I tried the Triton... twice. How do these compare? Is there the ability to auto dose or get a web based read out? Any Apex compatibility?
I just hooked up my Aquawiz this week so I will know more about it in a month or so. I have been using an Alkatronic for about 2 years and it works well. It does have a little bit of a learning curve but once you get it figured out it does work well. If I were to buy another Alkatronic I would just buy one used since you can typically find them for a couple hundred bucks on R2R from other hobbyists who bought them with unrealistic expectations and got rid of them due to frustration. None of these machines are magical and they all have some quirks.
Both the Alkatronic and the Aquawiz have BNC output ports to connect to external controllers. For the Hydros you can also connect wireless to your Focustronic. I have never used Apex but I believe that you need to use a pmm module and again I am not 100%. Both the Aquawiz and the Alkatronic have the ability to dose an alkalinity buffer or sink up to a controller for automated dosing. Both the Aquawiz and Alkatronic have their own apps that track test data and if you have them connected to an external controller you can track the data there as well.
The Alkatronic has a very detailed instruction book of 30-40 pages that can be downloaded and printed from the Focustronic website and nearly any issue you face can be figured out if you just look through the manual. The Aquawiz instructions are on a single page in the box with the product and are quite difficult to decipher the device is fairly new so there isn't much forum help either. I found a video from another user who walks through the setup and I was able to get mine online using his video tutorial.
The Alkatronic is much louder than the Aquawiz when it tests. This is due to the larger more robust stepper motor pumps used in the Alkatronic. The Aquawiz is almost silent in comparison.
The Aquawiz has some rudimentary control built into the machine so you can perform most functions without using the app. The button and screen placement on the top of the Aquawiz are a little bit of a pain(at least for me) since it means that you need to provide open access to the top to use them. Also to get a readout of the screen you have to push a button to wake it up. The Alkatronic requires you to use the app for all interactions but the display is right on the front of it and always lit up showing the latest test results and the scheduled time for the next cycle so info at a glance is easy.
The Alkatronic requires reagent but isn't limited to a range for accuracy. According to the instructions with the Aquawiz if your dKh is more than 1.0 from your baseline solution the accuracy will be reduced. I test my alkalinity every hour so making DIY reagent for the Alkatronic is a must. For that I use 1.0m sulphuric acid and my recipe is 20ml acid and 980ml RODI to make a liter. I make a couple gallons at a time and it lasts a couple of months. If you have a tank over 60g or so it is safe to put the test sample back into the tank I have been doing so for over 2 years in a 100g system and have noticed no adverse effects. 1 liter of the 1.0m sulphuric acid goes for $20 on Amazon.
The Alkatronic test completes in just 9 minutes including a washout cycle and can do a test on demand. The Aquawiz takes 20 minutes or so to complete a test and so far I don't think you can make it test on demand. If the Alkatronic gets an out of range test it immediately tests again just to be sure. I am not yet sure about the Aquawiz in that regaurd but more to come.
As for reliability both machines require regular maintenance and regular calibrations. The Alkatronic has a bit of a learning curve in the beginning to deal with its quirks but once you get it, it is pretty reliable. I have never used Trident but I have heard that those machines can be fickle as well.
The Alkatronic gives a countdown on test cycles and recommends replacing the dosing pump hoses every 1000 tests. When life gets busy I have gone as far as 2500 tests and not had an issue though I don't recommend this. All of the hoses for the pumps can be sourced outside of Focustronic and I can provide that data through PM if anyone needs it. The Aquawiz runs on dosing heads that look like the ones in a Jebao doser but doesn't seem to make mention of maintaining them?
The Alkatronic has a finished look and is part of an ecosystem of products that has been around for a few years and has a following of users with forum groups to help out if you can't figure it out and if you need assistance from Focustronic I have heard that the FB page is the best way. I am a bit of a figure it out myself kind of guy so I havent needed their help. Also as stated before there is a detailed instruction manual available where most of your answers can be found. Aquawiz is relatively new to the market and looks like a prototype that someone made in their garage. I have heard that the customer support is good but I haven't used it yet.
Unfortunately I think that testing machine reliability and accuracy is a very complex engineering issue that would require huge investments of capitol and labor to overcome and it would make the equipment cost prohibitive for hobbyists. Laboratories spend hundreds of thousands on test machines to get truley accurate reliable results and that level of equipment just isn't feasible to most hobbyists. To that end all of these machines seem to work well enough for what they are but, all seem to be lacking in one way or another. As long as we keep that in mind when implementing them in our water maintenance strategies they are still quite useful.
I know it's a lot of info but hopefully this can help you out with deciding how you want to spend your money.
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