Yet Another Trident No Water Sample Post

Manny’s Reef

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Yes I know there have been numerous posts on here about this issue. However, I am coming here in hopes of finding a way to fix the issues myself. I've been having a back and forth with Neptune. Sometimes we go 2 days without a reply one way or the other and that is too slow for me. We are also at a standstill where what they are offering is to have me send it in, provide a credit card number, and allow them to inspect and do what is needed. I haven't been given a ballpark estimate how much this would cost. So I'm not necessarily willing to put it in their hands just yet. Ok, so here is a run down of whats went on.

Before my move, the trident ran for about 4-5 months. I performed the task for shutting it down. It was shut down for about 2 months.

When I setup again, I got the no water sample error message. It was my own stupid error. I had the clear hose as the sample line. Fixed this. Bam. We are good to go.

3 days later, "no water sample." Grrrrr. Went onto the neptune site and followed instructions. No luck. I open a ticket. I go through all the steps.

Disassemble trident, ensure no lines are kinked or pinched - check. no lines kinked or pinched.

Visually inspect --- I see blue dried up liquid on the bottom of the trident directly under solenoid 4. Share with neptune CS team. Also, looks like line may have been getting slightly pinched by solenoid. Fix this.

Remove the lines from the solenoids, flush them with a syring to ensure no blockage - check. Did it. I found no resistance on all of the lines.

Repeat for the sample and drain lines - check. Also no resistance.

Visually inspect unit. No pinches, no kinks.

Clean cuvette - check. Take pictures of holes inside cuvette to share with neptune - check. Run trident - check. Still getting same errors. Did I disconnect and reconnect trident? Yes. Many many times. Did I prime the lines? Yes. Many many times. I've used up quite a bit of reagent priming the lines. I ran all simultaneously and individually. I can confirm that when I prime, the cuvette will get filled with the responding reagent/water. The cuvette fills twice each time. I believe this is exactly what its supposed to do. After priming, we go to "initializing" then "no water sample." I can clearly confirm that water is filling the cuvette.

This is where we are at in a nutshell. Neptune CS teams seems to have given up on this as their last response said this,"

Judging from the description you sent in it looks like the cuvette has overflowed onto the circuit board. A cuvette overflow is because something is restricting the waste line and preventing the cuvette from draining fully before it is filled back up, leading to an overflow. Before connecting your replacement Trident l I'd suggest inspecting the external waste line for anything that is sitting on or kinking the hose, and ensure that no doors are closing on it, etc. At this point, your Trident (marine aquarium water analyzer) - will need to come in for further diagnosis, and we have two options. One is to have a replacement Trident (marine aquarium water analyzer) - cross shipped to you with credit card deposit and if you meet at least one of the requirements below. If you are not wanting to give a credit card deposit. Then the other option is we can provide you with an RMA number, so you send in your Trident (marine aquarium water analyzer) -, for repairs."

I cannot see where they would derive that the cuvette overflowed onto the circuit board. There is absolutely no evidence of this. Nothing I said should lead them to believe this is the issue. That is why I struggle with the notion of blindly providing them with my credit card number for an undisclosed amount, when they obviously have not been able to pinpoint the exact issue.

Honestly, I would have been more comfortable with them stating that they have been unable to diagnose the problem via customer support remote chat. That now we need to submit the unit for an actual diagnosis. Rather, it seems that they took a hail mary guess at what might be wrong; a guess which I simply disagree with.

Anyhow, I guess that was a long winded way of requesting help. With the steps that I have taken thus far, are there any additional steps you would take? What else can I do to help pinpoint the exact issue? Hope there are some of you out there that can help.
 

areefer01

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Yes I know there have been numerous posts on here about this issue. However, I am coming here in hopes of finding a way to fix the issues myself. I've been having a back and forth with Neptune. Sometimes we go 2 days without a reply one way or the other and that is too slow for me. We are also at a standstill where what they are offering is to have me send it in, provide a credit card number, and allow them to inspect and do what is needed. I haven't been given a ballpark estimate how much this would cost. So I'm not necessarily willing to put it in their hands just yet. Ok, so here is a run down of whats went on.

Before my move, the trident ran for about 4-5 months. I performed the task for shutting it down. It was shut down for about 2 months.

When I setup again, I got the no water sample error message. It was my own stupid error. I had the clear hose as the sample line. Fixed this. Bam. We are good to go.

3 days later, "no water sample." Grrrrr. Went onto the neptune site and followed instructions. No luck. I open a ticket. I go through all the steps.

Disassemble trident, ensure no lines are kinked or pinched - check. no lines kinked or pinched.

Visually inspect --- I see blue dried up liquid on the bottom of the trident directly under solenoid 4. Share with neptune CS team. Also, looks like line may have been getting slightly pinched by solenoid. Fix this.

Remove the lines from the solenoids, flush them with a syring to ensure no blockage - check. Did it. I found no resistance on all of the lines.

Repeat for the sample and drain lines - check. Also no resistance.

Visually inspect unit. No pinches, no kinks.

Clean cuvette - check. Take pictures of holes inside cuvette to share with neptune - check. Run trident - check. Still getting same errors. Did I disconnect and reconnect trident? Yes. Many many times. Did I prime the lines? Yes. Many many times. I've used up quite a bit of reagent priming the lines. I ran all simultaneously and individually. I can confirm that when I prime, the cuvette will get filled with the responding reagent/water. The cuvette fills twice each time. I believe this is exactly what its supposed to do. After priming, we go to "initializing" then "no water sample." I can clearly confirm that water is filling the cuvette.

This is where we are at in a nutshell. Neptune CS teams seems to have given up on this as their last response said this,"

Judging from the description you sent in it looks like the cuvette has overflowed onto the circuit board. A cuvette overflow is because something is restricting the waste line and preventing the cuvette from draining fully before it is filled back up, leading to an overflow. Before connecting your replacement Trident l I'd suggest inspecting the external waste line for anything that is sitting on or kinking the hose, and ensure that no doors are closing on it, etc. At this point, your Trident (marine aquarium water analyzer) - will need to come in for further diagnosis, and we have two options. One is to have a replacement Trident (marine aquarium water analyzer) - cross shipped to you with credit card deposit and if you meet at least one of the requirements below. If you are not wanting to give a credit card deposit. Then the other option is we can provide you with an RMA number, so you send in your Trident (marine aquarium water analyzer) -, for repairs."

I cannot see where they would derive that the cuvette overflowed onto the circuit board. There is absolutely no evidence of this. Nothing I said should lead them to believe this is the issue. That is why I struggle with the notion of blindly providing them with my credit card number for an undisclosed amount, when they obviously have not been able to pinpoint the exact issue.

Honestly, I would have been more comfortable with them stating that they have been unable to diagnose the problem via customer support remote chat. That now we need to submit the unit for an actual diagnosis. Rather, it seems that they took a hail mary guess at what might be wrong; a guess which I simply disagree with.

Anyhow, I guess that was a long winded way of requesting help. With the steps that I have taken thus far, are there any additional steps you would take? What else can I do to help pinpoint the exact issue? Hope there are some of you out there that can help.

Why not follow what Neptune recommended. Cross ship with deposit or send in for analysis. I don't believe you will get it resolved here as you have tried multiple things already with support.
 

Fishy888

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Sadly, unless you have a laboratory style clean room and access to a state of the art oscilloscope, a proper reflow station, etc there’s nothing you can really do that I can think of.
 

blaxsun

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Question: I'm guessing the Trident is out of warranty at this point? (sorry if I didn't notice you mentioning that)

I had this issue with my Trident out-of-the-box, and Neptune CS walked me through disassembling it which somehow resolved the issue - and it's been fine ever since (almost 2 years now). I can't honestly say what I did to fix it; perhaps something was loose and I jostled it around. I really don't know...

Neptune now makes a maintenance kit that does have some replacement parts. Is this an option?
 
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Manny’s Reef

Manny’s Reef

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Question: I'm guessing the Trident is out of warranty at this point? (sorry if I didn't notice you mentioning that)

I had this issue with my Trident out-of-the-box, and Neptune CS walked me through disassembling it which somehow resolved the issue - and it's been fine ever since (almost 2 years now). I can't honestly say what I did to fix it; perhaps something was loose and I jostled it around. I really don't know...

Neptune now makes a maintenance kit that does have some replacement parts. Is this an option?
Sadly, its about 2-3 weeks outside of warranty. Go figure.
 

stefan09w

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I had a similar issue(no water sample) after almost a week of running perfectly. This was on a used unit that I had purchased off marketplace. except my pump in the trident wasn't running. I believe mine had actually got the control board wet from leaking reagent. I sent it in and selected the advanced service. paid $200 and got another unit that has been working flawlessly. I know this isn't a great solution. The product and warranty should be better, but at least you will know the cost. This was also the option recommended by CS.
 
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Manny’s Reef

Manny’s Reef

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I had a similar issue(no water sample) after almost a week of running perfectly. This was on a used unit that I had purchased off marketplace. except my pump in the trident wasn't running. I believe mine had actually got the control board wet from leaking reagent. I sent it in and selected the advanced service. paid $200 and got another unit that has been working flawlessly. I know this isn't a great solution. The product and warranty should be better, but at least you will know the cost. This was also the option recommended by CS.
Ya that's what I'm after right now. I've been asking for a deposit amount for about a week now and I haven't received an answer yet. Maybe they're still trying to figure it out on their end?
 

stefan09w

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You may know this, but the advanced service can be selected and paid for on the Neptune website. You pay $300 ($100 deposit ) and they refund the $100 once they receive your old unit in the mail.
 
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Manny’s Reef

Manny’s Reef

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You may know this, but the advanced service can be selected and paid for on the Neptune website. You pay $300 ($100 deposit ) and they refund the $100 once they receive your old unit in the mail.
I did not know it. Thank you. Sounds like we've come up with a plan of action. Thanks for all the comments folks.

Wouldn't it be nice if Neptune were to say, "Hey its only out of warranty 2 weeks. We'll take care of it anyhow." It might sound farfetched but not impossible. Go Pro just did this with my son's camera. It was 3 weeks out of warranty. They actually replaced it with a newer model even 3 weeks outside of warranty. So, fingers crossed.
 

vetteguy53081

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vetteguy53081

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Great to hear. Sounds like Neptune is good to work with. I haven't ever had to deal with them so I am not in the know. Thanks for the feedback.
Ive dealt with them several times and they have Always come through
 

bestfishes

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Im in the same situation now. Despite placing an advanced replacement days ago and paying for overnight shipping, they have not shipped the replacement. They are impossible to reach on the phone, and take days to respond to e mails. What is this about Neptune being great at customer service? Im not experiencing that and have had three different support tickets open. They always seem to be moody, give one sentence answers, and dont read or look over what I already sent and submitted on the form. Now that I have invest so much money in the Apex and Trident etc, I feel stuck. What other water testing options are there other than this Apex/Trident combo that actually work for more than a year without issues like this every time you initiate basic maintence procedure? Im not getting any leeway on replacement from them and I am 13 months from purchase date.
 
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Manny’s Reef

Manny’s Reef

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I guess I should have come back to update everyone. Vetteguy was spot on. Neptune took care of me. I paid a deposit, they sent me a brand spanking new unit, and refunded my deposit when they received the old unit. Don't know what was wrong with it but doesn't matter now.
 

piranhaman00

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I guess I should have come back to update everyone. Vetteguy was spot on. Neptune took care of me. I paid a deposit, they sent me a brand spanking new unit, and refunded my deposit when they received the old unit. Don't know what was wrong with it but doesn't matter now.
except when it happens again…buh buh buh glad they fixed it :)
 

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