Longevity of the Kessil 360x

[oreo54]

Life of LEDs is 3-5 years anyways. Will they still put out light? Likely. But not usable PAR.

 

[xiaoxiy]

Depends on use. You’ll obviously be able to still grow coral. Will it grow as well as day 1? Absolutely not. Because the usable spectrum has shifted. Stop being naive.

Seems to grow well enough…. when I’m only running them at 30% power, I still have to give away hundreds of frags a year so I don’t run out of room.

 

[areefer01]

Usable spectrum. Test new and test old. You’ll see a major loss of spectrum.


Depends on use. You’ll obviously be able to still grow coral. Will it grow as well as day 1? Absolutely not. Because the usable spectrum has shifted. Stop being naive.

I would defer to the manufacture. This isn't Kessil's first rodeo and they are very, very, versed in LED technology compared to most of the players in our hobby. Philips being another.

Be that as it may I understand your view as it relates to spectrum and decay. It very well may be your line of work so you have more knowledge.

 

[xiaoxiy]

Seems to grow well enough…. when I’m only running them at 30% power, I still have to give away hundreds of frags a year so I don’t run out of room.

I’ll even go a step further and claim that I don’t see a difference in coral growth or coloration under my old radions when compared to my frag sections under newer luxidium boards, quanta pro strip, or ReeFis over my upstairs display.

 

[braaap]

I would defer to the manufacture. This isn't Kessil's first rodeo and they are very, very, versed in LED technology compared to most of the players in our hobby. Philips being another.

Be that as it may I understand your view as it relates to spectrum and decay. It very well may be your line of work so you have more knowledge.

It’s not their first rodeo. Like I said. They will produce light. But it eventually decays and isn’t as efficient as a new fixture. That’s why 3-5 years for a diode is the typical use case.

I could have clarified that more in the beginning. As long as it’s putting off light you’ll manage some growth. But it won’t be as good as day 1.

Personally I replace them when my spectrum and par testing show more than a 30% decrease in output. That’s varied between 3-5 years for LEDs. About 14 months for T5 bulbs.

 

[hart24601]

3 years before LEDs fail? Let’s just pop over and check one of the nicest systems on the planet, led or not.

From his thread “8+ years with only minor maintenance and growing corals great.” and that was in 2018….

therman's 12 year old SPS system...top down shot, starting to enjoy this tank again

Wow!!! That was a huge clam indeed!! Sorry to hear about the loss ... Thanks for sharing

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Boehmtown]

Just get a couple Quanta Pro bars, a mix of meso blue and tropic sun would look nice with softies. I prefer a more "natural daylight" spectrum with softies and everything else.

I'm also as quanta fan and would suggest giving them a try

 

[oreo54]

See above. But 3-5 years is the usable spectrum life of LED diodes.

That needs extraordinary proof.
For one thing the entire spectrum is "useable".

Spectrum:

https://luminusdevices.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360060797831-How-and-why-does-the-wavelength-shift-for-my-Luminus-LED#:~:text=LEDs%20have%20slight%20shifts%20in,CIEy%20coordinates%20for%20white%20LEDs.

 

[xiaoxiy]

I think we make a lot of assumptions about what is “optimal coral spectrum “ without any experimental data. It’s a lot of theory and circle jerking. Who knows whether the spectrum shift with led age even bad. We assume that the initial spectrum is optimal but maybe it’s not.

I do agree that PAR definitely drops with lighting age though.

 

[CBonito]

I've not owned any previous Kessil's but the a360x have been pretty solid performers for me. I originally had 4 of them over my 210 display. I'd guess 3 years in service. Started with the hardwired controller, Spectra X or whatever it is called then moved over to the wireless dongle with Apex integration. Huge quality of life improvement.

Somewhere around the start of the Covid lockdown I had one light that started to flicker on/off. I reached out to Kessil, they replied within 24 hours, and asked for some information. Few emails exchanged and they cross shipped me a new light. At this time shipping times are wonky due to medical shipping priorities being higher but they still somehow managed to get me a light next day even though I didn't need it. I guess my point is that support was excellent even in a time of crazy.

I've since switched over to Neptune SKY's, a pair, and the Kessil a360x are tucked away with the exception of one being over my refugium. I will be installing the remaining three over a new display paired up with the SKY's so will be put to good use.

Honestly what I experienced is that they will last provided we, hobbyist, do our part. Depending on installation and dust in ones home they need regular attention. That means taking off line, or powered off, dusted out, wiped down, etc. I do my best to make sure they can breath and be cooled which probably helps. I do not leave them alone and get covered in dust.

Little on the expensive side of things but overall a quality kit.

I have two of them over my tank with the spectral controller and we're doing work son. Get the 55 degree reflectors though, or you'll be spilling light all over the place and diminishing the intensity to only an LPS acceptable level. If you have a shallower tank, you can keep nice SPS regardless. Several members are doing it on this site and mind you with bigger tanks than mine.

The nice thing about the kessils is they are just a beautiful light to work with. The color is great and the intensity is there and there isn't all this "stuff" hanging over your tank. As corals grow though, you'll want something that will blanket the corals better to avoid shading.

 

[CBonito]

Huh. If that's true, I wonder why I'm still able to grow a ton of coral under my old-gen 3 radions from 2014...

Because they've been blessed by the Pope or something.

LEDs are LEDs...they all have a lifespan...what that lifespan is will vary, but whatever happens, it will happen to any fixture of any brand.

 

[areefer01]

I have two of them over my tank with the spectral controller and we're doing work son. Get the 55 degree reflectors though, or you'll be spilling light all over the place and diminishing the intensity to only an LPS acceptable level. If you have a shallower tank, you can keep nice SPS regardless. Several members are doing it on this site and mind you with bigger tanks than mine.

The nice thing about the kessils is they are just a beautiful light to work with. The color is great and the intensity is there and there isn't all this "stuff" hanging over your tank. As corals grow though, you'll want something that will blanket the corals better to avoid shading.

I already own them. Ran them for a few years until I swapped to a different design, panel. No need to convince me. They worked great over my 30" tall tank mounted 8" above the water surface. I was just sharing my experience in that over the timeline I owned them I only had one issue and Kessil was quick to address.

 

[CBonito]

I already own them. Ran them for a few years until I swapped to a different design, panel. No need to convince me. They worked great over my 30" tall tank mounted 8" above the water surface. I was just sharing my experience in that over the timeline I owned them I only had one issue and Kessil was quick to address.

That's exactly how I have mine. 8 inches off the surface, and I am not even using them to 3/4 capacity either.
I COULD turn them up. My tank is only 12" tall though, so I have to be careful I would imagine. I'm under 60 percent. All I need at this point will be a panel between the kessils to bathe everything better and not necessarily bombard them. But if I had 3 kessils, that would work too. I was thinking about an a500x, but I think that would be too much for my tank.

 

[Spare time]

The usable spectrum of the LED diodes is 3-5 years. That accounts for ramping etc.

What do you mean by usable spectrum? Are you referring to a spectrum shift?

 

[ingchr1]

...Personally I replace them when my spectrum and par testing show more than a 30% decrease in output. That’s varied between 3-5 years for LEDs. About 14 months for T5 bulbs.

Do you have data that you can post up to show what this degradation looks like?

Which specific LED lights have you observed this degradation with?

 

[DHill6]

That's exactly how I have mine. 8 inches off the surface, and I am not even using them to 3/4 capacity either.
I COULD turn them up. My tank is only 12" tall though, so I have to be careful I would imagine. I'm under 60 percent. All I need at this point will be a panel between the kessils to bathe everything better and not necessarily bombard them. But if I had 3 kessils, that would work too. I was thinking about an a500x, but I think that would be too much for my tank.

I have a 500x over a 34g, it’s working, of course it’s turned down since I switched to LPS.

 

[ca1ore]

Huh. If that's true, I wonder why I'm still able to grow a ton of coral under my old-gen 3 radions from 2014...

Because the comment that after 5 years LED have no usable PAR isn’t true. I have the same experience with my 2016 vintage Radion G4 Pro. I got rid of my 400 gallon SPS this past March, but up until that point they grew corals just fine. It IS true that LEDs lose brightness over time. Most diodes are rated to a L70 point where they’ve lost 30% of their brightness. If you have to push a light to 100% from Day 1 then, yes, 30% loss may well mean they are no longer useful; but, if like me, you only have to run them to about 60%, you have bandwidth to adjust them up over time.

My own personal experience with LED aquarium lights is that the supporting electronics crap out before the LEDs do. Happened with my original ReefBreeders fixture, and in most cases I suspect my Kessil failures have not actually been the array.