My Review of Orphek Atlantik V4 after 15 Months
- Thread starter sawdonkey
- Start date
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Since this is the only thread where others have reported issues I can find... I will report my or2 issues to keep everyone updated since they are orpek too.
So they replaced the two flickering strips and the daylight that looked funny. Now the replaced uv strip is flickering all by itself. My confidence is almost gone completely! I don’t want to be shipping lights back every month and I spent so much time mounting them. I want to know what is causing this issue so maybe I can fix it myself because I don’t want to ship them all back if I have to all the time but I almost feel like going with another led company. What a bummer for the weekend.
I haven’t even gotten to view them much. So today I am going to try and keep an eye on them to see if any more of them are doing this randomly. What a pain. I have had such bad luck with leds... All I hear is good stuff and I love the extra par and color but it’s almost not worth it. Hell my Chinese strips lasted two years before they burnt out and they hand a controller with them! What do I go back to those pieces of junk????
So they replaced the two flickering strips and the daylight that looked funny. Now the replaced uv strip is flickering all by itself. My confidence is almost gone completely! I don’t want to be shipping lights back every month and I spent so much time mounting them. I want to know what is causing this issue so maybe I can fix it myself because I don’t want to ship them all back if I have to all the time but I almost feel like going with another led company. What a bummer for the weekend.
I haven’t even gotten to view them much. So today I am going to try and keep an eye on them to see if any more of them are doing this randomly. What a pain. I have had such bad luck with leds... All I hear is good stuff and I love the extra par and color but it’s almost not worth it. Hell my Chinese strips lasted two years before they burnt out and they hand a controller with them! What do I go back to those pieces of junk????
From orpeks site
“This warranty shall not apply if repairs have not been attempted by anyone other than our Customer service staff or any authorized agent or dealer, or under the instruction of our customer service staff. Any attempts at self-repair shall void this limited warranty.”
I guess when they tell you to fix your own light then you become an authorized agent. It didn’t seem like anyone fixing their own light got any instructions from any of their customer service staff...
“This warranty shall not apply if repairs have not been attempted by anyone other than our Customer service staff or any authorized agent or dealer, or under the instruction of our customer service staff. Any attempts at self-repair shall void this limited warranty.”
I guess when they tell you to fix your own light then you become an authorized agent. It didn’t seem like anyone fixing their own light got any instructions from any of their customer service staff...
OP
OP
sawdonkey
Valuable Member
Tha
That’s not true. They walk you through the whole process and they are very responsive. As a matter of fact, my lights were out of warranty, and they’re still helping me get them working.
When it comes to me fixing them vs them fixing them, I’m sure I could have shipped them to Orphek to be repaired, but I’d rather do it myself so the lights are off my tank for an hour rather than a week. The situation isn’t ideal because I’ve had problems, but Orphek is being as good as the possibly can about it.
one last thing, I have two of their light bars and I love them. No issues and great performance.
That’s not true. They walk you through the whole process and they are very responsive. As a matter of fact, my lights were out of warranty, and they’re still helping me get them working.
When it comes to me fixing them vs them fixing them, I’m sure I could have shipped them to Orphek to be repaired, but I’d rather do it myself so the lights are off my tank for an hour rather than a week. The situation isn’t ideal because I’ve had problems, but Orphek is being as good as the possibly can about it.
one last thing, I have two of their light bars and I love them. No issues and great performance.
My experience with them is that they will bend over backwards to help.
Well at least they are helpful, not sure why I was thinking people were on their own to fix them. Hopefully the supplier can let me know why mine keep flickering at some point.
My OR2 blue plus flicker if my halides are on, but work great if they are off. Haven’t been able to figure it out so they only run with the halides off
That’s my only thought for this last flicker episode I saw. It’s pluged in with some other stuff but tested the others on a open breaker so there was defiantly something wrong with them. I am going to keep an eye on them for a while. Thanks for the input leepink
biecacka
Valuable Member
I was unable to get some of my leds to work so I sent the units in to have Orphek repair them. Halides back up on the tank for now. my lights are next after he repairs the ones he is currently working on.
customer service has been very helpful through this whole ordeal
corey
customer service has been very helpful through this whole ordeal
corey
Bpb
2500 Club Member
Being friendly on the phone is easy folks. Trust me. Responding to an email and being polite is easy. Those should be baseline expectations of a service staff. NOT an achievement that deserves accolades.
if my cell phone malfunctions in warranty, you pay for a new one, they ship you and new one overnight. You are refunded what you paid once they receive the defective unit back in packaging and postage they provide. THAT is the model these light companies need to follow.
if my cell phone malfunctions in warranty, you pay for a new one, they ship you and new one overnight. You are refunded what you paid once they receive the defective unit back in packaging and postage they provide. THAT is the model these light companies need to follow.
biecacka
Valuable Member
I am not saying it isn’t easy, I am saying even with it being easy to do many companies don’t do it. I bought my lights used, the 3rd person to own them. They are the V2 which have been upgraded to the V4.2 so they are probably 4-5 years old (The upgrade board is almost 2 years old)
they went bad, Orphek sent me 15 new diodes after I told them I would try to do it myself first. They didn’t charge me for the leds and sent extra (I only needed 8) in case I needed them. i opened them up and could not get some to work so I emailed Orphek and they responded. James, the US rep reached out to me and I sent them to him. Yes I had to pay to ship them but the lights are 4-5 years old at least, not in warranty, and bought used, however I sent them to him. He emailed me to say that he got hem and they are next to be worked on.
I don’t think it has been a bad transaction so far.
corey
they went bad, Orphek sent me 15 new diodes after I told them I would try to do it myself first. They didn’t charge me for the leds and sent extra (I only needed 8) in case I needed them. i opened them up and could not get some to work so I emailed Orphek and they responded. James, the US rep reached out to me and I sent them to him. Yes I had to pay to ship them but the lights are 4-5 years old at least, not in warranty, and bought used, however I sent them to him. He emailed me to say that he got hem and they are next to be worked on.
I don’t think it has been a bad transaction so far.
corey
Just caught my V4 with half my channel 2 blues flickering and not turning back on. I took photos and videos. To show customer service mine are only 8/9 months old. Bought them March 22 of this year. Wanted to chime in to share as well. Going to send an email this weekend with photos and video. Not very happy this is happening. All though when they a running right these lights are amazing for SPS. I had a flawless transition from Radiums 250. It took me forever to make the switch and now this. I still have a brand new one in the box waiting to go over my new tank build now I’m really worried these will do the same but be out of warranty by the time it’s starts. I think I’m going to express my concerns to customer service and see what they say. Hopefully they extend the warranty. I really do like these light a lot.
I’m running the preset color +growth 11am to 11pm. I’m sure there is a ton of tweaking I can do
but just really wanted to set it and forget it so been running it like this the whole time 15” above the water. I matched my par with a Seneye before swapping.
but just really wanted to set it and forget it so been running it like this the whole time 15” above the water. I matched my par with a Seneye before swapping.
350-400 all on peak hours 6-8” down from the surface of the water was my target. At the surface of the water 540 is what the Seneye registered.
Very bottom 200/250 roughly 38” from light.
Need to make a correction on the last post the light is 18 3/4” from the surface of the water. Edge of water to edge of the acrylic lens.
Very bottom 200/250 roughly 38” from light.
Need to make a correction on the last post the light is 18 3/4” from the surface of the water. Edge of water to edge of the acrylic lens.
biecacka
Valuable Member
Update on my lights. He has to test a few more leds to make sure there isn’t a bad connection or bad led in that line. But if not then I will likely need a new PCB board and possibly a PC Card. I hope the other light doesn’t have these same issues. I know they are an older model but the upgraded board in them are stamped 1/5/18 so the leds themselves are only 23 months old. I know I bought them used but I would think that the board would be under warranty itself at least. Communication has been good for sure, but I am a bit shocked that the warranty on the board has Expired. That isn’t a very long lifespan and I certainly don’t want to have to put a new board in them every few years regardless of cost or anything. Now my halides are on the tank and when I get the Orpheks back it will be a whole NEW transition period. Essentially the 3rd one in 6 months. No wonder the corals are upset hahaha. If the longevity of these are similar when you upgrade an older model as opposed to buying the current model, then I might have to consider staying with halides or another brand of leds if I want to continue using them.
corey
corey
Man, the best thing right now is you do have a light you can put back over tank. Imagine if you had nothing what a mad dash scrabble it would be to find something. That’s my fear moving forward with my larger tank. Hopefully whatever is causing the issue is a permenat fix long term.
I reached out to them so I’m in talks right now via email about my issue. I’m sending them photos and model/serial number info tonight. I really am impressed with the lights. I want these to be long term lights. It’s the whole reason why I switched from metal halides. Heat and once a year bulb change acclimation etc. Keep the fingers crossed I guess for now.
biecacka
Valuable Member
Yeah I kept my halides for this reason as well as if I just didn’t like the leds.
Now I am being told the LED board is bad, it might have went bad because the PC board came came in contact with it. The PC board was in place when I took the light apart to look at it, I will admit when I shipped them it was not attached back in place via the epoxy or whatnot. EVEN THOUGH NO ELECTRICAL CURRENT was running since they were in the mail.....the 2 coming in contact with one another is likely the culprit of both going bad. Look, I’m not an electrical expert but I am confused how with no current running they could harm one another. Anyone more knowledgable have an opinion?
I also expressed concerns on the cost of the repairs considering they were used when I bought them, and the fact that the board needing replaced itself isn’t 2 years old yet.....red flag to me. They mentioned to me that “it might not be worth fixing” and I’m sure that is based on my concern but I was shocked that the manufacturer would also agree. That concerns me a bit. i was also informed that they would open my second light to trouble shoot it, based once I made a decision on my first one. That’s nuts, if the first one is 15$ to fix it hen I would likely fix them both, but if it’s hundreds of dollars like the first I don’t know because I fear having to do it again in 2 years. I understand that they dont want to waste time trouble shooting an issue for me if I end up not getting them replaced then they wasted time that could have been spent making money.
Kris has been extremely helpful with me this whole process and even offered me a discount to help ease the burden of the cost. I am appreciative of that, but I am still very concerned that they need replaced after 2 years.....I am pleased with the communication still, but I am getting frustrated with the fact that these need such drastic repairs with a brand new led board already in them.
corey
Now I am being told the LED board is bad, it might have went bad because the PC board came came in contact with it. The PC board was in place when I took the light apart to look at it, I will admit when I shipped them it was not attached back in place via the epoxy or whatnot. EVEN THOUGH NO ELECTRICAL CURRENT was running since they were in the mail.....the 2 coming in contact with one another is likely the culprit of both going bad. Look, I’m not an electrical expert but I am confused how with no current running they could harm one another. Anyone more knowledgable have an opinion?
I also expressed concerns on the cost of the repairs considering they were used when I bought them, and the fact that the board needing replaced itself isn’t 2 years old yet.....red flag to me. They mentioned to me that “it might not be worth fixing” and I’m sure that is based on my concern but I was shocked that the manufacturer would also agree. That concerns me a bit. i was also informed that they would open my second light to trouble shoot it, based once I made a decision on my first one. That’s nuts, if the first one is 15$ to fix it hen I would likely fix them both, but if it’s hundreds of dollars like the first I don’t know because I fear having to do it again in 2 years. I understand that they dont want to waste time trouble shooting an issue for me if I end up not getting them replaced then they wasted time that could have been spent making money.
Kris has been extremely helpful with me this whole process and even offered me a discount to help ease the burden of the cost. I am appreciative of that, but I am still very concerned that they need replaced after 2 years.....I am pleased with the communication still, but I am getting frustrated with the fact that these need such drastic repairs with a brand new led board already in them.
corey
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