Milwaukee SMS122?

[Ray Pollett]

Is this really a controller or is it just a monitor? Where you plug in the Solienoid to it I do not see how it controlls it based on pH. Anyone have experience with it?

[Roan Art]

It will shut the solenoid down when your pH goes above X. X being the number you set.

I have one of those and will not use it anymore. IME it's dangerous to have a controller that you cannot set a lower limit on. If your solenoid sticks or someone bumps the tank and sets the flow too high, your fish might as well be dead.

Frankly it would have been smarter, IMO, for them to make a controller where you set the bottom number only instead of the top.

I use the PinPoint controller now. You set your bottom and top pH levels. Much safer for fish in case something happens.

Roan

[rrkss]

I just use a needle valve to set the buble rate to exactly what I want and tighten a nut to lock the flow in place.

[Ray Pollett]

It will shut the solenoid down when your pH goes above X. X being the number you set.

I have one of those and will not use it anymore. IME it's dangerous to have a controller that you cannot set a lower limit on. If your solenoid sticks or someone bumps the tank and sets the flow too high, your fish might as well be dead.

Frankly it would have been smarter, IMO, for them to make a controller where you set the bottom number only instead of the top.

I use the PinPoint controller now. You set your bottom and top pH levels. Much safer for fish in case something happens.

Roan

Thank you , that is what I needed to know.

Sorry you answered that and I missed it. Getting where I have short concentration.

[Lorazoo]

What is this pintpoint controller? I have never heard of it. I just got the Milwaulkee and was just thinking the exact same thing today. I don't like that it doesn't protect against both pH swings.

[Robert H]

Pinpoint costs twice as much as Milwaukee. I don't get what you guys are talking about. You set it to what ever pH you want to keep it at. When enough C02 is added to lower the pH to what you have it set for, the solenoid shuts off the Co2. When the pH rises as the plants use the C02, the solenoid turns the C02 back on again. Seems pretty simple to me. There will be some fluctuation but it is minimal, and much less of a swing that if you just left the C02 on 24/7. The whole reason for using a controller is to keep the C02 at a constant level with as little swing as possible. The SMS122 is not a monitor.


It will shut the solenoid down when your pH goes above X. X being the number you set.

I think you got it backwards there Roan. It is impossible. If your water is 7.6 and you want to add enough C02 to bring the pH down to 6.8, you set the controller for 6.8. When it reaches 6.8 it shuts off. It would be rather pointless if that was not the case. Other wise it would never shut off, the pH would never go up, it would keep going down. The more C02 you add, the lower your pH goes.

[djlen]

I'm with rrkss. All this extra stuff seems like over-kill and really unnecessary.
Buy a good reliable needle valve. Take the time to adjust it to the pH you want and leave it alone.
I've got tanks I haven't had to touch for 2 - 3 years and the pH never varies other than a .2 - .3 swing with the shutting down CO2 over night.

Len

[Roan Art]

I'm with rrkss. All this extra stuff seems like over-kill and really unnecessary.
Buy a good reliable needle valve. Take the time to adjust it to the pH you want and leave it alone.
I've got tanks I haven't had to touch for 2 - 3 years and the pH never varies other than a .2 - .3 swing with the shutting down CO2 over night.

Len
That doesn't help if the tank gets bumped, Len. I have small kids and large dogs. I need the safety factor.

Roan

[Roan Art]

Then I have a faulty Milwaukee.

I had it set for 6.8. The solenoid was on and the tank went down to 6.2 and I had to shut it off manually. All my M. affinis were gasping at the surface. THis happened to me on a couple of different occassions. I have no idea if it would have shut itself off on its own or not.

Faulty or not, I'd rather pay double the price for the PinPoint.

Roan

[Roan Art]

I think you got it backwards there Roan.You're correct, Robert. I meant "turn itself ON" not shut off.

Not enough coffee, most likely.

Roan

[djlen]

'That doesn't help if the tank gets bumped, Len.'

What tank are you referring to? The aquarium or the CO2 tank? I've had issues at times with bumping CO2 tanks and never had it affect a needle valve.
I've heard more horror stories around faulty solenoids than I've heard about tanks getting bumped.
Seems like the old saying about....'the more you have, the more problems you have' applies in this case. Just my opinion regarding pH controllers of any type.

Len

[asincero]

It will shut the solenoid down when your pH goes above X. X being the number you set.


Wow .. it shuts off when it goes *above* X? That seems kind of backwards to me. I would think letting your pH get too low would be more dangerous, so having it shut off when it goes below X would be better.

I was checking out that particular brand of pH monitor the other day and was considering it since the price was right. I guess you get what you pay for.

EDIT: Heh .. I guess I should've kept on reading the thread. I see that you made a mistake. Nevermind!

[Walker_]

Err….. ya Roan im not too sure about your situation, but with my SMS 122 I set the lower limit, and if the PH drops below it, the tank shuts down… I could open the valve to full boar and bring the ph down from 7.0 to 6.3 inside of 20 min, after it reaches 6.3 etc…. then *CLICK* no more gas… iv never used Pinpoint, but the Milwaukee seems safe and has been doing its job just fine… 100% safe IME
-walk

[Ray Pollett]

I need better control than what I'm hearing. I need the pH to stay in a small range (6.4 to 6.6). I only get to see the tank for 45 minutes to an hour once every week or two. And the tank is in a intermediate school.

I thank everyone for their input, but I think I'll use the pinpoint in this application.