My Review of Orphek Atlantik V4 after 15 Months

[Orphek]

At 2020 All Orphek LEDs been updated
To a stronger dual chip 5w LED with thick golden wires and improved internal lens and thy run 50% thy max power .

 

[robbous]

You pay for shipping and I'll fix them up for you

What an awesome Guy! very nice of you sir to offer this.

 

[sawdonkey]

I agree !! Too many people just like to complain. Every company has their issues, including ecotech. I've just recently decided to sit back and let them be the squeaky bearings that need grease . In the meantime, I just ordered another Orphek compact

Squeaky bearings need grease? More like blown out bearings need replaced....and dealership tells you to install they yourself or ship your car (that you need to use every day) at your cost so it can be fixed. I’m the person that started this thread. This is clearly not a small group of people that have had this problem.

Or just call them yourself and get it handled. Stop acting like a baby. Gets old hearing people complain over and over. Your an adult, it's ok to be unhappy with a product, but here's an idea, act like a mature adult and get it handled none the less. If your so unhappy, don't buy the product. Obviously you have enough time to sit and complain and beat a dead horse over and over. We get it, people have bad experiences, but this thread is 15 pages of the same thing from the same people... And yet here you are, hurt feelings, so you act like a kid and make it personal. Grow up... Unreal!!

This has nothing to do with hurt feelings. People are angry that they threw $1,000-$2,000 into top of the line lights that break down. I taken my lights apart no less than five times to work on them. It’s not how I want to spend my time. I’m now running with one new model PCB board and one old one (that they sent me to replace one that was bad). The old one will surely burn out so my saga likely isn’t over, but for the last few months, my lights have worked great.

For everyone “complaining” here, the product is already bought, so “don’t buy the light” isn’t an option. Just a few posts up, Orphek finally chimed in and basically admits that they had a problem with the lights, yet they are asking people to pay for the new PCB boards.

Have the lights you got for free worked flawlessly?

 

[jschultzbass]

What an awesome Guy! very nice of you sir to offer this.

Thanks, I was serious too. I like working on stuff like that. I'm not getting paid by Orphek, they haven't contacted me or anything like that but if they need someone in the US to help them out, I'd be more than happy to.

 

[biecacka]

Thanks, I was serious too. I like working on stuff like that. I'm not getting paid by Orphek, they haven't contacted me or anything like that but if they need someone in the US to help them out, I'd be more than happy to.

ill text you tomorrow. Waiting on all the final details on my end to have them shipped to you buddy.
thanks again,

corey

 

[PhilSD211]

Hi Phillip, you drop the unit to the water remember that you asked letter for the insurance. And no one ask you to solder LEDs for light from 2017 you ask for LEDs and we sent you for free .

Hi Ofir, yes, of course I remember that. It sucked dropping my second Compact into the water. It was pretty much a brand new light I bought in 2018/19? and I thanked you/James for writing the letter to indicate the fixture was beyond repair so I could file the insurance claim for the loss. What was the point you are trying to make?

"No one asked me to solder LEDs"?? I certainly believe James did. It was either doing it myself or pay to ship the light back to you and not have a light over my tank for however long it'd take for the repairs. No one asked me to solder LEDs... are you serious??? But I do appreciate you guys shipping me replacement LED diodes and bunch of lenses completely FREE. They got to me w/in days and I was happy to be able to do my own repairs. I already thanked you guys and shared that on post #172 and #184 of this thread. Go read those posts. I told people you guys had excellent customer service and took care of my light.

I was even ok having to pay for the new PCBoard with upgraded diodes couple of months ago when some diodes burnt out again. I understand my original light is 3 years old and your 1 year warranty has long expired. But then what option did I have? Toss the light in the trash that I paid $700 for that's only been running 3 years and required replacement LEDs & lenses twice going on three times? But so be it, I was thankful that I could pay the extra $180 for a new board. Like I said in the other posts, I just hope the upgraded diodes last longer than a year.

 

[Dlealrious]

Has anyone got a new pcb board in the last couple months? Is the date on the board 2018?

 

[sawdonkey]

Has anyone got a new pcb board in the last couple months? Is the date on the board 2018?

I got the new improved board about 5 or so months ago. Mine had the 2018 date too. My thinking is that the boards are the same old boards.....but it’s the LEDs are upgraded. Just my guess.

 

[Dlealrious]

I got the new improved board about 5 or so months ago. Mine had the 2018 date too. My thinking is that the boards are the same old boards.....but it’s the LEDs are upgraded. Just my guess.

Did you find thermal paste was only a smudge in the middle when instructions are to coat back of board? All led that burnt out where I'm outter edges which makes sense as there was only paste in the middle

 

[Ef4life]

Just curious, for people that have had failures, what percentage were you running those channels?

 

[bam123]

My orphek Atlantek gen 2 is over 3 years old and awesome and I did a complete upgrade from Gen 1 and it was very reasonable and easy to do. Set to a ramping up and down 24Kelvin peak and leave it alone. The PAR on this thing is insane. If you don't acclimatize your corals they will fry. I don't understand the complaints. The one or two leds that don't appear to work are in the infrared or other parts of the spectrum you can't see. Don't stare at it or end up like Ray Charles. The wifi app can sometimes be sketchy, but if you set it up, then leave it alone.

 

[bam123]

I run channel 1 at 60 percent, channels 2 and 3 at 100 percent, and channel 4 at 40 percent. Kelvin approx 25K. Crisp clear blue white. Looks great. I have channels ramp up and down accordingly.

 

[Ef4life]

I run channel 1 at 60 percent, channels 2 and 3 at 100 percent, and channel 4 at 40 percent. Kelvin approx 25K. Crisp clear blue white. Looks great. I have channels ramp up and down accordingly.

Did you have any failures? How long have you had the lights for?

Edit - I missed you had them for over 3 years

 

[bam123]

3 years. I know of a pet store that has had the very old ones for over 8 years without any issues. I don't even remotely see any fade. These things are powerful. I had kessils prior and after 8 months they definetly did not seem as strong. I wouldn't hesitate to buy orpheks. I also like their light bars. The only issue is that the app doesn't always work great depending on your wifi setup. As far as spread, color and results-- love it. I have it 13 inches above my 60 cube tank. Looks great. The only color rendition I have run that I like better was when I ran a 175 watt 10K DE halide with 4 Ultra blue VHOs on the same size tank. The results were unbelievable, but the heat and utility bills were nasty.

 

[Ef4life]

@bam123 - I have an orphek v4, and I love it. I’ve had it up 4 months now.

I’m just asking the question for a point of reference if there is a common point of intensity where they might have a higher rate of failure. Obviously running a light at 100% flat out day after day will lead to a shorter life span.

 

[bam123]

I don't see it being an issue in my case as only 2 channels are at 100 percent for only about 8 hours a day and the units never run hot. In a few years when they come out with gen 3s, I will probably spend 200 dollars for the upgrade if it looks like its worth it. As long as my corals continue to grow and look pretty, I might just leave it alone. The company has good customer service, but its a slight pain in the butt do to the time zone differences.

 

[fragit]

I don't see it being an issue in my case as only 2 channels are at 100 percent for only about 8 hours a day and the units never run hot. In a few years when they come out with gen 3s, I will probably spend 200 dollars for the upgrade if it looks like its worth it. As long as my corals continue to grow and look pretty, I might just leave it alone. The company has good customer service, but its a slight pain in the butt do to the time zone differences.

Umm the gen 3 has been out for years gen 4 also. And I am one of those gen 3 folks with burnt Out LEDs. It’s not just a couple diodes as indicated a couple comments back. All diodes in channel 2 are blown and lenses burnt.

 

[bam123]

Umm the gen 3 has been out for years gen 4 also. And I am one of those gen 3 folks with burnt Out LEDs. It’s not just a couple diodes as indicated a couple comments back. All diodes in channel 2 are blown and lenses burnt.

My bad. I upgraded last year. Confused the generation. Had to get a new router with upgrade as well. I got orpheks because a store I use to go to had them forever without any issues and the tank looked great. I guess I have been lucky. Seems every company now has issues.

 

[R33fedOut]

My bad. I upgraded last year. Confused the generation. Had to get a new router with upgrade as well. I got orpheks because a store I use to go to had them forever without any issues and the tank looked great. I guess I have been lucky. Seems every company now has issues.

I now own two compacts, both no issues, and I love them!! I also agree, other than the time zone difference, they have awesome customer service!!

 

[Rick Krejci]

I've have my Atlantik Gen 2 V4 for 1.5 years now and it's been perfect. No degradation, no LEDs out. App is clunky but once set up it's been solid...no reverting back or popping on in the middle of the night like I've heard from the Ecotech Gen 5 new users. Honestly, I haven't changed it in months, to the app is a very minor issue to me and the colors and spread are better than any light I've owned.

The biggest selling point to me is the lack of light spill into the room. It was great to start with and I put some black gaffers tape around the clear rim of the light and it now has the least glare of any light I've owned. It's in our living room and I always had to rig up some larger shades to block the glare of my earlier Gen 4 Radions or T5's.