Power supplies keep burning out - Photon 48 v2

[jelazar]

Have others seen problems with their Photon V2 power supplies burning out? I've have 4 fixtures over my tank for the past three years, and I just had my 6th PS fail.

Every time it's the same failure mode. The only LEDs that work are the reds and greens. The blues and whites will re-illuminate if I disconnect and reconnect the plug by hand at the fixture. Switching them off and on with the Apex will sometimes make them illuminate, but not always. The power supplies are plugged into an EB8, and it doesn't seem to matter whether the EB8 outlet is an analog relay or a digital one. I also have two 32" fixtures, and neither of them have burned out with the same three years of use.

I'm not complaining about the lights; I just want to know if others have this problem and have figured out the root cause. I can make guesses, but I'd like to know if others have already figured it out.

 

[Reef Breeders Verified Sponsor]

Hey Jelazar,

I’m sorry to hear you’re experiencing issues with your Photon power supply.

I want to look into this further for you and provide a resolution.

I am confident I can provide a long term solution for you.

 

[allouchem]

I have the same issue - my unit is probably 2 years old and hasn't skipped a beat..

When i plug it in by hand I get the sequence of red, green then shuts off. The power supply stills gets 48v so I was worried the actual unit has failed.

I have emailed ReefBreeders but based on this sounds it just needs a new power supply.

Curious if you have figured out what the root cause was?

 

[Reef Breeders Verified Sponsor]

I have the same issue - my unit is probably 2 years old and hasn't skipped a beat..

When i plug it in by hand I get the sequence of red, green then shuts off. The power supply stills gets 48v so I was worried the actual unit has failed.

I have emailed ReefBreeders but based on this sounds it just needs a new power supply.

Curious if you have figured out what the root cause was?

I am sorry to hear that you are having issues with your lights!

In this particular case, the power supplies were being used with a wall timer, which shut them off and restarted them daily. Constantly interrupting power is not good for any AC/DC converter. They are designed to be plugged in constantly and used with the onboard controller.

If your light shuts off after the red/green channels, then chances are it needs a new power supply. The 3rd channel to come on is the blues- which is a much higher load than the red/greens. It sounds like your power supply can not handle more than a small load- so it needs to be replaced. This is covered by our warranty if you are still within 2 years of purchase.