bluprntguy
Guest
I just installed my KH Director (KHD from here on), and I figured I'd give some thoughts on it while it was still fresh in my mind.
The KHD is a standalone device but requires a GHL "Doser 2.1" 4 head dosing pump to work. I purchased the bundle with both the KHD and a slave dosing pump from GHL since I already have a profilux controller and that keeps the control all in one place and saves a little money. The KHD requires three of four dosing heads. That worked out perfectly for me since I'm using a combined calcium/alkalinity solution that I'm dosing with the remaining pump.
As always, the set was well packaged and had "EVERYTHING" that you needed for set up (or so GHL claims). That's generally actually true and I appreciate that they include everything that you need so you don't have to add 20 things in your cart. The exception to this is that there was only one data cable even though you need two for the slave set up. Luckily these are standard CAT5 cables, so I had an extra lying around already. They also don't provide a graduated cylinder for calibration. I luckily had something that worked, but it would have been far easier to include a plastic cylinder in the package that was sized appropriately.
Everything I've ever gotten from GHL is well made and feels like a quality product. This is true of the KHD and the dosing pumps as well. They include a "Y" adapter for the power supply that allows you to power the KHD and the dosing pumps from the same power supply. This is much appreciated with my cramped cabinet area.
I'm honestly not sure why this isn't one device with the dosing pumps built into the KHD. It seems like that could have simplified installation and maybe encouraged more people to buy it with a simplified installation process. As it is, it needs a fair amount of set-up and maybe more configuration and tinkering than many people are willing to invest.
Installation:
This took me about three hours, although part of that time I was trying to figure out logistics in my cabinet. GHL has three videos on youtube that theoretically walk you through the installation from beginning to end. I tended to watch the video in full before embarking on the steps. You might be able to do it in less time if you really wanted.
I set up the KHD using the GHL app on my laptop, which requires that my laptop be tethered to my profilux via a USB cable. The computer app is also a little clunky and feels like you are working in Windows 95 again. Since the videos used the computer app, it seemed like the way to go. It does look like you can set it up using the smartphone/tablet app as well (which isn't always the case with GHL - there are a few things that can only be done on the computer).
I found that the videos were missing some critical steps and images. They show you a diagram on how to connect the pumps to the KHD in video 2, but you don't actually connect them until video 3. I missed the part where the waste line has to be connected in reverse (which makes sense). It wasn't until I was doing my first test that I noticed the pump wasn't pulling out waste water and realized I was an idiot and connected it the wrong way. They also walk you through priming the pumps and doing the calibration, but never really tell you when/what to use for calibration. I used RODI water to calibrate all the pumps, but based on things they said later, I was apparently supposed to calibrate the reagent line using the reagent.
During the calibration, you have to change the speed of the various pumps. The pumps that pull water samples and dumps the wastewater run at high speed, while the reagent runs at low speed. You also have to re-name the pumps and make some other changes that seem like they could have been easily pre-populated in the system.
During calibration, the default values are such that it made me question whether I didn't know how to read metric units. The default values were like 60 ml/minute on slow and 480 ml/minute on fast. When I calibrated, I got about 4.5 ml/minute on slow and about 45 ml/minute on fast. The numbers were so vastly different that I did spend some time googling to make sure that there wasn't something I missed.
You also need to calibrate the PH probe, which is an identical process to calibrating the regular PH probe and they include the calibration fluid for you.
Testing:
Once everything was properly set up, I was able to do my first test. The pump will draw water from your tank and flush out the testing chamber. Then it draws the sample from the tank and fills up the testing chamber where the PH probe is located. From there, it slowly adds the testing solution (apparently some sort of a light acid) and vibrates to mix the solution (I was not expecting that!) to determine your alkalinity. Once that is all done, it drains most of the water out of the chamber leaving just enough to keep the PH probe wet. It also runs the pump that pulls the sample in reverse so that any tank water that is still left in the line goes back into your sump so that the next test doesn't use the old water. The entire process takes about 10 minutes.
The KHD then reports the values back to My GHL, where you can access them through your apps or online.
KH Control:
This is the section I'll have to stop back by to update as I haven't spent as much time as I want. You do have the option to "test only" or "test and control". I think the KHD takes a slightly different approach for the most part on the control. It assumes that you are dosing on a set regiment and gives you the option of different ways to adjust that based on the result of the testing. For example, if you are dosing 10 ML per day and your alkalinity is low one day, you can allow it to increase the dosing amount by a set percentage or add a additional dose of a set amount. It does have some protections to help slowly change the KH value in your tank. It does leave the user with many different options on control, including allowing you to control a calcium reactor.
That's what I have now. Let me know if you have any questions and I'll try to remember to drop back here in a few weeks and update this once I've lived with it for a while...
The KHD is a standalone device but requires a GHL "Doser 2.1" 4 head dosing pump to work. I purchased the bundle with both the KHD and a slave dosing pump from GHL since I already have a profilux controller and that keeps the control all in one place and saves a little money. The KHD requires three of four dosing heads. That worked out perfectly for me since I'm using a combined calcium/alkalinity solution that I'm dosing with the remaining pump.
As always, the set was well packaged and had "EVERYTHING" that you needed for set up (or so GHL claims). That's generally actually true and I appreciate that they include everything that you need so you don't have to add 20 things in your cart. The exception to this is that there was only one data cable even though you need two for the slave set up. Luckily these are standard CAT5 cables, so I had an extra lying around already. They also don't provide a graduated cylinder for calibration. I luckily had something that worked, but it would have been far easier to include a plastic cylinder in the package that was sized appropriately.
Everything I've ever gotten from GHL is well made and feels like a quality product. This is true of the KHD and the dosing pumps as well. They include a "Y" adapter for the power supply that allows you to power the KHD and the dosing pumps from the same power supply. This is much appreciated with my cramped cabinet area.
I'm honestly not sure why this isn't one device with the dosing pumps built into the KHD. It seems like that could have simplified installation and maybe encouraged more people to buy it with a simplified installation process. As it is, it needs a fair amount of set-up and maybe more configuration and tinkering than many people are willing to invest.
Installation:
This took me about three hours, although part of that time I was trying to figure out logistics in my cabinet. GHL has three videos on youtube that theoretically walk you through the installation from beginning to end. I tended to watch the video in full before embarking on the steps. You might be able to do it in less time if you really wanted.
I set up the KHD using the GHL app on my laptop, which requires that my laptop be tethered to my profilux via a USB cable. The computer app is also a little clunky and feels like you are working in Windows 95 again. Since the videos used the computer app, it seemed like the way to go. It does look like you can set it up using the smartphone/tablet app as well (which isn't always the case with GHL - there are a few things that can only be done on the computer).
I found that the videos were missing some critical steps and images. They show you a diagram on how to connect the pumps to the KHD in video 2, but you don't actually connect them until video 3. I missed the part where the waste line has to be connected in reverse (which makes sense). It wasn't until I was doing my first test that I noticed the pump wasn't pulling out waste water and realized I was an idiot and connected it the wrong way. They also walk you through priming the pumps and doing the calibration, but never really tell you when/what to use for calibration. I used RODI water to calibrate all the pumps, but based on things they said later, I was apparently supposed to calibrate the reagent line using the reagent.
During the calibration, you have to change the speed of the various pumps. The pumps that pull water samples and dumps the wastewater run at high speed, while the reagent runs at low speed. You also have to re-name the pumps and make some other changes that seem like they could have been easily pre-populated in the system.
During calibration, the default values are such that it made me question whether I didn't know how to read metric units. The default values were like 60 ml/minute on slow and 480 ml/minute on fast. When I calibrated, I got about 4.5 ml/minute on slow and about 45 ml/minute on fast. The numbers were so vastly different that I did spend some time googling to make sure that there wasn't something I missed.
You also need to calibrate the PH probe, which is an identical process to calibrating the regular PH probe and they include the calibration fluid for you.
Testing:
Once everything was properly set up, I was able to do my first test. The pump will draw water from your tank and flush out the testing chamber. Then it draws the sample from the tank and fills up the testing chamber where the PH probe is located. From there, it slowly adds the testing solution (apparently some sort of a light acid) and vibrates to mix the solution (I was not expecting that!) to determine your alkalinity. Once that is all done, it drains most of the water out of the chamber leaving just enough to keep the PH probe wet. It also runs the pump that pulls the sample in reverse so that any tank water that is still left in the line goes back into your sump so that the next test doesn't use the old water. The entire process takes about 10 minutes.
The KHD then reports the values back to My GHL, where you can access them through your apps or online.
KH Control:
This is the section I'll have to stop back by to update as I haven't spent as much time as I want. You do have the option to "test only" or "test and control". I think the KHD takes a slightly different approach for the most part on the control. It assumes that you are dosing on a set regiment and gives you the option of different ways to adjust that based on the result of the testing. For example, if you are dosing 10 ML per day and your alkalinity is low one day, you can allow it to increase the dosing amount by a set percentage or add a additional dose of a set amount. It does have some protections to help slowly change the KH value in your tank. It does leave the user with many different options on control, including allowing you to control a calcium reactor.
That's what I have now. Let me know if you have any questions and I'll try to remember to drop back here in a few weeks and update this once I've lived with it for a while...