Jebao Dp4 Doser Failure Buyer Beware

Sam Chagger

New Member
Joined
Nov 9, 2015
Location
burlington
2 nights ago my jebao dp4 doser failed and pump number one remained on dumping about 1 gallon of alkalinity into my 100 gallon reef tank. Used it for less than 2 months, ran fine in that time up until now. Did not change dosing schedule haven't touched it once since setting it up.

Results were devastating, 100% acropora lost, some softies hanging
most fish are dead, tank water is cloudy and smells of death

Was tempted by the jebao because of its cheap price tag, got it on ebay for less than $120
most dosers are selling for around $300+

Opened the unit up and dont see any visible issues. No water damage or sign of short. Right now pump 1 wont turn off and just continues to spin the other 3 work fine. Have contacted Jebao I dont expect a response

Anyways just dont want anyone else to suffer

Its not worth the savings, these things are cheap, flimsy and not built well. My previous GHL lasted 3 years before the screen burn out so I thought Id try this one. Wish I stuck with GHL but was trying to save some $. Ended up losing more than I could imagine in the end....
 

Quartapound

Active Member
Joined
Oct 16, 2011
Location
Kitchener, Ontario
Very sad reading this... surprising as well, I've never heard of this type of failure before (the worst possible kind). It would be very nice to know what actually went wrong with the unit... Need someone with a DMM or a scope to get their hands on it and determine the point of failure, this is a big deal!

Sorry for your loss...
 

Pistol

Super Active Member
Donor
Joined
Aug 16, 2012
Location
Corunna
High end dosers can and have failed like this, I have a Vertex doser and have heard of the same thing although it was a firmware glitch that was corrected by Vertex. I still don't trust it 100% so I have it powered by my Apex so that the doser is turned off if the pH gets over 8.4 and an email is sent.
I would suspect that the transistor driving the motor shorted causing the motor to run continuously.
 

TORX

Administrator
Staff member
Website Admin
Joined
Nov 27, 2010
Location
Blenheim, Ontario
Website
www.thefragtank.ca
Horror story indeed. I am with @Pistol though. All doses have these horror stories, which is why if I go back to dosing, there will never be more then a few days worth in my jug.

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk
 

Quartapound

Active Member
Joined
Oct 16, 2011
Location
Kitchener, Ontario
....if I go back to dosing, there will never be more then a few days worth in my jug.

it's easier to just pull some tubing out of the container, that way you aren't constantly refilling. I only ever have my tubing submerged by a few inches at best, when I notice its getting close to sucking air I just push the tube in/down a bit further.
 

Sam Chagger

New Member
Joined
Nov 9, 2015
Location
burlington
Iv always left tubing right to the bottom and had 3-4 months worth of dosing in my reservoirs. GHL worked like a charm for close to 3 years then the screen died and I'm pretty sure it was water damage that I caused

anyways thought Id share, I wouldn't recommend this doser to anyone. The Jebao powerheads are great, if they fail though they are taking the whole tank down like the doser did
 

BIGSHOW

Super Active Member
Website Affiliate
Joined
Sep 2, 2012
Location
Hamilton
Website
www.bigshowfrags.com
of course all equipment can fail but cheeping out on crucial pieces can lead to an increase chance in failure. Obviously all equipment can break down but with higher end stuff failures are less.

...and when I say higher end I mean better made, being more expensive doesn't mean better, but better quality does usually mean more reliability, you can extrapolate this to all things we buy, not just Aquarium products
 

mmatt

New Member
Joined
Oct 1, 2014
Location
Oshawa
I've got a dp4 that I haven't hooked up yet. Now I'm scared to . lol ugh . wasnt an eBay special but I imagine they come from the same spot. But who's to say the others don't as well
 

zoomster

Active Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2014
Location
Port Rowan, Ontario
I was initially thinking of getting the Dp4.
May be glad now I didn't. But I am with Bigshow, any quality of equipment can fail but less likely with better manufactured units.
Sorry to hear about the loss of your tank, that really sucks.
Hope things work out for you.
 

Nighthawk26

Active Member
Joined
Apr 10, 2015
Location
Waterloo
^FIRED.

Now that it's brought from the dead, I can't agree more. SO much money and time in these tanks we have. Yes anything can fail, but cheap cheap will more often get you what you pay for. It's not THAT much more to get something more reliable. So sad to hear though.
 
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