Kessil woes

[Val Shebeko]

My 360. Tuna blue has stopped lighting.

When I plug it in it flashes once and gors dark. Is that some sort of an error code ? Anybody else had this vexing problem?

Thanks in advance.

 

[minus9]

One of two things most likely, faulty power supply or dirty heat sink. Do you blow out the dirt with compressed air or clean the light on a regular basis?
In the meantime, email Kessil with your serial# and they'll let you know if it's still covered under warranty?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Contact Kessil. I find their support and resolvement Exceptional !
TEL (510) 620-5250
FAX (510) 620-4102
MAIL [email protected]

 

[Val Shebeko]

One of two things most likely, faulty power supply or dirty heat sink. Do you blow out the dirt with compressed air or clean the light on a regular basis?
In the meantime, email Kessil with your serial# and they'll let you know if it's still covered under warranty?

They say it’s out of warranty. 100 bucks min. , maybe it’s more. Freight both ways. Maybe we’ll fix it, maybe we won’t etc etc

I took it apart. Heat sink is clean, i did clean them, swapped out brick, so that’s good. There was some salt creep on the board, swabbed that out with alcohol and a swab.

Wondering what else to do.

 

[minus9]

Yeah, the salt creep on the board doesn't look good, that will certainly do the light in if not cleaned.

 

[Val Shebeko]

Contact Kessil. I find their support and resolvement Exceptional !
TEL (510) 620-5250
FAX (510) 620-4102
MAIL [email protected]

Really? Help me understand. I buy a 350 dollar light, maintain it and at the end of warranty it dies.

Now my choice is a minimum off a 100.00 + 40.00 dollars to maybe fix it, could be more, (freight both ways. 20.00 x 2. ) Or I can spend at least 250 , plus the 140. So the new estimated number is 390.

Or I can go to local shop and spend 350 and trash this light.

Sweet.

 

[Bob Weigant]

If your going to continue using kessil I wouldn’t bother with them fixing or not. The lights are down to $349 new

 

[Val Shebeko]

If your going to continue using kessil I wouldn’t bother with them fixing or not. The lights are down to $349 new

There you go

 

[Val Shebeko]

Yeah, the salt creep on the board doesn't look good, that will certainly do the light in if not cleaned.

Simply blowing the dust out and keeping the fan clean won’t prevent salt creep and if of take it apart to check for salt you void the warranty.

 

[dadnjesse]

There was just someone complaining about this on their Radion and everyone said he should of bought a Kessil.

 

[Val Shebeko]

There was just someone complaining about this on their Radion and everyone said he should of bought a Kessil.

I should have bought a Porsche. Would have been cheaper.

 

[Bpb]

Really? Help me understand. I buy a 350 dollar light, maintain it and at the end of warranty it dies.

Now my choice is a minimum off a 100.00 + 40.00 dollars to maybe fix it, could be more, (freight both ways. 20.00 x 2. ) Or I can spend at least 250 , plus the 140. So the new estimated number is 390.

Or I can go to local shop and spend 350 and trash this light.

Sweet.

You’re absolutely right. What passes for exceptional service is absurd in this hobby. Simply getting someone on the line or to answer an email isn’t exceptional service. Having a lousy warranty, and products that routinely fail shortly outside of that small warranty period is also not exceptional service.

Bulletproof products that are known to last 5-10 years regularly, which are easily serviced by the user with no experience, and parts available to order is good service.

Haven’t seen it yet but the ability to purchase extended warranties which allow for immediate replacement, free of charge. That would be exceptional service. Reef light makers need to take advice from cell phone companies on their warranty and replacement plans.

 

[Val Shebeko]

All they need do is put a thermo couple in the heat dink that poos out before the board overheats

or

spray the board with sealer to protect it against corrosion.


neither solution can cost more then a buck. And charge 351 dollars for the light.

 

[Grigs]

All they need do is put a thermo couple in the heat dink that poos out before the board overheats

or

spray the board with sealer to protect it against corrosion.


neither solution can cost more then a buck. And charge 351 dollars for the light.

It would void your warranty, but you can buy spray on conformal coating to help protect your components from salt creep. There may be a VERY minor impact in heat dissipation, but I believe it would be negligible. In fact, I am kinda shocked that it hasn't been applied by the manufacturer. ALL of my boards in the Navy were coated. Just google "conformal coating PCB" and take your pick.

 

[andrewkw]

The best thing you can do to make kessils last is void the warranty. Unfortunately they need to be taken apart and cleaned. They could have made this easier to do but for obvious reasons they don't want these to last forever. The vast majority of them will last a few years without maintenance and that ends up being good enough for most. My a350 is still working and hopefully has a few more years in it and I'll actually get to see an led burn out. I take my kessils apart at least once a year and give them a good cleaning. There is always all kinds of dust baked in. Just sticking compressed air through the holes will never get them fully or even mostly clean.

 

[User1]

ALL of my boards in the Navy were coated. Just google "conformal coating PCB" and take your pick.

Kessil != Navy or any other military grade component regardless of branch to include low earth orbit or deep space.

Saltwater aquariums and the respected equipment while to many seem plug and play the total system needs to be built to factor in the environmental by product. Saltwater, splash, salt creep, dust, humidity, and any other number of things. My point while not helping the OP, for which I'm sorry may be out money not to mention frustrated, is that this isn't unique to Kessil. In fact the post above talking about the Radion was different in that it was in a canopy I believe with no air flow and/or vents if I recall.

OP - I know this doesn't help you and sorry about the frustration. Not sure if there is a brand that will do better than what you have but it may be cheaper in the big picture to just turn it in and have them look it over. If you do go that route see if they can tell you why salt creep happened in the unit and would could be done to help mitigate it. Could be something simple as air flow, vent, cover, etc.

 

[MERKEY]

There was just someone complaining about this on their Radion and everyone said he should of bought a Kessil.

This is the irony of our hobby!!

 

[Val Shebeko]

The best thing you can do to make kessils last is void the warranty. Unfortunately they need to be taken apart and cleaned. They could have made this easier to do but for obvious reasons they don't want these to last forever. The vast majority of them will last a few years without maintenance and that ends up being good enough for most. My a350 is still working and hopefully has a few more years in it and I'll actually get to see an led burn out. I take my kessils apart at least once a year and give them a good cleaning. There is always all kinds of dust baked in. Just sticking compressed air through the holes will never get them fully or even mostly clean.

That is exactly what I am going to do

 

[Val Shebeko]

Kessil != Navy or any other military grade component regardless of branch to include low earth orbit or deep space.

Saltwater aquariums and the respected equipment while to many seem plug and play the total system needs to be built to factor in the environmental by product. Saltwater, splash, salt creep, dust, humidity, and any other number of things. My point while not helping the OP, for which I'm sorry may be out money not to mention frustrated, is that this isn't unique to Kessil. In fact the post above talking about the Radion was different in that it was in a canopy I believe with no air flow and/or vents if I recall.

OP - I know this doesn't help you and sorry about the frustration. Not sure if there is a brand that will do better than what you have but it may be cheaper in the big picture to just turn it in and have them look it over. If you do go that route see if they can tell you why salt creep happened in the unit and would could be done to help mitigate it. Could be something simple as air flow, vent, cover, etc.

And you just spray this stuff on?

 

[Val Shebeko]

And you just spray this stuff on?