Aquarium Controller Cabinet, Product?

[Elder1945]

No problem, I thought let's do what all reefers do and repair that broken piece of PVC from the $400 cabinet you just bought without approval from your partner.
Nope. Turns our PVC solvent / cement does not work on "Expanded PVC". Well, this is what 2 minutes of googling after the fact has possibly revealed. Love to hear if someone does know how to glue expanded PVC.
Next up, assembly............

Gel Super Glue is the best to use for something like this.

I will review the packing moving forward and try to figure out how this happened.

As for the magnet strength, we will take a look again at it. To be 100% honest we wanted to use rare earth magnet but we are working hard to lower the cost of everything. I want to provide this product as cost-effective as possible so the savings can be passed on to the end-user.

We are messing around the velcro now to see if this holds better overall.

 

[Elder1945]

@SteveJacobs Yeah I’m curious on the adhesive used as well. I asked on a previous post. @Elder1945

We custom mix a solvent from a few different chemicals.

 

[Jason Roth]

We custom mix a solvent from a few different chemicals.

so what would you suggest I use? I’m trying to modify the boards to create a countersunk section like the cabinet. I have extra black pvc board on the way and bought two of your control boards.

 

[siggy]

@SteveJacobs Yeah I’m curious on the adhesive used as well. I asked on a previous post. @Elder1945

I have been using weld-on #16, that's what the guy at Laird plastics recommended and it works well. Get the tube not the can.

Homepage - IPS Corporation

 

[Elder1945]

Ok so I'd like to kind of 'Build Thread" my experience with the cabinet that I just received an hour ago. Seems like there has been a bit of a lack of information about how a user would interact with this product, what does it look like when all our cords are jammed in there etc.
So, out of the box, this is what you get, steel square in shot for sizing:

Also we hope to have a video out soon to help show off.

I have been using weld-on #16, that's what the guy at Laird plastics recommended and it works well. Get the tube not the can.

Homepage - IPS Corporation

I will test this tomorrow, never though of using this.

 

[siggy]

I will test this tomorrow, never though of using this.

Probably not as good as what you use, It's a thin glue like testors model glue, not a gell. But ya I would like to know if you think its strong enough.

 

[Jason Roth]

Probably not as good as what you use, It's a thin glue like testors model glue, not a gell. But ya I would like to know if you think its strong enough.

im curious as well. Would need to hold the apex base, mp40 controllers and probably a 4 pump doser. I think ecotechs new dosing pumps are heavier than others

 

[SteveJacobs]

Gel Super Glue is the best to use for something like this.

I will review the packing moving forward and try to figure out how this happened.

As for the magnet strength, we will take a look again at it. To be 100% honest we wanted to use rare earth magnet but we are working hard to lower the cost of everything. I want to provide this product as cost-effective as possible so the savings can be passed on to the end-user.

We are messing around the velcro now to see if this holds better overall.

A $1 tube of Gel Super Glue did the trick.
As for packaging, There was a quite a dented corner of the box, so I would assume this is down to a bump while in transit and not a 'fault' of the packing material or method.
Good suggestion with fixing things underneath the top power box shelf.
The magnet's were a little disappointing. Especially when the product description on Coralvue says "The front of the cabinet is attached using rare-earth magnets so you can easily detach it to access the interior." I'm sure there is a sliding scale of magnet power and these may still be 'rare earth', but who knows.
I'll be getting some new rare earths to add in to see how they go.

 

[Elder1945]

A $1 tube of Gel Super Glue did the trick.
As for packaging, There was a quite a dented corner of the box, so I would assume this is down to a bump while in transit and not a 'fault' of the packing material or method.
Good suggestion with fixing things underneath the top power box shelf.
The magnet's were a little disappointing. Especially when the product description on Coralvue says "The front of the cabinet is attached using rare-earth magnets so you can easily detach it to access the interior." I'm sure there is a sliding scale of magnet power and these may still be 'rare earth', but who knows.
I'll be getting some new rare earths to add in to see how they go.

Thank you for the feedback, I am going to revisit the magnets and make sure that we do better.

In our testing it seemed ok but in the real world, it sometimes is different than expected.

 

[SteveJacobs]

Thank you for the feedback, I am going to revisit the magnets and make sure that we do better.

In our testing it seemed ok but in the real world, it sometimes is different than expected.

I got some strong rare earths and there's no need for the bolts at all when they are in place.
I might consider a hex screw with a 'dog point' on the end as pictured. This way, it will align everything nicely, without the thread gripping as you connect the front to the cabinet. Then the stronger magnets holds it in place.

 

[SteveJacobs]

I have been using weld-on #16, that's what the guy at Laird plastics recommended and it works well. Get the tube not the can.

Homepage - IPS Corporation

Any luck testing this?

 

[Elder1945]

Any luck testing this?

Sorry slipped my mind will do first thing tomorrow.

 

[Elder1945]

Any luck testing this?

No luck just yet, Seems to hold it but want to do a bit more testing before I recommend.

 

[CoralVue_Marketing]

A $1 tube of Gel Super Glue did the trick.
As for packaging, There was a quite a dented corner of the box, so I would assume this is down to a bump while in transit and not a 'fault' of the packing material or method.
Good suggestion with fixing things underneath the top power box shelf.
The magnet's were a little disappointing. Especially when the product description on Coralvue says "The front of the cabinet is attached using rare-earth magnets so you can easily detach it to access the interior." I'm sure there is a sliding scale of magnet power and these may still be 'rare earth', but who knows.
I'll be getting some new rare earths to add in to see how they go.

I searched for "controller cabinet" just now in hopes of catching one of @Elder1945's creations complete with controllers mounted and wires organized to share on social media.

I stumbled back upon this thread and started reading. The suspense built with every post! I didn't know what was going to happen next. The highs and lows were like a roller coaster ride. But now I'm left with no conclusion to this saga. Did you get all your gear installed and cords wrapped neat? I would love to see how the final product turned out!

I feel awful about the condition your cabinet arrived in. The majority arrive safe and sound. But it's happened a few times, so we are placing a bubble wrap insert inside the box and double-boxing the retail packaging for better protection. We're looking at pictures of the damaged ones and still figuring out the best solution.

We are committed to making this work and believe in the vision. The customization/personalization market exists in other industries, but Adaptive Reef is pioneering it in the reef hobby. There is much more to come! All the positive and negative comments (including your cutting commentary @SteveJacobs!) begin a feedback loop where, in my experience, almost anything can be overcome. You can't just listen to your customers. You have to follow through and do something about it.

Did you speak with our support staff already? I updated the product description to de-emphasize your point about the magnets. Let me know if I may be of service to you.

[email protected] | 985=605-7397

​

 

[SteveJacobs]

Hi Jeff, wonderful that you jumped on and took the time to close the feedback loop.
My longer term hobby is custom PC building. So as this is a new(ish) hobby I think I incorrectly expected for the same things to occur in the Reefing hobby.
I have a fastidious approach to PC builds, like the ones below.
So I always assumed that Apex and GHL would provide a cheap and high quality case (cabinet) for their comparably higher cost ensemble of items, as does the PC industry.
e.g. A (high end gaming) PC contains a CPU ($1,000) Motherboard ($800), GPU ($1,500), Memory ($1,000), PSU ($800) Liquid cooling system ($800) as anywhere from $500 - $3000 of accessories (speakers, headphones, cordless mouse that charges on the mouse pad). Plus a Monitor ($1,000).
And the cases are fantastic, they have false walls built into them so the unsightly wires are hidden, and you only see nice shiny tech, and I mean literal circuit boards. The clean build look is so refined, they make it so you can see circuit boards and it still looks good.
And also, the consumer doesn't need to know how to wire manage and set up anything, the custom build PC company, DOES IT ALL FOR THEM AND SENDS IT TO THEM!! . I know right! And they don't complain about logistics costs and fear of shipping assembled high end items via courier.Have a look at the pictures. The hobby should be taking big notice of the custom built PC industry and porting these ideas straight over.
Imagine if you could order from GHL a KHD, IOND, P4, 3 x Maxi doser and it arrived pre-wired and ready to plug and play and looked even remotely like any of these pictures below. I've sent this to Matthias at GHL as well.

 

[CoralVue_Marketing]

Hi Jeff, wonderful that you jumped on and took the time to close the feedback loop.
My longer term hobby is custom PC building. So as this is a new(ish) hobby I think I incorrectly expected for the same things to occur in the Reefing hobby.
I have a fastidious approach to PC builds, like the ones below.
So I always assumed that Apex and GHL would provide a cheap and high quality case (cabinet) for their comparably higher cost ensemble of items, as does the PC industry.
e.g. A (high end gaming) PC contains a CPU ($1,000) Motherboard ($800), GPU ($1,500), Memory ($1,000), PSU ($800) Liquid cooling system ($800) as anywhere from $500 - $3000 of accessories (speakers, headphones, cordless mouse that charges on the mouse pad). Plus a Monitor ($1,000).
And the cases are fantastic, they have false walls built into them so the unsightly wires are hidden, and you only see nice shiny tech, and I mean literal circuit boards. The clean build look is so refined, they make it so you can see circuit boards and it still looks good.
And also, the consumer doesn't need to know how to wire manage and set up anything, the custom build PC company, DOES IT ALL FOR THEM AND SENDS IT TO THEM!! . I know right! And they don't complain about logistics costs and fear of shipping assembled high end items via courier.Have a look at the pictures. The hobby should be taking big notice of the custom built PC industry and porting these ideas straight over.
Imagine if you could order from GHL a KHD, IOND, P4, 3 x Maxi doser and it arrived pre-wired and ready to plug and play and looked even remotely like any of these pictures below. I've sent this to Matthias at GHL as well.

Dang, those are fancy! I worked at Newegg.com from 2002-2005. The cases I'd see our customers bring to LAN parties were pretty awesome then, but WOW! This is on a whole other level. Can you link me to people/companies that do this? It would be cool to explore this for our HYDROS line in the future.

 

[SteveJacobs]

Dang, those are fancy! I worked at Newegg.com from 2002-2005. The cases I'd see our customers bring to LAN parties were pretty awesome then, but WOW! This is on a whole other level. Can you link me to people/companies that do this? It would be cool to explore this for our HYDROS line in the future.

Their twitter feed is full of them: https://twitter.com/newegg?lang=en
Cheers.

 

[CoralVue_Marketing]

Their twitter feed is full of them: https://twitter.com/newegg?lang=en
Cheers.

Hey! Whataya know! Twitter hadn't been invented while I was there. We had MySpace! And I talked on forums with hobbyists, so that hasn't changed!

 

[|Tom the Bomb|]

SO COOL

 

[GK3]

No problem, I thought let's do what all reefers do and repair that broken piece of PVC from the $400 cabinet you just bought without approval from your partner.
Nope. Turns our PVC solvent / cement does not work on "Expanded PVC". Well, this is what 2 minutes of googling after the fact has possibly revealed. Love to hear if someone does know how to glue expanded PVC.
Next up, assembly............

I build lots of stuff out of foamed or expanded PVC. I always use PVC cement to do it. Make sure you are using medium or heavy duty pvc cement and not all purpose cement. If you are comfortable, you can also use acetone. But this is volatile and has heavy fumes so only use of you are experienced and comfortable. I don’t like the super glue approach as much because it won’t actually be a solvent weld. But it’s super glue and for something under low stress would likely be fine. YMMV but this is my experience.