Warning to Profilux Users

[Seriak]

I feel your pain. Everytime I go on vacation, I cringe at what I might come back to. Sorry for the loss.

[Snaz]

The float sensor packaging includes a warning about expiration? Does any INCLUDED documentation mention the first sensor expiration? If not, then the manufacturer has no leg to stand on here.

Sorry for your losses.

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by Snaz

The float sensor packaging includes a warning about expiration? Does any INCLUDED documentation mention the first sensor expiration? If not, then the manufacturer has no leg to stand on here.

Sorry for your losses.

No it does not although profilux support claims they have mentioned something regarding replacement of sensors somewhere on RC and they seem to feel that's adequate. I had the original sensor working for close to 5 years without issue and only recently replaced it as it was looking pretty worn. The new sensor failed within months and apparently according to profilux is a result from it expiring while it remained in original packaging for close to 2 years. This to me would suggest cheap components or poor quality control which goes against Profilux claims of high quality products. However as far as I'm concerned the main issue is the automatic reset, sensors can fail or get stuck so you can't rely on them, the back up alarm should deactivate the ATO and it should stay inactive until manually reset. This is how it's documented so I would have assumed the automatic reset was something Profilux was not aware of and perhaps just a firmware issue, however support staff seemed fully aware of it but don't agree there is an issue. Rather after some insulting "very obvious" conclusions (which they have now removed all trace of) they pointed blame toward user error and bragged about unparalleled support while offering warranty replacement of an obviously cheap sensor. Would have been nice if they recognized these two issues as something more serious and at least made some kind of attempt to let other users know.

[sphelps]

For those interested in a semi-solution to help prevent this failure you can set your ATO to not always be active and use a timer to control when it can activate. This is easily done within level sensor settings. Set the timer to activate once a day for just slightly longer than it would need to for worst case evaporation. This essentially replaces the max on time so you set that to 0 to deactivate or still use it how you see fit. For example you could set max on time to your evaporation limit of say 5min while setting the timer to activate for 5-1/2 min. This way you still get an alarm and deactivation if you want it. Otherwise you you can deactivate the max on time and set timer to activate for 5min. The advantage here if you do have a float failure and you're away from home top off water will still be added daily at a rate just slightly over the needed amount but will likely take several days before an issue would surface. While if the alarm feature is used your top off remains deactivated until reset which could also cause issues depending how long it goes unnoticed and how long your tank can run without top off supply.

With either approach the tank will be protected against the fluke occurrence of constant power outages during float failure.

Of course you can also limit the amount of fresh water supply available which most people do but for those people who use a large supply to hold the tank over for an extended or infinite period of time this feature should prove useful.

[Bblinks]

Sorry for your loses. If in anyway I can help you out with restarting please do not hesitate to ask. I have a good selection of sps corals that I can frag you a piece of each and as long as you pay for shipping I am willing to ship free of charge.

There is a reason why a lot of us including dealers that do not like to deal with certain supplier/s. When you are purchasing something they seem to be your best friend and once something goes wrong all of sudden you become a free loader. It's never the product but the end user's fault!

Anyways let me know.

[sphelps]

Thanks to everyone for the generous offers, I've received lots of messages and replies that I'm truly grateful for. At this time I just want to focus on cleaning up the mess and restoring water chemistry which will probably take some time. After that I want to focus on fixing and identifying addition issues while adding more monitoring features that will serve useful during future vacations and travels. Then I will consider a path forward regarding livestock but this will probably be far in the future as I have many other pressing matters to deal with and I've already invested far too much money and time into this tank this year already.

[STANKYfish]

Well, well, well!!!! After reading this about the ATO, i now understand why my top up problem was happening!!! (could not find MAD)
My significant other, Shane, has taken a job out of town and left me in charge of our 210g reef and 4 other smaller saltie tanks. I know enough to hopefully keep all up and running. The first day he is gone the sump fills level right to the very rim, almost overflowing. I think maybe a fish has jumped into the overflow and plugged the water flow. i dunno. Another member comes over to have a look, he thinks maybe the ato, but i say Oh no that is programmed by the Profilux. He suggests that i manually fill the water as needed. Anyway water slowly goes down, i keep an eye on things, talk with Shane, he says it has run flawlessly for 1yr and wonders maybe the water level in the ato bucket was higher then he normally has and that is what is causing this. I continue to keep an eye on the level that he has marked, just above the senor, ato seems to be doing its job and if not i add manually. Then yesterday am i take a look everything is fine, i come down to go outside and water is flowing out all over the floor!!!!! The brute bucket is completely empty. I pull the plugs connecting the ato and start cleanup. Even empting most out of sump. Salt level is down a bit,will raise that, but fish and corals ok. Luckly i was home. He will not be too happy knowing that it was the Profilux malfuctioning that was the problem.
I can not believe that Profilux was aware of this and did nothing, they should be found liable for the destruction in your (any) tank. These units are not cheap, price wise anyway, and people put their trust in the name.
So sorry to see the devastion in your tank that was caused by this product.

[sphelps]

Stanky, you might be looking at a bit of a different issue than I'm discussing here. I think you may experiencing a more typical issue of the float becoming temporarily stuck and your max on time is set too high.

First check your float switch:

• Using the 5 button section on your profilux controller do the following:
• Press the left direction arrow button
• Scroll through the options with the up or down arrow buttons until you see "level"
• Press the center or enter button
• Again scroll through the options until you see "diagnostic"
• Press the center or enter button
  
• Now you will see a number "1" and a number "2" each with either a "-" or "X" next to them. Your float should be corresponding to # 1 with "-" meaning on and "X" meaning off. Moving the float up and down should switch between these. If moving the float shows no response then you likely have a completely failed float.

Next check your max on time

• Repeat step above until you enter the level menu again but instead of diagnostic scroll and enter "sensor settings"
• It'll ask what sensor to either, using up and down arrow buttons pick the number that was previously responding which should be 1
• Next select "auto top off"
• Next it will ask "auto top off always" answer yes for now
• Next it will ask "reaction time", 10 seconds is probably a good number for now
• Next it will ask "Max on time" this is the key, what does it say now? Given you're using a pump and bucket type ATO 1 min is probably all you need if that. You can determine this number better in the next step
• Next it will ask "Aut. error reset", select no
• Next it will ask "Input reverse", select no
• Next it will ask "Save now", select yes

Now the tricky part.

• You need to determine an appropriate max on time for the top off. Something that's long enough to top the tank off but not long enough to cause issues. Plug the top off pump into a powered socket and time how long it takes to pump water from the bottom of the float to the top of the float/ Should be a good bench mark for a max on time.
• Once an appropriate time is established repeat the previous step and update the max on time.

[muck]

Sorry to see this thread... and sorry for your losses Steve.

Thanks for bringing this to the attention of us all. I agree with Mindy as well, posting a statement about replacing sensors on RC only is not acceptable. I haven't been on RC for ages myself, and never would have known.

Good tip about putting the ATO on a timed setting as well.


Ryan

[Myka]

Ugh, that second pic is hard to look at Steve. Thanks for the heads up on the controller issue.

Originally Posted by sphelps

No it does not although profilux support claims they have mentioned something regarding replacement of sensors somewhere on RC and they seem to feel that's adequate.

That is inadequate. I don't go on RC, and I know hundreds of reefers who don't use forums at all. If there is a "known expiry" the item should be contained in a bag with an expiration sticker (or sticker on box).

Originally Posted by sphelps

However as far as I'm concerned the main issue is the automatic reset, sensors can fail or get stuck so you can't rely on them, the back up alarm should deactivate the ATO and it should stay inactive until manually reset.

I consider this to be a major flaw, and definitely a huge overlook. Do you know if other controllers have the same flaw? If other controllers also have this flaw maybe that is why Profilux feels it is a non-issue.