Be warned! Ecotech

[ZoWhat]

That is not realistic. after 4 years I had to turn mine down. Most leds last anywhere from 50,000 hours to 100,000 hours. SO that is a minimum of 10 years at 12 hours a day at a minimum. I run 8 hours and will probably get 30 years, since mine can run a 210g at 1% intensity on B and W channels

If you can show me a single LED lasting as long as you claim, from indoor/outdoor house light bulbs, to Christmas lights, to car headlights, to shop lights, to aquarium lights.... I'd like to see it bc we are calling Guinness World Records.... lol

I'm big on LED tech throughout my house and I've never seen anything with daily use last more than 5 years

.Heck I just replaced a $20......5000 lumen light bulb outside my house for security at night lighting up the driveway each and every night that claimed 100,000hrs. It lasted 3 years. And im ok eith that. I know the deal

 

[ZoWhat]

You also need to realize that with Reef lighting we all push the BLUE SPECTRUM hard

The hotter the light > the shorter the lifespan

Individual leds in the lower NM wavelength (PURPLELS AND BLUES) run really HOT... takes a lot of air movement (cfm) to keep them cool enough NOT to burn up

Oranges and Reds run a lot cooler bc they are higher in the NM wavelength


.

 

[Clown Force]

I have been running XR30 Gen 3’s since 2014. I just replaced them with Gen 5’s in June. I am not 100% sure because I didn’t have the equipment to test them but I am guessing they started to experience some spectral shift after 30k hrs / 7 yrs based on livestock and algae growth. I couldn’t be happier with the Gen 5’s other than the Mobius programming platform. Have been running Vortechs for years and have had great experiences with Ecotech’s customer service. I have no regrets but that is just my experience.

 

[outhouse]

Well one of my lights a Gen 3 XR15 pro on my frag tank started flickering.

Next time you can replace the drivers for cheap , if you dont want to upgrade. It cant be that hard.

 

[Colt13]

.Heck I just replaced a $20......5000 lumen light bulb outside my house for security at night lighting up the driveway each and every night that claimed 100,000hrs. It lasted 3 years. And im ok eith that. I know the deal

so youre ok with false advertising? not everyone is an LED expert, and most people trust companies when they make claims about their product.... i think companies (especially ones like EM that charge a premium) should be held accountable for any false claims they make should their product fail early. (if the product is properly used and maintained). aquarium lights are DESIGNED TO BE in a humid corrosive environment. what do they think, we're gonna be hanging these over house plants? their testing should be done in the environment in which the lights are meant to be used and claims should be based off that as well.

 

[ZoWhat]

so youre ok with false advertising? not everyone is an LED expert, and most people trust companies when they make claims about their product.... i think companies (especially ones like EM that charge a premium) should be held accountable for any false claims they make should their product fail early. (if the product is properly used and maintained). aquarium lights are DESIGNED TO BE in a humid corrosive environment. what do they think, we're gonna be hanging these over house plants? their testing should be done in the environment in which the lights are meant to be used and claims should be based off that as well.

Your mileage may vary

Ive worked on just about every light out there. Not one company is protecting capacitors and resistors from humidity.

Its an eventuality that humid corrosive moisture will arch a capacitor within 5 years

If light companies wantedd to make a rock solid light, all their components would be hermetically sealed in green glass.

Light company survive you buying a new light every 5 years.

It's reality....


.

 

[outhouse]

So it's cool for him to come on here trash talking a really good company like Ecotech?..... saying "be warned" ?

He is not really trash talking them, just warning issues he has had. We all know Ecotech has great customer service, I enjoy their products and we all know electronics are hit and miss, His context was OK and understood by the rest of us. I think you will find most led light owners are getting the hours I stated. You will also find very few reef led failures being posted, because when crap hits the fan, they come here to vent. We dont see alot of this over the years. Im somewhere around 5 years with cheap lights, and have zero degradation and only had to replace 10 dollar timers in each light to keep them in shape

 

[Smite]

so youre ok with false advertising? not everyone is an LED expert, and most people trust companies when they make claims about their product.... i think companies (especially ones like EM that charge a premium) should be held accountable for any false claims they make should their product fail early. (if the product is properly used and maintained). aquarium lights are DESIGNED TO BE in a humid corrosive environment. what do they think, we're gonna be hanging these over house plants? their testing should be done in the environment in which the lights are meant to be used and claims should be based off that as well.

Just about any LED whether it's quality or cheap claims the same data. I dont think its data they themselves have tested but based of the specs of the parts they are assembling to build their unit. I'm pretty sure those claims are how long a diode has lasted, nothing to do with the rest of the parts used.

If you want to know how long they are confident the unit will last then turn to what they promise to stand behind - the warranty period.

 

[hexumjunkie]

My tank in my avatar ran cheap butt black boxes. When I built my dream tank I went with ecotech. Was super pumped about how much better my tank was going to look. I don't get anywhere near the growth i did with my old crappy black boxes. Im tempted to go back.

 

[rtparty]

That is not realistic. after 4 years I had to turn mine down. Most leds last anywhere from 50,000 hours to 100,000 hours. SO that is a minimum of 10 years at 12 hours a day at a minimum. I run 8 hours and will probably get 30 years, since mine can run a 210g at 1% intensity on B and W channels

The diodes may last 50-100k hours in the perfect lab environment. This is true. Go read the spec sheets when they test LEDs. Our environment is VERY different than their lab settings. However, other parts are not rated anywhere near those hours.

We won't get into the amount of failures LEDs have in home fixtures. No one is going to see the 30.3 years so many of these companies claim. Just go research it all.

so youre ok with false advertising? not everyone is an LED expert, and most people trust companies when they make claims about their product.... i think companies (especially ones like have EM that charge a premium) should be held accountable for any false claims they make should their product fail early. (if the product is properly used and maintained). aquarium lights are DESIGNED TO BE in a humid corrosive environment. what do they think, we're gonna be hanging these over house plants? their testing should be done in the environment in which the lights are meant to be used and claims should be based off that as well.

What false claims are any of them making? Ecotech doesn't say their stuff lasts 50k hours. They give you the specs that CREE and other manufacturers put out. Read them. The fine print is unbelievable. None of us are ever going to run them under such perfect conditions.

Ecotech and others are confident their light will last 1 year. That's it. They call it a warranty.

 

[Colt13]

what false claims are any of them making? Ecotech doesn't say their stuff lasts 50k hours. They give you the specs that CREE and other manufacturers put out. Read them. The fine print is unbelievable. None of us are ever going to run them under such perfect conditions.

Ecotech and others are confident their light will last 1 year. That's it. They call it a warranty.

I was more referencing the post I was replying to, not trying to bash EM, just added them since OP did. I do agree that their confidence lies in their warranty period, in which a year or two is industry standard so nothing against them. I think the industry as a whole will soon move to panel style leds like the coral care or straton. No fans is key to getting a better IP rating, like the coral care. That light seems like it will hold up a lot better than these ones using cheap fans constantly pulling in salty humid air. I even saw a post of someone say theirs fell in their tank and still works

 

[Nick Steele]

Eventually, everyone will start to realize that LEDs are not what they are hyped up to be. Sure, the diode might last some crazy long time but other parts simply won't. I suspect most LED fixtures will actually last 4-6 years. Tullio at ReefBrite says degradation starts around 4 years for most diodes. All the sudden bulb changes don't seem too bad compared to whole fixture replacement every 5 years.

While it wasn’t over a reef tank I had a Exotic LED fixture over my 55 gallon planted freshwater tank for 8 years before it died. Never seen any bad effects over time with algae or growth getting worse. I ran the light 12 hours a day for 8 years or 35000 hours. Was still expose to the humidity and I was pleased with how long it lasted.

If I get 5 years out of my AquaIllumination LEDs I’ll be happy with that although I suspect I’ll get more.

 

[MartinM]

LED fixtures are good for 2-4, maybe 5 years. The electronics don’t last. The diodes usually do, but everything else fails. Halides ftw

 

[Highgrade]

Not trying to stir the pot but the OP mentioned they had the lights for 3-4 years. If that is the case the Gen3's came out Jan. 2014. That was over 7 years ago. Any electronic device will have some sort of life expectancy. But to bash ETM for not supporting the older lights doesn't make any sense. Especially since the OP most likely wasn't the original owner of the Gen3's. If anything they should be happy they got 3-4 years out of a used product which most manufactures wont cover under warranty anyways without the original proof of purchase and product registration.

Overall any electronic device can have issues. Which is why there normally is a 1-2 year warranty with most manufactures. As well as a set of standards they follow when they have multiple releases of models/generations Usually they are in this order.

End of manufacturing date - no further production of a specific product due to technology standards or demand
End of hardware support - no longer will repair or manufacture replacement parts
End of software support - no longer will provide software updates, patches or firmware fixes.

 

[Opus]

LED fixtures are good for 2-4, maybe 5 years. The electronics don’t last. The diodes usually do, but everything else fails. Halides ftw

My BM LED fixtures are more than 5 years old. Amazing lights but the lens turned yellow so I had to stop using them last year. The company dropped out of the aquarium business because the pot growing light business was too lucrative and then they were bought out.

Off topic, but the lights in my 3 bathrooms (not led) are more then 20 years old. I really can't believe they lasted so long since I'm sure they were the cheapest bulbs the builder could find.

 

[LiveFreeAndReef]

I'd say 4 years is pretty darn good for a reef light. How many T5 bulbs would you go through in 4 years?

 

[rtparty]

I'd say 4 years is pretty darn good for a reef light. How many T5 bulbs would you go through in 4 years?

2 sets and a year or so into their third set. Would have been a lot cheaper to replace bulbs too

 

[dedragon]

I'd say 4 years is pretty darn good for a reef light. How many T5 bulbs would you go through in 4 years?

change bulbs every year to year and a half. in a 6 bulb t5 configuration you will probably end up saving money over 8 years (for the fixture cost)

 

[LiveFreeAndReef]

change bulbs every year to year and a half. in a 6 bulb t5 configuration you will probably end up saving money over 8 years (for the fixture cost)

was a legitimate question, I've only used LED's since getting into the hobby lol seems like a long time to go without changing bulbs though, I had always heard (from the freshwater side anyway) that T5's lose their intensity steadily over time. Didn't think that the timeframe was measured in years though!

 

[Maximitsurugi]

Man I think the OP has all the right to vent if he or she wants to. LEDs aren't cheap and not everyone is in the same economic spectrum. Either way, we can disagree respectfully. Instead of saying people have unrealistic expectations etc, which I'm sure, unintentionally came off somewhat harsh , @zoa what we simply need to educate them on some of the practical points you mentioned.

To the OP.

1. It's a business. They are there to make money first and care about customers second. That's the world.
2. Your lights are several generations behind. Itd be easier to expect support for the last gen, tops.
3. Marketing is about optics. Not reality. You buy the latest Lamborghini but as you drive it off the lot, you leave 30% of its value on the compound.
3. I agree with be wary of Ecotech but also of everybody. Even the ice cream man.

Sorry your lights went out. You now have a big decision to make. Keep going with ETM or change.