Returns, Replacements, and Warranty
TankSync is assembled and bench-tested by hand, in small batches, to order. This page sets out exactly what happens once you order, if something arrives damaged, and if something fails while you own it.
Orders are final once placed
Every TankSync kit is made to order. When you place an order we buy the parts for it and schedule it into a batch, so an order cannot be cancelled once it is placed. Please check your kit, your delivery address and your phone number before you pay.
We refund an order in full only if we cannot build or ship it, or if it is going to miss its dispatch window and you would rather not wait. If a window is going to slip, we write to you before the date passes.
Refunds go to your original payment method within 3 working days of our confirming them. Depending on your bank, the money typically reaches you in 5 to 7 working days after that.
Orders placed on or before 14 October 2026 keep the terms they were sold under. You can cancel one of those for a full refund until it is dispatched by emailing orders@smartghar.org with your order number.
Damaged or wrong on arrival
If your parcel arrives damaged, if a unit is dead out of the box, or if the wrong item is inside, email support@smartghar.org within 7 days of delivery with photos of the parcel and the contents.
We resolve this entirely at our cost, including shipping in both directions. You will not be asked to pay to send back something that arrived broken or incorrect. Depending on what happened, we either send a replacement straight away or arrange a full refund.
Photograph the parcel before you open it if it looks knocked about in transit. It makes the carrier claim quicker for everyone.
1-year hardware warranty
Every TankSync unit is covered for 12 months from the date of delivery against failure under normal use. This is the promise that matters, and we honour it without argument.
How a claim works
Turnaround is usually 7 to 14 days from the day your parcel reaches us, depending on whether the unit needs a repair or a swap.
- Component or manufacturing failure in the hub or the tank sensor
- A sensor that stops reporting
- A hub that will not power on
- Display, LED ring, or buzzer failure
- A battery that no longer holds charge under normal solar exposure
- Firmware faults, which we usually fix remotely at no cost and without a return
- Physical damage from a fall, an impact, or a unit dropped into the tank
- Water ingress caused by an enclosure left open, a missing gasket, or a mount that was not tightened
- Damage from mains surges, incorrect power supplies, or lightning
- Modified hardware, third-party firmware, or units opened beyond the standard enclosure screws
- Normal cosmetic wear, sun fading, and dust
- Consumable wear on the cell after 12 months of service
If a unit turns out not to be covered, we will tell you before doing anything, quote the repair, and send it back untouched if you would rather not proceed. You cover return shipping in that case.
No change-of-mind cancellations or returns
We cannot cancel an order, or take back a unit that has been delivered and works as described, because you changed your mind or no longer want it.
We would rather say that plainly than bury it. Every unit is built to order and bench-tested individually, and a returned unit cannot simply go back into the next batch. Pricing a return rate into every order would mean charging everyone more so that a few can send things back. We have chosen to keep the price down instead.
This does not affect anything above. A damaged parcel, a dead unit, a wrong item, or a hardware failure inside 12 months is our problem to solve, and we solve it.
So ask us before you order
If you are unsure whether TankSync suits your tank, your distance, or your setup, write to us first and we will tell you honestly, including when the answer is that it is not right for you. We would much rather lose an order than sell you something that will not work.
Useful things to tell us: what kind of tank you have and whether the lid can take a 32 mm hole, roughly how far the tank is from where the hub will sit, how many floors are in between, and how many tanks you want to watch.
Fair use of this policy
The terms above are deliberately generous, and they work because almost everyone uses them honestly. The following conditions exist so that a small number of people cannot make them unaffordable for everyone else. None of them affects a genuine claim.
- Every unit is registered to your order. We record the hub identifier and the sensor built against each order, photograph the packed parcel, and keep the bench-test log. Warranty service requires the order number and the specific unit we shipped against it.
- Warranty covers the original purchaser. Lifetime Pro is tied to the hub and follows the hardware if you sell or gift it. The hardware warranty does not transfer, and we cannot service a unit bought second-hand or from a source that is not us.
- The remedy is repair or replacement. Once a working unit has been dispatched, warranty service is carried out by repairing or replacing it. It is not converted into a cash refund.
- You may open your unit. Damage you cause inside it is yours. Self-repair is encouraged and does not void cover on an unrelated component failure. A board with lifted pads, reversed polarity, or a severed trace is a different matter, and we can tell the difference on a bench.
- Our inspection determines the cause. We bench-test every returned unit and our assessment of what failed, and why, is what the claim is decided on. If you disagree, we will send the unit back with our findings and photographs so you can seek another opinion.
- Repeat faults from installation or environment are quoted, not covered. If the same failure recurs because of how or where a unit is installed rather than because of the hardware, we will tell you what is causing it and quote the repair.
- Talk to us before raising a chargeback. Almost every dispute is faster to resolve by email. A chargeback raised without contacting us first will be contested with the order record, the dispatch tracking, and the delivery confirmation.
- Claims made in bad faith end the relationship. Deliberately damaging a unit to manufacture a fault, claiming for a unit we did not sell, claiming for an item that was delivered, or supplying false evidence: we will decline service, may recover our costs, and may refuse future orders.
- Units left with us. If you decline a quoted out-of-warranty repair and we cannot reach you, we will hold the unit for 90 days from the date of our quote and then dispose of it.
If a claim is declined under any of the above, we will tell you exactly why, in writing, with photographs of what we found. You will never get a one-line refusal.
Open firmware and self-repair
TankSync firmware is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and the hardware files under CC BY-SA 4.0. Both units are modular and user-repairable, and the schematics and bill of materials are published. You are free to modify, fork, self-host, and repair.
Opening a unit to repair it outside warranty is expected, not discouraged. Running modified firmware does not void your hardware warranty on a component failure, but we cannot support or diagnose a modified build, and damage caused by custom firmware is not covered.
Getting in touch
We reply within 24 hours on weekdays and 48 hours on weekends.