Whats yalls thoughts on these leds
- Thread starter John welch
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I have one similar to those three, minus the wifi. It is from DSuny. I think the design is better than the MarsAqua (which I have three of over my 125). They have a real heatsink, external power supplies and a basic 4 channel controller with ramps. The DSuny has been trouble free for a year so far. Its only 40 LED emitters versus 55 in the MarsAqua, but if you never run them at full anyway, I'm not sure that matters. I did put pieces of scotch tape over the lenses for the reds to adjust the color of that channel to my liking, but no mods other than that, which is rare for me... I think you'll definitely want at least three, and maybe four would give fewer gaps.
If I had it to do again right now with my 6' 125, I'd go with 4 of the DSuny. In addition to the better design of the DSuny, on the MarsAqua, I've had to replace a power supply on one of them, and they occasionally blow the GFCI breaker when they start up. Not consistently though, and usually when I'm away.
I don't fault Ryan for his account of the story. It was obviously foggy in his mind. The meat of the story was there, "when turned on, the LED went up in smoke and flames!" We love BRS TV because of the info they provide. You may not agree with Ryan's opinion on this particular product but it took a lot of balls for him to even test the light. He was in a no win situation. He would be criticized for not testing them. He tested it because we asked.
Lets not focus on the perceived safety of the product as those opinions are all over the place. The data is what I saw and I was unimpressed. The overall par/watt was horrible. With that being said, I would bet that a MH would blow their efficiency away. Not one person is even arguing about that.
What I heard Ryan say is that he would not use or sell these lights. Now if you had a stake in a multi million dollar company, would you? I see nothing wrong with his decision. It's his decision. I wouldn't run one either. For a multitude of reasons (safety concerns being one, but crap performance and poor astetics ruled it out before I got to the safety). That doesn't make me bad, just means I have an opinion. I would consider running a Maxspect though and that is a Chinese light too.
And that changes the fact that I saw one go up in flames how?
The question is the relevance of one guy seeing one fixture catch fire as opposed to the thousands that are in use that haven't caught fire.
Having or not having a UL rating is no guarantee that something will or won't malfunction. I had a dorm sized fridge catch fire on me once. Name brand, UL listed, still caught on fire. Mine was just defective. Stuff happens. The store replaced it. The new one worked fine.
Flippers4pups
Fins up since 1993
Well said.
I got in a motorcycle accident once. Does that mean I have to be an advocate for motorcycles too! Get real! I have a particular experience that sways my view. You don't have that experience, so you can only go on the experiences you have.
I have a right to my opinion, that's why it's mine! You can have your own opinion, it's yours!
BTW, I'm not a big fan of Hondas either. If I have to choose Japanese, I'm picking Subaru. Then again, that's my opinion.;Happy
Flippers4pups
Fins up since 1993
On the subject perceived risk and known risk. Let me preface this, one fire is one fire too many as anyone would agree, including myself. Risks with any electrical device in home use or business is a risk we all take everyday. We assume that manufactures of electrical devices have done their engineering and design work to each device to ensure our safety and continue use. With all of this, it is still up to the consumer to use and apply these devices in the way they were intended.
But even with independent laboratory testing, certifications and inspection guidelines to ensure that "safety"during use, there will be failures.
Case in point the "Marineland stealth heater fires". This happened not long ago and the government stepped in and made Marineland recall over one million of these heaters do to the inherent risk they posed. This was a known risk, not perceived.
https://www.aboutlawsuits.com/aquarium-heater-recall-17739/
By the way, if you still have one of these in the recall, throw it away NOW!
This became well known on all the hobby forums, as fellow reefers were posting their personal accounts of these failing and causing damage to their tanks and homes. At one time there could be had a post a day across the forums of one failing. Pictures of melted plastic and even still smoking units popped up on the forums! Burnt tank stands and scorched walls were posted everywhere.
There was and still is undisputed proof that this SPECIFIC manufacturer and SPECIFIC model of heater was at cause and through the forums the word got out to stop using them immediately.
In the case of these Black boxes, Ryan at BRS did not specifically state the manufacturer and model of led light that caught fire. Instead, because of his personal agenda, he used broad sweeping innuendos of all black boxes having this perceived risk.
This was irresponsible to the hobby community and left numerous questions unanswered. This is why I have spoken out so much on this subject. Not defending my decisions on my ownership of these lights.
IF YOU HAVE IN THE PAST HAD A EQUIPMENT FAILURE THAT WAS CATASTROPHIC, CAUSING DAMAGE TO YOUR TANK OR MORE IMPORTANTLY TO YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS, POST IT ON THESE FORUMS!
AS A COMMUNITY SERVICE TO OTHER FELLOW HOBBYISTS!
GET THE WORD OUT! POST PICTURES AND DETAILS FOR EVERYONE TO SEE! I DONT CARE WHAT IT IS OR WHO MADE IT!
But even with independent laboratory testing, certifications and inspection guidelines to ensure that "safety"during use, there will be failures.
Case in point the "Marineland stealth heater fires". This happened not long ago and the government stepped in and made Marineland recall over one million of these heaters do to the inherent risk they posed. This was a known risk, not perceived.
https://www.aboutlawsuits.com/aquarium-heater-recall-17739/
By the way, if you still have one of these in the recall, throw it away NOW!
This became well known on all the hobby forums, as fellow reefers were posting their personal accounts of these failing and causing damage to their tanks and homes. At one time there could be had a post a day across the forums of one failing. Pictures of melted plastic and even still smoking units popped up on the forums! Burnt tank stands and scorched walls were posted everywhere.
There was and still is undisputed proof that this SPECIFIC manufacturer and SPECIFIC model of heater was at cause and through the forums the word got out to stop using them immediately.
In the case of these Black boxes, Ryan at BRS did not specifically state the manufacturer and model of led light that caught fire. Instead, because of his personal agenda, he used broad sweeping innuendos of all black boxes having this perceived risk.
This was irresponsible to the hobby community and left numerous questions unanswered. This is why I have spoken out so much on this subject. Not defending my decisions on my ownership of these lights.
IF YOU HAVE IN THE PAST HAD A EQUIPMENT FAILURE THAT WAS CATASTROPHIC, CAUSING DAMAGE TO YOUR TANK OR MORE IMPORTANTLY TO YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS, POST IT ON THESE FORUMS!
AS A COMMUNITY SERVICE TO OTHER FELLOW HOBBYISTS!
GET THE WORD OUT! POST PICTURES AND DETAILS FOR EVERYONE TO SEE! I DONT CARE WHAT IT IS OR WHO MADE IT!
Not sure why you got upset over my remarks. I never said you had to be an advocate for anything. I never knocked your opinion. Just commented on the big picture. Based on your one experience, BRS made it sound like the light would burn the house down every time. Not blaming you for that. But...I was wondering if the owner of that light looked to see what caused the fire. Any idea on that?
FWIW, I'm not going with these. I figure I can get a cheap MH/T5 combo for less than the 3 fixtures I would need for a 90 gal. But that has to do with cost vs performance.
Test led
Active Member
Wow, I didn't want to watch the BRS video because of all the comments on post about it. But I just did and I do feel it is a biased video against all black box led lights. As someone who used to run and modify black box fixtures I never once had a problem. Never once had to replace a power supply or a fan unless someone wanted them a little quieter. My local fish store still uses my 4 year old black boxes in his back room to propagate coral before he moves them out for sell under his Radion lit tanks. No fires no power supply failures no burnt out or darkening bulbs. Pretty good track record for 4 black box leds.
I find it funny that no one wants to talk about the krap performance and is completely obsessed with the painting Ryan to be biased! I guess people wanted him to review the product without giving his opinion. If that's what you wanted you guys should've stated that before when he was asking what products you wanted to see tested.
Even if he gave us just the data and no opinion, we would have been claiming that the test was rigged. At this point I hope he just stops doing the testing because we have hobbyist don't deserve the results. No one likes to hear the truth especially when it's about them.
Even if he gave us just the data and no opinion, we would have been claiming that the test was rigged. At this point I hope he just stops doing the testing because we have hobbyist don't deserve the results. No one likes to hear the truth especially when it's about them.
happyhourhero
Burner of the Tips
I dont get krap performance from my lights.
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Oh man...the beating a dead horse thread on quality vs black box. FWIW BRS didn't test the Mars Aqua. The Par per watt was incorrect and wasn't properly tested either. The weird 900+ par from a few diodes had to have been a recording mistake. If you could make any argument about the BBs is the lack of info and inconsistent lenses from one box to another. These things killed DIY lights and make radion G3's look like a boogie nights video. *mic drop*
See what I mean. Ryan was in a no win situation. Since the result wasn't favorable to the BB crowd, "had to have been a recording mistake."
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Maybe because they grow things? LolSee what I mean. Ryan was in a no win situation. Since the result wasn't favorable to the BB crowd, "had to have been a recording mistake."
For what little it's worth, I have two of the MarsAqua 32" units above my 6' 220. I happened to discover them early on in the game, bought one for a 65, and didn't hate it - probably partly because I didn't know any better. That light came in with one diode out, the seller sent a little bag of new diodes, a friend welded it in - and the light's been running well for over a year.
Bought a second unit when I upgraded (too much all-at-once on the budget, and I still didn't hate the lights), and it's providing enough light to keep several different varieties of coral from dying - and to allow them to grow.
One thing to be noted is the lighting array, which must have changed over the intervening time. The older array contains ten "Royal Blue" diodes; visually deeper in color than the rest of the blues, but the newer array (Nov / Dec of 2016) has all blue LEDs visually the same color.
I know my colors aren't as rich as they might be with a different lighting system, and I know my corals might be able to grow faster - heck, I'd love to ramp-up a sunrise, too ... but it beats the spank out of not being able to have a reef at all. (I kind-of get around the sunrise/sunset thing by offsetting the timers by an hour or so - the left side comes on an hour earlier than the right, and goes off an hour earlier, too.)
In some hypothetical future, when I decide to upgrade my lighting, I'll want to look for good bang-for-buck lights, without a ton of FX. My reef probably won't ever need to cycle through the colors of a rainbow or simulate a thunderstorm.
~Bruce
Bought a second unit when I upgraded (too much all-at-once on the budget, and I still didn't hate the lights), and it's providing enough light to keep several different varieties of coral from dying - and to allow them to grow.
One thing to be noted is the lighting array, which must have changed over the intervening time. The older array contains ten "Royal Blue" diodes; visually deeper in color than the rest of the blues, but the newer array (Nov / Dec of 2016) has all blue LEDs visually the same color.
I know my colors aren't as rich as they might be with a different lighting system, and I know my corals might be able to grow faster - heck, I'd love to ramp-up a sunrise, too ... but it beats the spank out of not being able to have a reef at all. (I kind-of get around the sunrise/sunset thing by offsetting the timers by an hour or so - the left side comes on an hour earlier than the right, and goes off an hour earlier, too.)
In some hypothetical future, when I decide to upgrade my lighting, I'll want to look for good bang-for-buck lights, without a ton of FX. My reef probably won't ever need to cycle through the colors of a rainbow or simulate a thunderstorm.
~Bruce
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Ya I have two different kinds of boxes. Neither have failed on me. However I did replaces lenses and diodes for like $15 give or take. Made a tremendous difference and it was relatively easy and I'm a chick. ;Smuggrin
Ryan put himself in a hard place when he didn't mention the brand/source of the BB he tested. As a neutral person, not a member of the BB crowd, the test was essentially worthless. If I was in the market for a BB, the test wouldn't have any real value in my decision as to which BB I would want.
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