AliExpress A8SE Reef Light

[penfold2]

So you select the wattage intensity separately from the percentage of color? Interesting. I’ll need to read up on the programming lol

No, but everyone will run different ratios of colors, and there are two versions of this light with different color layouts, so wattage is a decent estimation of total light output. I use a smart power strip that measures power draw, but there are other power measuring devices as well. A par meter is best, but wattage will give you a ballpark starting point.

 

[CBonito]

So you select the wattage intensity separately from the percentage of color? Interesting. I’ll need to read up on the programming lol

That's exactly how an ATI Straton Pro works. You select the blend percentages of your LED colors, then you separately adjust the intensity of them overall. And I see they are making a chinese copy of it now for 1/3rd the cost too, but I think you have to buy two. I have the ATI, but may buy 2 of the chinese ones out of curiosity to see how they work. And they use all cree LEDs from what I could gather.

 

[graziano]

Buongiorno, vorrei sapere se è vero che in caso di blackout, quando torna la corrente, la lampada non si accende e addirittura non ha più le impostazioni memorizzate?

 

[Orazio max]

Buongiorno, vorrei sapere se è vero che in caso di blackout, quando torna la corrente, la lampada non si accende e addirittura non ha più le impostazioni memorizzate?

Graziano IO con il modem Wind non mi succede. Io ho una Blue, ma se sapevo prendevo la normale. Ha più bianchi.

 

[ReefTimReef]

HEY GUYSSS JUST A REMINDER FROM SOMEONE WHO HAS AN A8se. its much better to get the a8pro if you want to maximize your light and for longevity.

 

[penfold2]

HEY GUYSSS JUST A REMINDER FROM SOMEONE WHO HAS AN A8se. its much better to get the a8pro if you want to maximize your light and for longevity.

The Cree leds in the A8Pro have a good reputation by name, but as far as I know there's no evidence that the Chinese leds in the A8SE are significantly worse. People are making assumptions based on past reputations, but Chinese product quality has improved over the years. The Cree leds may or may not be a significant improvement, but you could almost buy a second A8SE for the cost of an A8Pro. Are the Cree leds going to last twice as long? Are the rest of the components going to last that long? For an extra 10-20%, I'd consider it, but at nearly double the cost, that's a huge gamble IMO.

 

[Aaron75]

HEY GUYSSS JUST A REMINDER FROM SOMEONE WHO HAS AN A8se. its much better to get the a8pro if you want to maximize your light and for longevity.

The problem with the pro is it pushes it into price boundaries where there are other fixtures that may be better for a similar cost. The a8se is by far the best bang for the buck fixture I can find. And longevity and performance is still soon to be determined.

 

[ReefTimReef]

No no you guys dont understand the price in my country is like 60-70dollars difference with the a8se and a8pro. ive used a8se for quite some time now and experienced the leds being desoldered and it was not totally worth it having to buy another led board to replace it.

 

[ReefTimReef]

Also not to mention you cannot push the a8se to its max intensity because it will burn out unlike the a8pro ive messaged some users pushing it to 100 percent and still doing fine. so yeah its much better

 

[penfold2]

Leds being desoldered is an assembly issue, not an led issue. There's no reason to think the A8Pro is any less susceptible to it than the A8SE.

And as far as I know, the A8Pro comes with the same power supply as the A8SE, so pushing either of them to 100% is nominally overdriving them. Some sellers will allow you to upgrade to the Meanwell driver, but that can be done with either light.

If it's a small price difference for you, then maybe the A8Pro makes sense, but for most people, it's priced too high to be a good value.

 

[Matt1997]

After running a few of these for a few years it baffles me that Ecotech still sells lights. I have recently hopped on the mp40/60 knock offs from Jebao and once again would make the same comment. Please stop bashing Chinese products because someone who sells “American made” lights told you to do so. These do not catch fire and they work just as well.

 

[CBonito]

After running a few of these for a few years it baffles me that Ecotech still sells lights. I have recently hopped on the mp40/60 knock offs from Jebao and once again would make the same comment. Please stop bashing Chinese products because someone who sells “American made” lights told you to do so. These do not catch fire and they work just as well.

Truth, and get the correct light for your application. If you have to run a light at 100 percent or even overdrive it, you probably have the wrong light.

 

[Aaron75]

Got a new phone, app transferred fine but my devices did not. I think I logged into my app but my devices still aren't there. Should I just go through the process of repairing them? How do I put the lights in pairing mode?

 

[Aaron75]

Got a new phone, app transferred fine but my devices did not. I think I logged into my app but my devices still aren't there. Should I just go through the process of repairing them? How do I put the lights in pairing mode?

Nevermind, got it figured out

 

[KoenE]

No no you guys dont understand the price in my country is like 60-70dollars difference with the a8se and a8pro. ive used a8se for quite some time now and experienced the leds being desoldered and it was not totally worth it having to buy another led board to replace it.

I would like to see pictures of these desoldered LEDs, as it would mean the leds would get over 190°C while running (if lead-free solder is used it's even higher), and still be working at the same time. This is basicly impossible as the Tj of LEDs is lower than that temperature. So normally the LEDs would fail before the solder would melt.
Also no used light intensity or time frame is given, does it happen within a month, or after multiple years of use?
Pictures say a lot, as it can possibly show the way of how and why it failed.
Failed (broken) solder joints is much more common, due to bad soldering from factory, and stress caused by heating and cooling cycles.
For me this is the first case of hearing the LEDs being desoldered in these lights, so I'm curious.

 

[ReefTimReef]

I would like to see pictures of these desoldered LEDs, as it would mean the leds would get over 190°C while running (if lead-free solder is used it's even higher), and still be working at the same time. This is basicly impossible as the Tj of LEDs is lower than that temperature. So normally the LEDs would fail before the solder would melt.
Also no used light intensity or time frame is given, does it happen within a month, or after multiple years of use?
Pictures say a lot, as it can possibly show the way of how and why it failed.
Failed (broken) solder joints is much more common, due to bad soldering from factory, and stress caused by heating and cooling cycles.
For me this is the first case of hearing the LEDs being desoldered in these lights, so I'm curious.

wait here it is, i stumbled upon reading a manufacturing defect who has the same issue as me, its in reef2reef somewhere too.

 

[ebolatli]

There is a new update but it is not updating. Is anyone else having the same problem?

 

[penfold2]

There is a new update but it is not updating. Is anyone else having the same problem?

Yes, I download it and then it says the package is invalid. I'm guessing there will be another update soon.

 

[Patx]

I update once in 2023 and lost all my template.
I just don't update anymore

 

[penfold2]

I update once in 2023 and lost all my template.
I just don't update anymore

Do you use the "save customer" option as well as "save device?" Save customer saves the profile to your account as a preset so that it can always be retrieved, even if the light loses its settings. I've updated the app several times and never lost my profile.