RIP: AI Hydra 52 HD

[Treefer32]

Goal would be Budget friendly quality Replacement LED Lights for Mixed reef with a lot of SPS, LPS, and some softies:
Tank is 60" long, 36" wide, and 31" tall. Right now with my damaged Hydras I'm getting 120 Par close to the sand bed and ad the top of my SPS I'm getting around 250 with the T5s on and LEDs at peak ramp up.

I took my worst Hydra 52 HD apart this weekend. Although all 3 boxes have issues this is by far the worst and believe it needs to be replaced.

Some pictures attached. A few channels badly burnt. I was thinking of maybe using luxdium LED upgrades and using glass lenses for these. But, with the burnt out channels one or more of the LED channels is probably dead in the water - no pun intended.

So, looking for recommendations at replacing this light at least. Maybe all 3 of my Hydras. :( They're only 5-6 years old.

I have an Aquatic life T50 HO 4 bulb 80 watt per bulb fixture that my LEDs are mounted in. What would be good supplemental LEDs that don't break the bank? (I know they all do). I looked at Radions and looks like the XR 30s would be similar in size to the AI HYdra 52s I currently have, they're around $1000 a piece. I'm not planning on $3000 in lights.

The Edge Hydra 68s could work at $700 a piece, if they'll fit in my aquatic life mount.

 

[KrisReef]

You know I have a few LED's but I kept the MH over the reef and now that I see your fixture I realize I probably did good for me since I can unscrew a light bulb and replace it. I just have to make certain I have the right size replacement bulb.


Sorry for your situation. Someone on here will be able to help beyond commiseration. :cool:

 

[dangles]

Take a look at Quanta Helix light bars. They’re a “micro-brand” but have been making waves over the last year. Super well built, very simple, better than average warranty, great customer service.

 

[dangles]

https://www.quanta-lights.com/products/quanta-helix

Compared to the big names they're very affordable. He still has 60” bars in stock in both colors. I have 4 on my tank (3 Reef Crest Daylights and 1 Meso Blue). On full blast I can easily get over 400 PAR at the top of my rock scape. I have them between 50 and 75% and range from 100 at the bottom to 200 at the top of the scape.

 

[Hooz]

On the LEDs that are not working, are all the diodes on that channel not working on the whole light (meaning the same ones on all 4 pucks)? I ask because I'm a HUGE fan of the @luxdium pucks, and unless there is a bigger electrical issue than just a few burned up/melted diodes, I'd encourage you to give them a shot.

As a side note... The Lux lenses aren't glass. I'm not sure what they're made of, but they are certainly impressive.

 

[Treefer32]

You know I have a few LED's but I kept the MH over the reef and now that I see your fixture I realize I probably did good for me since I can unscrew a light bulb and replace it. I just have to make certain I have the right size replacement bulb.


Sorry for your situation. Someone on here will be able to help beyond commiseration. :cool:

I've started to wonder if I should have gone Metal Halides. $150- in a bulbs a year vs $2500 every 5 years. . .

 

[Treefer32]

I think the channel for certain diodes are burnt out. In talking with Lux, those channels would need to be bridged in order to get them working again even if the diodes were working. I'm not that knowledgeable of circuitry to do something like that. I will look at the Lux pucks for my other two AI Hydra 52 HDs. If the board isn't fried on those I'll consider replacing one or both with lux. I don't know. Unless I go with completely different lights. The Reefi Uni Pro 2.1 one work as a full replacement of the Hydras. One per hydra. Still more expensive than I'd like to put into it, but could be rigged to work with my aquatic life fixture.

 

[Jesse Sunday]

I'm interested to eee what you end up getting. I have a 60" tank and am going to be replacing the one 64 and four 16s that are currently lighting it. I'm leaning towards 4 of the new AI Edges. (Smaller 44s)

 

[rtparty]

Nicrew Gen 2. Probably the 200s with the 90° lens

 

[Danjoethepirate]

Give Alex at Fixreef.com a chance to fix them. He charged me like 200 bucks or something to get two gen 3 radions back working perfectly.