Resistor is covered with the melted heat shrink the other picture you see is the capacitor that blew up. I can open them up when i get some time and send you the pics. Thanks Wingo.
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Opinion on LED's?
- Thread starter vinnymang
- Start date
Resistor is covered with the melted heat shrink the other picture you see is the capacitor that blew up. I can open them up when i get some time and send you the pics. Thanks Wingo.
Without getting to in depth about this shoot us a pm. We have spare parts and will take of it for you. No cost. By the way we are new on the forum and are in the process of filling out a vendor application. Just looking to help this guy out. So please no attacks just yet.LOL
- Location
- patchogue long island
ryangrieder
Advanced Reefer
- Location
- Northern Jersey
just throwing it out there... might not be "the best" in alot of eyes on here, but if money is any issue and you wanted a simple led fixture, i just got a new 141w led fixture for 160 bucks about a month ago. its not dimmable but honestly i absolutely love my light. i have one over a solana tank and its amazing. and 141w for 160 bucks is not that bad. you figure if you got 4 of them, that would be 640 bucks, and 564 watts of leds. thats not too bad in my eyes. just throwing it out there...
wow. awful. I guess you can never know for sure. As much as it sucks paying top dollar i guess in the end it's worth it... :/
Could have been a lot worse the way I look at it. If i wasn't there when this capacitor blew up or when the heatshrink smoked up who knows what could have happened? The capacitor popped with enough force to char the inside of the light and the surrounding circuitry before the GFI popped. Just glad it happened when i was there and not just the wife and kids.
Thanks Fathom Pm'd u
Thanks Fathom Pm'd u
- Location
- Flushing NY 11355
If you are to replace the same parts, the light is going to burn the same way like before because it feels like there is a design fault not just bad parts. Furthermore, it looks like a voltage driver and not a constant current driver you got there. You have to drop the voltage to the appropriate level with a new voltage regulator.
In my opinion, I would just drop the existing driver for good and use a new constant current driver.
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The issue indeed was a design flaw among other issues with the light. This is a voltage driver which feeds the display panel,controller, the fans and then goes into the constant current supply for the leds. We reworked the circuit and are just getting rid of the spare parts reworked as we dropped the unit so no need to have them sit on a shelf. So basically just helping this guy out.
???????????
Not following you either.
- Location
- Franklin Square
I decided to put the money where it pays off and went with AI sol super blues. Bought a 3 unit package from salty supply. I appreciate everyone's opinions and stories of their own lighting situations. It definitely helped influence my decision.
For what it's worth, I have five of the Fathom units over my 150XH.
Prior to this I had 2 e-shine 48x3w CREE units with controllers (not enough). Prior to THAT I had two Radions (DEFINITELY not enough).
Each had their pros and cons. The Radions were obviously the most configurable and offered the most flexibility. However they just aren't enough for my tank. And the thought of spending another $650 for a third was just not something I felt was right to do. (and it STILL wouldn't have been enough!)
I tried the E-shines as I got them for a decent price as a group buy. They each had 3w*48 CREE in a 50/50 mix of 8ish-K white and royal blue. They also had wired controllers that were very bulky and difficult to place since they also supplied the light unit's power. Of all the controller designs I've ever seen, this one was by far the worst.
A friend of mine turned me on to these Fathom pharos units and showed them to me on the web. It piqued my interest enough to get in touch with them. I purchased several units as I really wasn't sure how many I was going to need over my tank. After dealing with inadequate and uneven lighting, my goal was to achieve the best *coverage* over my tank so I could even things out.
I already knew 2 Fathom Pharos units wouldn't be enough. If two 144w E-Shines weren't enough for adequate coverage, I knew two 90w units wouldn't be either.
After trying 3 units, the Fathoms were absolutely better covering than the E-shine units, despite their smaller size and slightly less wattage output. But since my 150 is 24" front to back, it left some dull spots near the front and rear of my tank. At that point I felt it was prudent to go to 5 units.
In fact, with the "H" layout I am using, I *MAY* even add a 6th unit.
These units have its own set of pros and cons, but I have to say - of the solutions I've tried so far it is by far the most cost effective and flexible.
First, the pros - these units come the closest I have seen a 20k Metal Halide bulb in color. The whites I believe are overdriven at 5W each (some might see that as a con, but I don't). They also include multiple white-spectrum whites to "punch" into some other color spectrums. The blue lighting obviously rounds out the color to that of a 20k bulb to my eyes.
Even my friend who is quite skeptical of the current crop of LED units says the color rendition is the best he's seen yet in the LED space (Asonitez is his nick, but we affectionately call him "T"
What sets these lights apart from the E-shines is the wireless controller. With the wireless controller, you have three modes of operation. You can get the default "full auto" mode which has a preprogrammed schedule of intensity that varies from 0-100% in 1% increments. This is obviously not my cup of tea
You also have manual modes that allow you to set the white and blue channels individually. (Granted, this isn't as flexible as the Radion's ability to control EACH color channnel, but for my purposes it's absolutely fine.)
Then there's the "user customizable" program that allows you to program 12 different "points" independently on the white and blue channels (12 points each). With this schedule the lights ramp to the percentage you assign over the course of time defined. For instance, if point 1 is set to start at 11am at 15% intensity and point 2 is set to start at 2pm at 50% intensity, then the lights will ramp from 15% to 50% between 11am and 2pm in 1% increments over that period.
This is pretty much how the Radion does it, though it does it across every color channel whereas the Fathom Pharos does it over two channels, each independently controlled. Plenty for what I need.
Additionally, when the assigned white and blue points fall outside a time that's considered "unassigned", that's when Moonlight mode comes on. You can configure the moonlight intensity of the blue channel to be 0 to 15% of total. These lights also have a "Lunar Phase" mode that will briefly ramp the whites to appear like the moon is poking through clouds or what not. While some might get spooked by this mode (as it does ramp the whites quite high for a few minutes), it hasn't caused any negative effects on my tank or its inhabitants.
Similarly during the daytime hours, there's a "Cloud Cover" simulation that will vary the white/blue channels to mimic a cloud passing overhead. It's a neat effect, but it's obviously aesthetic. But again, no negative effects on my inhabitants. The cloud mode is also configurable in 3 steps of frequency (Never to frequently).
Another nice thing about these controllable lights is that you can hook up several to control with a single controller. Once you "sync" them to the controller the first time, all of your lights work in concert with that controller. It's essentially a "one to many" relationship between the controller and lights.
Now, there's a few negatives to these lights - though I don't consider them show-stoppers.
First - at 100% intensity the fans will be audible. They aren't HIDEOUSLY loud, but you'll hear a slight whine from them spinning. For me it's quite slight, in fact there are other noises that happen in my sump that are louder.
Second, the controller is "wireless" in that it communicates via RF from the controller to the light units. The controller uses a simple mini-USB (new style, like android phones) power connector which works with either a USB cable or a USB power adapter wall-wart. And yes, an Android supplemental/auxiliary battery pack also works to make it truly wireless if you need it to be.
Third, the wireless controller appears to have to be in range of the lights at all times if you're going to use the user-defined schedule (I'll have to confirm with Fathom if there's a way to "save" the program to the light units themselves - this isn't something I have verified to be true yet, but it appears so from what limited testing I've done.)
Finally, your lens options may be currently limited. I had 80 degree optics put in my units, but it would have been nice if I could have put some 90 or even 120 degree optics in a few critical points. I hear they're working on this though!
For the sake of completeness, here's the specs of my setup:
150XH (48x30x24) tank, stand and hood (all Marineland)
5 Pharos LED units & controller
165lb rock
2" sandbed
Various Acro/Monti/Stylos/Pocillos/yadda yadda in the top half of the tank (all started from frags, many given to me for free by fellow reefers), Plenty of LPS throughout (some Euphs, Acans, Favites, etc), Plenty of Zoanthids, Palys, Mushrooms and other softies near the bottom), two Maxima clams in the sandbed (healthy and happy).
2x Tunze 6095's for flow
I run an SWC 180 skimmer, Ozone via Ozotech Poseidon T'd to my skimmer, a Coralife 250 Calcium Reactor (which runs surprisingly well despite that it's a Coralife!), Biopellets and GFO in reactor cans, all in my 40 gallon breeder sump. I also use a cheap JBJ ATO unit to top off (which I run Kalk in as well).
Everything aside from the lights and ATO is controlled by 4 probes connected to my Apex Aquacontroller (Base "Full" unit plus probe addon and extra EB8 power strip). 1 temp probe, 2 pH probes (1 in sump, one in calc reactor), 1 ORP probe to control Ozone.
Hope this helps anyone looking into the Fathom Pharos units. I find them to be very capable, and for now they are probably the only game in town besides the AI SOLs in my opinion (unless you have VERY deep pockets to buy a ton of Radions). Also note, I run these lights at 85% brightness MAX. Any higher is simply too much and causes many corals to close up, particularly softies.
Latest tank pic for those interested: http://www.weckstrom.com/~karl/tank.jpg
Prior to this I had 2 e-shine 48x3w CREE units with controllers (not enough). Prior to THAT I had two Radions (DEFINITELY not enough).
Each had their pros and cons. The Radions were obviously the most configurable and offered the most flexibility. However they just aren't enough for my tank. And the thought of spending another $650 for a third was just not something I felt was right to do. (and it STILL wouldn't have been enough!)
I tried the E-shines as I got them for a decent price as a group buy. They each had 3w*48 CREE in a 50/50 mix of 8ish-K white and royal blue. They also had wired controllers that were very bulky and difficult to place since they also supplied the light unit's power. Of all the controller designs I've ever seen, this one was by far the worst.
A friend of mine turned me on to these Fathom pharos units and showed them to me on the web. It piqued my interest enough to get in touch with them. I purchased several units as I really wasn't sure how many I was going to need over my tank. After dealing with inadequate and uneven lighting, my goal was to achieve the best *coverage* over my tank so I could even things out.
I already knew 2 Fathom Pharos units wouldn't be enough. If two 144w E-Shines weren't enough for adequate coverage, I knew two 90w units wouldn't be either.
After trying 3 units, the Fathoms were absolutely better covering than the E-shine units, despite their smaller size and slightly less wattage output. But since my 150 is 24" front to back, it left some dull spots near the front and rear of my tank. At that point I felt it was prudent to go to 5 units.
In fact, with the "H" layout I am using, I *MAY* even add a 6th unit.
These units have its own set of pros and cons, but I have to say - of the solutions I've tried so far it is by far the most cost effective and flexible.
First, the pros - these units come the closest I have seen a 20k Metal Halide bulb in color. The whites I believe are overdriven at 5W each (some might see that as a con, but I don't). They also include multiple white-spectrum whites to "punch" into some other color spectrums. The blue lighting obviously rounds out the color to that of a 20k bulb to my eyes.
Even my friend who is quite skeptical of the current crop of LED units says the color rendition is the best he's seen yet in the LED space (Asonitez is his nick, but we affectionately call him "T"
What sets these lights apart from the E-shines is the wireless controller. With the wireless controller, you have three modes of operation. You can get the default "full auto" mode which has a preprogrammed schedule of intensity that varies from 0-100% in 1% increments. This is obviously not my cup of tea
You also have manual modes that allow you to set the white and blue channels individually. (Granted, this isn't as flexible as the Radion's ability to control EACH color channnel, but for my purposes it's absolutely fine.)
Then there's the "user customizable" program that allows you to program 12 different "points" independently on the white and blue channels (12 points each). With this schedule the lights ramp to the percentage you assign over the course of time defined. For instance, if point 1 is set to start at 11am at 15% intensity and point 2 is set to start at 2pm at 50% intensity, then the lights will ramp from 15% to 50% between 11am and 2pm in 1% increments over that period.
This is pretty much how the Radion does it, though it does it across every color channel whereas the Fathom Pharos does it over two channels, each independently controlled. Plenty for what I need.
Additionally, when the assigned white and blue points fall outside a time that's considered "unassigned", that's when Moonlight mode comes on. You can configure the moonlight intensity of the blue channel to be 0 to 15% of total. These lights also have a "Lunar Phase" mode that will briefly ramp the whites to appear like the moon is poking through clouds or what not. While some might get spooked by this mode (as it does ramp the whites quite high for a few minutes), it hasn't caused any negative effects on my tank or its inhabitants.
Similarly during the daytime hours, there's a "Cloud Cover" simulation that will vary the white/blue channels to mimic a cloud passing overhead. It's a neat effect, but it's obviously aesthetic. But again, no negative effects on my inhabitants. The cloud mode is also configurable in 3 steps of frequency (Never to frequently).
Another nice thing about these controllable lights is that you can hook up several to control with a single controller. Once you "sync" them to the controller the first time, all of your lights work in concert with that controller. It's essentially a "one to many" relationship between the controller and lights.
Now, there's a few negatives to these lights - though I don't consider them show-stoppers.
First - at 100% intensity the fans will be audible. They aren't HIDEOUSLY loud, but you'll hear a slight whine from them spinning. For me it's quite slight, in fact there are other noises that happen in my sump that are louder.
Second, the controller is "wireless" in that it communicates via RF from the controller to the light units. The controller uses a simple mini-USB (new style, like android phones) power connector which works with either a USB cable or a USB power adapter wall-wart. And yes, an Android supplemental/auxiliary battery pack also works to make it truly wireless if you need it to be.
Third, the wireless controller appears to have to be in range of the lights at all times if you're going to use the user-defined schedule (I'll have to confirm with Fathom if there's a way to "save" the program to the light units themselves - this isn't something I have verified to be true yet, but it appears so from what limited testing I've done.)
Finally, your lens options may be currently limited. I had 80 degree optics put in my units, but it would have been nice if I could have put some 90 or even 120 degree optics in a few critical points. I hear they're working on this though!
For the sake of completeness, here's the specs of my setup:
150XH (48x30x24) tank, stand and hood (all Marineland)
5 Pharos LED units & controller
165lb rock
2" sandbed
Various Acro/Monti/Stylos/Pocillos/yadda yadda in the top half of the tank (all started from frags, many given to me for free by fellow reefers), Plenty of LPS throughout (some Euphs, Acans, Favites, etc), Plenty of Zoanthids, Palys, Mushrooms and other softies near the bottom), two Maxima clams in the sandbed (healthy and happy).
2x Tunze 6095's for flow
I run an SWC 180 skimmer, Ozone via Ozotech Poseidon T'd to my skimmer, a Coralife 250 Calcium Reactor (which runs surprisingly well despite that it's a Coralife!), Biopellets and GFO in reactor cans, all in my 40 gallon breeder sump. I also use a cheap JBJ ATO unit to top off (which I run Kalk in as well).
Everything aside from the lights and ATO is controlled by 4 probes connected to my Apex Aquacontroller (Base "Full" unit plus probe addon and extra EB8 power strip). 1 temp probe, 2 pH probes (1 in sump, one in calc reactor), 1 ORP probe to control Ozone.
Hope this helps anyone looking into the Fathom Pharos units. I find them to be very capable, and for now they are probably the only game in town besides the AI SOLs in my opinion (unless you have VERY deep pockets to buy a ton of Radions). Also note, I run these lights at 85% brightness MAX. Any higher is simply too much and causes many corals to close up, particularly softies.
Latest tank pic for those interested: http://www.weckstrom.com/~karl/tank.jpg
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amazing!
Customer service was the biggest thing that influenced my decision to go with Wingo's "Cree Brick LEDs".
The other reason was of course the price. I can not afford the prices of all the other well known manufacturers. I have 4 units of the "Cree Bricks" on my 6' 155 gallon bow front mixed reef, and I am very happy with them as so are my corals.:cheers:AWESOME! Maybe you can answer a few questions for me then?
First - does the wireless controller always need to be in the vicinity of the light fixture in order to "control" it? If not, how does the program you set up on the controller get "saved" to the light unit?
Second - What triggers the "moon phase" behavior during moonlight times? How about the cloud stuff? The three settings for clouds isn't very intuitive and doesn't appear to change the behavior much.
Thanks!
-Karl
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