Reefbreeaders

[rossi]

High anyone have any experience with photon v-2 32in lights. The most
important thing is they are reliable I don't have a smart phone or tablet
so not having to have these to program is important.The price is right
too thank you

[fraggin corals]

I have been using the Photon 32 V2 for a few months now and am very happy with growth and color. Previously was using the older Photon and it worked exactly as it should for a few years. Only recently have added some T5s to help with shading on the underside of my corals. In my case the T5s are only being used as supplements to the V2.

[cswells212]

Are there no physical buttons for programming on the v2?

[kenith]

Originally Posted by cswells212

Are there no physical buttons for programming on the v2?

Nope- just a wireless remote. Their newest light (aquasanrise) has buttons and is wifi controllable via a smart phone.

Originally Posted by rossi

High anyone have any experience with photon v-2 32in lights. The most
important thing is they are reliable I don't have a smart phone or tablet
so not having to have these to program is important.The price is right
too thank you

I went from an ati 8x80 watt t5 to a 50" photon v2 and I love it. The controls via the remote could be better, but works well none the less. I've been scoping their new aquasanrise for more controllability.

[cswells212]

Originally Posted by kenith

Nope- just a wireless remote. Their newest light (aquasanrise) has buttons and is wifi controllable via a smart phone.



I went from an ati 8x80 watt t5 to a 50" photon v2 and I love it. The controls via the remote could be better, but works well none the less. I've been scoping their new aquasanrise for more controllability.

Thanks for quick reply. Im old school and like having redundancy...Not ideal since if the remote dies you are sol...have you ever ran into any issue with yours?

[kenith]

Originally Posted by cswells212

Thanks for quick reply. Im old school and like having redundancy...Not ideal since if the remote dies you are sol...have you ever ran into any issue with yours?

The system works well and I've never had an issue. The remote is rechargeable and turns off once it's done with the programming. Since the program is stored internally in the light, there is no need to use the remote otherwise

[allicassydanny]

Been using mine over a month now and I think they are a great light for that price, very well made.

[Ron Reefman]

I've had mine for 6 months now and I love them (2). The remote is a weak link. The battery doesn't hold the charge the way I would like it to. Even if you don't use it, it goes dead in 4 to 6 weeks. So I keep it plugged in to a USB charger all the time.

If you are worried about the remote going bad, ask Logan at RB how much an extra one would cost? It can't be too much. I have 2 fixtures, so I have 2 remotes and I readily admit that having a backup makes me feel more comfortable.

As for reliability of the fixture, EverGrow, the Chinese manufacturer, builds great led fixtures. They are huge in the plant, greenhouse, grow light market and have been in our market now for 6+ years. I bought their version of the RB Photon V1 before RB was even on the market. At nearly 6 years old I upgraded to the V2 because I changed tanks and my old 32" fixtures wouldn't fit a 60" tank. The 50" V2 works great and my tank is mostly sps. You can see how slim and clean the fixtures look.




And it works well with my corals (mostly newer frags as this tank is only 6 months old).

[cswells212]

Originally Posted by Ron Reefman

I've had mine for 6 months now and I love them (2). The remote is a weak link. The battery doesn't hold the charge the way I would like it to. Even if you don't use it, it goes dead in 4 to 6 weeks. So I keep it plugged in to a USB charger all the time.

If you are worried about the remote going bad, ask Logan at RB how much an extra one would cost? It can't be too much. I have 2 fixtures, so I have 2 remotes and I readily admit that having a backup makes me feel more comfortable.

As for reliability of the fixture, EverGrow, the Chinese manufacturer, builds great led fixtures. They are huge in the plant, greenhouse, grow light market and have been in our market now for 6+ years. I bought their version of the RB Photon V1 before RB was even on the market. At nearly 6 years old I upgraded to the V2 because I changed tanks and my old 32" fixtures wouldn't fit a 60" tank. The 50" V2 works great and my tank is mostly sps. You can see how slim and clean the fixtures look.




And it works well with my corals (mostly newer frags as this tank is only 6 months old).

such a clean, beautiful setup. they certainly are a nice form/size factor being so slim. good to hear the fixtures are made well though.

[Ron Reefman]

Thanks for the comments. After 6 years with a diy homemade stand, I like the new set up much better.

My 50" Photon has 4 fans and at midday with both blue channels at 80% and the 5w white channel at 40% my fans still don't kick on as the fixture is barely even warm to the touch. If I switch to the SUNNY setting which is 100% on all 6 channels the fans will start after a few minutes, but even then the fixture doesn't get more than warm to the touch.

[jason2459]

I have no input on the reliability as I just got mine but for the remote it would be nice to have smart phone access but almost glad its not as it seems many fixtures that start adding in "features" start making the programming of the lights more complex and confusing.

I found the remote gives just enough options for some flexibility in dialing in the color and intensity you want with out being overly complex. After going from only two channels which was not near enough to now 6 channels there's no way I would want more channels to figure out.

But I am entirely new to programing lights so I welcome how basic it is with some flexibility. Some people that are much more advanced and want more control would not like it most likely. I don't find it necessary though or wanted.