrealistic expectations.

I have to say that that is a pretty disappointing and unfriendly post which I haven't seen before on R2R.

Let's please not bring this great forum down to the level of one or two others where sniping and unhelpful comments are common.