AliExpress A8SE Reef Light

[Uriken]

I'm glad everyone buying these has the success I have had. I'm not a big Chinese product cheerleader but these lights have been a positive for my tank and wallet.

 

[pikcub]

Yup! It’s 8 channels as advertised.
There’s also an option within the Chinese configuration to download user profiles. I’m currently running the Darden schedule

Hello, where I can find this preset?

 

[fufoow]

I’ve been reading almost half of the entire forum pages, I was worry about the thermal paste, today I had and accident in my tank, my Radion XR 15 felt inside the tank, (diy hanging method, my bad) the light turned off , I disconnected, disassembled, washed (with rodi) then with isopropyl alcohol and at the end air with the air compressor , thank god it worked again, the only issue is a little noise on the fan, well, not that bad considering it’s an genuine Radion, well, the thermal paste is minimal, just little drops, and it’s not even cpu paste, it’s a white paste, I bought a Chinese thermal pastel and I’m about to paste my A8SE II, someone here told that the temperature change was minimal or even none changed at all, I measured the temperature directly from the led cluster, I will paste some pics of the temperature, one is a unopened Radion, with 43 degrees Celsius, the second one is the A8SE with no paste (until tomorrow I’ll paste it) showing 66 degrees Celsius and the last photo is the drowned Radion, cleaned and re pasted with cpu paste showing 43 C
I’ll take some pics tomorrow of the A8SE with thermal paste to see if something change

 

[fufoow]

yesterday I pasted my new A8SE II with a cheap with a cheap thermal paste, before paste It reading was showing 66C today with paste it showing 55C I think that thermal paste does really work to get the temperature low in the led cluster
I attached a picture of the temperature today after the paste, if anybody want to have peace of mind just paste it, just be careful when disassemble




Today’s picture of temperature with paste
And the light open with the paste before I put it back together

 

[penfold2]

App works fine with mine that has symbols

That's strange. Mine refused to connect with symbols in the password. As soon as I changed the password to strictly alphanumeric, it connected immediately.

 

[penfold2]

yesterday I pasted my new A8SE II with a cheap with a cheap thermal paste, before paste It reading was showing 66C today with paste it showing 55C I think that thermal paste does really work to get the temperature low in the led cluster
I attached a picture of the temperature today after the paste, if anybody want to have peace of mind just paste it, just be careful when disassemble




Today’s picture of temperature with paste
And the light open with the paste before I put it back together

Interesting. The temperature shown in my app did not change at all after pasting mine. Maybe the integrated temperature sensor is showing the temperature of the heatsink rather than the diodes. I didn't think to try an IR thermometer, and it's too late now.

 

[fufoow]

yesterday I pasted my new A8SE II with a cheap with a cheap thermal paste, before paste It reading was showing 66C today with paste it showing 55C I think that thermal paste does really work to get the temperature low in the led cluster
I attached a picture of the temperature today after the paste, if anybody want to have peace of mind just paste it, just be careful when disassemble




Today’s picture of temperature with paste
And the light open with the paste before I put it back together

Interesting. The temperature shown in my app did not change at all after pasting mine. Maybe the integrated temperature sensor is showing the temperature of the heatsink rather than the diodes. I didn't think to try an IR thermometer, and it's too late now.

That’s exactly what I thought , sensor is measuring temperature of the internals or heat sink but not the led cluster itself, yesterday led cluster was reading 66C while the app was 56.1C

 

[fufoow]

A couple days ago, I posted about my Radion that felt into the water, I noticed that the thermal paste was uneven applied, yesterday I decided to open my other Radion, just to see that the other was exactly the same, some of the paste spots didn’t even touch the led cluster, one time I’ve noticed that the lenses were kinda of loose, the screws were loose, I had to tighten them, make me think that it’s a problem coming from the factory, in another post I’ve seen the same issue with a guy that has many radions with burnt leds, I let some pics so you can see how the thermal paste came directly from the factory, I hardly recommend you guys to put some thermal on your radions and your A8 lights, you can make your light to last longer.
The last picture is of my Radion with cpu thermal paste

 

[Sandeep Brar]

I am not disagreeing with you. Just stating that you can swap different Chinese manu components and have similar quality product. In more cases than not if a product has been made in China there is likely an identical product under 30 different names/sellers.

As mentioned the radion has lost connectivity and acted up more times than this light. this light continues to perform better than the radion at a significantly lower price point. I’m currently working with someone to do spectral graphs on this light compared to radion blue. once all testing is done I’ll be placing my order for 10 more for the 360 gallon.

I can buy an unbranded waterbox tank directly from the manufacturer for half the price. It’s made in the same factory, with the same workers, the same quality glass, same silicone, same warranty, just doesn’t have the massive up charge for having a North American company name slapped on.

there is so much hate around products manufactured in China yet everyone here is happy to use them once a North American brand name is slapped on. If you don’t want to buy the light that’s fine. Just don’t steer others away from doing so in the name of “Chinese garbage” and American made means quality.

Stop getting caught up in having to have the best and shiniest new thing. I can tell you that no one cares and it’s only hurting you. Do what’s best for you.

Would you be able to provide the manufacturer for waterbox please?

 

[Aaron75]

Would you be able to provide the manufacturer for waterbox please?

50% is a bit of an exaggeration, the savings do get significant the larger the tank gets, but the quote i received was pre tariff. The company on alibaba is Zhengzhou Funtechnik. I've ordered from them a few times including their 15g and 25g waterbox aio's.

 

[bradreef]

50% is a bit of an exaggeration, the savings do get significant the larger the tank gets, but the quote i received was pre tariff. The company on alibaba is Zhengzhou Funtechnik. I've ordered from them a few times including their 15g and 25g waterbox aio's.

I found their prices to be 20% less at most for a single unit. Shipping isn't cheap, but you can always try and bargain.

 

[Aaron75]

Are your guys' fans noisy? Just got em set up, the fans are definitely noticeable. One of em was making an atrocious sound from rubbing on the vent, fixed that. Now, they definitely just make a distinct humming noise.

 

[Aaron75]

Nevermind, figured this out. Had to update my timezone under the "My" tab. Also, how do I save my settings? I click auto, update time, set AB+ and click save device and I lose my time and my schedule doesn't reflect my time.

 

[penfold2]

Nevermind, figured this out. Had to update my timezone under the "My" tab. Also, how do I save my settings? I click auto, update time, set AB+ and click save device and I lose my time and my schedule doesn't reflect my time.

Do you have the correct time zone set? UTC does not observe DST. I google the UTC time zone (UTC-5 for example) to verify that it matches my local time. You'll have to change it twice a year as DST changes.

 

[Aaron75]

Do you have the correct time zone set? UTC does not observe DST. I google the UTC time zone (UTC-5 for example) to verify that it matches my local time. You'll have to change it twice a year as DST changes.

See the first 2 sentences. I left the question there in case anybody else stumbles on this.

 

[apac]

Are your guys' fans noisy? Just got em set up, the fans are definitely noticeable. One of em was making an atrocious sound from rubbing on the vent, fixed that. Now, they definitely just make a distinct humming noise.

Yes mine make a hum. I have 3 and the fans are the noisiest item in my whole set-up. I assume it’s normal? Is there anything that can done to quieten them?

 

[apac]

Interesting. The temperature shown in my app did not change at all after pasting mine. Maybe the integrated temperature sensor is showing the temperature of the heatsink rather than the diodes. I didn't think to try an IR thermometer, and it's too late now.

I pasted two out of three of mine. The one not pasted is only 1 degree Celsius warmer. And it’s the centre light, so the one degree is probably f on the other two lights surrounding it.

 

[bradreef]

I pasted two out of three of mine. The one not pasted is only 1 degree Celsius warmer. And it’s the centre light, so the one degree is probably f on the other two lights surrounding it.

Based on the app temp or actually measuring the lense temp?

 

[apac]

Based on the app temp or actually measuring the lense temp?

Just the app temp.

 

[bradreef]

Just the app temp.

It seems like the app might not be pulling the reading from a great place. Above, the actual temp measurement is greater with thermal.