Chinese LED Lights

[Reef_Breeders]

Originally Posted by Ron Reefman

The Photon48 is too long for a 55g tank. Save some money and get either a Photon32 or go to OceanRevive and get the original manufacturer's EverGrow IT2080. The 32" light will cover your 48" 55g tank. The 48" light will put leds at the very ends of the tank and they will just waste light throwing it out the ends of the tank (even with 60 degree lenses, and 90s will be even worse).

I have a 55g tank and use 2 EG D120's. I have a 180g with 2 IT2080's. I wouldn't even consider the Photon48 for my 55g. You'd be wasting money and getting a light that will not do as good a job as the 32" fixture will.

It doesnt spill that much light ron, feedback has been great so far. The majority of users with the 32s had trouble on 4 foot tanks with shadowing, and the middle moonlight is completly blocked.

[Hoity]

Ok, so I purchased 4 x 120w fittings from twilight about 10 months ago and all but one are still working, has anybody else had similar issues? I have the model with the built in programmable controller.
Given I have been away from the forum for a while is anyone aware of known problems with the Twilight fittings
I have starting re reading this thread and found it has been restarted, I now see that the flavour at the moment is the ever grow led fittings.
I notice that reef breeder fittings have a heat sink and this obviously helps with heat dissipation , without pulling apart my fittings was this a known omission from the twilight fittings?
Appreciate any knowledge on this.
Cheers

[unitedbga]

Originally Posted by Hoity

Ok, so I purchased 4 x 120w fittings from twilight about 10 months ago and all but one are still working, has anybody else had similar issues? I have the model with the built in programmable controller.
Given I have been away from the forum for a while is anyone aware of known problems with the Twilight fittings
I have starting re reading this thread and found it has been restarted, I now see that the flavour at the moment is the ever grow led fittings.
I notice that reef breeder fittings have a heat sink and this obviously helps with heat dissipation , without pulling apart my fittings was this a known omission from the twilight fittings?
Appreciate any knowledge on this.
Cheers

Are you lights in warranty? You may want to check and see before opening up your lights.

[Ron Reefman]

Originally Posted by Reef_Breeders

It doesnt spill that much light ron, feedback has been great so far. The majority of users with the 32s had trouble on 4 foot tanks with shadowing, and the middle moonlight is completly blocked.

Thanks for the feedback Logan. My experience with the 32/2080 in on 6' tanks. I only know 1 guy with one on a 4' tank and he has no issues at all. But 2 braces leaves the moonlights unblocked.

[Triggerfish]

make sure to check for stray voltage specifically emitting from the screws attaching the casing. the d120 I got from reefbreeders has voltage leaking from the screws only not the casing.

[mlott132]

Originally Posted by Hoity

Ok, so I purchased 4 x 120w fittings from twilight about 10 months ago and all but one are still working, has anybody else had similar issues? I have the model with the built in programmable controller.
Given I have been away from the forum for a while is anyone aware of known problems with the Twilight fittings
I have starting re reading this thread and found it has been restarted, I now see that the flavour at the moment is the ever grow led fittings.
I notice that reef breeder fittings have a heat sink and this obviously helps with heat dissipation , without pulling apart my fittings was this a known omission from the twilight fittings?
Appreciate any knowledge on this.
Cheers

Hoity, what issues are you having? One of my two lights is acting up. The blue channel will start flickering and then shutoff for a few minutes. When the blues act like this, I can see them pulsating. I think it is an issue with the dimmer, but I am waiting to see what they say. The best part is that i have two extra fixtures that have been sitting in boxes for months. I was going to use one until i could get the other fixed, but they acted up as well. Trying to get any support from them has been a pain. I was dealing with Lyn, but he is no longer there and that is when the support issues started. Because of this I have given up on these fixtures and am converting over to AI Vega's.

[CAFoster5]

Question from a newbie...I decided to purchace two of the value full spectrum LEDs from Reef Breeders with 90 degree optics and just got them today. My 60 gallon DT (48x17x18) with 20L hommade sump/fuge has been up an running for about 5 weeks now. Have approx 100 lbs live rock and 75 lbs agralive sand. Running a 100 gal Reef Octopus skimmer in sump. Have a CS90 CPR overflow box with a mag 7 return. Have a Koralia Hydor 850gph pump in DT. Have a 200 watt compact flourescent over my fuge which along with some of the rock and sand has a small bunch of caulerpa in it. Currently I have 10 nassarius snails, approx 20 combo of red and blue leg hermits, 2 clowns, a sand sifting star and a tigerstripe serpent star. Planning on a variety of all types of corals.
I am in process of building a canopy. I do not have a cover of any kind at the present. I actually have 2 questions...
1. How high do I need to hang my LED above the water level?
2. How much space do I need between the top of the LED (where the fans are located) and the top of my canopy to have adequate ventilation?
Well make that 3 questions :-) Do I need to cut a hole in the top of my canopy to add additional ventilation?

[Hoity]

Originally Posted by mlott132

Hoity, what issues are you having? One of my two lights is acting up. The blue channel will start flickering and then shutoff for a few minutes. When the blues act like this, I can see them pulsating. I think it is an issue with the dimmer, but I am waiting to see what they say. The best part is that i have two extra fixtures that have been sitting in boxes for months. I was going to use one until i could get the other fixed, but they acted up as well. Trying to get any support from them has been a pain. I was dealing with Lyn, but he is no longer there and that is when the support issues started. Because of this I have given up on these fixtures and am converting over to AI Vega's.

Hey mlott132, I had first light start playing up with losing its memory after about 3 months and then it was fine for another 6 months and then I have had 3 lights losing channels and one completely dead. They are under warranty but should twilight need them sent back to comply with there warranty terms, it would cost as much as 4 new lights incl postage from china to Australia. So there would be no point, all I can hope is they send parts and I swap out faulty components. Once agin if I am swapping in the exact same part, one would have to question what would be the point after 4 lights failing already. I know that sounds a bit negative, I went down this road with my eyes open and new the risks. At the time locally sourced lights to cover my tank were 10k with decent warranties etc, I am in for 1k so far so I am still substantially ahead. I will see how far we get with twilight and I may try Reefbreeder, failing all that give the DIY option a go.
Cheers

[mlott132]

Would like to take a poll of those who purchased from Evergrow or Reefbreeders. Have you had any issues with your lights? If so, how was their support?

Does anyone know how to test a dimmer? Would like to confirm if that is the problem with my lights. If it is, I should be able to source those from another company to get my lights going again.

[Ron Reefman]

Originally Posted by mlott132

Would like to take a poll of those who purchased from Evergrow or Reefbreeders. Have you had any issues with your lights? If so, how was their support?

Does anyone know how to test a dimmer? Would like to confirm if that is the problem with my lights. If it is, I should be able to source those from another company to get my lights going again.

If you want to do a poll, maybe you should start your own thread and really do a poll? There is a ton of info here on both RB and EG and how they have dealt with issues. Try reading.

As for your dimmer issue, it might help if we had an idea what you think is wrong with it.

[mlott132]

Here is a link to the YouTube video I made of my lights.

http://youtu.be/BKAZCGlMnXI

For whatever reason the blue channel goes nuts. While they are really dim, I can actually see the blue LEDs pulsating. I guess as a test I could rewire the blue dimmer to the white channel and vice versa to see if the problem stays with the dimmer or LEDs. That way I could eliminate the dimmer as the possible culprit.

[rkesling]

Originally Posted by mlott132

Here is a link to the YouTube video I made of my lights.

http://youtu.be/BKAZCGlMnXI

For whatever reason the blue channel goes nuts. While they are really dim, I can actually see the blue LEDs pulsating. I guess as a test I could rewire the blue dimmer to the white channel and vice versa to see if the problem stays with the dimmer or LEDs. That way I could eliminate the dimmer as the possible culprit.

I had the same problem with mine, sent a video to Evergrow for them to look at, they came back and said it was the ballast, sent a new one out the next day. Very simple to swap out.

[Ron Reefman]

The people at EverGrow are turning the tide on Chinese customer service. They sure seem to do a good job with handling issues for customers. But then I wouldn't know because all 6 of mine have worked perfectly for 6 months now!

[exterminatank]

I got mine from evergrow. I had them for about a year and half now. About 2 months after purchasing, One of the drivers died. They replaced it immediately. They even tell you how to open up the box to work in it and show you pictures too. About 2 months later after that something else went wrong but we couldn't troubleshoot it. I had to send it to their authorized USA fixer upper (who was cool btw). He kept it for about a week (I think) and army it back.
Altogether I am very happy with them. I would definitely (and soon) be buying my next couple lights through them.
Mike

[unitedbga]

Originally Posted by mlott132

Hoity, what issues are you having? One of my two lights is acting up. The blue channel will start flickering and then shutoff for a few minutes. When the blues act like this, I can see them pulsating. I think it is an issue with the dimmer, but I am waiting to see what they say. The best part is that i have two extra fixtures that have been sitting in boxes for months. I was going to use one until i could get the other fixed, but they acted up as well. Trying to get any support from them has been a pain. I was dealing with Lyn, but he is no longer there and that is when the support issues started. Because of this I have given up on these fixtures and am converting over to AI Vega's.

If all the blues are flickering like that it sounds like the power supply is going out for the blue side. Not a good situation and possibly a fire hazard. Be careful.

[unitedbga]

Originally Posted by mlott132

Would like to take a poll of those who purchased from Evergrow or Reefbreeders. Have you had any issues with your lights? If so, how was their support?

Does anyone know how to test a dimmer? Would like to confirm if that is the problem with my lights. If it is, I should be able to source those from another company to get my lights going again.

I got my Evergrow lights straight from China. I bought extra LED's from Reefbreeders. I had good luck with both.

[xxjrealxx]

ok i have a bit of a problem, i think? i have a 4'x2'x2' 120g and it has two glasses center braces that are hazed, so there is three openings between the two braces. im lost please help!!! i was thinking about getting a photon 48 would that do it for me ?

[Seanymac045]

I had the white led's go out on two of my D120 units. Could it be the driver? Not sure what the problem is

[unitedbga]

Originally Posted by Seanymac045

I had the white led's go out on two of my D120 units. Could it be the driver? Not sure what the problem is

It very well could be. Open up the light and you can easily test the driver if you have a multimeter. Many of us can walk you throught it.

[King Nine]

Originally Posted by mlott132

Here is a link to the YouTube video I made of my lights.

http://youtu.be/BKAZCGlMnXI

For whatever reason the blue channel goes nuts. While they are really dim, I can actually see the blue LEDs pulsating. I guess as a test I could rewire the blue dimmer to the white channel and vice versa to see if the problem stays with the dimmer or LEDs. That way I could eliminate the dimmer as the possible culprit.

I had to post this after I posted a video link like yours on you tube some time back and someone posted this for me to see. You will laugh your @$$ off. (Or you should at least giggle a lot)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bt9zSfinwFA

Its not tank related but I couldn't help myself. Hope you get the problem sorted out. Also I bought mine through reefbreeders and Logan has helped me twice with the threee lights I purchased from him.

[klewis]

Originally Posted by Triggerfish

made a reflector to put behind the light against the back wall to reflect some of the light back down.. while adjusting it my other hand hit one of the screws on side of fixture and gave me a pretty good bolt. should that be normal?

Was any part of your body in the tank when you got shocked? If there is stray voltage in the tank and the fixture is the only grounded object you touched at that time that's where you would of felt the shock. My wife got hit twice while feeding due to the protein skimmer pump. If happens again check with a meter. One lead in the water and one on a known ground.

[BoDiddley]

Very close to ordering a D120 is the IT series worth the extra expense?

[klewis]

Originally Posted by xxjrealxx

ok i have a bit of a problem, i think? i have a 4'x2'x2' 120g and it has two glasses center braces that are hazed, so there is three openings between the two braces. im lost please help!!! i was thinking about getting a photon 48 would that do it for me ?

I would like to jump on your question with you.

I have a 120 with same dimensions but with a single center brace, I read earlier that the photon 48 would be too big for a 4' wide tank. From what I understand a photon 32 or Two photon 16's would be better for this width.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong because I'm getting ready to order Two photon 16's with 90 degree optics.

[Reef_Breeders]

Originally Posted by klewis

I would like to jump on your question with you.

I have a 120 with same dimensions but with a single center brace, I read earlier that the photon 48 would be too big for a 4' wide tank. From what I understand a photon 32 or Two photon 16's would be better for this width.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong because I'm getting ready to order Two photon 16's with 90 degree optics.

The photon48 would work perfectly. The 32 is too short, and 2 16s adds an unneccessary cost. They are not too long for a 4 foot tank, they were made specifically for 4 foot long tanks, actually.

[Reef_Breeders]

Originally Posted by klewis

Was any part of your body in the tank when you got shocked? If there is stray voltage in the tank and the fixture is the only grounded object you touched at that time that's where you would of felt the shock. My wife got hit twice while feeding due to the protein skimmer pump. If happens again check with a meter. One lead in the water and one on a known ground.

That might be possible, I got a full 60 volts from a pump in a frag system once. I used the light as the ground to test the voltage.