Neptune DDR question

[Adam Schindler]

So I’ve been seeing problems with the DDR frying a circuit board or something? Whatever the internal piece is that gets fried when wet. Has anyone came up with a way to protect it from the possibilities of damage?

 

[Greybeard]

Hm. I'm a bit confused... DDR doesn't house a circuit board, just a pair of float switches.

Any chance you can point to the other reports you refer to?

 

[Adam Schindler]

Inside the unit on the lid. It’s probably not a “control board” per say. Mine comes today, I was trying to just prevent a possible break down. I’ve seen pictures where the wire leads terminate on the underside of the lid. People either over fill or splash that area and the unit shorts out.

 

[Crabs McJones]

Are you referring to this piece?

Neptune DOS Dual Reservoir - consideration before buying

I have a Neptune Apex classic and DOS with the DOS Dual Reservoir. I had been very happy with all of them and they had been working flawlessly. However, one day the reservoir level sensors stopped showing up in Apex Fusion despite the DOS pumps working flawlessly. Ultimately, after trying to...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Adam Schindler]

Yes thank you

 

[Crabs McJones]

I think if you use aquarium safe silicone and silicone around the entire thing, it'll help keep water out, and the silicone stays flexible enough that if for whatever reason you need to remove it or replace a sensor you can.

 

[Adam Schindler]

That’s a good idea. I’ll see what I have laying around

 

[Water Dog]

Mine fried 3 months after use... unfortunately, I bought it brand new over a year before putting it to use so it was out of warranty. Rather than pay to ship it back and forth from CT to CA in addition to paying for the repair itself, I found this on eBay. No circuit board to fry. So far, so good!

NEPTUNE APEX DOS DDR DIY 8' CABLE + 2 OPTICAL LEVEL SENSORS - USE YOUR RESERVOIR | eBay

If you have an Apex DOS, you would want a DDR because it enables dosing usage monitoring and gives you warning when level is low (at 70%?. fixed which is not most people's preference). The DDR is 2 vessels each holds half gallon.

www.ebay.com

 

[Adam Schindler]

Unfortunately mine arrives today. But this is good to know. I figured there was someway to mod one to protect it from water damage. It actually amazes me this thing was released like that. You’re going to put something that needs to be water proof inside the actual reservoir, and not think there’s a problem with that?!?

 

[Water Dog]

Mine was the older version with the V1 optical sensors. Hopefully, the current ones with the V2 optical sensors fair better. Good luck and keep us posted should you run into any issues.

 

[Adam Schindler]

Thank you for the help everyone!

 

[Waters]

I fried two of those boards and had both sensors go bad I ripped all the electronics out and am using it strictly as a very expensive container.

 

[Adam Schindler]

I fried two of those boards and had both sensors go bad I ripped all the electronics out and am using it strictly as a very expensive container.

I’m hoping i can successfully seal it. It seems like just being careful isn’t enough for these things.

 

[Water Dog]

I’m hoping i can successfully seal it. It seems like just being careful isn’t enough for these things.

Indeed. I was very careful to not fill it up to the max 2 liter capacity. I always filled it to 1.5 liters and it still fried.

 

[Adam Schindler]

Any idea how? Sloshing around and splashing it or something? I’m confused as to how Neptune doesn’t cover something like this. Clearly a design flaw on their part..

 

[Rick.45cal]

I had to ditch mine because it was too small and I got tired of filling it up constantly LOL. Plus I personally found having both containers connected together was a real inconvenience in my experience.

 

[Water Dog]

Any idea how? Sloshing around and splashing it or something? I’m confused as to how Neptune doesn’t cover something like this. Clearly a design flaw on their part..

My issue could’ve been the poor seal between where the wire connected to the V1 optical sensor. Hopefully that issue is rectified with the V2 optical sensors. That unsealed circuit board though...

 

[Adam Schindler]

My issue could’ve been the poor seal between where the wire connected to the V1 optical sensor. Hopefully that issue is rectified with the V2 optical sensors. That unsealed circuit board though...

Blows my mind lol. Standard practice in the electrical field...if it’s subject to water damage....water proof, weather proof, whatever precaution needs to take place.

 

[Waters]

I love Neptune products (my whole tank is run of Neptune) but they really missed the boat on the design of the DDR. It is the one Neptune product I don't recommend to anybody. I am sure this is all stuff you want to hear since you just bought one lol. Who knows....maybe they have improved them since I chucked mine against the wall

 

[Adam Schindler]

It’s funny. I thought I did my research. Didn’t see anything really negative right away. Made the purchase, and then I’m stumbling across all these issues with this one spot lol. Well hopefully my electrical experience and creativity can modify this to not fail on me. 200 bucks for a bucket is quite expensive lol