Sad Panda January 22, 2016 Share January 22, 2016 Was getting ready to buy Apex, don't think I will right now after reading all this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami January 22, 2016 Share January 22, 2016 Was getting ready to buy Apex, don't think I will right now after reading all this. Be careful. One person's experience needs to be taken into context with the larger base of experience. Many in this club already use and have used Neptune's products for years and years with great success. Every once in a while people hit a bump in the road. Keep doing your research. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM January 22, 2016 Share January 22, 2016 Yeah. I'd say that with many thousands of users across the country it's possible to drop the ball once in a while. I found my Apex to work very well when I had it. It does a good job for lots of people. I run something different right now which requires much more tinkering to get it set up, and I like it better than the Apex, but there are things that I'd still prefer the Apex for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yauger January 22, 2016 Share January 22, 2016 I've had customer service issues with them in the past but after MACNA and speaking with the techs and getting some solid advice and help all issues were resolved. besides go talk to Ben now about how he feels about them once he helped them setup their display at MACNA!! haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveS January 22, 2016 Share January 22, 2016 I've had bad to mediocre experience with their support. I'm even kind of annoyed at their products. They seem to be way to sensitive and blow out easy. I just sent my EB8 out last summer and it's already blown one outlet again which is stuck on and can't be controlled. I could do what Rob did and replace the triac but may not bother as I have spare outlets. All that having been said- they are still one of the better options out there for 90% of the reefing population. As much as I'm annoyed, I don't think there is a better option so I stick with them and continue to recommend them to others with the appropriate warnings. Nothing is perfect so it's all a matter of balancing cost, convenience and reliability. The convenience part is where APEX overcomes any other deficiencies they may have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dread240 January 22, 2016 Share January 22, 2016 I'm slightly surprised at this. I had a triac outlet go out last year and the very first thing offered to me was a temp eb8 for the time being (i pay for it, get refunded after the warranty ticket). I thought that was highly reasonable imho. I did ask about just getting credit back once they received mine but they said it'd be repaired and sent back out. Soon as the temporary eb8 was received back to them I got refunded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveS January 22, 2016 Share January 22, 2016 I suspect the difference is that it was under warranty. The first time either my EB8 blew a triac or my controller head died out they fixed it for free. I just had to ship it to them. No loaner available. Then, once past the warranty period, when the same problems occurred, I was on my on for repairs. It's like $35-45 a pop plus S&H so not a huge sum of money. It's just more a PITA having to be without the controller for 1-2 weeks while things are being shipped back and forth across the country. Fortunately WAMAS is great and I have been able to find someone willing to loan me a part. But then that brings me to another annoyance- module portability. You can't easily swap out an EB8 and you can't predetermine outlet assignment. When you add the temp EB8, you get 8 new outlets and have to transfer all the programming over. When you get your old part back, maybe it will be seen as the original 8 ports, maybe not. There isn't an easy way to deal with this so you end up having to do lots of cutting/pasting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilRams January 28, 2016 Share January 28, 2016 I have two apex systems. The other night one of the systems was locked up. I noticed the lights had not turned off before going to bed. I figured I would reset it through the display but it was locked up. Not responding to anything. I eventually got fed up and unplugged it. It powered back up but lost all my outlets. It was like starting all over. I unplugged it and put everything on a dj bar. I haven't even felt like looking into it because I'm so annoyed. I love it most of the time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yauger January 28, 2016 Share January 28, 2016 One solution that I found is that my controller was outdated with an update and once updated all problems were solved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefer_Madness July 22, 2016 Author Share July 22, 2016 So, guess what everyone??!! It happened again. This time it was worse. About 2 weeks ago, I started noticing my corals were fading a little. I did the usual water change and checked my parameters. All was good. About a week ago, I saw some of my high end corals were getting white tips. I started to panic a little and did another water change and checked parameters. I also cut a couple of hours off my lights to be safe. Three days ago I just happened to go to the basement where I have the tank at about 11:30 at night. My Metal Halides and my T5s were on. I looked at my Apex Fusion and it didn't show them as being on or show them consuming power. I do not know how long this had been going on, but that is obviously why my corals are bleaching out and fading. The lights were always off in the morning when I see it, but somehow they were turning on during the night. At this point I decided to reset the system and see if it corrects the problem. I reset and my main unit did not come back on. It is a black brick now. No status lights, no nothing. Just like my original post. Luckily I had all of my settings right so it is running for now, but I am not looking forward to dealing with Neptune again on this issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkiboy July 22, 2016 Share July 22, 2016 are you still on the apex classic or have you upgraded? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefer_Madness July 22, 2016 Author Share July 22, 2016 Classic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami July 22, 2016 Share July 22, 2016 So, guess what everyone??!! It happened again. This time it was worse. About 2 weeks ago, I started noticing my corals were fading a little. I did the usual water change and checked my parameters. All was good. About a week ago, I saw some of my high end corals were getting white tips. I started to panic a little and did another water change and checked parameters. I also cut a couple of hours off my lights to be safe. Three days ago I just happened to go to the basement where I have the tank at about 11:30 at night. My Metal Halides and my T5s were on. I looked at my Apex Fusion and it didn't show them as being on or show them consuming power. I do not know how long this had been going on, but that is obviously why my corals are bleaching out and fading. The lights were always off in the morning when I see it, but somehow they were turning on during the night. At this point I decided to reset the system and see if it corrects the problem. I reset and my main unit did not come back on. It is a black brick now. No status lights, no nothing. Just like my original post. Luckily I had all of my settings right so it is running for now, but I am not looking forward to dealing with Neptune again on this issue. Wow. It just bricked? But it's still running? That's the first time that I've heard of one doing that. Not that I follow a bunch of Apex forums or anything. Years ago, when I had an AC-III, I had a problem with it and, back then, you used to be able to get Curt (the developer of the AC-III and Neptune founder) on the phone and he'd find a way to get you going again. He'd make an above-and-beyond effort that really made you appreciate the personal service. Unfortunately, those days may be behind us. I hope that this gets resolved soon for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmerek2 July 22, 2016 Share July 22, 2016 I bet they are unbelievably swamped right now. I just bought the new one that came out a couple weeks ago. I never thought I would buy one but it had some features that sucked me in. I'm sure I'm one of thousands that waited and I bet they can't handle it. Hope you get this resolved if you need me to temporarily hold some small frags for safe keep let me know. Stay on checking the alk like a hawk checking her nest. With all the changes and extra unknown consumption at night I bet it has fluctuated a little. Good catch and good luck with it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefer_Madness July 24, 2016 Author Share July 24, 2016 Wow. It just bricked? But it's still running? That's the first time that I've heard of one doing that. Not that I follow a bunch of Apex forums or anything. Years ago, when I had an AC-III, I had a problem with it and, back then, you used to be able to get Curt (the developer of the AC-III and Neptune founder) on the phone and he'd find a way to get you going again. He'd make an above-and-beyond effort that really made you appreciate the personal service. Unfortunately, those days may be behind us. I hope that this gets resolved soon for you. I had the AC-III for years with no issues. I may have even got it second hand. Solid product, but doesn't have the bells and whistles we all "need" now. Once you go to the dark side.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefer_Madness July 24, 2016 Author Share July 24, 2016 I bet they are unbelievably swamped right now. I just bought the new one that came out a couple weeks ago. I never thought I would buy one but it had some features that sucked me in. I'm sure I'm one of thousands that waited and I bet they can't handle it. Hope you get this resolved if you need me to temporarily hold some small frags for safe keep let me know. Stay on checking the alk like a hawk checking her nest. With all the changes and extra unknown consumption at night I bet it has fluctuated a little. Good catch and good luck with it! Tank will be fine....it will just be a setback. It will need to recover. Patience is something that smacks me in the face every once in a while. Btw your Pearlberry frag is fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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