Viparspectra 300w led drivers

[bishoptf]

I was just cleaning the glass on my tank and I noticed things looked off, appears my white channel is no longer working, sigh. I really like my light and my corals do to and really would just rather repair it. This evening when the lights get turned off I will pull it and take a look but I was wondering if anyone know what LED drivers I could use to replace with. I know meanwell makes some and I just need to figure out what I am using now. I have the 300w version and it's heavily modded but my guess the led's are fine but its the driver that has died.

@AbjectMaelstroM are you still running these lights?

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

I was just cleaning the glass on my tank and I noticed things looked off, appears my white channel is no longer working, sigh. I really like my light and my corals do to and really would just rather repair it. This evening when the lights get turned off I will pull it and take a look but I was wondering if anyone know what LED drivers I could use to replace with. I know meanwell makes some and I just need to figure out what I am using now. I have the 300w version and it's heavily modded but my guess the led's are fine but its the driver that has died.

@AbjectMaelstroM are you still running these lights?

No, I replaced them with 3x ReeFi Uno 2 Pro's about 2 years ago.

But I donated the Viparspectras to a buddy of mine who is still running them on his 150. I believe he had to replace a few of the stock burnt out LEDs but the individual cree and phillips LEDs I had added (mint and UV) are still going strong. I gave him enough spares to rebuild the whole thing if needed lol.

Not gonna lie, the lights had performed beyond my and his expectations considering what I paid for them. Especially when paired with new control boards to be tied in with a ReefPi controller.

 

[bishoptf]

Maybe I should ask this another way, could losing one LED cause the whole channel to go out? I will know more once I take it down and look at it but has me thinking what else could cause a whole channel to go dark.. @oreo54 ?

 

[bishoptf]

No, I replaced them with 3x ReeFi Uno 2 Pro's about 2 years ago.

But I donated the Viparspectras to a buddy of mine who is still running them on his 150. I believe he had to replace a few of the stock burnt out LEDs but the individual cree and phillips LEDs I had added (mint and UV) are still going strong. I gave him enough spares to rebuild the whole thing if needed lol.

Not gonna lie, the lights had performed beyond my and his expectations considering what I paid for them. Especially when paired with new control boards to be tied in with a ReefPi controller.

Yeah I have a photon v2 that I bought used just for this instance (if it were to die) but I so like the look and really hate to remove it. What I am trying to figure out is did I lose a driver or could one led cause the issue, my guess its a driver since nothing on that one channel is working, sigh.

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

Maybe I should ask this another way, could losing one LED cause the whole channel to go out? I will know more once I take it down and look at it but has me thinking what else could cause a whole channel to go dark.. @oreo54 ?

Ah, yeah... That I do not know.

 

[oreo54]

Maybe I should ask this another way, could losing one LED cause the whole channel to go out? I will know more once I take it down and look at it but has me thinking what else could cause a whole channel to go dark.. @oreo54 ?

Yes ..but depends on the manuf.
One " open" on a series string will take out the whole string.
Some arrays use bypass diodes ( resistors, ic's, there seem to be a couple of options) .

It's easy to test each led using a digital vom.
Set the meter to diode or low ohms.
Connect positive to positive ect. of an individual led and
if it's in one piece it will dimly light.
Repeat till you find the bad one.
Should work for all sizes up to possibly " 5w clas" and def not cobs.

 

[bishoptf]

Ah, yeah... That I do not know.

Yes ..but depends on the manuf.
One " open" on a series string will take out the whole string.
Some arrays use bypass diodes ( resistors, ic's, there seem to be a couple of options) .

It's easy to test each led using a digital vom.
Set the meter to diode or low ohms.
Connect positive to positive ect. of an individual led and
if it's in one piece it will dimly light.
Repeat till you find the bad one.
Should work for all sizes up to possibly " 5w clas" and def not cobs.

Mystery solved, when I took it down a little while ago and took it apart, I reconnected to the front panel and could turn the brightness up and down. What I couldn't see when the blue channel on is that the white channel was coming on but they leds were really faint. I have three led drivers so I changed them out and it didn't change the output. I then removed the led board and noticed quite a few led lenses that were discolored. Not sure what the wavelength is but must be close to 400nm, the lenses along with the leds are very discolored. I have a battery tester that I can go do and test individual leds and started doing that on the white channel and all of the discolored ones. They all worked except one of the last ones and one of its legs was lifted off the board. Can't find good help these days and it was a dodgy solder job by me when I was replacing leds on the white channel. Didn't have enough solder and maybe just over the years with heat cycles it broke free.

I decided to replace all of the discolored lenses and leds with 425nm which should not have that issue. I still have some that appear to be less than that but must be high enough to not mess up the lenses so should be better now. Did a quick test to verify and the channel works as it should now. I guess I should take it down and clean it more often, dusty doesn't even begin. I will vacuum out the fans and the dust and slap it back together and hang it back up, hopefully it will keep on chugging.

Thanks for the suggestions, really like it and it looks good and the corals like it so wanted to keep it running if possible. :)

 

[bishoptf]

It's alive....back from the dead....:)

 

[AlexandraDreadlocksPanda]

Mystery solved, when I took it down a little while ago and took it apart, I reconnected to the front panel and could turn the brightness up and down. What I couldn't see when the blue channel on is that the white channel was coming on but they leds were really faint. I have three led drivers so I changed them out and it didn't change the output. I then removed the led board and noticed quite a few led lenses that were discolored. Not sure what the wavelength is but must be close to 400nm, the lenses along with the leds are very discolored. I have a battery tester that I can go do and test individual leds and started doing that on the white channel and all of the discolored ones. They all worked except one of the last ones and one of its legs was lifted off the board. Can't find good help these days and it was a dodgy solder job by me when I was replacing leds on the white channel. Didn't have enough solder and maybe just over the years with heat cycles it broke free.

I decided to replace all of the discolored lenses and leds with 425nm which should not have that issue. I still have some that appear to be less than that but must be high enough to not mess up the lenses so should be better now. Did a quick test to verify and the channel works as it should now. I guess I should take it down and clean it more often, dusty doesn't even begin. I will vacuum out the fans and the dust and slap it back together and hang it back up, hopefully it will keep on chugging.

Thanks for the suggestions, really like it and it looks good and the corals like it so wanted to keep it running if possible. :)

Remember when replacing LED’s to use some thermal compound on them, as they were originally soldered to the board!