Reefloat Neo-Power initial review.

[les]

First impressions of the Reefloat Neo-Power.

Received my new Reefloat Neo-Power auto top up unit from Gordon yesterday, set it up and here are my initial thoughts on the unit.
Upon opening the well packaged box and after unwrapping the parts the first thing you notice is this in no Heath Robinson piece of kit. All components are well made with the unit obviously well thought out. The instructions are clear and precise however the unit could be set up without them as the whole thing is so easy to install and you could hardly make a mistake. Just one small omission on the instructions which I shall explain later but well done Reefloat otherwise.

My chosen pump I already had as it was the one taken from the Fishstreet store (from Hong Kong) auto top up I tried to use previously. I had, had problems with the Fishstreet float supplied and even after getting a replacement float it still caused problems. So if you have the Fishstreet store auto top up and experienced similar problems to me then yes you can use the pump as supplied by Fishstreet. The advantage of using this pump is that it has its own auto cut off should your chosen reservoir run dry for whatever reason so the pump won’t burn out due to lack of water in the reservoir.


You could of course run most powerheads or pumps that do not exceed the 2 amp rating of the pump but most powerheads and pumps will not exceed this anyway. Unfortunately the instructions do not state not to use any pump exceeding a 2amp rating. A small omission but in this day and age and the suing culture I would suggest Reefloat add this warning to the instructions supplied. Yes on the control unit it does state the user not to exceed the 2 amp rating for the pump being used but I think the instructions should also carry this warning.


I particularly like the float switch as it is very neat and compact something I needed in order to house it in the small pump chamber of my River and Reef 94L aquarium. The float is secured to the chosen spot by a small magnet located at the bottom of the float holder and a quality sucker located near the top. The float itself is housed in an open bottomed, circular acrylic surround which helps stabilize the float unlike many others that use this kind of arrangement. Well done Reefloat with this design.


The only improvement I can think of for the float is for perhaps they could supply 2 magnets instead of the sucker and magnet arrangement. However this would add cost I would suspect and in some circumstances it may not be possible to fit the magnet to the top of some sumps or aquariums. Maybe that’s why Reefloat chose this arrangement. *EDIT* See Gordons response regarding my thoughts on 2 magnets below.


The control box is attached to the power outlet socket and your chosen pump is plugged into the 3 pin socket, all very simple and straight forward. The float attaches to the control unit using a phono connector so you can’t get the connection wrong here. If I was to request an Improvement/addition then perhaps a red LED showing power going to the control unit and a green LED showing whenever the float was sending power to the pump and that the whole unit was operating. Again this would add cost to the unit and after all this is a budget version of the more expensive auto top ups Reefloat make so this is not a criticism at all far from it as at the price of just £49-95p I cannot fault it.


Slightly off topic for my top up reservoir I used a poly cereal storage box I bought from ASDA for just £2 which holds approx a gallon of your top up water. This is tall and slim so I found it particularly easy to locate alongside my aquarium stand. This is of course made of food grade plastic.


I have only had the unit a operating a very short period of time so I cannot report on its long term use or reliability but all the components look and have a feel of quality. The float operates perfectly as does the whole unit and is certainly a big improvement over the Fishstreet float I had.


At the price and especially with the discount Gordon is offering to Saltybox members with 100plus posts the Neo-Power auto top up is something of a bargain when compared to the opposition. Finally if you are looking for a cheap alternative (Less than £50) to manually topping up your aquarium whether you have a sump or not then I strongly suggest you check out the Neo-Power unit by Reefloat.

Finally I have no connection with Gordon or Reefloat and he does not know I am writing this. However in this day and age when a good British product comes along at a good price and out performs the opposition then I think they deserve our support and recognition. Well done Reefloat.

[reefloat]

your comments much appreciated and a good point on the 2 amp rating so will rectify my instructions.
regarding the magnets I cannot fit one in place of the suction cup as the magnet interferes with switch operation when in that close a proximity, the floats have an internal reed switch which is activated by the magnet in the moving part of the float so it would latch the switch in an on or off situation and make it in-operable -
one thing you probably didnt receive with the instructions was the install guide which i have just started including - here is a copy
again for the input

gordon

[les]

for putting me right on the placement of the magnet Gordon I can see now why you put a sucker at the top of the float. Nope I didn't get the guide so thanks for a link to copy here. However I an an old salty dog and well aware of things like back syphoning. I will add an amendment to my review now. Glad you liked the review overhaul though.

your comments much appreciated and a good point on the 2 amp rating so will rectify my instructions.
regarding the magnets I cannot fit one in place of the suction cup as the magnet interferes with switch operation when in that close a proximity, the floats have an internal reed switch which is activated by the magnet in the moving part of the float so it would latch the switch in an on or off situation and make it in-operable -
one thing you probably didnt receive with the instructions was the install guide which i have just started including - here is a copy
again for the input

gordon