chinese led lights

[bhazard451]

Originally Posted by david pinder

Bought a lot of Leds from eshines my particular distributor named roery Have thought the lights were doing well after 4 months a controller has gone out. Eshines has been giving me the run around for a month and now they say they want me after a month of stalls want me tear the unit apart and check it out. Not saying all leds are bad they are the up and coming just beware of eshines. once you buy the light its yours.

This is the caveat and risk over buying with a domestic company. Unless you feel like paying $50+ to ship the unit back, you will have to do some work yourself in troubleshooting the issues, including opening the device and looking for loose/bad parts, etc. It could be Eshine themselves too not giving very good service. You'll have to figure out where the problem is, and hopefully they'll ship the replacement part to you.

[jhawkor]

Originally Posted by geemanaz

So what do you think of the Reef Breeders Value LED Fixtures


They utilize 55 highly efficient 3 watt bridgelux LEDs in over 7 different colors, including 2 kinds of red, blue, green, UV, violet, royal blue, and cool white. They dim via knobs mounted on top of the fixture, and have 2 separate plugs, switches, and dimming knobs to allow for a dawn/dusk effect. As with all of our fixtures, it is kept cool with silent cooling fans
prices $199.99 w free shipping

I actually just ordered 2 of these. I had him install two 0-10v analog dimming wires that will connect to my Reef Angel Controller so that they can be controlled. It was only $20 extra...Now I just need to decide how I want mount them. They come with a hanging kit.

[Chicago]

what about these

http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/56..._Lighting.html

[Chicago]

4g cree lights.. hmm.? thoughts..

[bhazard451]

Originally Posted by Chicago

4g cree lights.. hmm.? thoughts..

Eshine Cree lights. 4G is just their name for it.

They seem to be good, but there seems to be a few people having trouble with them honoring their warranty. Between their higher prices and that, I'd be cautious.

[bhazard451]

Originally Posted by jhawkor

I actually just ordered 2 of these. I had him install two 0-10v analog dimming wires that will connect to my Reef Angel Controller so that they can be controlled. It was only $20 extra...Now I just need to decide how I want mount them. They come with a hanging kit.

That's awesome! If I didn't already have a fixture, I would have definitely gone this route. Wish I knew about this sooner.

I wonder how he installed the dimming wires. Different drivers?

[reeferheadlouie]

Originally Posted by jhawkor

I actually just ordered 2 of these. I had him install two 0-10v analog dimming wires that will connect to my Reef Angel Controller so that they can be controlled. It was only $20 extra...Now I just need to decide how I want mount them. They come with a hanging kit.

Could you post a link to the ones you purchased?

[jhawkor]

Originally Posted by reeferheadlouie

Could you post a link to the ones you purchased?

http://reefbreeders.com/value_led_fixtures.html

If you want them to be dimmable via Apex, let him know and he can do that for a little bit more.

[kbell2433]

Originally Posted by bhazard451

I wonder how he installed the dimming wires. Different drivers?

My guess is if these dimmable lights can be dimmed with a knob they should be able to be dimmed with a controller with the same drivers they come with.

[bhazard451]

Originally Posted by kbell2433

My guess is if these dimmable lights can be dimmed with a knob they should be able to be dimmed with a controller with the same drivers they come with.

That's what I initially thought for mine, but the drivers on the Nova are a bit funky, and the fans are powered by them. They're very customized, and not 0-10v.

Someone cracked open a black box earlier in the thread, and they use different drivers, with 2 AC/DC adapters internally powering the fans somehow (probably spliced into the AC input). Either those are 0-10v dimmable, or he replaces the drivers with custom ones.

[jhawkor]

Hey guys, I just asked him what drivers he uses. His response was: The drivers are meanwell drivers put into a project box to contain the wiring.

[bhazard451]

Well, I just figured out how the fans are wired in on the Nova. I don't know why the wires come out of the driver from an extra port the way they do, but they are just wired in series along with the leds.

88.8v for 24 leds at 3.7fv at 700mah, current lowered to 580mah, fan runs at 12v = 100.8v tops. Scary voltage to be messing with without an electrician around.

[bhazard451]

Originally Posted by jhawkor

Hey guys, I just asked him what drivers he uses. His response was: The drivers are meanwell drivers put into a project box to contain the wiring.

That is what I don't understand. If there are 24 leds per driver (in mine), with a forward voltage of 3.7 (3.0 for lower current we'll say), that's still 72 volts in series, and no meanwell driver goes up to 72 volts... unless he re-wires in parallel?

Or, he's using 4 meanwell drivers with 12 on each string custom? So confusing, my head hurts. lol

[wildman926]

Originally Posted by bhazard451

88.8v for 24 leds at 3.7fv at 700mah, current lowered to 580mah, fan runs at 12v = 100.8v tops. Scary voltage to be messing with without an electrician around.

Not with DC voltage

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by bhazard451

This is the caveat and risk over buying with a domestic company. Unless you feel like paying $50+ to ship the unit back, you will have to do some work yourself in troubleshooting the issues, including opening the device and looking for loose/bad parts, etc. It could be Eshine themselves too not giving very good service. You'll have to figure out where the problem is, and hopefully they'll ship the replacement part to you.

Then there are the companies that will say ship it back to us. So you ship it to the US distributor who then ships it to the oversease plant then wait for them to fix it. They finally ship it back to the distributor who ships it back to you. Total time anywhere from 1 to 6 months.

When I had my shop I delt with a couple of these overseas companies. Believe it or not the repaired units were shipped as part of a full container going to there us distributor via boat. From the time I got the word they were shipping it back repaired to the time I received it at my store was over 60 days.

[bhazard451]

Originally Posted by wildman926

Not with DC voltage

100v DC could provide a very unpleasant jolt if hit the wrong way, if not worse.

[Snausy]

Originally Posted by Travis1787

What are the dimension of your tank? I must totally disagree you do not need 3 a8s that's ridiculous... Esp in a fowlr tank!

I just got the d120 the cheapest of them all for my 65 gallon which is 36 long 18 wide and 24 tall and it lights it up fully..... I bet 3 of these with 120 lenses would be pleanty for your tank at 550 at most which is half of what they suggested


I love sam and hendy and evergrow but one this I do know and learned from dealing with them. They have little to no knowledge on the needs of lighting for a reef tank.... They just make great lights but there knowlede of what's need to light our tank and support our corals isn't there which is ok I'm just saying lol

EDIT: I thought you said a 180 so a 300 gall would be diff but I still think 3 a8s is a bit much but I doubt 3 d120 would do it like I said before give me your dimensions and that will help

Hi sorry for the late reply. Actually the tank is 96"x 31" X 24". It is 31" high or "deep" so the light needs to be penetrating. I just want good color, I have no corals to worry about. 8ft long means I need 4 just to cover the length.

[Travis1787]

Originally Posted by Snausy

Hi sorry for the late reply. Actually the tank is 96"x 31" X 24". It is 31" high or "deep" so the light needs to be penetrating. I just want good color, I have no corals to worry about. 8ft long means I need 4 just to cover the length.

I think that with no coral you get get away with only using 3 ... I just have one of the d120s and it lights my tank up fully and my tank is 36 long by 18 wide and its 24 tall.

So if it light up my 36" long tank no prob ..3 should easily 3 time the length of my tank which is 108" and you said yours is only 96" so I personally would get 3 and if yo want more add more after ... It'll be easier to order one more laster if ya want another then it would be to return a 4th if 4 was not needed

[Travis1787]

You just need to get 90 degree lenses/optics for better penatration for a 31" tall tank

[david pinder]

Been hagling with the guy from eshines for a month everyday he comes up with some different excuse but always we will fix it. Month later no fix and he keeps recycling his excuses. Like I said previopusly looks like no warranty when it comes to eshines,

[Chicago]

ok.. so i understand i need 90 optics for led for tank that is 92" x 31" x 31". big tank.. how do i want to do the fixtures. two side by side.. or rotate to have them perpendicular to the tank .. in other words give me your thoughts on the unit.. and how to set up... . thanks..

[Chicago]

snausy.. i am basically in the same boat.. except mine is a 31 deep and 31 wide.. with sps dominated...

[ghrorick]

Well Aliexpress canceled my order so now I have to reorder my lights. Before I do I was just wondering about the uv lights. I really haven't seen anybody get them added. Are they just not worth it? Should I just go with royal blue and take the uv out? As of right now I am looking at getting 2 a6s with 18 blue and 6 uv on dimmer one and 30 white, 6 royal blue, 6 blue and 6 violet on dimmer 2. I am thinking of putting 3 of the violets and blues on dimmer one and moving the uvs to dimmer 2 and switching 4 whites to blues. so it would have
dimmer 1 21 blue, 3 violet
dimmer 2 26 white, 3 violet, 6 royal blue,6 uv, 7 blue.
I am looking for something bluer than the 14 phoenix metal halides I am running now and I think the setup I was originally ordered is probably alot closer to that than I want.

[tankaddict]

Originally Posted by ghrorick

Well Aliexpress canceled my order so now I have to reorder my lights. Before I do I was just wondering about the uv lights. I really haven't seen anybody get them added. Are they just not worth it? Should I just go with royal blue and take the uv out? As of right now I am looking at getting 2 a6s with 18 blue and 6 uv on dimmer one and 30 white, 6 royal blue, 6 blue and 6 violet on dimmer 2. I am thinking of putting 3 of the violets and blues on dimmer one and moving the uvs to dimmer 2 and switching 4 whites to blues. so it would have
dimmer 1 21 blue, 3 violet
dimmer 2 26 white, 3 violet, 6 royal blue,6 uv, 7 blue.
I am looking for something bluer than the 14 phoenix metal halides I am running now and I think the setup I was originally ordered is probably alot closer to that than I want.

I would just keep the UV, better to have a wider spectrum than not covering the spectrums you might need. Also you have plenty of whites and blues, missing a few won't affect anything. I ordered my A6 with 3 UV, although they probably wouldn't do anything but I like to have them just in case. I would replace more of the blues with royal blues.

[Travis1787]

That's sounds muuuuuch better ghrorick 6 violets is good I wouldn't do anymore I got 4 in my d120and its pleanty I feel..... That combo you have there sounds good add on those aqua washers you have and I think it'll be a good look