For Trident Owners: See this if you're having erratic/inconsistent readings

[lshin037]

My trident has been giving me very inconsistent readings for Alk. The combined tests came out good but for some reason the alk reading would shoot 0.2-0.3dkh up when performing the alk only tests. I opened a ticket with Neptune and they had me set the schedule for 12 tests a day and my graph looked like a saw. They guided me through these steps so, if you're having this issue, please get with them first because you don't want to perform these steps on your own without their guidance and end up breaking the thing. Turned out the cuvette was dirty. I had run my system without filter socks for some time and that maybe have contributed to it. Just to be sure, Im never taking my filters out again. Tech support told me how to open the unit and take the cuvette assembly out. I cleaned it with qtips and and now it's back to normal.

This is the view of the cuvette from the front. You can see a film on the front and sediment on the bottom.



This is the view of the cuvette from the top down. There was that same film on all four sides. The photosensors are on the side.


And here are the qtips

 

[urbanknight]

Great info. Thanks! I'm sure you are also careful to place the sample line in an area of the sump with no micro bubbles and free of floating debris. I have a powerhead in my sump to keep the debris suspended so the skimmer can clean it up. My sample line is in the compartment next to the return pump.

 

[lshin037]

Great info. Thanks! I'm sure you are also careful to place the sample line in an area of the sump with no micro bubbles and free of floating debris. I have a powerhead in my sump to keep the debris suspended so the skimmer can clean it up. My sample line is in the compartment next to the return pump.

I placed my sample line right after the filter socks to eliminate microbubbles and minimize the chances of anything getting inside it. After this, Im definitely never running the system without filter socks. This may not be necessary for people with big sumps. The tech I was speaking to has his sample line in the return chamber on the opposite side of his return pump inlet. One of the beta testers has his in the same area as well. Unfortunately, I cannot place my sample line in that area as thats where my carlx effluent is dripped into. I never tested it but Im thinking it'll get some of the concentrated effluent into it and give a false high reading.