My Reefbrite LED's - update... 1 unit failed

[mike31154]

Originally Posted by Myka

Jeez, this sounds like Solaris all over again. I wonder if other people are having troubles with this particular brand/model. Sorry to hear about your experiences.

I'm not sure this issue is comparable to the Solaris fiasco. They appeared to have poorly designed power supplies for the size of the fixture and the patent lawsuit finished them off.

I was at bkelly's place yesterday and he has a Reefbright on his tank for supplemental lighting. It's a relatively simple fixture with no dimming or other fancy features, not even a built in timer. Kind of makes me wonder why the price is so high. Just two banks of LEDs run by a 24 VDC wall adapter. Must be good quality LEDs, so certainly worth trying to fix.

If the power supply is working, the next thing to look at would be the driver(s) inside the light stick itself and the individual LEDs. One bank of six is working at half brightness & the other not at all if I got the diagnostics right. Could be just a loose connection, or a single bad LED taking out one bank of six & affecting the power to the other. Someone with a multimeter and knowledge of how to use it might get it going again fairly quickly.

Pop it open and post a few pics, I'm curious to see what the guts look like, build/soldering quality, how the LEDs are mounted etc. I'm still fence sitting with LEDs as my primary lighting choice, waiting for further development & price drops.

[gobytron]

sorry to hear but seriously, thanks for sharing the experience.

[Hustler]

Tough call, Is this a common occurance?
I have a 4 bulb T5 4 foot fixture thats 6 months old and 1 fixture is dead... changed 3 bulbs and still nothing... bought at big als....dont have the reciept but it was a high end unit and costly and still isnt what i figured it would be.... I have shop lights 20 years old that have been hit with heavy objects that still work like the day they were made lol...

[Slick Fork]

Originally Posted by mike31154

I'm not sure this issue is comparable to the Solaris fiasco. They appeared to have poorly designed power supplies for the size of the fixture and the patent lawsuit finished them off.

I was at bkelly's place yesterday and he has a Reefbright on his tank for supplemental lighting. It's a relatively simple fixture with no dimming or other fancy features, not even a built in timer. Kind of makes me wonder why the price is so high. Just two banks of LEDs run by a 24 VDC wall adapter. Must be good quality LEDs, so certainly worth trying to fix.

If the power supply is working, the next thing to look at would be the driver(s) inside the light stick itself and the individual LEDs. One bank of six is working at half brightness & the other not at all if I got the diagnostics right. Could be just a loose connection, or a single bad LED taking out one bank of six & affecting the power to the other. Someone with a multimeter and knowledge of how to use it might get it going again fairly quickly.

Pop it open and post a few pics, I'm curious to see what the guts look like, build/soldering quality, how the LEDs are mounted etc. I'm still fence sitting with LEDs as my primary lighting choice, waiting for further development & price drops.

Hi Mike,

I will try to pop it open later this week, next few days are a little hectic.

Gobytron: No problem on the sharing... I should note though that the other is still going strong, I get that things fail but am really disappointed that the manufacturer would tell me to pound sand so close to the warranty being up.

Hopefully once I crack it open someone will be able to say "OH, there's your problem!"

[Slick Fork]

Thought I'd share an update and give credit where it's due.

After reading about my issue I got a PM from Pfoster at Reef Wholesale stating that he had never been approached by the retailer about this issue and offering to replace the defective unit. So, I sent him the broken one and got a brand new one in the mail.

Gotta say that I'm really impressed with the customer service from Reef Wholesale.

[reefgirl189]

Originally Posted by Slick Fork

Thought I'd share an update and give credit where it's due.

After reading about my issue I got a PM from Pfoster at Reef Wholesale stating that he had never been approached by the retailer about this issue and offering to replace the defective unit. So, I sent him the broken one and got a brand new one in the mail.

Gotta say that I'm really impressed with the customer service from Reef Wholesale.

That's very impressive. Not too often do you hear about good stories like this one.

[RuGlu6]

Originally Posted by Slick Fork

Thought I'd share an update and give credit where it's due.

After reading about my issue I got a PM from Pfoster at Reef Wholesale stating that he had never been approached by the retailer about this issue and offering to replace the defective unit. So, I sent him the broken one and got a brand new one in the mail.

Gotta say that I'm really impressed with the customer service from Reef Wholesale.

How is it going so far any up dates?
thx

[Slick Fork]

Originally Posted by RuGlu6

How is it going so far any up dates?
thx

I ended up taking it down, the T5/LED combo worked great for LPS and softies as well as SPS in the top 6" of the tank and added some really nice shimmer. My wife bought my an AI Sol setup as an early birthday present though so that's what I'm running now!