Equipment to stay away from.

Moon Goblin

Moon Goblin

Active Member
Greetings,
I would like to start a thread of equipment to stay away from-- whether they do not live up to the claims of functionality, or just poorly designed and hazardous. Perhaps, we can help fellow growers avoid some costly mistakes.

A product that I have found to be a utter hunk of junk:
$(KGrHqR,!oIE-uf2+zQdBP9TVGrFCw~~60_12.JPGJVP-202B.JPGmFMlzBne1ndnJk-hOaMm3hw.jpg

$(KGrHqJ,!o4FDOHHfh6qBQ25qmDtoQ~~60_3.JPG I have gone through a ridiculous amount of these ( don't ask) and they always break-- sometimes tripping breakers, other times they will seize ( which caused my reservoir to heat up a minimum of 20 degrees). The plastic housing breaks apart after about 2 months (24/7) of use and the ceramic shafts will break shortly there after. If by any chance the housing stays intact, turning the unit off then on will cause one of the impellers to not function-- until you prod it in the right rotational direction. I have used these in both fresh water reservoirs and nutrient reservoirs, with the same results. DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT.


If you have experienced any faulty equipment, please post your experience with a photo of the product.
 
HANNA HI 991404 GroChek
HANNA HI 991404 GroChek.JPGI have had the pH probes come apart on me when removing the dust cap ($70 probe!)
Also, if you use digital ballasts the pH reading will be all over the place.
This is due to its ATC (automatic temperature compensation).
In fact, any pH meter/controller with an ATC feature will be useless while using digital ballasts.
 
HANNA HI 98107 pHep
HANNA HI 98107 pHep.JPGThe cheapest 2 point calibration pen I found. Bought 2, actually. They were constantly falling out of calibration and after about a month of use, would not stay calibrated even when in calibration solution . At one point, I even considered that my calibration solution was bad, or old stock. So, I bought new 8 oz bottles of GH 7.01 and 4.0- the problem wasn't the calibration solution. Just to be clear I am very careful with my equipment and always implemented proper care ( never submerged the tip more than an inch, always rinsed with fresh RO water, and stored upright in 7.01 solution). Both pens had the same malfunctions. In fact I will never buy Hanna equipment again, even though the item has warranty- just not worth the potential problems.
 
American Marines PINPOINT pH Controller
American Marines PINPOINT pH Controller.jpgAnother Item that constantly fell out of calibration, despite proper care and use- not cheap either. I am now convinced that screw calibration equipment is garbage and not to be trusted- I spent as much money on calibration fluid then I did on the unit. After 5 months of use, I slapped it up on ebay for $0.99 without a reserve (it sold for $45). I now use a Reefkeeper system and an aquacontroller system and absolutely love them. Check them out sometime. Sunlight Supply even carries the Aquacontrollers (Neptune Systems)- although, its under their saltwater tank department. BTW, if interested in them, I found the manufactures had the lowest retail prices.
 
Blower app for iphone & iPad.

It's supposed to be a fan, a blower fan. You know... like a vortex.

I'm not sure of the CFM rating, As they don't give you that information when you purchase the product (must be chinese crap)

But this fan app did nothing for my grow room temperature.

No proper way to hook it to ducting (not even an adapter app for 4" or 6" duct is offered from company or other)

You can't hook it to a timer or even a speed regulator so neighbors can hear the loud noise and put you at risk. I tried putting it in an enclosed box with styrofoam and duct tape but then I couldn't turn it on or off! JUNK. plus it made me miss calls from my Aunt Betsy

So if you're thinking about buying a blower fan for your grow room LOOK ELSEWHERE

Don't get caught up filing for bankruptcy over the purchase of this useless fan like I did.


mza_2614275526524951684.320x480-75.jpg






I really had hopes this fan would work, Like have my face all like


494461-diving-funny-faces.jpg






But in the end I was just left disappointed and broke. Worst part of all is NO REFUNDS.



Stay away from this product if you enjoy your $$$
 
Moon Goblin said:
I sent you a PM with info about a bridge I have for sale.
Click to expand...



Creepy_Creep_Smile.jpg










In all seriousness though, Great thread.

I hope this takes off as it would save a lot of people time and money. Most of the time I buy things of sites that have reviews of products such as amazon however when you're dealing with Ebay only finds it's hard to come up with reviews for the product so you just go out on a limb with it.


I think the worst product I have ever purchased for growing was those plastic YO YO light hangers. What a joke. I guess if you only had a wing hood or something it would be fine but an air cooled hood with ducting is another story. The Hydro store convinced me they were a useful product. Newb mistakes
 
I have a 'light-spreader'. One of those bits of tin that clamps to your bulb-holder to eliminate the hot-spot under the bulb.
OK, in my case (VERY limited height) it has it's uses but for 99% of people I would say it's a total waste of £15. It allowed me to drop my 600w 3" but at what loss of lumens?
On a plus side, best 'buy' was a 250w hps security lamp with built-in ballast found in a skip. Also get propogators for £1 at the end of the outdoor season.
Best bet is to get friendly with one hydro shop owner and stick with them. Then, if anything you buy turns out useless, they are far more likely to exchange it. Mine even recently GAVE me a 2x4 table (res was broken but I'll find something) for a project I've got planned for the spring. He knows I'll be back to buy the pump, risers hydroton etc.
 
cues said:
I have a 'light-spreader'. One of those bits of tin that clamps to your bulb-holder to eliminate the hot-spot under the bulb.
OK, in my case (VERY limited height) it has it's uses but for 99% of people I would say it's a total waste of £15. It allowed me to drop my 600w 3" but at what loss of lumens?
On a plus side, best 'buy' was a 250w hps security lamp with built-in ballast found in a skip. Also get propogators for £1 at the end of the outdoor season.
Best bet is to get friendly with one hydro shop owner and stick with them. Then, if anything you buy turns out useless, they are far more likely to exchange it. Mine even recently GAVE me a 2x4 table (res was broken but I'll find something) for a project I've got planned for the spring. He knows I'll be back to buy the pump, risers hydroton etc.
Click to expand...

Damn salesmen!:-D
 
chuck estevez said:
the wall fans blades fall apart after a couple months.

the ballasts fans go out in about the same amount of time.
Click to expand...

Yeah, those fans are straight piece a shit. Bought 8 of them rite when they came out. None, i mean none made it longer than 4 months. Most crapped out in 1 or 2. Everything that can go wrong with them WILL! Lifetime warranty? Woopy fuckin' doo, i didn't even want replacements.
 
I have had alot of failures with c.a.p.products there sniffers would let co2 ppm reach 5000 ppms on 3 different units. Hortilux bulbs and digital ballast i have galaxy ballast 1000 watts and I blow a horti bulb in less then 6.month no matter were I get. I am using digilux bulbs amd never had 1 problem. Ecoplus water . Umps are week as hell in my opinion.
 
anzohaze. I have the same issues using hortilux bulbs. with digital ballasts. so what I do. if I have a 600 digital ballast I pair it with a 1000 hortilux bulb. problem solved. the start up pumps way to much juice into the bulb. ok one piece of shit equipment I have ran into was a http://hydrobuilder.com/titan-contr...segps_702615&gclid=CLGewtnY97sCFaTm7AodfUYATg total trash, the ppm gage would freze and my two 10 burner units would run and run. i would guess the ppm were well over 15thousand ppm ! hold your breath and run in or dye !. another titan thermostat controller total bull shit design not digital you would have to guess how to set it,, i stay far as possible away from titan any thing, garbage
 
advanced ph perfect and x fator the new formula sux i want the old shit back!!!!!
dutch master gold range sux!!! i want the old stuff back!!!! but foliar still kicks ass..
 
anzohaze said:
I have had alot of failures with c.a.p.products there sniffers would let co2 ppm reach 5000 ppms on 3 different units. Hortilux bulbs and digital ballast i have galaxy ballast 1000 watts and I blow a horti bulb in less then 6.month no matter were I get. I am using digilux bulbs amd never had 1 problem. Ecoplus water . Umps are week as hell in my opinion.
Click to expand...

Lots of problems with c.a.p products with everyone i know also. Funny thing is the only devices that hasn't failed, and allot of us still use them, is the ppm-2a co2 contollers.
Now the absolute worst, like almost burn down your house bad, was there co2 generators. Bad batch of solenoids. We would send them back, and they would put a shitty solenoid rite back in it, and it would work fine for a week? Then stick open again. Propane will run out. Natural gas won't. Sketchy shit!
I must admit though, I still use a bunch of different cap items, but slowly fazing it all out.
 
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