inD Aquatics aF4 frozen feeder

braaap · Friday at 8:21 PM

Just got an email from inD about their frozen automated feeder. Has anyone seen anyone with actual experience with this? When I responded back to them about beta testers they were actually kind of snippy saying I likely wouldn’t even be able to get in on the first launch of them.

Seems snarky for a company who ran a kickstarter 4 years ago and never delivered anything. They seem to think everyone is going to jump on a $480 item with ZERO real world user feedback.

Rcs_12 · Friday at 8:56 PM

I got the same email and came here looking for the same answers you are lol

JonoH · Friday at 9:05 PM

Yeah i'm super interested in it - but need the full how it works video, proper review etc!

taulgrl · Saturday at 8:46 AM

Rcs_12 said:
I got the same email and came here looking for the same answers you are lol

same!

braaap · Saturday at 9:27 AM

So looking at the kickstarter they had said their units would be 7-14 cubes of frozen food. But now it holds roughly 50 in a slurry form. People had ordered a main unit and a “slave” unit in the kickstarter. But an update makes it sound like they will get 2 units now because they didn’t make a slave unit with this model. And supposedly they are shipping the kickstarter rewards now.

Mattiejay6 · Saturday at 10:04 AM

braaap said:
Just got an email from inD about their frozen automated feeder. Has anyone seen anyone with actual experience with this? When I responded back to them about beta testers they were actually kind of snippy saying I likely wouldn’t even be able to get in on the first launch of them.

Seems snarky for a company who ran a kickstarter 4 years ago and never delivered anything. They seem to think everyone is going to jump on a $480 item with ZERO real world user feedback.

well based off what you said in terms of being snippy and this being crowd funded almost 4 years ago.. this company sounds like a customer service nightmare and flop

BeanAnimal · Saturday at 11:33 AM

I think it may have started more than 4 years ago. 2020 was the original delivery date and was a year or years late. Somebody mentioned somewhere that the owner is so committed that he mortgaged his home for money to complete the project.

The math just does not add up for me. $42K collected in kickstarter funds.
Let's just say he spent $100K total and ignore the years of time spent working on this. But that is not even a reasonable number given the prototypes, injection molds, and other custom parts and electronics. If you look at the history there are numerous complete design changes.

How many potential customers of this thing are there, and of those how many can afford it, let alone actually buy it?

It is a highly technical/mechanical item that will require significant support and there is no RMR plan. How does he afford to support the customers long term for ONE TIME purchases that should last many years?

I could be very wrong, but I don't see any reasonable business plan here other than hoping a larger player will buy the rights and produce them at lower cost with distributed overhead based on other products and RMR.

In all, it is a simple enough concept. Keep food cold enough to not spoil by mixing it with water in a chilled container. Use a pump or two to push water through and carry food to the tank.

I hope it works out and the product is viable and produced, but like the majority of kickstarter's I have don't have a lot of faith. Maybe I am wrong.

braaap · Saturday at 11:51 AM

BeanAnimal said:
I think it may have started more than 4 years ago. 2020 was the original delivery date and was a year or years late. Somebody mentioned somewhere that the owner is so committed that he mortgaged his home for money to complete the project.

The math just does not add up for me. $42K collected in kickstarter funds.
Let's just say he spent $100K total and ignore the years of time spent working on this. But that is not even a reasonable number given the prototypes, injection molds, and other custom parts and electronics. If you look at the history there are numerous complete design changes.

How many potential customers of this thing are there, and of those how many can afford it, let alone actually buy it?

It is a highly technical/mechanical item that will require significant support and there is no RMR plan. How does he afford to support the customers long term for ONE TIME purchases that should last many years?

I could be very wrong, but I don't see any reasonable business plan here other than hoping a larger player will buy the rights and produce them at lower cost with distributed overhead based on other products and RMR.

In all, it is a simple enough concept. Keep food cold enough to not spoil by mixing it with water in a chilled container. Use a pump or two to push water through and carry food to the tank.

I hope it works out and the product is viable and produced, but like the majority of kickstarter's I have don't have a lot of faith. Maybe I am wrong.

Well they also claim it is some sort of chilled saltwater system. They have 2 hoses running to the tank. So I don't understand how it even works. Nobody does because there is ZERO info on this new system.

BeanAnimal · Saturday at 11:58 AM

braaap said:
Well they also claim it is some sort of chilled saltwater system. They have 2 hoses running to the tank. So I don't understand how it even works. Nobody does because there is ZERO info on this new system.

It pulls tank water in to push food out. There is an intake and a discharge hose.

I think the original design was to keep cubes frozen in a carousel and either drop the cube unto the reaction chamber or rotate it into place and then pump tank water through it to thaw it and transport it.

I think the new design (guessing due to issues keep cubes frozen and moving, etc.) is to allow them and the water to become a slush via temp control and push the contents of each cell through with tank water.

Poke around for some DIY designs built in coolers or mini fridges for cubes or phyto to get an idea.

Mattiejay6 · Saturday at 12:52 PM

id almost rather have an RODI line hooked up to it to keep it with fresh water then tank water. interesting all the different stages this has gone through in the years with out a release. very little information out there based on his facebook page and from what I can see.

BeanAnimal · Saturday at 12:55 PM

There are various videos and photos of the different design stages. reefbuilders drooled over the different updates a few times.

Also "we are shipping" has been an ever evolving promise for a year or more. Maybe this time they really are. I am eager to see people get them in their hands.