Beware issues with new Apex Controller

[Branespikin]

I hooked up my apex last Saturday just to Wifi did nit setup probes yet but setup my outlets testing it out since no saltwater in tank yet. I keep getting disconnected from Fusion and to reconnect need to pull cird from wall. Going in vacation in few weeks so have to hold up in filling tank till i get Apex sorted out.

 

[Elder1945 Verified Sponsor]

Got the new Apex, it would not take read of the probes, had 1st session with Neptune support (they are great BTW), was told had a bad head unit. Put down $300, second head unit was shipped. Second unit comes in, I set up support session to set it up (don't even want to do the update myself, fearing it would fail, like everyone else's). They set it up, next morning disconnected flashing yellow (bootloader malfunction). Set up 3rd support session, they reboot it, factory reset it, it seems to work normally. I hook up my WAV pump, bootloader goes off again, can't use it. Support comes in, reboots, rewrites firmware. All working, next day disconnected. Go check it, yellow light flashing, bootloader problem.
Took it off the wall, packed back in its box returned it. Done.
If your unit worked never crashing, go play the lottery, you might win.

Support is what kept me hopeful and believing in the company. Neptune is great. I bought however a product that failed to work repeatedly and return was the obvious choice.

Mine still does not work 100% of the time..... Still get full disconnects now that to fix have to reboot the whole apex and the Cond probe is a joke.

 

[sdbdrz]

The Apex Gold package cost me $600 new when they were clearing out the old to make way for the new. At first when I bought it I had a little remorse for not buying the shinny new one. Now I am happy I did, everything functions just fine. Having a few glitches with a new product roll out is one thing but I think Neptune should have measured twice and cut once on this one. I wonder what the beta process was, number of beta users, duration, etc.

 

[jeremy.gosnell]

My new Apex has been working fine, and I've had it connected for two weeks now. However, I did not do the recommended firmware update upon installation.

 

[Elder1945 Verified Sponsor]

My new Apex has been working fine, and I've had it connected for two weeks now. However, I did not do the recommended firmware update upon installation. I assumed (hopefully correctly) that all my devices would sync up without the firmware update, as they have been working on older firmware on my old Apex for some time. I've spoken to Neptune about this, and the issue seems to be centered around firmware version 6B. I am going to be speaking with Neptune's VP about this issue today and will keep everyone posted.

This is what gives me hope that there is just me and a few other people..... That said I have 3 of the new apex units... . All don't work from what I can tell... I also have 3 other people telling me they are having issues. I just don't know but Neptune support is amazing...

 

[slief]

I have one that I just installed on a customers system this last Thursday. It was a pretty complex installation including several additional modules and two additional energy bars. I had the Apex running on my home network where I programmed it and tested it for 2 weeks prior to setting it up onsite. I tested both wired and wireless network connections though most of the testing was done with a wired network connection. I have had no issues whatsoever and it's currently running the latest firmware. I know some have experienced issues with the updates. Whether those issues were the result of the firmware itself or the updates being done over wireless, I have no idea but as I said, the one at the customers is working flawlessly. Given Neptunes support and dev team, I suspect that these remaining issues with be resolved in very short order. Despite what I have read on the forums regarding the issues, I would have no problem recommending this controller to others as well. Especially if I were involved in the setup. Nor would I have any concerns about running one on my own system.

 

[gcarroll]

You can surely trust in Neptune Systems. The Apex is the hub of their business. Their engineers are the best in the business and their customer service is unparalleled. They will resolve these issues.

 

[stevo01]

Watching! I was going to go with RKE, but the apex pulled me for some obvious reasons. Now I know to hold off until this "beta" version has it's bugs fixed. Sorry for everyone that bought in early, but appreciate your service to the community in reporting and documenting the issues. Your the FULL paying "beta" testers that have risked everything and deserve credit. Please keep us all up to date as to when there is a reliable product back on the market. Thanks.

 

[jeremy.gosnell]

The new Apex was a follow-up product to an already established technology platform, which is why there wasn't an open beta test nor is the final product a beta version.

 

[Elder1945 Verified Sponsor]

The new Apex was a follow-up product to an already established technology platform, which is why there wasn't an open beta test nor is the final product a beta version.

I love Neptune but when my system is finding bugs in there AOS it does seem like a beta to me.

 

[GKorals]

Unfortunately, I was a victim too haha In all seriousness, neptune support is very great so I can't complain about them. However, I too purchased the new model and it crashed during the firmware update. Was told it was a corrupted unit and was rare compare to how many working ones there are out there...lol Got out of paying $300 deposit since I work with an LFS and they overnighted me a new one. Try to start over and crashes again. After having them contact me for a 2nd time and over an 1hr of phone support and rewriting/programming we got it to work...no problems. That was 4 days ago...connected my DOS system to the base unit and sent it back to frozen boot-loader mode. Cant run it with dos yet and now disconnecting from fusion every couple hours. I understand a few glitches here and there but they should've got this right before they sent it to mass production. Hope it gets fixed soon!

 

[jasonamyers]

Just an update, I got my replacement head unit in today and everything setup well and is going swimmingly! It took them about 6 business days to get the unit back to me. I didn't ever have it or any other controller on the tank previously so I wasn't going to do the $300 swap. They communicated with me every step of the way. I got it in this afternoon, set it up on wifi and it's going great. I've not seen any disconnects and everything is just working!

 

[pa1ntbru5h]

Just an update, I got my replacement head unit in today and everything setup well and is going swimmingly! It took them about 6 business days to get the unit back to me. I didn't ever have it or any other controller on the tank previously so I wasn't going to do the $300 swap. They communicated with me every step of the way. I got it in this afternoon, set it up on wifi and it's going great. I've not seen any disconnects and everything is just working!

That's great to hear! Hopefully all the new units they'll be shipping out from now on don't have those connectivity issues anymore.
I plan on picking up the new Apex in the next few weeks.

 

[Rimsky]

I live overseas and was planning to buy a new Apex while attending MACNA in September. Now I'm very worried because it would be very complicated and costly to send the unit back to the USA in case that I end up having issues. Hopefully NeptuneSystems resolves all the serious issues (the ones that require the unit to be sent back) before I buy it.

I will be following this thread. Please keep us informed.

 

[Reefcowboy]

I live overseas and was planning to buy a new Apex while attending MACNA in September. Now I'm very worried because it would be very complicated and costly to send the unit back to the USA in case that I end up having issues. Hopefully NeptuneSystems resolves all the serious issues (the ones that require the unit to be sent back) before I buy it.

I will be following this thread. Please keep us informed.

By September i believe these issues will have been repaired, and you should be good to go

 

[slief]

I live overseas and was planning to buy a new Apex while attending MACNA in September. Now I'm very worried because it would be very complicated and costly to send the unit back to the USA in case that I end up having issues. Hopefully NeptuneSystems resolves all the serious issues (the ones that require the unit to be sent back) before I buy it.

I will be following this thread. Please keep us informed.

As I understand it, Neptune has figured out what the issue was that was causing the corruption problems and has a fix for the issue. Not all were effected by this problem as the one I installed has behaved like a champ and been up and running for weeks now.

 

[Rimsky]

Neptune has figured out what the issue was that was causing the corruption problems

Glad to hear and hope so, because they should architect the thing so that worse case scenario, you should always be able to bring the unit to its original state and never end up with a brick. From the posts that I read here, it seems like that was the case and the devices ended up bricked, in a state in which the only option was to replace them or send them back to factory.

 

[slief]

Glad to hear and hope so, because they should architect the thing so that worse case scenario, you should always be able to bring the unit to its original state and never end up with a brick. From the posts that I read here, it seems like that was the case and the devices ended up bricked, in a state in which the only option was to replace them or send them back to factory.

You are very right. When it was first released, that was supposed to be the case. It was supposed to be able to recover itself from a firmware update issue but it seems that wasn't the case as most of the issues seemed to coincide with a firmware update. What ever was going on seemed to impact the file system or memory. I am sure we will hear what the issue was before too long.

 

[Rimsky]

I wonder, how common it is for these devices to get bad and have to be taken to the shop? As I mentioned, I'm in Panama, and it would be very complicated and expensive for me having to send it back and forth.

 

[zoomonster]

It goes beyond the new unit and there are problems with the new firmware and fusion in general. About a week ago for some mysterious reason my Apex "classic" crashed and lost everything. As part of the scramble to get everything back in order I installed the new firmware. Nothing but problems with Fusion since. Took me forever to get fusion going on my computer with a new token. It took many attempts because it would keep telling me my password was wrong when I know it wasn't. With my android phone I have only ever been able to get on once. prior to that many attempts with it telling me my password incorrect and then it just worked with the same password. Fusion on my comp instead of maintaining a session for some period (like it used too) has logged me out every time I use it (greeted with invalid login) and after login takes me to the select apex screen. Today I tried my phone again probably a dozen times and can't get in. On my computer its telling me that my apex has been disconnected 24hrs and can't connect. Funny thing is I used Fusion earlier today to feed.

Amazing how they took Fusion from a near flawless product to this. Guess that's what happens when a product is rushed out before ready just to one up another manufacturers product announcement(Cerebra). The new controller is probably less than beta. If you have a classic unit I strongly recommend avoiding updates anytime soon. And BTW I just installed the new firmware to the controller and have not pushed updates to modules.