Apex? A huge mistake?

Kelvin Z · Apr 28, 2016

So me & my wife decided to get back into the saltwater hobbie. We had a 230g for a few years & shut it down about 5 years ago. So we're not greenhorns lol. This time we got 100g custom with starfire & 25g sump.
Really nice & simple. Got a ATI 48" dimable system, Bubble king 180 etc etc. So new to me is these controllers so I got a apex jr. I hooked it all up & it was working.
I didn't plug anything into it as I wanted to dial in my tank, rate of flow though the sump, skimmer cycle tank so I figured once I'm done I'll have time to set up my apex. Then the power went out and now my apex is a expense thermometer. Didn't come back online now can I connect to it. Also the set up is horrible. The heat it generates without anything plugged into crazy. I wish I hadn't bought it. How could I trust it to control my tank when a power outage took it out? Also I found out I can't access it remotely unless I'm in the house (before the power outage).

I just want my money back for this brick. I'm very disappointed & have a lighter wallet to prove it.

Sabellafella · Apr 28, 2016

Kelvin Z said:
So me & my wife decided to get back into the saltwater hobbie. We had a 230g for a few years & shut it down about 5 years ago. So we're not greenhorns lol. This time we got 100g custom with starfire & 25g sump.
Really nice & simple. Got a ATI 48" dimable system, Bubble king 180 etc etc. So new to me is these controllers so I got a apex jr. I hooked it all up & it was working.
I didn't plug anything into it as I wanted to dial in my tank, rate of flow though the sump, skimmer cycle tank so I figured once I'm done I'll have time to set up my apex. Then the power went out and now my apex is a expense thermometer. Didn't come back online now can I connect to it. Also the set up is horrible. The heat it generates without anything plugged into crazy. I wish I hadn't bought it. How could I trust it to control my tank when a power outage took it out? Also I found out I can't access it remotely unless I'm in the house (before the power outage).

I just want my money back for this brick. I'm very disappointed & have a lighter wallet to prove it.

? You bought the jr. And atleast it gives some redundancy if the power were to go out oppose to having nothing at all. The jr stand alone with no brain unit is also 100× hotter then the actual apex, but whats the problem with it? Since the power outage it hasnt turned on? And i would contact neptunes system customer service if your having problems with connection. You could have a faulty system.

hybridazn · Apr 28, 2016

When you say a power outage took it out, what do you mean exactly?

As for not being able to access it outside of your home network, have you set up fusion? If you have this shouldn't be a problem as long as it's hooked up to the Internet properly.

ReeferBee · Apr 28, 2016

I don't see how a power outage would brick an apex. Makes no since at all. Run the apex update program to find the current ip address. Type that in a browser and from there fusion setup should be a breeze. Also FWIW the apex Jr isn't much more than a temperature control and timers... Apex is well worth the investment and I'm sure yours is still in good working order. Maybe have a friend come over who is more networking savvy

143MPCo · Apr 28, 2016

I would reach out to Neptune, they really go the extra mile to help with issues like this...

Support Forum: https://forum.neptunesystems.com/
Customer service: https://www.neptunesystems.com/support/contact-support/

TO CONTACT NEPTUNE SYSTEMS HELP & SUPPORT, FOLLOW THESE STEPS:

Find the the serial number of your system
- Via the display screen> Self Test
- Via Apex Fusion> Apex List/Selection
Download the Computer Sharing Software. Click here to download, install, and run it.
When you contact an Agent please give him the ID# and Password the Computer Sharing Software offers you.
Visit www.ApexFusion.com and please add “neptunesupport” with “manager permissions” to your ApexFusion Authorization section.
Please complete the contact form below:
1. Please note, if you do not receive a support ticket # and confirmation that the form was submitted immediately after submitting the contact form, then your information has not been received.

If you have used the resources here and here, do not want to wait for us to contact you, and still feel you need to contact phone support, then please contact us at 408-779-4090, M-F, 9 am – 5 pm Pacific Standard Time. Please understand that wait times are sometimes long and many times resolutions can be accomplished in less time via email correspondence with our support team.

Kelvin Z · Apr 28, 2016

Yea it a Jr. Basically it's no longer online. Temp probe & menus work. My frustration is I deal with electronics all day diagnosing repairing etc & what I get home I want to enjoy my tank & it's expensive controllers etc not fix them though a tec line. I just can't trust a controler that can't for what ever reason stay connected from a power outage. If this would have happened when I wan on holidays I'd would have freaked out. As far as network savy & technical skill I can get by lol.

jsker · Apr 28, 2016

@143MPCo has the best advice. I had a question earlier this week and Apex was back to me with in an hour. When I did the latest firmware update my controller did not update, I did a simple update and the issue went away. when I first setup my apex one of my energy bar was not working correctly either, it was to clicking EB4 and blinking yellow. Updated the firmware and issue fixed its-self. If you do not have the apex hardwired run a cat 5 cable to it and try to refresh the firmware. You can not refresh through wifi

Naiad · Apr 28, 2016

Sounds like just a faulty unit. My apex looses power all the time and has no issues reconnecting. One of the reasons I got it is it informs me that we lost power as it happens a lot...

Kelvin Z · Apr 28, 2016

I did do the firmware update when I first installed it, should be up to date. One of the reasons for buying it was for power outages & monitor while away. I had just actually measures the temp of the module & yes it's accurate with nothing plugged into it with no current flow it's 121f wow what would it be with it controlling a return pump, heater, slimmer & lights??? My BK controller that's just above it is 80f & it's running my skimmer! I wish I had my money back.

Kelvin Z · Apr 28, 2016

I need to mention apex has contacted me & want to work to resolve the issue with it, but I don't care to fix it, I will never trust it again. I had asked for my money back but looks like that won't happen. So looks like I have a fancy thermometer

Sabellafella · Apr 28, 2016

Kelvin Z said:
I did do the firmware update when I first installed it, should be up to date. One of the reasons for buying it was for power outages & monitor while away. I had just actually measures the temp of the module & yes it's accurate with nothing plugged into it with no current flow it's 121f wow what would it be with it controlling a return pump, heater, slimmer & lights??? My BK controller that's just above it is 80f & it's running my skimmer! I wish I had my money back.

I dont understand what your trying to say, there is no modules with the jr, its just an eb4. Well your obviously not going to get your money back so you better make the best of it. Whats exactly happening that your upset with, i can help you with anything you need to accomplish, sometimes its a pain to get an apex dialed in ontop of no manual for anything. So i can understand where your comming from, but what does a temp probe have to do with all your pumps?

805reef · Apr 28, 2016

Sorry to hear the problems you are having. Can you not return it to where you bought it?

Personally I would never run a tank without an apex. Actually I do run my newly setup QT without one and every day all day I am so worried about it. I didn't know about these new "brainless" apex jr versions before so thanks for bringing them to my attention. I am going to put it on my list to purchase soon to run my QT.

Sabellafella · Apr 28, 2016

If your talkin about the temperature of your tank, i have about 500° of bulbs about 5 pumps 2 heaters no chiller my room set to 68° and my tanks temp swing is from 77.9 to 78.2, and thats only because i set my apex that way, otherwise it would be less. With all your equipment on, you could set your heater/chiller to turn on and off at whatever temp you want

Kelvin Z · Apr 28, 2016

The controller itself is 121f. I'm just stating why is the controller 121f when there is no current flowing thought it. I have no pumps or lights plugged into it. It's plugged in & it's only use right now is the monitoring tank temp. My problem is when the power went out its no longer online. I was able to search & pick it up once with the app on my phone but now my app will not connect to it anymore. It's all worked fine before? I appreciate all u guys offering help a sincer thanks to you. I'll have to call apex if I want to. Not sure I will tho I just don't trust it now.

805reef · Apr 28, 2016

Kelvin Z said:
The controller itself is 121f. I'm just stating why is the controller 121f when there is no current flowing thought it. I have no pumps or lights plugged into it. It's plugged in & it's only use right now is the monitoring tank temp. My problem is when the power went out its no longer online. I was able to search & pick it up once with the app on my phone but now my app will not connect to it anymore. It's all worked fine before? I appreciate all u guys offering help a sincer thanks to you. I'll have to call apex if I want to. Not sure I will tho I just don't trust it now.

Can you use the display module to go to the network settings and see what the ip address is? Maybe with the power outage something screwy happened with your router and the apex didn't get an ip address.

Sorry, not trying to take blame away from the apex just trying to help troubleshoot. If it is still monitoring temp then to me I would think it is still working properly. If the display was blank then that would be a sign of a big problem

Peanut · Apr 28, 2016

I own 3 Apex units, and have experienced a power outage creating a situation where the unit would not come back up. If you contact support there are tools that will allow you to flash a new bios to the unit even in that situation. Their support is pretty good.

I could not imagine running a tank without one.

Kelvin Z · Apr 28, 2016

Display works, it's not frozen. I'm not at all trying to rant & say APEX/Neptune is junk because that's not true. I'm just very displeased with mine & wished I didn't buy one.

Sabellafella · Apr 28, 2016

Kelvin Z said:
Display works, it's not frozen. I'm not at all trying to rant & say APEX/Neptune is junk because that's not true. I'm just very displeased with mine & wished I didn't buy one.

Lolol, trust me/us with this hobby, some things get very very frustrating. But i have both a jr and regular, the jr outlet box are burning hot to the touch, compared to the regular apex. I dont kno why its like that, but compared to having everything plugged in, its still the same temp. Contact support, the whole cant log in thing is quite frequent and they should help you

Servillius · Apr 28, 2016

I have three Apexs in my house now and they're excellent and relatively easy. I had similar issues early on that caused me to switch and try two other brands. Those efforts ended in tears.

For some reason Apex doesn't believe that the initial learning curve turns new customers off. I believe you just need to reset you network connection, but if thats not it, its something network related. The internet part of the project can be less than ideal. Its worth getting through. I wouldn't run a goldfish bowl without one these days