Reef Brite XHO Short Life Span?

[ingchr1]

I have two 24" Actinic Blue Reef Brite XHOs. One has been in-service for ~3 1/2 years and the other for ~3 years. The older one I noticed browning and melting of ~1/3 of the LEDs. On the other light some of the LEDs are starting to brown, but none are melting yet. Might be in the market for new bars or fixture a lot sooner than I thought I would be...

3.5Y Old Bar

3Y Old Bar

Light Schedule

 

[Kfactor]

i had the same thing happen

 

[ingchr1]

i had the same thing happen

It appears that actual quality is not there, it’s all perceived.

With that perception and the price, I expected to get more than 3-4 years out of them. It's rather disappointing.

 

[minus9]

They are probably the most overpriced bars on the market for what they are. I would check Quanta pro bars, worth every penny.

 

[xabo]

It appears that actual quality is not there, it’s all perceived.

With that perception and the price, I expected to get more than 3-4 years out of them. It's rather disappointing.

On average I've only been getting a Year out of the OR3 bars.

 

[Hugster78]

On average I've only been getting a Year out of the OR3 bars.

I have or3 bars and have 0 issues. 2 running strong for over 3 years. Another 2 for a year now. No optics melting. Half the price and better quality then the xho.

 

[xabo]

Maybe I've been getting lemons. They will replace for free if within One (1) year warranty period.

 

[Troylee]

You can replace the optics on them.. there’s a thread floating around here somewhere I stumbled across one day… I had one the same way but backed out on buying it for that reason.

 

[piranhaman00]

It’s pretty crazy how over priced these are. BRS marketing strikes again!

 

[MantisShrimpMan]

Following, since I was interested in these

 

[PeterErc]

This is good to know. I have always been a diy guy. I finally caved and ordered a 15”
XHO from LFS to go on a halide pendant. My wife is not a big fan of the bulky pendant hanging in the entrance hallway. Figure I better leave the ghetto engineering out of this one.

I was going to have them order a few more today for another tank. Guess I will hold off, although it is store credit. If it came out of my pocket and crapped out I wouldn’t be happy.

 

[ingchr1]

Replaced them with Quanta Pro Meso Blue bars.

 

[KevinC]

3 years? Mine burnt worse than that within 1.5 year with 10 hours usage.

BTW the bar is INSANELY hot.

 

[ingchr1]

Not sure when it actually started to burn, but it was likely some time before the 3-year point. I just really started to notice it on the one bar since it was getting so bad.

 

[minus9]

Replaced them with Quanta Pro Meso Blue bars.

Nice! One of the best LED bars out there.

 

[bobnicaragua]

I’ve got 3 year old orphek OR3 bars that run about 10 hrs a day. Never had an issue with them. I run computer fans in my canopy, so it’s gets never very hot.