ESHINE 48X3W 4G lighting fixture experience

[reelfishy]

Thanks for the write up.. I just ordered 48x3w cree. 28Blue and 20White. with 60 degree optics and 90 degree optics on the outer leds with the controller. Hope it covers my new 36x24x20 tank well.. If not I have the e-shine 3g 20x3w cree on hand.

[SimonSKL]

Originally Posted by reelfishy

Thanks for the write up.. I just ordered 48x3w cree. 28Blue and 20White. with 60 degree optics and 90 degree optics on the outer leds with the controller. Hope it covers my new 36x24x20 tank well.. If not I have the e-shine 3g 20x3w cree on hand.

I too just placed my order for two 48X3W CREE with controllers about 4 days ago. I will have 24 white, 20 blue and 4 red in each. With a controller I can adjust the intensity of the two groups of light so the mix of white to blue is not that critical as I can always dim or brighten individual group as needed.

BTW, what is the typical turn around time from ordering to receiving your light?

[reelfishy]

Peter told me about 7~10 days.

[doonan75]

I received mine in less than a week 6 days as I recall. It took 3 days to get to my house after they shipped it and I believe 3 days to build it.

[yh1185]

expect probably around a week or a lil more on initial order, and another week for any replacement or issues that they need to fix for you.

[SimonSKL]

Happy day and Christmas came early. I got my two units of 48x3W CREE light with controllers today. Here is a link to the build thread where I commented on the light and how the lights look in my new tank.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...&postcount=105

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...&postcount=107

[yh1185]

Nice Simon, Just fyi i asked Robin about that void if broken seal, and he said that it was ok and he wouldn't void my warranty if i opened it, but it was because i had to replace my glass. You could probably shoot them an e-mail to check if you could crack that seal. Good luck!

[SimonSKL]

yh1185, Eshine is sending me a replacement controller and I don't have to return the defective one even though it still works except the "+" button.

They also sent me some pictures of CREE vs Bridgelux PCB. They look entirely different. The actual CREE leds are much smaller than Bridgelux and I could tell through the glass panel that they are indeed CREE leds without opening the case.

Here are the pictures:

CREE PCB


Bridgelux PCB


Bridgelux

[SimonSKL]

I just posted this in my build thread but I also want to share with you here.

I know a lot of people worry about customer service, after sale support, and product warranty in buying products from China or oversea. I am going to show you it should not always be a concern if you do your research and buy from a company with a good record of after sale support.

In my post on 3/27/12 when I received my Eshine lights that one of the controllers has a defective "+" button. I emailed Eshine on that very day and was told almost immediately by return email that a replacement controller would be shipped to me at no cost. Also there was no need to ship back the "defective" one. Today, 4/2/12, 5 days after my request, DHL delivered a new controller and everything worked as expected. This level of after sale support is not always seen even among domestic companies.

The pro about all these is: I have an extra controller that still works despite a defective programming button.

[yh1185]

lol that's awesome, especially since the "-" button does the exact same thing except opposite, but since all the numbers cycle from 0-9 and vice versa it doesn't really matter. at most it saves you 9 clicks :-P I'd buy another 48X3w and sell that combo to someone local haha

[SimonSKL]

Originally Posted by yh1185

lol that's awesome, especially since the "-" button does the exact same thing except opposite, but since all the numbers cycle from 0-9 and vice versa it doesn't really matter. at most it saves you 9 clicks :-P I'd buy another 48X3w and sell that combo to someone local haha

I was thinking the same but ... I don't think Eshine will just sell you a fixture without the controller for a lower price as they never break down the product separately into light and controller. In other words, they will still charge you $385 for the light without controller

[yh1185]

they don't break it down, but they do sell a 48X3w fixture without the controller, and it's like 150+ cheaper. Only issue is that you'd have to find the cables yourself. You might be able to get them to give you the cables, but doubt they would. Also, you'd have to pay the dreaded shipping fee again :-P

[SimonSKL]

The 48x3W without the controller has two power cords, one for white and one for blue that you plug directly to the electrical outlets. The light with the controller has one cable between the light and the controller and a power cord between the controller and the electrical outlet. Ordering a light without controller will not work with the controller as the power management in each is quite different.

Now if they have a light that works with an external dimmer that will be a different story. Unfortunately they don't.

[yh1185]

Very interesting...I guess i got an older model then you did...My unit has 2 cords from the light to the controller and 1 from controller to electrical outlet.

[SimonSKL]

I think this picture shows the cabling of my model of 48x3W. One power cord to controller and one cable from controller to light.

[yh1185]

Yup i guess i got an older model. If you look at post #22 of this thread, that's what my unit looks like.

[SimonSKL]

Originally Posted by yh1185

Very interesting...I guess i got an older model then you did...My unit has 2 cords from the light to the controller and 1 from controller to electrical outlet.

Darn! I thought I could sell you my extra controller for a good price

[SimonSKL]

Same 4G model and one month apart and they already made significant change to the product!

[Phishguy]

I have been dealing with eshine for quite a while. I did all kinds of research and put my mind at ease about buying from china etc. after my experience, I won't be recommending or dealing with them again. Something as stupid as a dead led, and a month later, still no updates or new led to replace defective one. I got to a point where I want to return them and I haven't gotten any response about that with Peter. Learned my lesson and I wont let it happen again.

[yh1185]

lol yea and i think i know why...Too bad...I have to be super careful with mine, and i guess you don't with yours :-P (if you looks up problems with eshine units in other threads you'll probably be able to figure it out too) Hopefully they figure out a solution for me. I've already contacted them, and they said they're working on it, and i hope they really are, otherwise it'd be a negative against them, but i'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt at this point.

[yh1185]

Originally Posted by Phishguy

I have been dealing with eshine for quite a while. I did all kinds of research and put my mind at ease about buying from china etc. after my experience, I won't be recommending or dealing with them again. Something as stupid as a dead led, and a month later, still no updates or new led to replace defective one. I got to a point where I want to return them and I haven't gotten any response about that with Peter. Learned my lesson and I wont let it happen again.

That sucks that you had that experience...Not sure what happened, but in general I've seen people who've dealt with Robin had nothing but great things to say. And if you read other peoples experiences there have definitely been issues all around, but they tend to generally make it right pretty quickly, which is something that i accepted for the price difference. If i were you i'd try to IM Peter through their IM system in the AM EST. He seems to be pretty responsive during that time. Also, it is a bit annoying that once you dealt with 1 person, you have to keep dealing with that person because i think they work off of some commission system. But as i said before, for me it was definitely worth the price difference, and overall i'm seeing pretty good reviews. They are definitely not making perfect systems that will be problem free, but they work to make things right. To me much better then DIY's where a whole host of other things could go wrong .

[Phishguy]

I've been dealing with Peter because he took over from robin. I've been in contact with him several times and he keeps telling me they are working on it. The engineers are still working on it. I don't hear a word from him unless I Im or email him. I even asked him to just ship me a new led and I'll replace it. Just get the run around

[yh1185]

that sux

[squbg]

im confused i was just quoted from peter for 2 48x3w and 2 controllers with shipping
385x2+146 = $916 how is this cheaper or better than the AI sol?

[yh1185]

Originally Posted by squbg

im confused i was just quoted from peter for 2 48x3w and 2 controllers with shipping
385x2+146 = $916 how is this cheaper or better than the AI sol?

2 48X3w units = 96 CREE LED's.
2 AI Sol units = 48 CREE LED's.

So for 916$ your getting 96 cree LED's and controllablility. (i tend to not like the fact that 1 controller can only control a single unit, but maybe that will change in the future) In order to get that many LED's from the AI sol, you'll have to buy 4 units and that will cost you 1800$, and you'll still have to buy a controller of some sort. If you do DIY dimmable Cree setup, your talking about around 365 without the heat sink. (i'm using rapidLED pricing) and then you'll have to pay for heat sinks, which is another 50ish a piece. So to get a similar setup your talking about 2 kits + 2 heat sinks: 2X365 + 2X50 = 830. With that you still don't have a casing and controllability. So to me the eshine unit was cheaper then any other option, even with shipping and such.