Issues with Trident. “Bad alk range”

[ID-Reefer]

I’m having an issue with my trident. Has worked great for the past couple months. I replaced reagents two days ago and after I calibrated. Worked fine. Then today I get a “bad alk range” blinking. I immediately test with Hanna and get 8.7 so should be within range for trident. I recalibrate and after I’m getting the same thing.

any thoughts on how to fix issue?

my calcium is also higher than normal at 477. I don’t currently dos calcium and just started dosing alk to keep it up.
Thanks.

 

[Jonify]

Are you using All for Reef? If so, that will throw it off for a while.

 

[ID-Reefer]

Are you using All for Reef? If so, that will throw it off for a while.

No. I did feed some reef chili and Red Sea AB+ yesterday for the first time though.

 

[SuncrestReef]

1. Verify the Alk reagent tube is not pinched.
2. Check if the metal tube inside the Alk reagent bottle has detached.
3. If that's not it, remove the reagent bottles and pull out the tray so you can look inside the Trident to see if the reagent tube is still connected to the internal valve.

 

[ID-Reefer]

Checked all connections in the trident. Everything looks good inside, metal tube connected. Don’t think there are any

 

[Brett S]

This happened to me a few months ago and after a bit of troubleshooting I discovered that the sample tube had gotten clogged so it wasn‘t able to take in water from the tank to test. I disconnected the sample tube and blew it out which resolved the issue.

 

[ID-Reefer]

This happened to me a few months ago and after a bit of troubleshooting I discovered that the sample tube had gotten clogged so it wasn‘t able to take in water from the tank to test. I disconnected the sample tube and blew it out which resolved the issue.

Ok. Will give that a try tomorrow. How did you blow it out?

 

[Brett S]

Ok. Will give that a try tomorrow. How did you blow it out?

I disconnected it from the trident and literally blew through it with my mouth until bubbles came out the other end that was still in the tank.

 

[SuncrestReef]

Ok. Will give that a try tomorrow. How did you blow it out?

The most effective way to blow it out is to connect the sample tube to a syringe (use the little fitting that connects the sample line to the short pigtail on the back of the trident) and force water through it.

 

[ID-Reefer]

So this morning trident seems to be working. Has normal alk reading but calcium is showing high at 492. Will try to clear supply line and recalibrate again.

 

[xabo]

Did you get this sorted out?

So this morning trident seems to be working. Has normal alk reading but calcium is showing high at 492. Will try to clear supply line and recalibrate again.

 

[ID-Reefer]

Did you get this sorted out?

Appears so. Not sure what the problem was. Has been working fine. I guess it just went a little hay wire right after I changed reagents

 

[todda5914]

Thanks for the trouble shooting steps. I have had a similar problem (Bad Alk Range) after replacing the sample line and reagents. Getting the trident working again after a month where it was down. The Mg and Ca tests appear to be within range. It looks like a little patience may be in order.

One additional step may be worth checking, I had a problem with a small hole in the sample line. It was not apparent a couple of times when I checked it, but the blow test and a careful check of the line showed a small break in the area where the sample line was held in place by the clip.