GHL KH Director Review

[vangvace]

when did they fix the issue ? what is the newest design(model number) ? i see 4 colors, of them

2.1 dosers. The newest pump head caps have a triangle on them.

 

[LOVEROCK]

2.1 dosers. The newest pump head caps have a triangle on them.

https://www.aquariumcomputer.com/usa/product/kh-directorghl-doser-2-1-sa-4-pumps-white-combo/ is this one of the newer ones ?

 

[MightyMO]

I almost pulled the trigger on a profilux 4 2 weeks ago... I want one, but don't think I'm ready for it yet... Gonna wait till next tank upgrade...

 

[Viking_Reefing]

Is it just me or should a pice of equipment with this price tag really require so much work from the end consumer?
in my mind the unit should arrive fully functional or at least 99,9% only requiring you to calibrate the dosing heads or something.
I mean, come on, the software being that poorly built so that it won’t connect?

I’m looking to automate my testing/dosing and the KH director seems awesome when it’s working correctly but I just can’t bring myself to spend that amount of money on something that seems flawed.
It’s not that I don’t think I could work out the kinks, I’m relatively knowledgeable when it comes to tech, but rather that it just feels “wrong”.

Am I alone in thinking like this (in that case...crap, I turned in to a grumpy old man way faster than I thought I would)?

 

[sgrosenb]

Is it just me or should a pice of equipment with this price tag really require so much work from the end consumer?
in my mind the unit should arrive fully functional or at least 99,9% only requiring you to calibrate the dosing heads or something.
I mean, come on, the software being that poorly built so that it won’t connect?

I’m looking to automate my testing/dosing and the KH director seems awesome when it’s working correctly but I just can’t bring myself to spend that amount of money on something that seems flawed.
It’s not that I don’t think I could work out the kinks, I’m relatively knowledgeable when it comes to tech, but rather that it just feels “wrong”.

Am I alone in thinking like this (in that case...crap, I turned in to a grumpy old man way faster than I thought I would)?

unfortunately @MichaelE I agree... When I wrote this review the Apex Trident was just coming out and hard to get. I just purchased the Trident a few weeks ago, and it is flawless so far. Setup literally took 10 minutes, the Apex Fusion software connects every time, and it measures Ca and Mg too. Now that I have both KH director and Trident - if you have an Apex controller already it is an absolute no brainer to go with Trident. If you're tied into GHL with other items, your probably already know their software and all its quirks, so KH director is a nice addition but a headache sometimes. One point I will give for the KH Director is that is is much more customizable - you can use whatever length feed line and wastewater tube you want, you can adjust the reading to coincide with other test kits, etc. Trident does not have customization like that.

 

[Viking_Reefing]

unfortunately @MichaelE I agree... When I wrote this review the Apex Trident was just coming out and hard to get. I just purchased the Trident a few weeks ago, and it is flawless so far. Setup literally took 10 minutes, the Apex Fusion software connects every time, and it measures Ca and Mg too. Now that I have both KH director and Trident - if you have an Apex controller already it is an absolute no brainer to go with Trident. If you're tied into GHL with other items, your probably already know their software and all its quirks, so KH director is a nice addition but a headache sometimes. One point I will give for the KH Director is that is is much more customizable - you can use whatever length feed line and wastewater tube you want, you can adjust the reading to coincide with other test kits, etc. Trident does not have customization like that.

Great to get your perspective as a owner of both units, very valuable insight

 

[vangvace]

https://www.aquariumcomputer.com/usa/product/kh-directorghl-doser-2-1-sa-4-pumps-white-combo/ is this one of the newer ones ?

Yes it is.

Is it just me or should a pice of equipment with this price tag really require so much work from the end consumer?
in my mind the unit should arrive fully functional or at least 99,9% only requiring you to calibrate the dosing heads or something.
I mean, come on, the software being that poorly built so that it won’t connect?

I’m looking to automate my testing/dosing and the KH director seems awesome when it’s working correctly but I just can’t bring myself to spend that amount of money on something that seems flawed.
It’s not that I don’t think I could work out the kinks, I’m relatively knowledgeable when it comes to tech, but rather that it just feels “wrong”.

Am I alone in thinking like this (in that case...crap, I turned in to a grumpy old man way faster than I thought I would)?

I am of two thoughts on this:

1 WiFi is a complicated beast before putting things near water and even enterprise level network equipment has bugs and quirks. Hell, some laptops have known junk antennas/chips. For me, some cameras just do not like that my 2.4G and 5G networks have the same SSID while my P4 works just fine.

2 I wish GHL had the LAN option, but I can see people plugging the cables in wrong (LAN versus PAB) and I believe the could have gone with a better wifi chip. That would be a good upgrade revision for the P4 and a possible use of the internal expansion card slot.

 

[h2so4hurts]

Haven't had any trouble with mine, but it's all the newest version of everything so maybe the bugs are worked out?

GHL requires you do have a basic knowledge of programming. To me it's more intuitive and infinitely more customizable than Apex products, and more reliable, but those all come at a cost. Most negative reviews I've seen are from people who are expecting it to be instantly plug and play. This takes a couple minutes of reading, but in the end you can make it do exactly what you want. And for me that makes GHL the winner.

 

[sgrosenb]

Haven't had any trouble with mine, but it's all the newest version of everything so maybe the bugs are worked out?

GHL requires you do have a basic knowledge of programming. To me it's more intuitive and infinitely more customizable than Apex products, and more reliable, but those all come at a cost. Most negative reviews I've seen are from people who are expecting it to be instantly plug and play. This takes a couple minutes of reading, but in the end you can make it do exactly what you want. And for me that makes GHL the winner.

I agree - if you're looking for customization at the expense of initial setup, GHL clearly wins. At this point I'm happy with the product except for the finicky connection. It's about 50/50 as to whether or not my GHL connects when I click the button on myghl.com. And I have yet to find any rhyme or reason to it after 2+ years... It is quite possible they worked that out in the most recent versions, which would be great.

 

[h2so4hurts]

It's about 50/50 as to whether or not my GHL connects when I click the button on myghl.com. And I have yet to find any rhyme or reason to it after 2+ years... It is quite possible they worked that out in the most recent versions, which would be great.

That's really weird. Mine connects both locally and with MyGHL with no problem every time. I think I've lost connection once while on WiFi during a probe calibration. MyGHL is slow as hell, but it's workable for emergencies at a distance.

My biggest complaint would be the capacitive touch screen. I feel like I'm calibrating that every time I want to use it, which is usually during a pH probe calibration.