Chinese LED Lights

[bhazard451]

Originally Posted by bobamike

can you post some pics of your light fixture? I have the 32 inch one coming in a few weeks and I cant wait to get it! I am alittle nervous about the controller,I hope its good quality and doesnt crap out.but I would love to see some pics of yours and how it looks on your tank.and please do a review of the fixture,with pics of all the features of the controller if possible.

I had v1.0 of the controller which ran a little fast time wise, but never had any other issues with it. V1.1+ fixed the time issue, and should be flawless. My newest screen/controller is v1.2.

[bobamike]

reefbreeders emailed me yesterday and said my light will ship in 2 weeks,I am so excited to get that light and see what its capable of.I got the standard led setup.so I hope it is enough for my corals.

[Steel_Phoenix]

It is quiet on moonlight setting. Whenever I turn channel 1 down below 4% or off, it makes a buzz behind the control panel. I think it must be coming from that black box between the fans, though I haven't taken it apart.

I'm not well set up for photography at the moment, but it looks just like the pictures others posted earlier in the thread.

[KindCorals]

Originally Posted by KindCorals

what kind of soldering iron do you need to change out the leds? I bought a 30W one that says it goes up to 450 C degrees, turned it all the way up, let it heat up but it wont melt the solder on each led.

BUMP

anyone? I've soldered before and dont understand what is wrong here. It was my fathers soldering iron and dont know what type it was..

[Ron Reefman]

My lights just showed up today. Put an IT2040 over the 75g anemone tank. The 90 degree lenses make a big difference in how far out the light spreads compared to my old D120 with no lenses. I'm either going to take some or all of the lenses off in the front row or two. Or figure out a way to make the wall brackets longer so the light is over the center of the tank. The front of the fixture is about mid tank as it hangs now. And the whites are much brighter on this fixture compared to my old one. At full on the color is very 10K and doesn't get to 14K until the whites are down to 30-40%.

The instructions leave a bit to be desired. But I'll get it figured out. I was also surprised by a C.O.D. fee paid to UPS as a 'brokerage fee'. If I hadn't been home I'd have had to wait another day. Lots of lights to play with tomorrow!

[Ron Reefman]

Originally Posted by KindCorals

BUMP

anyone? I've soldered before and dont understand what is wrong here. It was my fathers soldering iron and dont know what type it was..

Do you have a roll of solder you can try it on? It says 450C, but is it really that hot? That's about 850F right? That's really hot. I haven't tried doing any on mine yet so I'm interested in what other will have to say as well. There is a chart that may help at this link:
http://www.rfcafe.com/references/electrical/solder.htm

[KindCorals]

Originally Posted by Ron Reefman

Do you have a roll of solder you can try it on? It says 450 degrees, but is it really that hot? I haven't tried doing any on mine yet so I'm interested in what other will have to say as well.

Yes I have a roll of the lead/tin and it melts it and smokes like I remember seeing. I dont think this one gets to 450 because the light doesnt turn off(indicating that it is at that temp) but the light turns off at about 400. But holding the tip on the led for 20-30 seconds, nothing happens.

Maybe the welded the leds in

[tidewater]

Originally Posted by Ron Reefman

My lights just showed up today. Put an IT2040 over the 75g anemone tank. The 90 degree lenses make a big difference in how far out the light spreads compared to my old D120 with no lenses. I'm either going to take some or all of the lenses off in the front row or two. Or figure out a way to make the wall brackets longer so the light is over the center of the tank. The front of the fixture is about mid tank as it hangs now. And the whites are much brighter on this fixture compared to my old one. At full on the color is very 10K and doesn't get to 14K until the whites are down to 30-40%.

The instructions leave a bit to be desired. But I'll get it figured out. I was also surprised by a C.O.D. fee paid to UPS as a 'brokerage fee'. If I hadn't been home I'd have had to wait another day. Lots of lights to play with tomorrow!

Ron I'm looking at the it2080. I'm wanting a 14k look with full spectrum. What layout would work best? Also what are your over all thoughts on this fixture?

[KindCorals]

Originally Posted by Terrance

Mine has a color similar to this one, Im just curious what everyone thinks about this color if they were going for the 20K look. It seems more like pink/purple to me

[tidewater]

It does seem pink/purple in the picture, but I also know that some pics look different than what you actually see.

[Travis1787]

Ron what layout did you go with?

Meaning what colors and how many of each color

[igadget56]

Originally Posted by WilkReef

Thanks igadget. I saw both of those and liked the one I listed above. I really don't like the windex blue look so I think I'm really going to like these fixtures. Ill try to put some pics up when I set it up.

just wondering if you got your lights yet. When I got my lights they did not match the layout that I ordered. I did not know there were two different Christmas specials. I checked the layout of the ones you ordered and that is the layout I have. If I would have seen this layout I would have ordered them first, so I got a little lucky. With the blues on 100% and the whites at about 30%, it looks all washed out. From what I read green doesn't do any good. So I was thinking I would replace the two green with two RB. Was hoping you had your lights so you could tell me how you like yours. Anybody think swapping out green for RB is a bad idea?

[Ron Reefman]

Originally Posted by Travis1787

Ron what layout did you go with?

Meaning what colors and how many of each color

Travis, this is the layout I used on my IT2040. The 100% on color is more 10K than I expected. Very 10K in fact. It's only over a 75g anemone tank so I can run with the whites turned down and should be OK. I may add some more blues in the future. But for now I have lots of lights to install. As for quality, the fixture itself is very clean and feels very solid.

[Ron Reefman]

Originally Posted by tidewater

Ron I'm looking at the it2080. I'm wanting a 14k look with full spectrum. What layout would work best? Also what are your over all thoughts on this fixture?

I can't say what layout works best, every person has a different opinion of what they want. I haven't seen my IT2080 over the tank yet, but the layout is very similar to my IT2040 and it's very 10K at 100%. I based my layout off how blue my old D120 light was. At 3:2 blue to white, it was very 14K. But this new light is MUCH more white than my old one. So I now argee with bhazard451 about how much blue you need to get a 14K look. If you want a 14K at 100%, I'd say you want at least 2:1 blue to white and maybe even more like 2.5:1. And even then, I'd buy enough extra blues to turn it to a 3:1 if you needed to (the extra leds are cheap). That is if you can get them switched out? Kind Corals seems to be having issues with that. I haven't tried yet.

I'm pretty happy with the light. My old one had no lenses and had a different layout with 11 rows of 5 leds. This one woth only 4 rows and 90 degree lenses has a much 'narrower' light pattern. I'm going to have to play with lenses and light location some. The box is solid and clean. They come well packaged. We had 24 lights in our order and every members lights were boxed seperate. And I had 3 different lights (IT2080, IT2040 & D120) so I had 3 seperate boxes master boxes and each light was boxed again inside the master.

I'll take some photos today as I get things done and post them up along with some PAR meter reading. Oh, and I switched out the moon leds for 2 of the darker blue (440nm vs 450nm... not much different) and one UV. The moonlights are still plenty bright. I dimmed them down from 5 to 2 for last night.

[latinyoungn]

Originally Posted by tidewater

Ron I'm looking at the it2080. I'm wanting a 14k look with full spectrum. What layout would work best? Also what are your over all thoughts on this fixture?

The default reefbreeder layout is supposed to be 14k at 100% brightness

[latinyoungn]

Originally Posted by Ron Reefman

I can't say what layout works best, every person has a different opinion of what they want. I haven't seen my IT2080 over the tank yet, but the layout is very similar to my IT2040 and it's very 10K at 100%. I based my layout off how blue my old D120 light was. At 3:2 blue to white, it was very 14K. But this new light is MUCH more white than my old one. So I now argee with bhazard451 about how much blue you need to get a 14K look. If you want a 14K at 100%, I'd say you want at least 2:1 blue to white and maybe even more like 2.5:1. And even then, I'd buy enough extra blues to turn it to a 3:1 if you needed to (the extra leds are cheap). That is if you can get them switched out? Kind Corals seems to be having issues with that. I haven't tried yet.

I'm pretty happy with the light. My old one had no lenses and had a different layout with 11 rows of 5 leds. This one woth only 4 rows and 90 degree lenses has a much 'narrower' light pattern. I'm going to have to play with lenses and light location some. The box is solid and clean. They come well packaged. We had 24 lights in our order and every members lights were boxed seperate. And I had 3 different lights (IT2080, IT2040 & D120) so I had 3 seperate boxes master boxes and each light was boxed again inside the master.

I'll take some photos today as I get things done and post them up along with some PAR meter reading. Oh, and I switched out the moon leds for 2 of the darker blue (440nm vs 450nm... not much different) and one UV. The moonlights are still plenty bright. I dimmed them down from 5 to 2 for last night.

Ron,
I would love to see some pictures of the IT2080!!!

[WilkReef]

Originally Posted by igadget56

just wondering if you got your lights yet. When I got my lights they did not match the layout that I ordered. I did not know there were two different Christmas specials. I checked the layout of the ones you ordered and that is the layout I have. If I would have seen this layout I would have ordered them first, so I got a little lucky. With the blues on 100% and the whites at about 30%, it looks all washed out. From what I read green doesn't do any good. So I was thinking I would replace the two green with two RB. Was hoping you had your lights so you could tell me how you like yours. Anybody think swapping out green for RB is a bad idea?

I just received them yesterday and I am very pleased (and surprised) with the quality of these guys. I need to rebuild my canopy before I can comment on the final look, but I put one on the center glass and I very much like the color. I personally like the less blue (10k-12k) look and these really look great with equal white and blue power. As soon as I complete my weekend project and install these guys I will give you an update and try to post some pics.

[Travis1787]

I should have went bluer myself I wish I did now that I hear that rons is so white... I went with a total of ...

29 blues (26 rbs and 3 460s for the moons which run at full power with the blue channel on)

14 whites (10 7500k, 2 12k, 2 3500k)

4 violets 2 reds 2 greens ,

[Travis1787]

But I could be wrong I haven't seen them yet

[KindCorals]

Originally Posted by Travis1787

I should have went bluer myself I wish I did now that I hear that rons is so white... I went with a total of ...

29 blues (26 rbs and 3 460s for the moons which run at full power with the blue channel on)

14 whites (10 7500k, 2 12k, 2 3500k)

4 violets 2 reds 2 greens ,

taking the lenses off the whites (I did the reds too) will help a bit to make it more blue

if i could just figure out how to solder the leds, I could fix my problem completely lol

[bhazard451]

Originally Posted by KindCorals

taking the lenses off the whites (I did the reds too) will help a bit to make it more blue

if i could just figure out how to solder the leds, I could fix my problem completely lol

Use a 45w or 60w iron if you need to. You're desoldering from a heatsink, so you may need more power.

The solder melts within seconds. Use a tweezer or grab the leg off the solder on one side, and do the same for the other.

To solder back in, there should be enough to just line it up, then heat the leg while on the solder. Done.

[KindCorals]

Originally Posted by bhazard451

Use a 45w or 60w iron if you need to. You're desoldering from a heatsink, so you may need more power.

The solder melts within seconds. Use a tweezer or grab the leg off the solder on one side, and do the same for the other.

To solder back in, there should be enough to just line it up, then heat the leg while on the solder. Done.

thanks man, I will go and exchange this iron for a more powerful one and hopefully that will do the trick.

I do remember it melting very quickly in the past so maybe it is the heatsink.

thanks again

[Ron Reefman]

Well I haven't had much time to play with mine today, but here is what I can tell you. My IT2040 has 2 of the 630nm red and 2 of the 660nm red and instead of having a slightly blue tank, I have a slightly purple tank. The more I dial back the white channel obviously the more the blue channel takes over and the dimmer the reds get, so it does get more blue than purple. I think I'll play with swapping out some whites for blue and maybe even 2 of the reds for blue.

I was seriously disappointed at how dim the light was at full power... until I stuck the PAR meter in the water. The 90 degree lenses really direct the light straight down when compared to my old D120 with no lenses. The old D120 had a PAR of 250 at 20". The new IT2040 has a PAR of about 325 at 20" and the light is 5 to 6 inches above the water. So it isn't dimmer at all, it just isn't letting the light spread out nearly as much so the front of the tank looks darker. So I'll also play with removing some of the lenses to allow some of the light to spread out toward the front more. I will also move the light forward some.

[KindCorals]

Originally Posted by Ron Reefman

Well I haven't had much time to play with mine today, but here is what I can tell you. My IT2040 has 2 of the 630nm red and 2 of the 660nm red and instead of having a slightly blue tank, I have a slightly purple tank. The more I dial back the white channel obviously the more the blue channel takes over and the dimmer the reds get, so it does get more blue than purple. I think I'll play with swapping out some whites for blue and maybe even 2 of the reds for blue.

I was seriously disappointed at how dim the light was at full power... until I stuck the PAR meter in the water. The 90 degree lenses really direct the light straight down when compared to my old D120 with no lenses. The old D120 had a PAR of 250 at 20". The new IT2040 has a PAR of about 325 at 20" and the light is 5 to 6 inches above the water. So it isn't dimmer at all, it just isn't letting the light spread out nearly as much so the front of the tank looks darker. So I'll also play with removing some of the lenses to allow some of the light to spread out toward the front more. I will also move the light forward some.

The purple was my problem too but I only had 2 reds. Removing the lenses did help me though, I removed them on the red and the whites since I havent been able to swap any leds out yet. I'll try getting a stronger iron though and try that

[Travis1787]

Its prob more so the violets and the royal blues then the reds