AliExpress A8SE Reef Light

[rps3287]

Almost a month later.. my 3x A8se II blues have arrived!

 

[keepingfishwithnoidea]

give us updates!!

 

[rps3287]

They look great! Still 1 more to install tomorrow.. And lots of reading about how the hell to program them

 

[rps3287]

Finally figured out how to program the lights and I’m VERY pleased so far! Just waiting on 1 more mounting bracket for the center light. If anyone is wondering, the radion diffusers snap right on

 

[LittleMaui]

I ordered an A8 Pro II Max on 5/16, which arrived today. Price stated it included any import fees, which was about the same price as pre-tariffs. No surprises. Purchased from YZY Aquariums this time. Prior to the tariffs I purchased the same lights from BreezeAqua. BreezeAqua uses bubble wrap around the box, which I appreciate. Power supply came in a different (attached) box, while previous lights were all in one box. At first the order status indicated UPS would be used, but later a Fedex tracking number was generated prior to the light arriving in the states.

Overall, these are great lights. There has been a lot of discussion on this thread, but I don't see how you can beat the value. I've used these lights since March and find two annoyances. First, the app certainly has a learning curve, since it was originally written in Chinese. After setup, there is either a firmware or app update that improves things a bit. Second, if you restart your WIFI router, the lights don't automatically reconnect requiring a power cycle of the lights to reconnect. This isn't a big deal since the lights continue to operate on there light schedule anyway.

As others have stated, the possible light schemes are excellent and the lights run nearly silent. I did have a small fan issue that I caused and repaired on one light, which was discussed earlier in the thread. Here's my current schedule for others with the same light. I love the option of saving and sharing the schedule using a QR code.

 

[bradreef]

I just changed to the high output lense on 2 of mine and it really makes them better for SPS. Still loving the lights and will continue to buy as needed.

 

[Borat]

Nice Chinese DIY!!!

 

[ryudo80]

I also tried out the high intensity lense and it greatly improved the Par output but there are now hotspots toward the center. Since I almostly have LPS and soft corals, I switched back to standard lense for now.

 

[coralbeauties]

As others have stated, the possible light schemes are excellent and the lights run nearly silent. I did have a small fan issue that I caused and repaired on one light, which was discussed earlier in the thread. Here's my current schedule for others with the same light. I love the option of saving and sharing the schedule using a QR code.

How do you actually share? I tried to copy your schedule. Do I need to take a picture of your qr code, then scan? I tried that and get two Chinese words at the bottom of the screen, not sure what needs to be done with these? Im assuming that they will then be in the drop down menu with the presets?
thanks
Jeff

 

[KoenE]

Did someone already try reflash the onboard chip of these lights with ESPHome?
I just ordered a spare PCB to experiment with while my A8se II max can stay on the tank. This way I can then hopefully intergrate it into HomeAssistant and get rid of the original app.

The first steps are being made at the moment, the first part of the schematic has been figured out componentwise (not the exact types of diodes and values of condensators, but enough to do the rpogramming in the near future). Tomorrow I will try to get to the last part of the schematic with the other 7 led drivers and the rest of the pins connecting to the led-panel. After that's done, the next step is to index all in- and output pins using an oscilloscope to check which pwm-frequencies etc. are being used to be able to progam them the right way.
Sneak peek of the schematic so far:

 

[KoenE]

Well, I have good news after a lot of work today. It looks like I have derived the whole schematic of the mainboard, but some components are still unknown, but this doesn't matter much for the reprogramming, at least everything is in there.
Only U8 would be nice to know because it's connected to GPIO23, and I have no clue what it's supposed to regulate as it goes to +3.3V via a resistor and U8. It looks like a sot23 package and the text on there can be seen in the photo provided. If someone has a better idea of what it could be that would be nice.

The schematic will be revised when necessary, and problably will be updated with more info in there as well (like which part regulates which voltage, clock, LED-drivers etc.). Now I'll have to wait for my new light to come in to be able to plug it into 32V and measure everything as I don't want to detach the light above my tank. Indexing most pins is already possible with just the schematic. When there are further updates I will start a new thread dedicated to the alternative firmware to run them on HA (hopefully).

 

[Fishguru4u]

The latest version is 2.3.8. Here's the apk install file that I'm using.

AIPAI 2.3.8 for Android

This a scam?, when I click on it, it only give me several different websites and no downloads.

 

[penfold2]

This a scam?, when I click on it, it only give me several different websites and no downloads.

I see what you mean. When I turn off my adblocker, the entire page becomes a popup link. But the link works fine with the adblocker enabled. The install file is good. It's the same one I'm using on my Android phone now.

 

[natsirt]

Hey guys, I’ve had three pros since last September. They have been fantastic! Last night I had a power outage and my router messed up and somewhere along the way two of my lights are stuck flashing on and off and aren’t communicating with anything. I can’t even find them on my wifi. Has anyone experienced this? Are the fans just bad?

 

[kentUA]

After turning off my Wi-Fi, the lamp goes out after 10 minutes, does anyone know how to deal with this bug?

 

[LittleMaui]

Hey guys, I’ve had three pros since last September. They have been fantastic! Last night I had a power outage and my router messed up and somewhere along the way two of my lights are stuck flashing on and off and aren’t communicating with anything. I can’t even find them on my wifi. Has anyone experienced this? Are the fans just bad?

I have this happen every time I reboot my wifi/router. Usually, if I remove the power from the light for 10 seconds and plug-in again, the light connect automatically to the wifi/router.

 

[LittleMaui]

After turning off my Wi-Fi, the lamp goes out after 10 minutes, does anyone know how to deal with this bug?

Seems odd. The lights operate just fine without WIFI once you program them. I reboot my router occassionally and they disconnect from the WIFI, but continue to operate the light schedule as designed.

 

[kentUA]

Seems odd. The lights operate just fine without WIFI once you program them. I reboot my router occassionally and they disconnect from the WIFI, but continue to operate the light schedule as designed.

I also connected to the lamp, programmed it, but I distribute Wi-Fi from my phone, since there is no router there, and after I configured everything, saved the settings, exited the application and turned off the Wi-Fi distribution, the lamp turns off after 5-10 minutes.

 

[dbroncos]

Just checking to make sure you cannot use special symbols in your wifi password with these, correct?

 

[DylanE]

Just checking to make sure you cannot use special symbols in your wifi password with these, correct?

App works fine with mine that has symbols