AliExpress A8SE Reef Light

[Uriken]

Question, has the app gotten better? Do the lights hold their programming after a power outage?

I noticed the app being the biggest complaint but honestly never had any trouble with it although I did have the opportunity to have someone walk me through it years ago when I got my 1st light. I feel the app is pretty basic which simplified everything. As for power outages, I've had a few and my lights just picked right back up where they left off.

 

[disaster999]

Any one got any good lighting profile you can share? Right now Im just doing mostly 40% all blues and UV and have the whites come on for 4 hours a day at 20%. Just want to see if theres any other "better" profile ppl are using.

 

[ThePicc]

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

Which app do these presets come from?

 

[VDR]

Therefore I could conclude that the temperature sensor isn't on the led cluster, but it should be U8 on the main PCB, which means it measures the temperature next to the ESP (the used ESP version doesn't have an build-in temperature sensor). Which type of sensor U8 is exactly, is still unknown, I will have to see if I can find out using an oscilloscope, my current guesses are a one-wire type like ds18b20 or an i2c type.

It's probably a PTC/NTC sensor, similar to this one:
https://www.mouser.pl/datasheet/3/282/1/21498D.pdfYou'd need to determine the characteristic of V change with temperature and choose something similar. This temperature value is of little use given the sensor's placement, but you its possible the use this GPIO and place a similar sensor on an LED PCB or a heatsink ;)

P.s Good job, I started drawing the schema a while ago ;) You, saved me some time ;)

 

[cheralex27]

hey! got my a8se today and I tried pressing the up and down buttons on the top of the lamp. I still don't understand what they do, but now they blink from green to yellow to blue and so on. What are they and how can I make them just stay blue and not blink?

 

[ThePicc]

I have had mine for 2 months so far and I really love them. The app obviously has some issues, but for the price, I'm willing to have some inconvenience. I run mine with 4 t5 bulbs. I had kessil 360we before with the T5s, and the difference is just staggering. These are so much better in many ways. Here's a couple pictures I took under the "blue" portion of the AB+ setting.

Which model do you have? Blue or Max?

 

[Stephers]

Which model do you have? Blue or Max?

Max. It gets plenty blue enough if that's what you want.

 

[Stephers]

hey! got my a8se today and I tried pressing the up and down buttons on the top of the lamp. I still don't understand what they do, but now they blink from green to yellow to blue and so on. What are they and how can I make them just stay blue and not blink?

I wouldn't bother with the buttons. Just download the app.

 

[69cam]

I have had mine for 2 months so far and I really love them. The app obviously has some issues, but for the price, I'm willing to have some inconvenience. I run mine with 4 t5 bulbs. I had kessil 360we before with the T5s, and the difference is just staggering. These are so much better in many ways. Here's a couple pictures I took under the "blue" portion of the AB+ setting.

How does the a8 compare to the Kessil shimmer wise?

 

[bradreef]

How does the a8 compare to the Kessil shimmer wise?

I think you'd have better luck finding comparison of xr30 and kessil.

 

[Stephers]

How does the a8 compare to the Kessil shimmer wise?

Very little to no shimmer on the a8se. Improved color spectrum and PAR far outweighs the shimmer IMO

 

[Saltfishlover]

Very little to no shimmer on the a8se. Improved color spectrum and PAR far outweighs the shimmer IMO

Agreed. The spread is spectacular too!

 

[tgn225]

Hey all, just wanted to give an update. I noticed my lights flickering on and off randomly, could've been due to the fact that the power input had interference with a light shade I installed. Upon further inspection I noticed my blue channel was completely out. I opened up the unit to find that one of the IC chips burnt!

Thankfully there are replacement boards on aliexpress and I will be promptly replacing it once it arrives. The light is still fully functional and I have no regrets with my purchase. This unit is an A8Pro and has been running for about two years for reference

 

[Sidius]

Hello everyone!

Has anyone else had issues with one of a pair of A8 Pro II lights not coming on when the lights are scheduled to?

Lately I've had one of my two A8 Pro II Max lights not coming on. It doesn't happen every day but seems to be happening every 2-3 days on average. If i change the light from Auto >> Manual and then back to Auto, it seems to resolve the issue for a couple days.

I don't know if it's related but I noticed around the same time this started happening, there was a software update available. I just installed that update today, in the hopes that it would resolve the issue. Fingers crossed...

 

[penfold2]

Hello everyone!

Has anyone else had issues with one of a pair of A8 Pro II lights not coming on when the lights are scheduled to?

Lately I've had one of my two A8 Pro II Max lights not coming on. It doesn't happen every day but seems to be happening every 2-3 days on average. If i change the light from Auto >> Manual and then back to Auto, it seems to resolve the issue for a couple days.

I don't know if it's related but I noticed around the same time this started happening, there was a software update available. I just installed that update today, in the hopes that it would resolve the issue. Fingers crossed...

Do you have the time zone set correctly? An update a little while back changed it from a universal setting to an individual device setting. You have to tap the device, then the top right menu, then TimeZoneSet for each device.

 

[Sidius]

Yes I just checked to make sure and both lights are set to the correct time zone.

I appreciate that tip, though. I walked through the guide that was created and posted here on R2R, but I recall that it was located in a different spot when I set them up.

 

[small8]

Hi every one,
I just got the new A8 PRO MAX light and would like some advice on how to set up the app:

1. What is the 'Temporarity' button and how does it work?
2. What are 'Save Device' and 'Save Customer,' and how do they differ?
3. What is the 'Moon' button and how do I set it up?

Thank you for all your answers!"

 

[penfold2]

Hi every one,
I just got the new A8 PRO MAX light and would like some advice on how to set up the app:

1. What is the 'Temporarity' button and how does it work?
2. What are 'Save Device' and 'Save Customer,' and how do they differ?
3. What is the 'Moon' button and how do I set it up?

Thank you for all your answers!"

I haven't used the temporarily button, but I'm pretty sure it just allows you to temporarily override the programmed settings until you disable it.

Save device saves the current settings to the device, whereas save customer saves the current settings to a custom preset that will then appear in the presets section so that you can easily return to it at any time.

The moon button is for a moonlight setting on some lights, but I don't think the A8 lights have it, so it does nothing in this case. You can program a channel to stay on at a very low intensity for a similar effect.

 

[small8]

I haven't used the temporarily button, but I'm pretty sure it just allows you to temporarily override the programmed settings until you disable it.

Save device saves the current settings to the device, whereas save customer saves the current settings to a custom preset that will then appear in the presets section so that you can easily return to it at any time.

The moon button is for a moonlight setting on some lights, but I don't think the A8 lights have it, so it does nothing in this case. You can program a channel to stay on at a very low intensity for a similar effect.

Thanks for the advice. Can you share the settings for LPS?

 

[penfold2]

Thanks for the advice. Can you share the settings for LPS?

There's an LPS preset in the app, but there's really no spectrum that's best for any particular coral. Your settings will depend on personal preference, the size of your tank, light height, the diode layout of your particular light, and other factors. I just played around with mine until I found settings I like.