Thoughts on LED fixture

[Telefonica007]

Just a question.... If they are "junk" , why does everyone give them 2 thumbs up ? U can buy a BMW and know ur in a German engineered car but I have no issues getting into a Volkswagen Passat! Gets me there and back on my budget. I don't see a reason to NEED a high end fixture. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Just a question.... If they are "junk" , why does everyone give them 2 thumbs up ? U can buy a BMW and know ur in a German engineered car but I have no issues getting into a Volkswagen Passat! Gets me there and back on my budget. I don't see a reason to NEED a high end fixture. Just my 2 cents.

"If they are junk...", who is "they"?
And just to be clear here, I don't see the NEED for a high end fixture either. I run EverGrow and OceanRevive, I put both of them in level 3 and my corals are doing great. But you can't stop people from spending their money. Lets face it, some people have it to spend and they enjoy having all the luxury features. But do you need them to have a well built fixture that can grow coral and look good and have good customer service? Heck no! But on the other hand, is there junk out there in the market? Heck ya!

IMHO, there are 3 or 4 levels of led fixtures (you could easily put #1 and #2 in as one group):

1) There is the long standing, top of the line, pay a premium for it types. They work just fine, have lots of bells & whistles (some we don't need at all), they grow coral, they look OK and the get good customer support (usually).

2) Then there are the somewhat more rationally priced fixtures that may lack some of the 'luxury' options of the top dogs. Still work good, have all the desired accessories, they still grow coral, most look OK and usually have good customer service. The main difference, as I see it, is they are somewhat more reasonably priced and they probably don't have more than 2 channels of control (moonlight control doesn't count).

3) Next is the well built, low tech, still work just fine based on my own results fixtures (mostly from China). Still work good, may or may not have all the features you want (but they are less expensive), they still grow coral, most look OK (some are a bit 'clunky' looking) and customer service is a bit more hit or miss. The main difference here is considerably lower prices are possible, and if you are looking for the least expensive led that will still get the job done, there are fixtures with just dimmers that are still well made and grow coral.

4) And finally there is a mix of old tech (too old) and junk (1 watt leds) and more junk (poorly made) (mostly sold on Ebay and Amazon). Some of these may work, at least for a while, may have some features, but they are cheap, may keep easy corals alive, but may not grow them, can still look OK, and have no customer service. What can I say? There are a lot of really crap led fixtures on Ebay and Amazon. You can find good ones too, but you could probably find the good ones on their own website as well. But way too many of them are junk.

Like I said, it's just my opinion and I'm not saying I'm right, it's just the way I see the market. I'm sure some could... will, say I'm crazy and anything from China is junk. And as far as I'm concerned, you are welcome to your opinion too. It's a big hobby with lots and lots of choices.

 

[thereeferdude]

The LEDs in this fixture are absolutely NOT Bridgelux. They are cheap knockoffs using their name so they will sell. Bridgelux does not make '3w' LEDs - all of theirs are large multichip arrays, ranging from 2700-5600K, and 8-100 watts. No puny little 100lm "10-14K" chips. They have some of the highest quality phosphor tech that money can buy, matching Philips, and surpassing Cree. These fixtures do not, and cannot, use Bridgelux LEDs.

I don't know if the emitters in these lights are Bridgelux or not, but I am confused by the above statement as I found this single chip emitter on the Bridgelux website:
http://www.bridgelux.com/assets/files/Bridgelux Micro SM4 Product Brief Update 1st November 2012.pdf

 

[jedimasterben]

I don't know if the emitters in these lights are Bridgelux or not, but I am confused by the above statement as I found this single chip emitter on the Bridgelux website:
http://www.bridgelux.com/assets/files/Bridgelux Micro SM4 Product Brief Update 1st November 2012.pdf

Not only are those not the LEDs used in these fixtures (look at the diagrams in the datasheet, then look at the LEDs in every chinese fixture out there), in addition to them not being '3w' LEDs (they start at ~4 watts and go up from there).

Every single Chinese fixture you can purchase does not use Bridgelux LEDs. They are all knockoffs.

 

[redtop03]

my tank ain't the most impressive and my photography skills are pitiful but I'm extremely happy with the results of the DM132e lights.....these are the DM132e side by side comparison with Phoenix 14k 250w halides in Lumen Bright pendants with Lumatek e-ballasts

bottom line is, Chinese lights look good, work good, and more importantly, coral grow and look great under them, and they are a fraction of the cost of the USA models, they may not be the best or most efficient out there and some of 'em may not have the fancy controllers to emulate the sunrise/sunset but they are definitely not junk...

if they only last half as long as the 50,000 hour claim, I'm still ahead in savings over a US LED fixture

 

[Mr. D]

my tank ain't the most impressive and my photography skills are pitiful but I'm extremely happy with the results of the DM132e lights.....these are the DM132e side by side comparison with Phoenix 14k 250w halides in Lumen Bright pendants with Lumatek e-ballasts

bottom line is, Chinese lights look good, work good, and more importantly, coral grow and look great under them, and they are a fraction of the cost of the USA models, they may not be the best or most efficient out there and some of 'em may not have the fancy controllers to emulate the sunrise/sunset but they are definitely not junk...

if they only last half as long as the 50,000 hour claim, I'm still ahead in savings over a US LED fixture

I would have to agree with you. However, I did just buy a 150 watt mh pendant from fishneedit. Never had mh before so I want to try them out. Going with 14k myself.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2

 

[kes]

my preference is RAPID LED fixtures

 

[ReefLEDLights]

my preference is RAPID LED fixtures

Why?

Do they Bin their LEDs or dont they?

Do they stamp the bin on the back of the star so you know which bin your are getting?

Otherwise its like a box of chocolates life is like a box of chocolates - Wiktionary
[video=youtube;CJh59vZ8ccc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJh59vZ8ccc[/video]

Spectrum Bins Matter.

The Cool White XT-E and XP-G range from 5-8K

The XT-E Royal Blue Dominant wave length can be Between 450-465nm

There is a serious difference in looks between a 2:1 Fixture with 5-6K Cool Whites and 460nm Royal Blue vs one with 7.5K Cool White and 450nm Royal Blue.

I've spent a lot of time experimenting with different spectrum bins for my personal reef tank.

Just some food for thought.

Bill

 

[Dave3112]

I bought the DM132e fixture last month when they were on sale for under $150 shipped from Reef Radiance. I got them in this week. And I can say that I like them ok so far. This is coming from a DIE HARD halide/T5 guy. Now I don't know how well they grow corals yet because I don't have any in my new tank yet. I'm just getting it filled tonight. But from the look of them with the naked eye I would say they are comparable to a 175W MH (which is what I was going to use on this tank anyway) and if they do grow corals to my satisfaction they will pay for themselves in about 18 months. If not then I already have the MH and T5 as back up. But I think they will be just fine.

 

[Dave3112]

And NO I'm not just out to save a buck or save the planet or whatever by trying LEDs. If I was doing that I would have bought the Radions (I already spent as much buying the MH bulb, T5 retro and ATI bulbs and this reef radiance fixture). I just want to see if it will work. I'm a skeptic by nature and have an open mind in all things in life. I just don't like to see some one with money vested in another company try to bash or trash a competing company. If the products are that much better then the results will speak for themselves. No other input required. But to each his own I guess.

 

[ReefLEDLights]

I bought the DM132e fixture last month when they were on sale for under $150 shipped from Reef Radiance. I got them in this week. And I can say that I like them ok so far. This is coming from a DIE HARD halide/T5 guy. Now I don't know how well they grow corals yet because I don't have any in my new tank yet. I'm just getting it filled tonight. But from the look of them with the naked eye I would say they are comparable to a 175W MH (which is what I was going to use on this tank anyway) and if they do grow corals to my satisfaction they will pay for themselves in about 18 months. If not then I already have the MH and T5 as back up. But I think they will be just fine.

http://www.reefradiance.com/evergrow-it2040.html

Honestly they are closer to a 250 watt MH.

Keep us informed on the reliability.

Bill

 

[Dave3112]

I read that they were closer to a 250W too but just by looking at them I would say a 175W. But that's just the naked eye. No scientific proof. I will keep a log and photos. That's for sure. Ha! I love to take pictures and I love my tank so it goes hand in hand. :)

 

[jedimasterben]

I read that they were closer to a 250W too but just by looking at them I would say a 175W. But that's just the naked eye. No scientific proof. I will keep a log and photos. That's for sure. Ha! I love to take pictures and I love my tank so it goes hand in hand. :)

With LEDs not 'wasting' much, if any, light in the 520-600nm range, LEDs appear much dimmer to our eyes. Without a PAR meter or accurate output numbers on the LEDs, then it's a crapshoot. That's why so many people nuke their tanks when they switch to LEDs - they turn them up until they match 'the brightness' of their previous halide or T5 lights and double or triple the PAR hitting their corals. Boom, RTN.

 

[strange_reefer13]

I bought the DM132e fixture last month when they were on sale for under $150 shipped from Reef Radiance. I got them in this week. And I can say that I like them ok so far. This is coming from a DIE HARD halide/T5 guy. Now I don't know how well they grow corals yet because I don't have any in my new tank yet. I'm just getting it filled tonight. But from the look of them with the naked eye I would say they are comparable to a 175W MH (which is what I was going to use on this tank anyway) and if they do grow corals to my satisfaction they will pay for themselves in about 18 months. If not then I already have the MH and T5 as back up. But I think they will be just fine.

Thanks for the input, anything about them that you really like/don't like?

 

[strange_reefer13]

Not only are those not the LEDs used in these fixtures (look at the diagrams in the datasheet, then look at the LEDs in every chinese fixture out there), in addition to them not being '3w' LEDs (they start at ~4 watts and go up from there).

Every single Chinese fixture you can purchase does not use Bridgelux LEDs. They are all knockoffs.

Does this mean that the LEDs in the fixture are just a crap shoot in what spectrum you really get?

 

[Dave3112]

Thanks for the input, anything about them that you really like/don't like?

I like them so far. The build quality is really good. If I could change anything it would be to add more blues. But I like a really blue look to a tank. I don't have any corals in my tank so I can't say how well they grow corals. That's the most important part anyway. The tank has only been cycling since Saturday so I won't find out much for quite a while. :/

 

[Dave3112]

And if I was being really, really picky I would like to have a right angle power cord on top of the fixture. Which I am ordering from amazon here in a few minutes... :)

 

[ReefLEDLights]

Does this mean that the LEDs in the fixture are just a crap shoot in what spectrum you really get?

With Knockoffs "its like a box of chocolates"

Only a couple vendors guarantee spectrum and bins.

Some Foreign Countries are unscrupulous in their endeavors to copy technology and products from the USA...

Sometimes they succeed with a product at least as good. Other times they fail and earn the title "cheap knockoff", other times they wind up with an OK product but not nearly the best.

Look at it like the Gucci bag sold on an Italian street corner or Rolex watch from the trunk of a car...

Just remember the majority of LED owners have owned their fixture for less than 1 year and only a small percentage over two years.

Bill