On my previous builds, I’ve used black box LEds (Ocean Revive) and had a lot of success. When I set my tank back up at the start of last summer, I thought I’d try something of a higher quality to see if I could get even better results. I purchased two Orphek V4s and a gateway directly from Orphek to the tune of nearly $2,000.
My initial impression was that I loved the spectrum, the controllability, and the overall look. I was super happy with the lights for a few months. Then, I noticed that the UV/violet Chanel in one of the fixtures was not lighting up. I emailed with the Orphek guys and they told me to open the fixture and jump each diode with a wire to see which one is bad. So I did and it was a burned out 380nm diode. So the sent one to me and I soldered it in. First, I should not have to solder diodes into $1000 light fixtures, second, every time I take my lights down, it’s a three hour endeavor. So, I soldered it in and it worked....for a while.
Shortly after this , the other fixture did the same thing, so I had to solder in another diode. Shortly after this, the UV channel in first one that went bad went bad again. Also, the blue channel was flickering. I emailed Orphek and they sent me a whole new fixture.
A few months later, and the other fixture’s UV channel is not working again. I emailed Orphek and the sent me a whole new board. I had to take the light apart and put it in. Total pain. Not to mention, the new fixture they just sent a few months ago, now has a partially working UV channel and a flickering blue channel.
So today, I take my lights down and jump diodes with a wire and replace FOUR diodes (I took these from the old board they replaced). Everything was working fine and I put the lights back up. Right now, I’m looking at my tank and one half of it is twice as bright as the other, because half of the blue channel and half of the UV channel aren’t working.
I have a friend that lives close by and he has three fixtures. He has had a very similar experience with all three. So....to sum it up, Orphek has great customer service and the really need it, because their product is flawed. If you’re considering dropping a couple thousand dollars on aquarium lights, I’d look elsewhere. If you like to take your lights down and put them up again over and over, like to solder, and like to talk to customer service, Orphek V4s are for you.
My initial impression was that I loved the spectrum, the controllability, and the overall look. I was super happy with the lights for a few months. Then, I noticed that the UV/violet Chanel in one of the fixtures was not lighting up. I emailed with the Orphek guys and they told me to open the fixture and jump each diode with a wire to see which one is bad. So I did and it was a burned out 380nm diode. So the sent one to me and I soldered it in. First, I should not have to solder diodes into $1000 light fixtures, second, every time I take my lights down, it’s a three hour endeavor. So, I soldered it in and it worked....for a while.
Shortly after this , the other fixture did the same thing, so I had to solder in another diode. Shortly after this, the UV channel in first one that went bad went bad again. Also, the blue channel was flickering. I emailed Orphek and they sent me a whole new fixture.
A few months later, and the other fixture’s UV channel is not working again. I emailed Orphek and the sent me a whole new board. I had to take the light apart and put it in. Total pain. Not to mention, the new fixture they just sent a few months ago, now has a partially working UV channel and a flickering blue channel.
So today, I take my lights down and jump diodes with a wire and replace FOUR diodes (I took these from the old board they replaced). Everything was working fine and I put the lights back up. Right now, I’m looking at my tank and one half of it is twice as bright as the other, because half of the blue channel and half of the UV channel aren’t working.
I have a friend that lives close by and he has three fixtures. He has had a very similar experience with all three. So....to sum it up, Orphek has great customer service and the really need it, because their product is flawed. If you’re considering dropping a couple thousand dollars on aquarium lights, I’d look elsewhere. If you like to take your lights down and put them up again over and over, like to solder, and like to talk to customer service, Orphek V4s are for you.