Squeaky GHL doser 2.1

[CastAway]

So glad I found this thread. I too am now holding up on purchasing the SA unit.

Nice thing about testimonies here on R2R, good and bad, is that they reach a far far larger audience. Moreover, I suspect it's far more objective than a manufacturers site.

Thanks @bubblemytip.

 

[crayon]

I'm in Canada. I first complained about the squeaking in January and was told pretty much the same thing as you, "go through the retailer ", who then in turned talked to the US distributor, who then told my retailer I would have to ship the unit back to see what the fault was (!!!!!). I then told the retailer, who told the US distributor that it would leave me with no auto water change systems, (I use auto water changes in lieu of any nitrate management.)
This whole thing became very circuitous, so I ended up talking to the US distributor and when I complained about the fact that I would be left with no water management system for maybe 8 weeks, asked how I was supposed to manage this. ( we have 4 separate systems)
No response. So I lived with the canaries which were my pumps (all 8 of them) until April, when we moved, tore the system apart, and decommissioned everything.
Now, in May, I am starting to set everything up again, and have discovered one of the new pumps is not working at all, as the rollers jamb.

Sanding the rollers should work.

But I am frustrated about how often I got told in January that "no one else has this problem" and how little follow up there was once the issue was identified.

I am disappointed with GHL, but am willing to see if they step up and this fixes the issue. There are so many reasons why I want these pumps to work which make me stay with their dosers.

 

[Matthias Gross]

sorry that you feel that way and that you obviously got that wrong

of course we must try to keep costs for fixing issues low, especially when we are talking about shipping to the other end of the world

I can't see our offer so negative, considering the huge discount for a brand new item and that you confirmed in an email that you could need a slave doser

however, the parts are on the way to New Zealand now

and what does the manufacurer learn from this?
avoid to find solutions like this (try keep costs for manufacturer low and offer special discounts for customer in turn) - it is possible that you will read quotes of your emails in public forums, they are mis-interpreted and after all it will leave a bad taste

Thanks. Good info. I may try sanding my rollers. Let me know how you get on.

This is a summary of my interaction with GHL on the issue:

When I emailed Matthias, he didn't admit there was any defect. He just said "I think this can be fixed with replacing the rollers."

He then asked where I was from. I'm from New Zealand. So he said "wow, New Zealand – this is a Bummer … just the transport will cost a fortune." He then offered to sell me a profilux 4 or Mitras that could be bundled with replacement rollers to save on shipping.

I have to admit, in a different context, this offer would have been OK. But I already have all the gear I could need (except maybe another slave doser, and when my current one was faulty, why would I spend more money only potentially to have the same issue? I couldn't really justify it to myself). I asked him for a quote for two options - a) with a slave doser bundled in and b) with the replacement rollers (conveniently marketed as 'wear parts' now) by themselves.

I only got a quote for the doser bundle (about $550 NZD). No quote for option b, though. Hmmm. Salesman tactics. But I can't really justify paying $550 to get some small plastic parts replaced.

So to clear my thinking, I emailed back asking for payment options for a) as international bank transfers are difficult with my bank. I also asked for the quote for b):

"Alternatively, what is the cost to post (slow is fine) the replacement rollers for my current doser only? I never really planned on needing to buy another doser within my budget constraints. So if it's easier to arrange replacement rollers only and send those to me by post, that is fine. It was through no fault of mine that the product had not undergone more thorough QC/QA and I already paid for its original shipping in the belief that it would be fault-free. "


This was his response:

"ok, we are the manufacturer, not the company who sold/shipped it to you so it is in the responsibility of them to handle a warranty case (if it is one) and to cover the costs for that for that they made their margin [Fair enough. Maybe I should have emailed the german retailer I bought it from, but they would have had the same conversation with GHL surely and the GHL forum said to email GHL. In addition, I had provided my receipt when I emailed GHL. At that point, he could have suggested I contact the retailer for warranty or cc'd their rep in on his reply, all coming together to find a solution, but to instead try to make a sale and to infer it might not actually be a warranty issue??? really?? After seeing the videos and all the other complaints from other people?And I'm sure some retailers would disagree. They do not make a margin to have to deal with defective manufacturing.]

He continued:

"if we could combine a new purchase and ship the spare parts along we would had a good opportunity to cover the costs
then we would handle this directly - to keep this efficient and costs low"

When pushed, he did say he could post me the replacement rollers for my current doser, but still no quote for tracked shipping:

"we checked the costs for cheap and slow postal service

"if we send by post we would take the expenses. [great]

there is no guarantee when or if it arrives at all" [fair enough]


In the end, I left it at that. I'll replace my doser 'wear parts' if/when they arrive by post or I buy some replacements myself. But my customer experience hasn't been very great. Whether it's a language barrier or not, I'm not sure. But the whole sales-pitch approach to solving my defect didn't strike the right chord with me, particularly when other people are being told it is a manufacturing defect.

Will update when I've replaced the rollers.

 

[Matthias Gross]

And our official and final statement to the origin issue:

if you have a problem with squeaky pump heads just contact us directly (US/Canada customers GHL USA, all others customers GHL Germany)

you will get a set of new plastic parts (incl. blue cover) for all your pump heads
(we did this already in the past when we were approached directly)

background infos:
1. a batch of plastic parts had obviously higher tolerances and/or different material mix, which caused that issue for some users
2. we didn't know this for a while, it took some time to find this out, so some customers got replies in regards to the squeaky issue BEFORE we knew the reason, this might explain some confusing replies
3. only a small batch of dosers is effected - not all; the dosers currently in stock (and in production) have already the new plastic parts

 

[bubblemytip]

Perfect. Thanks, Matthias. That's all that's needed.

GHL does make great products and I am glad this issue has now been canvassed openly. It is a testament to your commitment to service that you yourself have replied on here, so thanks.

Sorry, if anything I posted was open to being misinterpreted. That is why I quoted rather than summarised. Translation can be difficult and I will put any misinterpretation of a defensive tone down to that.

 

[crayon]

Update for today.
I opened up one of my units that has been squeaking since January. We were using 3 of the 4 heads. All three of the heads had white powder in them. Sanded them all down, and they are now all running quietly. The white powder appears to be residue from the rollers rubbing against the cap.

I also opened up the second unit, which we were also using 3 of the 4 heads. One head was an auto top off, which has been off line for an unknown reason for a few weeks. (We have been overwhelmed with moving houses, tanks, our lives, so trying to sort out why the ATO was off line was not a priority). This head was greasy black. I sanded the rollers down, did an update for the firmware on GHL control centre, rebooted the Profilux and the ATO came back on. However the rollers still jammed. If I press the manual dosing pump button on the unit the head runs just fine.
I repeated the whole process (sand down rollers, reboot Profilux, start ATO) and after the 4th or 5th attempt, it now seems to be working.
I had a second head on this same unit which was also jamming and it too, was also black and greasy. Sanded down the rollers and cleaned the head. It is now running smoothly when I use the manual button on the unit, so hopefully problem is solved here, too.

Replacement rollers are coming this week to me, so I am going to swap out the two heads that have serious issues and probably replace all rollers, if I have the time,

I have 3 dosing modules in total, 12 heads. I know for certain that at least 8 heads were having issues, some jamming, others squeaking.

But I'm not giving up on GHL. Glad it got fixed.

 

[bubblemytip]

New doser 'wear parts' have arrived. Noticeably different gauge of plastic when installed. So far so good! Thanks all.


Can see in the below pic (circled in red) where the white plastics rollers had been grinding against the blue cap and the dust this had created.

In pics below, new blue cap is the pump on the right. New roller is the part on the left. Looks much sturdier.

Will update in a week whether the squeak has gone or not.

Thanks again.

 

[bubblemytip]

Pumps have been totally silent the last two weeks and working perfectly. Problem appears to be fixed, so can now highly recommend the doser 2.1.

 

[reefwiser]

Great to hear.

 

[bubblemytip]

Well, now the motors are noisy even without the rollers in place, which I took out to clean, which have still been producing dust by grinding. Still noisy even with brand new wear parts swapped in.

Pumps jam on any speed greater than 0.

Oddly got noisier after I updated to the latest non-beta firmware.

Not sure what to do.

 

[Matthias Gross]

This all is not normal. Here is something wrong. The motors are very silent in normal operation.
I recommend you contact the GHL support directly, depending on where you live:
USA: [email protected]
all other regions: [email protected]

let us go from there

 

[bubblemytip]

This all is not normal. Here is something wrong. The motors are very silent in normal operation.
I recommend you contact the GHL support directly, depending on where you live:
USA: [email protected]
all other regions: [email protected]

let us go from there

Thanks. Emailed.

 

[bubblemytip]

Matthias does not want me to quote his response, so let's just say the issue is not resolved.

This is what a doser 2.1 sounds like after dosing only 50ml/day of two-part for the last 8 months.

Doser is set up 2m clear of the tank, not exposed to sump humidity. Perhaps the doser is incompatible with my country's climate (70-80% average humidity).

Videos taken with brand new "wear parts" on:

Speed 0, wear parts on:
Speed 0, wear parts off:
Speed 3, wear parts on:
Speed 3, wear parts off:

You decide whether this is acceptable and something you would purchase knowing you likely have to replace the motors every 6 months to keep it quiet.

I am now saving for a calcium reactor.

 

[Craig Skinner]

WoW! That must be an unusual response from GHL!

From what I have come to learn about them they have superb customer service and equipment! It's why I am going with them when I build my system.

Wish we could know that response. Matthias is usually right on target and extremely helpful as well as the rest of the GHL staff, you must have some really unusual circumstances to get a negative reply!

 

[bubblemytip]

Service was fine. Only so much you can do from the other side of the world... And all the service in the world does not prevent defects arising.

My issue is not with the service but with the product itself. I was not comfortable buying replacement parts (motors) without identifying the cause of the problem. I.e. Without knowing the cause, what is to prevent any new replacement motors behaving in the same way after 6 months of 'light' use (50ml/day)? To me, it is a nonsense to have to replace my pump "wear parts" and motors so frequently, when the product should last longer. It doesn't make good, long-term economical sense, especially when I paid a premium in the first place to buy a 'quality' product that should not be so high in maintenance.

I regularly have to clean the wear parts. Cleaning "wear parts" every month and replacing them every 3 months is ridiculous given the light use I put the pump to, but if you are willing to do that, then go ahead with your purchase. I only have a 100L nano tank. I can only imagine the issues that could arise if I had to dose more or was using the pump for an ATO/AWC system.

I know the pumps can be very quiet (almost inaudible), but my experience over the last 8 months has not been pleasant with this product. I could not recommend it for someone unless they have a very large budget and they are willing to have multiple spare parts always on hand, or they are partially deaf to any noise it makes.

 

[Craig Skinner]

Your ghl doser must be defective, their are reefers out there running ghl dosers on tanks 100, 200 & 300 + gallon systems and I have never heard of any of them having to do such constant and deep maintenance to their units, some maintenance is required of course but not what you are experiencing and especially on a nano tank, something is wrong in Denmark as they say, I would speak to ghl again and see if they can resolve this problem for you!

It shouldn't matter where your located, ghl is a global cooperation!

Sorry you are having this issue bubblemytip!!

Craig...

 

[bubblemytip]

Thanks, Craig. Unfortunately it does matter where I am. There is no local GHL support here. I bought online from Germany. The best Matthias could do was offer a discount on the wear parts and replacement motors and then I would presumably cover shipping. We did not get that far.

Probably gonna sell my sps and just use kalk and keep softies until I can afford a calcium reactor. I got the GHL to have stability in small doses for my nano. It's providing stability for the tank but not its owner! The noise is crazy.

Can't even on-sell this doser unit. Wouldn't be right to do so.

Hugo

 

[Craig Skinner]

Which model doser do you have? I'm just curious Hugo.

 

[bubblemytip]

If you look at the YouTube videos I posted above, it's the Doser 2.1 standalone doser with 2 pump heads.

 

[reefwiser]

I would suggest being very careful about what type of peristaltic pump you purchase. If you a annoyed by a small amount of noise or don't have a closet to install one. I have 3 GHL dosers sitting under my stand and never hear any thing. Now I have a stenner dual head peristaltic pump for water changes and it is real loud. I dosing pump for cal and alk only never runs for more than a few seconds and if the noise is an issue schedule it to run while you are a sleep. My 12 heads are going on an off during the day and I never hear a thing and I set really near the tank. Being in NZ you need to look into industrial supply houses that might carry peristaltic pumps since the distance is so far for getting gear.