Review of the New Ecotech Radion G4

[reefwiser]

reefwiser submitted a new Article:

Review of the New Ecotech Radion G4

It has been five years since Ecotech released the Radion line of LED lighting to the Reef Aquarium world. In that time the Radion has become a standard against which all other LED lights are measured.

LED lighting has become accepted as a legitimate lighting source in the reef aquarium hobby due to the advance features the Radion series of lights offers. We have come to expect WiFi control of our...

Read more about this article here...

 

[lennyd19]

The link is not working. I hope to use these soon. Here is the big question for me. Is it apex compatible. You would think so, but they released the Vectra with no apex compatibly.

 

[masterbuilder]

NICE review reefwiser, thanks. I have the same question, is it Apex (wxm) compatable?

 

[reefwiser]

That's a good question and one that was not in the material they gave to the press.

 

[Jimbo662]

I would hope they're compatible. If not it would be a deal breaker for me because I AM NOT a fan of reeflink.

 

[ReeferRoo]

Just watched the Marine Depot video on the G4 lights and they (well Robert) said it is Apex Compatible with the WXM module. But it doesn't state it anywhere as the lit as that is pushing for ecosmart live.

 

[revhtree]

That's a good question and one that was not in the material they gave to the press.

A little birdie told me that they will be.

Awesome job sir on this article!!!

 

[Jimbo662]

That's good to know. I'm about to start a new build with a SCA 66g tank and it would be perfect for it!

 

[Highgrade]

Is it me or does the HEI optics seem to produce more of a blinding effect from the side due to the protruding hemisphere lens?

 

[Jimbo662]

I notice that too. hopefully it's more due to the angle they were filming from.

 

[ReeferRoo]

I agree you do see more light from the HEI optics from the side.

If you go to Marine Depot they have a profile pic up and you can see the HEI lenses extending beyond the bottom plate of the light, that coupled with the faceting for better light distribution i don't doubt you will see light from the side. Which could be a hard pill to swallow for people with rimless displays.

Personally i will have a closed canopy system so i am very interested in these lights as my foot print is 30x42. 2 30w pro lights will be perfect and dang near eliminate any shadowing with the even par distribution they show for the G4 pro.

My only concern...maintenance with cleaning the faceted lenses from creep, i wonder if replacements lenses will be available...

 

[Jimbo662]

I think I'll be waiting for user reviews to see if this is an issue. My tank and stand total 51 1/2" tall so maybe it wouldn't that big of a deal.

 

[cobraz]

Is it me or does the HEI optics seem to produce more of a blinding effect from the side due to the protruding hemisphere lens?

Watch Marine Depot's video - I think if you have your display in a room watching TV or other relaxing hobbies - this could be a major design flaw.
I understand the design but a slight shield around the fixture could have possibly prevented this... ugh

 

[Highgrade]

I agree you do see more light from the HEI optics from the side.

If you go to Marine Depot they have a profile pic up and you can see the HEI lenses extending beyond the bottom plate of the light, that coupled with the faceting for better light distribution i don't doubt you will see light from the side. Which could be a hard pill to swallow for people with rimless displays.

Personally i will have a closed canopy system so i am very interested in these lights as my foot print is 30x42. 2 30w pro lights will be perfect and **** near eliminate any shadowing with the even par distribution they show for the G4 pro.

My only concern...maintenance with cleaning the faceted lenses from creep, i wonder if replacements lenses will be available...

Watch Marine Depot's video - I think if you have your display in a room watching TV or other relaxing hobbies - this could be a major design flaw.
I understand the design but a slight shield around the fixture could have possibly prevented this... ugh

Totally agree. This was a red flag for me. I'm definitely interested but most likely will pass. Since watching the MD video its pretty obvious that it is an issue. I have small children and I would be concerned for them not to mention how annoying it would be at eye level. You would think they would come up with a bezel of some sort to prevent this. Even if they were receded into the unit it may help but decrease coverage/par. It almost like looking at a light bulb in a lamp with no lamp shade. Maybe not 360 degrees but at least 180. People using a canopy/cover over their tanks may not mind or notice.

 

[NeverlosT]

nuts. I was eyeing these to eliminate my canopy, but light leakage is a big concern for my family (the tank is in the middle of a room), and I know from having a lot of light leakage on previous tanks that it hurts your vision (my night vision in particular got terrible).

I am excited about the lense updates from a PAR and spread standpoint, the new cooling scheme looks good and the LED choice seems solid.

I am not so sure about the price increase for the pro, the light leakage issue, and man, that wattage is creeping up. We get much higher, and just running MH starts looking good again...

I guess I'll wait and see on these.

 

[locito277]

Would 190 watts of these equal to a 400 watt mh as far as potential PAR?

 

[ReeferRoo]

I think thats a tough question, i think i saw an article on melevsreef once that looked at par on metal halides and found them to be very inconsistent based on bulb, ballasts, reflectors runtime etc.

At the same time I dont see where Ecotech is listing the par values at 24" deep or anything similar, just distribution.

So until someone gets one and can and can do a side to side comparison with a good Mh setup i don't think there is anyway to tell.

Anyone else have any thoughts on it?

 

[Suspect]

Great light if you want to be blinded when looking at your tank. What a horrible design flaw by Ecotech.

G4 vs. G3 from Marine Depot video

 

[NeverlosT]

Great light if you want to be blinded when looking at your tank. What a horrible design flaw by Ecotech.

G4 vs. G3 from Marine Depot video

All you need is a few of these!

lol but really I think we could whip up a little shroud or something. Ecotech could even build one into the reflector perimeter at an angle to point that light energy headed outward more downward. They are sharp folks, I am sure they will address it.

 

[Suspect]

All you need is a few of these!

lol but really I think we could whip up a little shroud or something. Ecotech could even build one into the reflector perimeter at an angle to point that light energy headed outward more downward. They are sharp folks, I am sure they will address it.

Haha, yeah but it should have been in the engineering phase.