I drank the Kessil Koolaid!

Raindog3030

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I have read about all the major and some of the minor LED fixtures until my eyeballs became less moist...and, as I'm sure you've guessed from the title, I have landed on a pair of Kessil A360WE with the A series controller for my little 20 gallon long (supreme overkill!!!) They should arrive within the week.

Overkill, because we will be re-purposing these lights in the next year or two after we move into our permanent house and setup a proper reef. (Where they will most likely be transplanted into a T5HO hybrid fixture).

In any case, my main question is after deciding to spend a great deal of money on these 2 fixtures, goose necks, and a controller...do i really have to spend another $20 on what looks like a standard male-to-male TRS(tip-ring-sleeve) cable? There is no way that this thing is that special, is it?

So, I ask of you other Koolaid drinkers, have you ever taken this cable and toned it out, is it just a standard 3.5mm TRS...because it looks like it!

On a separate note, I intend to start with the acclimation mode, since we are moving from a Current Orbit (not the pro) to these beautiful/powerful things...would you all suggest a good intensity to acclimate to? We are talking about 12" total depth and mixed reef population. Our most light hungry monster is a piece of WWC Grafted Cap sitting about 3-4" below the surface, and I will die (my wife will kill me) if I burn this beautiful piece!

I know the real answer is get a PAR meter, which is likely on the way, but if someone has already resolved this mystery, then I'd rather not re-invent the wheel.
 

madweazl

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Oh, my lights are only 5" off the water so if you mount them higher, you'll need to increase intensity as well.
 

WWIII

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It's a "standard" 3.5mm audio cable male to male, but I would suggest buying a decent one. The one's kessil sells are pretty good. I purchased some from guitar center and radio shack that were nice as well.

The tip is intensity channel, the ring is spectrum channel, and the sleeve is the ground fwiw.

main-qimg-a16566364c5237fb9a8b27ff23f1da61-c-800x391.jpeg
 

Ben Seaver

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I recently got 8 of the 360 WE over my 350 gallon a I love em. Everything is fat and happy, shimmer is amazing and I just love walkin into my house after a hard days work and stare at that tank..lol. I am going to add a couple T5s eventually but I’m in no hurry. I bought the cheapo male to male audio cables off amazon and they work just fine.
 

srad750c

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I have read about all the major and some of the minor LED fixtures until my eyeballs became less moist...and, as I'm sure you've guessed from the title, I have landed on a pair of Kessil A360WE with the A series controller for my little 20 gallon long (supreme overkill!!!) They should arrive within the week.

Overkill, because we will be re-purposing these lights in the next year or two after we move into our permanent house and setup a proper reef. (Where they will most likely be transplanted into a T5HO hybrid fixture).

In any case, my main question is after deciding to spend a great deal of money on these 2 fixtures, goose necks, and a controller...do i really have to spend another $20 on what looks like a standard male-to-male TRS(tip-ring-sleeve) cable? There is no way that this thing is that special, is it?

So, I ask of you other Koolaid drinkers, have you ever taken this cable and toned it out, is it just a standard 3.5mm TRS...because it looks like it!

On a separate note, I intend to start with the acclimation mode, since we are moving from a Current Orbit (not the pro) to these beautiful/powerful things...would you all suggest a good intensity to acclimate to? We are talking about 12" total depth and mixed reef population. Our most light hungry monster is a piece of WWC Grafted Cap sitting about 3-4" below the surface, and I will die (my wife will kill me) if I burn this beautiful piece!

I know the real answer is get a PAR meter, which is likely on the way, but if someone has already resolved this mystery, then I'd rather not re-invent the wheel.


Get a regular 3.5 mm gold cable from somewhere else, save the money dude. Don't start above 30% intensity @12 inches above water, they are very strong lights. I probably wouldn't go below 50% on color, I don't know how strong the UV channel on these are. I burned a few corals before I learned how intense they were. You won't see the damage unless you know what you're looking for and it may be too late.
 
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Raindog3030

Raindog3030

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Wow! These lights look amazing, the shimmer is real! Dang, this koolaid tastes good!

I did indeed order a cheap-o $5 cable from Amazon, although I probably could have just soldered one up at the office, I am a little lazy!

I was successful in getting everything set up yesterday, I used one of my recording cables in the interim until the cheapy shows up later today.

Setup the cycle to hit 30% intensity at the max, and only for an hour of the day. Color maxes at 60 to get a little white for a short period, about an hour as well.

@srad750c I'm going to do my due dilligence and read about that today, thanks for the tip!

Thank you everyone for your help/suggestions!!!

20180222_211004.jpg
 
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