Ati Lighting and U.S. Customs

[ale2539]

Is it possible that U.S. Customs can be holding These Ati Light fixtures this long.

It must be at least a month if Clear Choice Distributions Claims on Feb 25 The lights would be ready for immediate distribution on March 1, I'm starting to get a little concern that something might be wrong.


Got this from ATI on March 7
"Unfortunately the shipment has held by US customs. Our distributors customs agent is working hard to get the product released and they will get it out to our dealers as soon as possible, but unfortunately they are the mercy of the US government."

 

[screamingibis]

It's possible. Since the government budget crap has been going on, they've been playing games with every department under the sun. It's just ridiculous.

 

[Jeremy B.]

It's very possible, and I've personally experienced this many times over the years. With customs it's one or two things that usually happens...

1. Your shipment clears through in a day or two.

OR

2. Your shipment clears through in a month - literally.

 

[PrangeWay]

I think manufacturer pull/infulence also helps, Microsoft 2 day'd my Surface from a plant in China on release day with 0 time in customs....

 

[Jeremy B.]

Shipping a small single package internationally via UPS, FedEx, or DHL is nothing like shipping multiple pallets or a full container via another logistics company. There's a lot more involved with a big shipment such as what ATI is shipping.

 

[ale2539]

I understand, but why would they post on their site that their distributor is ready to start distributing the light immediately as of march 1. this was posted on the 25 of feb it they don't even have them at their warehouse, It don't make sense,

 

[Peter Eichler]

If it had cleared customs smoothly and without delay they probably would have been able to start shipping March 1st. It could be a simply be a paperwork formality that's delaying it, so no point in being concerned.

I'm just surprised someone actually bought one of these lights...

 

[GSMguy]

I'm just surprised someone actually bought one of these lights...

Why?

 

[ale2539]

Why?

Yes. Can you please explain why?

 

[Peter Eichler]

The price... Unproven and very high priced, even for a good quality fixture. I could have bought 3 Radions instead of the 5' fixture and saved a bunch of money.

 

[rtparty]

The price... Unproven and very high priced, even for a good quality fixture. I could have bought 3 Radions instead of the 5' fixture and saved a bunch of money.

Unproven? How are T5s unproven?

Let's look at prices by the way.

3 Radion pros will run you $2850 plus hanging kits.

The 60" 8x80w ATI LED powermodule will run you $2350 plus $200 for bulbs.

With the ATI you can easily light a 72x36x30 tank. The Radions will be lucky to cover a 72x24x24. My experience with the Radion shows you won't be able to cover more than a 60x18 with three of them though. No way I would personally push one Radion past an 18x18. Others will disagree but that is just my experience.

You also can't say that you would buy the g2 Radions instead and save the $300 per fixture. You would be comparing apples to oranges at that point. The pros will provide the spectrum that the ATI is going to give you. The g2s won't.

There is no comparison here.

 

[Peter Eichler]

Unproven? How are T5s unproven?

Let's look at prices by the way.

3 Radion pros will run you $2850 plus hanging kits.

The 60" 8x80w ATI LED powermodule will run you $2350 plus $200 for bulbs.

With the ATI you can easily light a 72x36x30 tank. The Radions will be lucky to cover a 72x24x24. My experience with the Radion shows you won't be able to cover more than a 60x18 with three of them though. No way I would personally push one Radion past an 18x18. Others will disagree but that is just my experience.

You also can't say that you would buy the g2 Radions instead and save the $300 per fixture. You would be comparing apples to oranges at that point. The pros will provide the spectrum that the ATI is going to give you. The g2s won't.

There is no comparison here.

The fixtures are unproven in their reliability and particular application, T5's being proven is not in question. Though I must admit, ATI has a good track record.

I don't run Radion's, never have, so maybe you're right about the coverage.

I guess what I was mainly comparing it to in my head was a sunpower or metal halides and the crazy amount of time it will take to make up for any electricity and bulb replacement savings. I would suspect that by the time you start sniffing that time there will be a better fixture on the market that's also cheaper.

 

[rtparty]

The fixtures are unproven in their reliability and particular application, T5's being proven is not in question. Though I must admit, ATI has a good track record.

I don't run Radion's, never have, so maybe you're right about the coverage.

I guess what I was mainly comparing it to in my head was a sunpower or metal halides and the crazy amount of time it will take to make up for any electricity and bulb replacement savings. I would suspect that by the time you start sniffing that time there will be a better fixture on the market that's also cheaper.

The biggest LED myth out there is that they save you a bunch of money. Here in Utah, my electrical usage was the same with LED as it is with T5s.

Bulb replacements are cheap in my opinion. Mine are about $110/year. I spend more than that in a month going out to dinner. It isn't tough to save a few dollars here and there.

I know that ATI put a ton of research behind this light and has been testing them for a while to make sure everything was alright. I heard word about this light almost two years ago.

 

[GSMguy]

The fixtures are unproven in their reliability and particular application, T5's being proven is not in question. Though I must admit, ATI has a good track record.

I don't run Radion's, never have, so maybe you're right about the coverage.

I guess what I was mainly comparing it to in my head was a sunpower or metal halides and the crazy amount of time it will take to make up for any electricity and bulb replacement savings. I would suspect that by the time you start sniffing that time there will be a better fixture on the market that's also cheaper.

Let's compare apples to apples the ATI is not a budget fixture. Radion pros to cover the same area would be more expensive, stiligfoli more expensive, GHL Mitras more expensive.

In other words they are competitively priced in comparison to their competition.

 

[karsseboom]

The fixtures are unproven in their reliability and particular application, T5's being proven is not in question. Though I must admit, ATI has a good track record.

I don't run Radion's, never have, so maybe you're right about the coverage.

I guess what I was mainly comparing it to in my head was a sunpower or metal halides and the crazy amount of time it will take to make up for any electricity and bulb replacement savings. I would suspect that by the time you start sniffing that time there will be a better fixture on the market that's also cheaper.

Utterly completely false claim.

Ati is hands down one of, if not the most proven lighting fixture you can buy end of question.

Out of the last 6 totm 4 of them were running ati fixtures. Not just t5 but ati fixtures....now if that's not
an incentive to buy there product I don't know what is. You need to go back to drawing board.

Sniffing around? Ati fixture didn't come out lat year. That have been around for at least 6 years and are still the top fixture in the world.

 

[buckeyereefer1]

there was some problems the beginning of the month with customs. the government was trying to do away with OT with customs. but customs QUICKLY fell way behind an OT was approved again. was this the OP's problem no idea. but could be.

 

[Peter Eichler]

Utterly completely false claim.

Ati is hands down one of, if not the most proven lighting fixture you can buy end of question.

Out of the last 6 totm 4 of them were running ati fixtures. Not just t5 but ati fixtures....now if that's not
an incentive to buy there product I don't know what is. You need to go back to drawing board.

Sniffing around? Ati fixture didn't come out lat year. That have been around for at least 6 years and are still the top fixture in the world.

What part of "though I must admit, ATI has a good track record" did you not understand? They make damn good fixture... Which is why I'm having a hard time justifying the price of these over just straight T5's such as a sunpower or a power module, other quality LED fixtures, or quality MH pendants. Also, ATI has carved out their niche with T5's.

I've been in this hobby long enough to see lighting companies fall flat on their face when transitioning to a different type of lighting.

I'm not very knowledgeable about LED's so if anyone would like to chime in one the believed quality of the LED's used in the fixture compared to other LED's on the market I would be interested to hear.

 

[Peter Eichler]

Let's compare apples to apples the ATI is not a budget fixture. Radion pros to cover the same area would be more expensive, stiligfoli more expensive, GHL Mitras more expensive.

In other words they are competitively priced in comparison to their competition.

In relation to my question on the LED's, why do they need to be compared to the Pro's if we're comparing to staright LED's?

 

[Dave Thebrewguy]

The biggest LED myth out there is that they save you a bunch of money. Here in Utah, my electrical usage was the same with LED as it is with T5s.

There is only one way that this can possibly be true. If electricity is free in Utah than both will use $0 in electricity. In places where one needs to pay for electricity, using 60% less electricity results in an electric bill that is 60% smaller.
A 4x54w T-5 fixture (216w total) did not put enough light for my 90 gal. I'm now running 70 LEDs ( about 175 watts total but run at only 2/3 power) on a 200w power supply and have more light than I would have if I'd bought a 6x54w (324w) instead.
It must be nice to have free electricity in Utah.

 

[rtparty]

There is only one way that this can possibly be true. If electricity is free in Utah than both will use $0 in electricity. In places where one needs to pay for electricity, using 60% less electricity results in an electric bill that is 60% smaller.
A 4x54w T-5 fixture (216w total) did not put enough light for my 90 gal. I'm now running 70 LEDs ( about 175 watts total but run at only 2/3 power) on a 200w power supply and have more light than I would have if I'd bought a 6x54w (324w) instead.
It must be nice to have free electricity in Utah.

Let's see:

96w of T5s compared to 105w of LED. 10w isn't enough to even worry about.

So you tell me, smart guy.