Aquatronica ACQ140 (Touch Controller) Review

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

Great write up. Glad to have members here that put this level of effort into the hobby.

Thanks Brad Happy to put effort into the hobby!

[robbyG]

Originally Posted by mrhasan

Temp sensor is not fully submersible. You will need to keep the top above water.

Hi mrhassan

I like your review, but the Temperature probe is completely submersible. I have two that have been under 2 ft of water for 11 Years. If you look at the top of the probe you will see two yellow Gaskets that are compression sealed tightly around the probes cord.

Robbyg

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by robbyG

Hi mrhassan

I like your review, but the Temperature probe is completely submersible. I have two that have been under 2 ft of water for 11 Years. If you look at the top of the probe you will see two yellow Gaskets that are compression sealed tightly around the probes cord.

Robbyg

Hey Robby,

Thanks for your comment I had my doubts because of those two gaskets while the FAQ section saying none of the probes are submersible so assumed those gaskets can protect the sensor from temporary submersion only. I guess it is just a liability issue that Aquatronica would like to stay clear off. Thanks for confirming that And welcome to Canreef!

[robbyG]

Originally Posted by mrhasan

Hey Robby,

Thanks for your comment I had my doubts because of those two gaskets while the FAQ section saying none of the probes are submersible so assumed those gaskets can protect the sensor from temporary submersion only. I guess it is just a liability issue that Aquatronica would like to stay clear off. Thanks for confirming that And welcome to Canreef!

Thanks mrhasan, I look forward to exchanging ideas with you. Aquatronica controllers are the ultimate controllers. The older ACQ115 have absolutely no bugs or issues. I have had one running non stop for many many years and it never locks up or does anything unexpected. The Touch controller is very close to that same level of perfection. I am eagerly awaiting the release of the new firmware that should fix a few niggling visual problems like the Fat lines in the Graphs and the auto scaling not always working.
I also am in the process of doing a review on Reefcentral and I will try to carry over some of my observations to this forum.

all the best
Robbyg

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by robbyG

Thanks mrhasan, I look forward to exchanging ideas with you. Aquatronica controllers are the ultimate controllers. The older ACQ115 have absolutely no bugs or issues. I have had one running non stop for many many years and it never locks up or does anything unexpected. The Touch controller is very close to that same level of perfection. I am eagerly awaiting the release of the new firmware that should fix a few niggling visual problems like the Fat lines in the Graphs and the auto scaling not always working.
I also am in the process of doing a review on Reefcentral and I will try to carry over some of my observations to this forum.

all the best
Robbyg

Likewise

I was able to dig the following bugs:
1. Fahrenheit doesn't work for hysteresis.
2. Email test function doesn't work.
3. The controller doesn't show/store data for SG unit while other units for density works fine.

[robbyG]

Originally Posted by mrhasan

Likewise

I was able to dig the following bugs:
1. Fahrenheit doesn't work for hysteresis.
2. Email test function doesn't work.
3. The controller doesn't show/store data for SG unit while other units for density works fine.

Yes there certainly was a EU focus factor when Aquatronica worked on the units of measurement. They first made sure the most common units used in the EU worked properly.

As for the email I actually had no problem with the Test function, but I know others have, it seems to depend on which ISP you use. I am pretty sure it's a simple fix since the email itself works properly.

They had these same kind of bugs when the ACQ110 first came out. Aquatronica always focuses on the Core functions first and foremost. They absolutely do not want your controller to crash or lockup or turn on something when it should not be turned on. Once they have that in place they fix these kinds of problems. We are at the point where they are fixing these remaining small issues. Next comes the fun part when they ask for requests for new features. They pretty much gave us everything we requested for the ACQ110 and ACQ115.

The new version of firmware for the Touch is supposedly coming out at the end of this month and should fix those problems. I did point them out to Massimo a couple of months ago and he said they were being fixed.

The SG unit problem you are having is strange because I am not having that issue at all. As you might have seen in my review on Reefcentral the SG is right there on screen #1

It also stores the Data and Graphs it. The only problem is that the Graph auto scaling is not working properly, so you cannot see small changes for example from 1.024 to 1.025 on the graph. That is something that they say will be fixed.

The FAT lines on the graphs are also a major issue that I was assured would be fixed.

Also Graphing Data is stored on internal memory, I asked them about having it moved to external memory so that we could just stick a USB key or SD card into the PC to archive it.

[smokinreefer]

Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences with this controller, it's quite informative.

I have no experience with controllers and my research has been minimal, but Atleast now I can comfortably consider this for my next display tank.

Sounds like a reliable product with great potential.

[Tiansho]

I recently bought mine and I am loving it. My aquarium is balanced n you can actually see in the corals. It was worth the $$$. Now juat trying to figure out what lights to use for my upgrade.

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by robbyG

Yes there certainly was a EU focus factor when Aquatronica worked on the units of measurement. They first made sure the most common units used in the EU worked properly.

As for the email I actually had no problem with the Test function, but I know others have, it seems to depend on which ISP you use. I am pretty sure it's a simple fix since the email itself works properly.

They had these same kind of bugs when the ACQ110 first came out. Aquatronica always focuses on the Core functions first and foremost. They absolutely do not want your controller to crash or lockup or turn on something when it should not be turned on. Once they have that in place they fix these kinds of problems. We are at the point where they are fixing these remaining small issues. Next comes the fun part when they ask for requests for new features. They pretty much gave us everything we requested for the ACQ110 and ACQ115.

The new version of firmware for the Touch is supposedly coming out at the end of this month and should fix those problems. I did point them out to Massimo a couple of months ago and he said they were being fixed.

The SG unit problem you are having is strange because I am not having that issue at all. As you might have seen in my review on Reefcentral the SG is right there on screen #1

It also stores the Data and Graphs it. The only problem is that the Graph auto scaling is not working properly, so you cannot see small changes for example from 1.024 to 1.025 on the graph. That is something that they say will be fixed.

The FAT lines on the graphs are also a major issue that I was assured would be fixed.

Also Graphing Data is stored on internal memory, I asked them about having it moved to external memory so that we could just stick a USB key or SD card into the PC to archive it.

Yah hopefully the new firmware addresses all those issues. Not a deal breaker but definitely should be looked into.

Regarding the SG issue, the controller shows the graph fine in SG but it is over the web and the excel export that shows error in the rows. Other units work fine and exports properly. Probably another isolated issue and something to do with our ISP here.

Originally Posted by smokinreefer

Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences with this controller, it's quite informative.

I have no experience with controllers and my research has been minimal, but Atleast now I can comfortably consider this for my next display tank.

Sounds like a reliable product with great potential.

Glad that it was helpful. Definitely a reliable product with great potential but in this hobby, there's always the personal decision component that you will have to make before making a purchase. Lots of options out there and every controller in the market has their pros and cons. I like trying new stuffs and so far, I am pleased.

[Tiansho]

I love my aquatronica controller. I just ordered their dosing pumps as well. Im really pumped. Hehehehe

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk