My Review of Orphek Atlantik V4 after 15 Months

[sawdonkey]

;Nailbiting

Maybe people here are misunderstanding what is meant by “PCB board?” Orphek sends is a whole new board with all of the LEDs attached to it. I think the purpose of replacing it has more to do with replacing the LEDs than it does with replacing the board itself?

 

[Reef370]

I too have had the dreaded problem with the Orphek v4. Like everyone else I was told to jump Diodes to find the bad one or buy a new PCB board.

My biggest issue was the time difference and how long it took them to respond, I was dealing with someone in Hong Kong. I mean do they understand that we are dealing with live corals and time is of the essence?

I ultimately wrote it off a loss, (Paper weights) a 3300 dollar loss as I have 3 and replaced them with G5’s pros. I couldn’t be more happier and yes I know about all the issues the radions are having with all the posts on REEF2REEF..

I will say that so far I’ve only had issues with the Bluetooth and they were easily fixed with an email to Ecotech.

I wish they would have just put out a recall and owned up to the issues in the beginning and not wait until the lights stopped working to tell us oh we know it’s an issue and to fix it it will cost this much.....

 

[doodledreads]

Just read through the whole thread. I guess I have to rethink my plan of getting these for my upcoming build.

 

[Cyzax]

Am I understanding correctly one of the brand new replacement PCBs doesn’t work properly?

Sadly this is correct

 

[fragit]

Sadly this is correct

Wow, just wow.

 

[biecacka]

I am in the process of getting 2 new boards and I have NO experience, knowledge, or tools to install the new boards. No clue what the heck I’ll do but I’m not thrilled by any means.....


corey

 

[mshur]

My new board is on the way, ill keep you guys post it how this process will go .
This is my first time doing this type of work )

 

[mshur]

I am in the process of getting 2 new boards and I have NO experience, knowledge, or tools to install the new boards. No clue what the heck I’ll do but I’m not thrilled by any means.....


corey

Hey Corey
Wanna do this together ?))

mike

 

[JohannesFFM]

In my 2 year old Atlantiv v4.1 i had to replace two lenses a week ago and on one of my OR Bars one Led is dead. They are sending me a new bar. Thats pretty nice. Also its cool that you can replace everything to update even the oldest Atlantiv v1 to the newest version. nobody does that and i like it. also our german distributor has new Atlatic 4v3 listed. The website info is: The new Atlantic Gen. 3 with numerous improvements, including new leds, stronger conductor tracks, changed control board

 

[PhilSD211]

My Compact Gen1 had multiple burnt out diodes. after replacing diodes twice, I went with a new PCB few months ago. It comes with Gen 2 diodes that supposedly won't burn out but I'm hearing from people that is not true. Gen2's aren't much better in terms of diodes burning out. =/

I read a few post about thermo paste... when I replaced the PCB, there was no thermo paste between the PCB and heat sink. So I didn't apply any. Is there supposed to be thermo paste between the PCB and the heat sink??

Used to be a fan of Orphek and loved the way the Atlantiks look.. now after 3 years of dealing with the crappy app, burnt out diodes and Orphek not stepping up to address any of these issue openly, I've about had it with this company.

Was thinking about getting the OR bars but was wondering if they use the same LED diodes. Now sounds like someone said they have diodes burn out on his OR bar?! Guess I'm not surprised.

Here's a pic of the pretty burnt out lens/diodes I was in the process of swapping out before they gave me to option to buy a new Gen2 PCB.

 

[mshur]

I am not a pro in this subject by any means so maybe someone can explain why we are having so much problems with burning LEDs?
Previously i was told to keep them at 90% tops , not at 100% for longevity and i still have this problem (
Kinda odd for such experience product .

 

[PhilSD211]

I never even ran mine past 80% on Channel 2(blues) and maybe 50% Channel 3(UVs).

I have ran those $200 Chines black boxes prior to Orhpek for years and never once did any diodes burn on those!

 

[gilman]

I had a brand new OR2 120UV blow up at about 4 months use . Every diode in the bar burnt up . They sent me a new one and Im just sitting here waiting for it to happen again . They pulled the UV from production Im pretty sure .
Out of the three Atlantiks I have , two have burnt out diodes that I haven't addressed yet because they dont seem to be effecting my tanks . The last fixture with no burnt diodes I just added a couple months ago so Im sure its coming .

 

[biecacka]

Hey Corey
Wanna do this together ?))

mike

when are you doing yours? I probably won’t get my boards for another week or so. if you already have them, go ahead and do them but if you make any videos let me know. I’d love to watch them and follow along. I will let you know when I have mine.

corey

 

[mshur]

when are you doing yours? I probably won’t get my boards for another week or so. if you already have them, go ahead and do them but if you make any videos let me know. I’d love to watch them and follow along. I will let you know when I have mine.

corey

I should get my board and paste begging of next week ( hopefully ). Shippings are delaying in NY these days .
ill keep you post it

 

[PhilSD211]

I had a brand new OR2 120UV blow up at about 4 months use . Every diode in the bar burnt up . They sent me a new one and Im just sitting here waiting for it to happen again . They pulled the UV from production Im pretty sure .
Out of the three Atlantiks I have , two have burnt out diodes that I haven't addressed yet because they dont seem to be effecting my tanks . The last fixture with no burnt diodes I just added a couple months ago so Im sure its coming .

Oh WOW! That is horrible! Never seen/heard any other companies having LEDs that burn out like they have!

 

[Cyzax]

Wow, just wow.

It looks like it wasn't the new PCB after all. The PC card(what the fans and LED's connect to) in the light is bad after some troubleshooting.

PC card is another $150, so we're at around $1200 in repairs on 15 month old lights.

 

[fragit]

It looks like it wasn't the new PCB after all. The PC card(what the fans and LED's connect to) in the light is bad after some troubleshooting.

PC card is another $150, so we're at around $1200 in repairs on 15 month old lights.

That is BS! I’m not fixing mine but replacing. This gets more ridiculous by the week. Probably going with Reefi. My Orpheks will be repurposed to my other hobby requiring lights!

 

[Reef370]

It looks like it wasn't the new PCB after all. The PC card(what the fans and LED's connect to) in the light is bad after some troubleshooting.

PC card is another $150, so we're at around $1200 in repairs on 15 month old lights.

 

[fragit]

I just bought 2 Reefi Xtreme fixtures!