Disappointing experience with aqua illumination

[dvbrien]

Then don't post stuff that you're going to get questioned on. Seems like that would have been a pretty easy answer if it were true.

 

[Velcro]

Then don't post stuff that you're going to get questioned on. Seems like that would have been a pretty easy answer if it were true.

sure bud, I'm gonna stop posting because a guy on the internet told me to And yea, that's what I do. I go around lying about companies that offered me discounts. You caught me.

 

[Velcro]

Imagine being the type of person to go into a live sale thread and trash talk people that choose the be there.

 

[Cliff717]

Please let’s keep this civil I don’t want this thread to be deleted. I also don’t want this to be a bashing thread either; I just wanted to share my opinion and my experience with these lights so that other people who are spending this kind of crazy money will know what to expect from the customer service later on.

 

[James Robert]

I normally will not complain.
But I hate AI. Can't fix lights you bought a few yrs ago.No parts
They want you to buy a new light.
And the cycle will continue
.You all can enjoy them, not me

 

[Cliff717]

This is exactly my problem with how this company has changed direction. I realize lights wear out; I realize things break; but for a company not to sell parts and force people to upgrade to new ones and spend thousands of dollars is just a cycle but I don’t want to be on

 

[Vteclover]

Have a ai hydra 52 wit zooming motherboard and royal blue channel that is not working.

Cant buy new motherboard.
Even cant find/buy an upgrade kit (hydra52 hd)
Sad

Wish i never sold my ai sols

 

[Cliff717]

You have a 52 that they won’t fix??? That’s a new light. Why won’t they fix it?

 

[Vteclover]

Ai hydra 52 is an old light

Hydra 52HD is the newest light and totally different motherboard and led pucks

 

[Phil D.]

Well I thought I would share my latest experience with aqua illumination. But first I have to say that in the past I have been a huge fan of AI lights; in my fish room I currently have at least eight different lights all the way from AI sol blue to a couple of AI prime all the way up to the main units on my main display; they are four ai hydra gen1 lights. One reason I have been extremely loyal to aqua illumination is because of their customer service it is always been spot on; and the second thing I have like about AI is that they could always repair my lights. I have had some AI sol's that went back and they were even able to repair the motherboard and fan for me at very little cost to get my lights working again. That is why I bought the hydra's years ago. The hydra lights are generation 1 but they are all I need; they worked perfectly up till about three weeks ago when I noticed my tank was getting dimmer and dimmer so I opened it up and found that the royal blue channel on three of my four lights had quit working. I guess this is to be expected because are use the royal blue at 100% and have done so for the last six months since my tank upgrade. Now they are used lights and I am not worried about having to repair them; I get that but the problem comes is when I contacted a ai to get new blue pucks. I was told that they no longer make the blue pucks and that in order to fix my lights I have no option but to upgrade them to the 52 HD. This will cost me approximately $500 a light! This is totally crazy to me! It's not like these lights are crazy old they are only a couple of models out. I can't believe they've already stopped making the blue LED pucks! I cannot afford $2000 to fix my lights. I guess I will just go with Chinese black boxes from now on at least I could take out a led and Solder one in
What do you guys think? Am I looking at this all wrong?

So, on my old JBJ LED Professional, the LEDs started to go ot and the replacement strip was $80!! Being an Electronics Tech, I looked on Amazon and found 460nm Royal Blue and 14K replacement LEDs for $2 a pop! I replaced the ones that went out and had the same spectrum.
Therefore, my suggestion is to get the Royal Blues from Amazon and just replace the bad ones.

 

[ZackDows]

Getting lights from amazon will obviously be a good choice for budget control. They have full spectrum dimmable LED aquarium coral grow light with remote control from $80 to $200 and LED fish tank light from $20 to $50.

 

[Cliff717]

I tried replacing the lights but the way that they are soldered in directly to the panel they are impossible to change. I even sent my lights into rapid LED and at first they thought that they could change them; but once they got into the job they realized AI must have made them that way so that they were non-replaceable. You have to purchase a complete puck. But then AI stoped making the pucks in order to force people to spend thousands of dollars more on new lights

 

[dvbrien]

In order to change the LED you need a reflow oven. Or a lot if patience and skill. The solder has a temperature of 430°F before it starts to flow. Unless it is heated up slowly you'll discolor and ruin the pucks. It's literally like 20°F per minute. This is more about what the Cree leds can tolerate more than the puck. I'd suggest watching some reflow oven videos.

 

[BestMomEver]

I agree with the MH fans out there. I prefer them to LEDs. But here’s the thing.... they are electricity hogs. Our power bill would definitely increase if I replaced my Radion fixture with MH/t5.

 

[dvbrien]

I agree with the MH fans out there. I prefer them to LEDs. But here’s the thing.... they are electricity hogs. Our power bill would definitely increase if I replaced my Radion fixture with MH/t5.

Vs. Spending 800 dollars per light with a 1 year "warranty" from ecotech... I'd opt for MH/T5

 

[Zohar78]

I love how every manufacturer boasts about leds lasting for 20 plus years yet they all have comical warranties.

No matter how you chop it... AI did not live up to their word or quality... Regardless of whether new models appear on the scene, when stuff breaks and they've already guaranteed you'll be covered with replacement parts and upgrades... This crap about how 2 or 3 models have come out since, realize we've been complaining about them (SOLs) since only the hydras. They didn't care about us then or now.

im not trying to defend AI or bash them here. I had a chance to work in a electrical supply house, that dealt with supplying lights to contractors/industrial field. , i just thought i would point out that this "style of language and marketing" is across the board with LEDs fixture manufactures. pay attention to how its worded, "the led itself". the rest of the fixture is not worded or said to last as long. the fixture is really only as good as the weakest link which in most cases is the driver or the electronic board. much like transmission and engine in a car. what good is a 1 mill mile capable engine if the tranny is only good for 100k.
See i wonder if this is partly because of for years we replaced bulbs after so many hours of use or if a lamp was out. with leds, we dont have that option, and people were worried about that and thus the screwed up "languange/marketing". much like how many people tried "rewinding" dvds when they came out. heh..

The polish is really wearing off the LED technology I'm sensing. I'm in the midst of a new build in a lounge room and I would love to go with the shimmery flashy lights, but the performance, longevity and cost is terrible.

i think it seems in america for residentual and industrial, we jumped from incadescent and HID lights to led. whereas it seems like alot of places was already using better technology, flourescent/compact florescent. which seemed to already have some savings vs the older light tech. T5 was already a solid upgrade in light/watt/heat performance compared to other tech.

 

[BestMomEver]

Vs. Spending 800 dollars per light with a 1 year "warranty" from ecotech... I'd opt for MH/T5

I agree with that. If my Radion dies, that’s what I’m getting. In the meantime, maybe Apex will come up with a MH/t5 controller!

 

[Zohar78]

I agree with that. If my Radion dies, that’s what I’m getting. In the meantime, maybe Apex will come up with a MH/t5 controller!

i just got a apex so im not fully sure of what all its capable of on the eb832, but cant the outlet be cut on and off at select times? i believe thats what my algae scrubber light was setup as initially. if im not mistaken, apex supports atleast 2 channels 0-10v. all t5 manu would have to do is add that port thats on a kessil. that would be most of the controls. mh seems to be kinda screwed when it comes to anything outside of simply on and off. seems most of the fuctions is already present on an apex. leds needed it because at their core just a computer chip and that allows them way more control-ability.

 

[dvbrien]

Bulk Reef Supply is selling the Hydra 52HD at a discount now... If you're looking for a 1 year warranty they won't support.

 

[luisgo]

Wait another year... better yet call them and pretend you already have a problem and you are out of warranty. LOL see what nonsense you get.

I lost several thousand dollars with this rip off company (AquaIllumination , Aqua Illumination for google searchers). I honestly can't believe that there's not been a class action lawsuit.

One more year with my Hydras 26HD. More than happy! Love these lights...