Neptune Aquacontroller JR.

[melypr1985]

Hi there! I'm totally new to controllers and not very tech savy, so when I mentioned to my friend that I wanted to get one he said he would just give me his old one. He warned me that it may not work anymore, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to try it out.

Like the title says, its a Neptune aquacontroller jr. It's in pretty rough shape. There is a lot of corrosion on some of the connections. My husband is an electrician to warned me not to use anything to scrape off the corrosion because it would damage the Ethernet-looking ports that connect everything. He basically told me that it either works or it doesn't.

I decided to plug it in and see if it does, in deed, work. Well, I plugged in the display screen and it powered right up, then I plugged in the power strip part and it tripped a breaker with a loud POP! I flipped the breaker back on but now i'm concerned. Luckily I didn't have this near my tank!

Do any of you have any experience with refurbishing an old controller? Is it possible or is it a lost cause? I'll post pictures from my phone... it's faster. Thanks for any advice!

 

[melypr1985]

 

[evolved]

You might be able to send it into Neptune for refurb, at some cost of course.

 

[nitro]

I think the smart and safest thing to do is to go with a new unit. I am sure it will save you money in the end also.
Larry

 

[melypr1985]

You might be able to send it into Neptune for refurb, at some cost of course.

Thanks for that! My friend suggested the same thing. I might look into it. But really, I plan on buying a new one around Christmas so it might not be worth doing.

 

[melypr1985]

I think the smart and safest thing to do is to go with a new unit. I am sure it will save you money in the end also.
Larry

That's in the plan. Doing lots of research on different units to see what I need and what I want in the future. It's a BIG investment!

 

[nitro]

There will be some awesome sales around that time of year and it will give you time to look into the features to get the one you want.
Larry

 

[evolved]

There will be some awesome sales around that time of year

Don't expect anything more than 10% on manufactures with a MAP policy.

 

[melypr1985]

So my husband came home and opened the eb8 up and found that one of the plugs had indeed burned up. He wants to try and disconnect that one plug or bypass it so that it no longer gets power but (hopefully) the other 7 still work. I told him he couldn't make it worse so go ahead. I figure it could be useful if it works.

I do plan on getting a new one no matter what he does with this one. I picked the RKE (net). What are yall's thoughts on this controller? I figure I don't need all the fancy modules that you can get only with an apex. I don't have any of that fancy equipment that only the apex can control so why pay the price? right? I really don't plan on ever buying radions or vortechs. Also, while I have your attention, I have a T5 fixture with 8 bulbs. I see all these controllers will ramp your lights up and down. I've seen others with t5's talk about ramping their lights up and down with their controller.... so how do they do that? I'm told that most fluorescents can't be dimmed.

 

[gojk]

I have used the Reef Keepers and the Apex. Hands down the Apex is better. And Neptune actually puts out updates and such for their products. DA hasn't put out an update in ages for their controllers and there is plenty to fix with their net module.

 

[melypr1985]

I have used the Reef Keepers and the Apex. Hands down the Apex is better. And Neptune actually puts out updates and such for their products. DA hasn't put out an update in ages for their controllers and there is plenty to fix with their net module.

So your main problem with RK is that they don't put out as many updates for their system... in fact none for a long while, while apex regularly updates their software. Right? What kind of problems with their NET module did you experience? Would they problems that a computer programmer type of guy would be able to fix?

 

[gojk]

It isn't necessarily their lack of updates but their lack of follow through when bugs are submitted. If you follow their forums they put out a salinity probe for their SL2 module and that failed for most(if not all) people so they promised to update the probe and the module which took them over 2 years to finally get the update out, once they were out there was a huge shortage which took another few months to get the inventory to catch back up. I bought the updated probe and module and it was horribly inaccurate so back to square one.
The net module hosts the web application and it is slow for one and really buggy. After you use it for a while you get used to where the bugs are you so learn to avoid them. None the less, I bought the Apex and I will never go back.

 

[melypr1985]

It isn't necessarily their lack of updates but their lack of follow through when bugs are submitted. If you follow their forums they put out a salinity probe for their SL2 module and that failed for most(if not all) people so they promised to update the probe and the module which took them over 2 years to finally get the update out, once they were out there was a huge shortage which took another few months to get the inventory to catch back up. I bought the updated probe and module and it was horribly inaccurate so back to square one.
The net module hosts the web application and it is slow for one and really buggy. After you use it for a while you get used to where the bugs are you so learn to avoid them. None the less, I bought the Apex and I will never go back.

Well that sounds like a huge pain. The internet connection is what I want. I only have a few things to control, but wanted room to expand as I add equipment. I guess I got some think'n to do on this one. I gotta figure out where the deal breakers are.

 

[gojk]

You will also need to configure your router to forward the port to your net module. Easy to do if you know what you are doing, but if you aren't very tech savvy then it is a pain. Along with always needing to know your home public IP(which may or may not change frequently depending on your ISP) to access it remotely.

 

[steve&mari]

The new archon from da is supposed to be leaps ahead of the reef keeper line and is completely web based use your smart phone app to control everything. I've had the rkl and now the rkl plus and have not had any issues. Digital aquatics has been purchased by a new company and is completely revamped the controller yet it still works with the rk pc4 and modules. When we get a new controller I'll probably just update the head unit of the rkl plus we already have.

 

[melypr1985]

You will also need to configure your router to forward the port to your net module. Easy to do if you know what you are doing, but if you aren't very tech savvy then it is a pain. Along with always needing to know your home public IP(which may or may not change frequently depending on your ISP) to access it remotely.

This may tell you how tech savy I am....... Uhhhhh what? I get that you are saying something really confusing and technical that has to do with accessing the controller with the internet from a computer or cell phone right? But is this for both controllers or just one? If it's just one and the other is easier than that then I know which one i'm getting!

 

[steve&mari]

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/archon.209253/#post-2398503

There's a link with more information

 

[melypr1985]

The new archon from da is supposed to be leaps ahead of the reef keeper line and is completely web based use your smart phone app to control everything. I've had the rkl and now the rkl plus and have not had any issues. Digital aquatics has been purchased by a new company and is completely revamped the controller yet it still works with the rk pc4 and modules. When we get a new controller I'll probably just update the head unit of the rkl plus we already have.

I really have to consider the price difference here too. The archon is 550 where the apex is 525 and the RKE net is 470. So I'm trying to consider which one I should get while justifying the price to my husband.
Thanks for the link but most of the language they use is over my head.

 

[aslmx]

I'd go with an apex. I have a jr and I already wish I had more room to expand. By the time I buy the modules to do what I want , I could have just bought the bigger system. Also Neptunes web site will help with anything you want and they are fast to respond. I'm also an electrician and need all the help I can get just to turn it on. Lol

 

[melypr1985]

That's along the lines I was thinking as well. Buy the best I can and not regret missing a piece of equipment later. I just have to settle on which one.