Exo Terra Monsoon

Enlightened Rogue · #1 (**permalink**) 01-10-2012, 03:49 AM

I`ve had this ''wonderful'' piece of equipment in use for about 6-7 months now working fine. I had it set to go off every 8hrs. for a 12 second spray. No problems.
So my usual routine after work is to check my tanks, when I discover my tank completely flooded.This thing was going off like every 5 seconds with a 20 second spray ALL DAY while I was at work.The water leval was so high it was rising over the vents on the bottom of the doors! Boths of my Leucs were sitting about half way up just watching the water rise.

Well, after un-plugging this possesed voodoo box and draining nearly a gallon of water from my soaked and muddy substrait and leaf litter, everything is ''somewhat'' back to normal.
There is something to said for hand misting.
Would anyony else care to share?

John

zBrinks · #2 (**permalink**) 01-10-2012, 04:02 AM

At least it was just one tank

I've had a Mistking timer clunk out on me, and I came home to the same situation, but in 16 vivariums. No fun, especially with several gallons of water on the floor.

frogparty · #3 (**permalink**) 01-10-2012, 05:05 AM

Lol, glad I still hand mist

HaltIAmReptar · #4 (**permalink**) 01-10-2012, 05:12 AM

That's kind of why I chose a small reservoir container so that if anything did happen it would just run out of water only downside is I have to refill it quite often. Sucks that you had to go through that though, at least the frogs are fine!

andyl · #5 (**permalink**) 01-10-2012, 06:06 AM

Drill for a float switch - wire in a relay as a high level cutoff?

There's that adage, if you're dosing - you need to be testing levels. Sadly it applies across the board.

And people think I'm nutty for the arduino controller

Hopefully the replacement will do better! Best of luck!

shrum · #6 (**permalink**) 01-10-2012, 12:17 PM

Do what i did and kick your monsoon down the street then go to home depot and for the amount you spent on the tax for that hunk of garbage get a hand mister. Your monsoon will fail on you again.....leaking hoses, nozzles stop working and will probably cause more issues then it is worth. Just my two cents...

Enlightened Rogue · #7 (**permalink**) 01-10-2012, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shrum

Do what i did and kick your monsoon down the street then go to home depot and for the amount you spent on the tax for that hunk of garbage get a hand mister. Your monsoon will fail on you again.....leaking hoses, nozzles stop working and will probably cause more issues then it is worth. Just my two cents...

Yea, I hear you. The only reason I bought the damn thing was because I went on a 2 week vacation in August and I didn`t want the tank to dry out.
Carefull what you wish for.

John

davidadelp · #8 (**permalink**) 01-10-2012, 04:29 PM

Seeing all of these crappy reviews makes me really not want one of the monsoons. But if i get one my false bottoms are built high enough 1gallon of water wouldnt effect anything. The only down fall to the monsoon even though they say u can use it on multiple tanks it wouldnt hold up like a mistking.

I do like how everything is contained into one unit ie: controllers and holding tank unlike the mistking you have to have a bucket or something that takes up that much more room.

randommind · #9 (**permalink**) 01-10-2012, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidadelp

Seeing all of these crappy reviews makes me really not want one of the monsoons..

I am not certian, but I think majority of the reported issues are from the V1 units. If my understanding is correct, Exo-terra has fixed the issues with their V2 units....Atleast that's what I am hoping for as I just set one up to mist my two stand alone display tanks in my living room. It has only been running for a couple days but so far I am more than happy.

zBrinks · #10 (**permalink**) 01-10-2012, 05:52 PM

That's what I was told by the manufacturer, as well.

frogparty · #11 (**permalink**) 01-10-2012, 06:09 PM

So how does the droplet size created by the monsoon compare to mistaking? Is it a finer more fog like mist or is larger raindrop size?

zBrinks · #12 (**permalink**) 01-10-2012, 06:14 PM

It's a slightly higher droplet size, but still works well for misting.

JimO · #13 (**permalink**) 01-11-2012, 12:32 AM

I suppose they don't call it "Monsoon" for nothing...

Enlightened Rogue · #14 (**permalink**) 01-11-2012, 12:39 AM

Ok wise guy, I do the joke telling around here.

That was a good one though.

John

JimO · #15 (**permalink**) 01-11-2012, 01:26 AM

John - your signature is brilliant.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enlightened Rogue

Ok wise guy, I do the joke telling around here.

That was a good one though.

John

Enlightened Rogue · #16 (**permalink**) 01-11-2012, 01:57 AM

I have my moments.

John

randommind · #17 (**permalink**) 01-19-2012, 11:56 PM

Alright....not even two weeks after installing my new V2 Monsoon, I am sorry to report that it definitely has some issues. Today I just so happened to be eating dinner in the living room where I have my monsoon hooked up. I had mine set to mist every 12 hours for 30 secs. Well at 5:30, 1 1/2 hours before it was set to mist, it begins a 30 second cycle. 5 seconds later it begins again....and again...and again. Not totally surprised by what is going on (i've read the reviews) I choose to finish my dinner and see how long this will continue. Well, after about 10 minutes I had enough and unplugged it. I am certian that had I been away, it would have emptied the entire reservoir.

I now have it plugged into a digital timer that is programmed to turn on twice a day for 1 minute (cheap non-seconds timer). Every time the Monsoon is plugged in, it will activate for the set duration on the machine which I have at 30 secs. Hopefully, with the way I have it set up now everything should be fine. If any other issues arise I will let you guys know.

JimO · #18 (**permalink**) 01-20-2012, 12:59 AM

I believe Monsoon season has started in the tropics. That could explain the more frequent misting.

Quote:

Originally Posted by randommind

Alright....not even two weeks after installing my new V2 Monsoon, I am sorry to report that it definitely has some issues. Today I just so happened to be eating dinner in the living room where I have my monsoon hooked up. I had mine set to mist every 12 hours for 30 secs. Well at 5:30, 1 1/2 hours before it was set to mist, it begins a 30 second cycle. 5 seconds later it begins again....and again...and again. Not totally surprised by what is going on (i've read the reviews) I choose to finish my dinner and see how long this will continue. Well, after about 10 minutes I had enough and unplugged it. I am certian that had I been away, it would have emptied the entire reservoir.

I now have it plugged into a digital timer that is programmed to turn on twice a day for 1 minute (cheap non-seconds timer). Every time the Monsoon is plugged in, it will activate for the set duration on the machine which I have at 30 secs. Hopefully, with the way I have it set up now everything should be fine. If any other issues arise I will let you guys know.

thedigipix · #19 (**permalink**) 01-20-2012, 03:14 PM

best money i spent was at the dollar tree 1 Dollar for a spray bottle!!! :P

JimO · #20 (**permalink**) 01-20-2012, 03:24 PM

All kidding aside, that should be covered under warranty. They seriously need to fix the timer problem or the system is useless.

Quote:

Originally Posted by randommind

Alright....not even two weeks after installing my new V2 Monsoon, I am sorry to report that it definitely has some issues. Today I just so happened to be eating dinner in the living room where I have my monsoon hooked up. I had mine set to mist every 12 hours for 30 secs. Well at 5:30, 1 1/2 hours before it was set to mist, it begins a 30 second cycle. 5 seconds later it begins again....and again...and again. Not totally surprised by what is going on (i've read the reviews) I choose to finish my dinner and see how long this will continue. Well, after about 10 minutes I had enough and unplugged it. I am certian that had I been away, it would have emptied the entire reservoir.

I now have it plugged into a digital timer that is programmed to turn on twice a day for 1 minute (cheap non-seconds timer). Every time the Monsoon is plugged in, it will activate for the set duration on the machine which I have at 30 secs. Hopefully, with the way I have it set up now everything should be fine. If any other issues arise I will let you guys know.

**Dane** · #21 (**permalink**) 01-22-2012, 06:18 PM

What was the advantage of choosing the Monsoon over a premium pump/system? Based on the specs I've seen it costs the same as the MistKing or Pro-mist starter systems, but will only run 6 nozzles at a time.

jpstod · #22 (**permalink**) 01-22-2012, 08:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dane

What was the advantage of choosing the Monsoon over a premium pump/system? Based on the specs I've seen it costs the same as the MistKing or Pro-mist starter systems, but will only run 6 nozzles at a time.

This is not a product endorsement

The Advantage is they are readily available in Most Stores which carry ZooMed products VS..Online Ordering only.

The System Reservoir is ready to go

Environmental Control system is "Ready" to go

randommind · #23 (**permalink**) 01-22-2012, 10:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dane

What was the advantage of choosing the Monsoon over a premium pump/system? Based on the specs I've seen it costs the same as the MistKing or Pro-mist starter systems, but will only run 6 nozzles at a time.

A couple things...
I needed a system for two stand alone tanks that have been set up for over a year, one housing a trio of breeding pumilio with tads and froglets in tank. I only needed my system to run 4 nozzles. If you add up the cost of a "premium" starter system plus 3 nozzles and appropriate fittings, drill bit for the glass, and the hassle of drilling and installing a top without any tiny pums sneaking out...the Monsoon seemed the appropriate choice for me.
My decision was made alot easier when I received a gift certificate for christmas from a sponsor site that only carried the Monsoon.
I will say that when the time comes for a system to be installed for the tanks on my rack and I am looking at 18 plus nozzles...I will certianly pick up a premium system.

By the way....I have yet to have any issues after plugging the monsoon into a timer. Yeah the extra step needed is definitely annoying to say the least, but it is now out of sight and out of mind (for the most part) and I still feel the compact plug and play Monsoon system is still the way to go for my particular situation.

Venutus1 · #24 (**permalink**) 01-23-2012, 03:06 PM

Return it to Hagen and they will send you a new one.
It is gone.
I will continue to get worse when you least expect it... even though you think it is fine.
The circuitry has been contaminated with moisture.

Fill the new one ONLY with Holy Water, and you should have no problems.

it will keep the demons away.

Go to the Hagen website and you will find the link to return it or open a complaint ticket and they will give you an "authoriztion return number" & the address in mass. to send it to.

The turnaround was fairly fast, about 2.5 weeks.

The new one they sent me is not possessed. yet.
It has been working good for quite a long time.

NOTE: You could always get the replacement and sell it off to recoup your $$...
and then get a Mist King from Marty.

Cheers!
Todd
lightyourreptiles.com

JimO · #25 (**permalink**) 01-23-2012, 03:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Venutus1

Fill the new one ONLY with Holy Water, and you should have no problems.

it will keep the demons away.

Cheers!
Todd
lightyourreptiles.com

The Holy Water is only necessary if you are misting Vampire Crabs...HA!

randommind · #26 (**permalink**) 01-23-2012, 03:56 PM

I don't think I will be going through the hassle of exchanging it. My reason is this...Even if I did exchange it out, I would still need to plug it in to a digital timer. Why you ask? Because, and please correct me if I am wrong, but the Monsoon can only be set to turn on in hourly increments (every so many hours). This means that If I wanted my tanks to be misted 3 times a day, while the lights were on I HAVE to have it plugged into an alternate timer.

Venutus1 · #27 (**permalink**) 01-24-2012, 10:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by randommind

I don't think I will be going through the hassle of exchanging it. My reason is this...Even if I did exchange it out, I would still need to plug it in to a digital timer. Why you ask? Because, and please correct me if I am wrong, but the Monsoon can only be set to turn on in hourly increments (every so many hours). This means that If I wanted my tanks to be misted 3 times a day, while the lights were on I HAVE to have it plugged into an alternate timer.

hmmm... I am not following you.

Your lights are on a timer but have these got a "frequency" timer.. like once every 8 hours for 3 x a day....
and a Duration timer, ie: how long they "spritz" for ... like 20 sec. to 80 sec.
or something like that.

I can't remember what the duration is on mine... but I have it to go off (in the winter, dryer air) every 5 or 6 hours or so.

Cheers
Todd

Venutus1 · #28 (**permalink**) 01-24-2012, 10:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimO

The Holy Water is only necessary if you are misting Vampire Crabs...HA!

oh no....
they will just smoke up and melt away! LOL
LOL!

randommind · #29 (**permalink**) 01-24-2012, 11:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Venutus1

hmmm... I am not following you.

Your lights are on a timer but have these got a "frequency" timer.. like once every 8 hours for 3 x a day....
and a Duration timer, ie: how long they "spritz" for ... like 20 sec. to 80 sec.
or something like that.

I can't remember what the duration is on mine... but I have it to go off (in the winter, dryer air) every 5 or 6 hours or so.

Cheers
Todd

I am just saying that if I want my Monsoon to only mist 2 times a day when the lights are on...say at 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.....the monsoon has to be plugged into a timer.