EchoTech Radion LED salt ingestion?

[mikejrice]

i believe it is = to a 250w mh. mrsaltwatertank showed that. and it is a good product. i was just concerned that a splash could damage this 800dollar fixture.

i have had mh burst from a splash at about 9" awl. so of course i know it happens. if ecotech says a splash is no prob ok. do they?

EcoTech didn't give me details on the fan yet, but they did tell me directly that splashing and moister won't be a problem for the light.

 

[pmrossetti]

EcoTech didn't give me details on the fan yet, but they did tell me directly that splashing and moister won't be a problem for the light.

that's great to hear. we can just judge on the merits then.thanks for the info.

 

[aninjaatemyshoe]

This issue is a legitimate concern. Most of us experience some degree of salt spray from our tanks, particularly if you use a lot of flow near the surface of the tank. While this tends to be little more than a nuisance in many cases, I cannot think of an instance where you have a fan that is actually actively sucking air directly from the surface of the tank. Maybe this won't be a problem for most people who plan to keep their Radion fairly high above the water. However, these lights apparently are actually designed/intended to be placed closer to the water.

From the Advanced Aquarist Preview:
"The large parabolic reflectors help to focus the total light output over the intended coverage area. As a result, the Radions can be mounted closer to the water surface (if desired) compared to other LED lights."

For those of us that might want to place it closer to the water, I think we might experience some issues with salt buildup, even if the fan is made of corrosion-resistant materials.

Also, in regards to the comments about how excellent Ecotech is with engineering and design, even the best engineering teams can overlook things (ahem, NASA). Besides, it is hardly a good argument against a reasonable concern to say "well, they're a company with such a good track record, so I can't see anything going wrong."

 

[pmrossetti]

This issue is a legitimate concern. Most of us experience some degree of salt spray from our tanks, particularly if you use a lot of flow near the surface of the tank. While this tends to be little more than a nuisance in many cases, I cannot think of an instance where you have a fan that is actually actively sucking air directly from the surface of the tank. Maybe this won't be a problem for most people who plan to keep their Radion fairly high above the water. However, these lights apparently are actually designed/intended to be placed closer to the water.

From the Advanced Aquarist Preview:
"The large parabolic reflectors help to focus the total light output over the intended coverage area. As a result, the Radions can be mounted closer to the water surface (if desired) compared to other LED lights."

For those of us that might want to place it closer to the water, I think we might experience some issues with salt buildup, even if the fan is made of corrosion-resistant materials.

Also, in regards to the comments about how excellent Ecotech is with engineering and design, even the best engineering teams can overlook things (ahem, NASA). Besides, it is hardly a good argument against a reasonable concern to say "well, they're a company with such a good track record, so I can't see anything going wrong."

thanks a, more articulate than me.

 

[MedRed]

This issue is a legitimate concern. Most of us experience some degree of salt spray from our tanks, particularly if you use a lot of flow near the surface of the tank. While this tends to be little more than a nuisance in many cases, I cannot think of an instance where you have a fan that is actually actively sucking air directly from the surface of the tank. Maybe this won't be a problem for most people who plan to keep their Radion fairly high above the water. However, these lights apparently are actually designed/intended to be placed closer to the water.

From the Advanced Aquarist Preview:
"The large parabolic reflectors help to focus the total light output over the intended coverage area. As a result, the Radions can be mounted closer to the water surface (if desired) compared to other LED lights."

For those of us that might want to place it closer to the water, I think we might experience some issues with salt buildup, even if the fan is made of corrosion-resistant materials.

Also, in regards to the comments about how excellent Ecotech is with engineering and design, even the best engineering teams can overlook things (ahem, NASA). Besides, it is hardly a good argument against a reasonable concern to say "well, they're a company with such a good track record, so I can't see anything going wrong."

The LED and electronics are still sealed away from the fan intake and the heatsinks. Even if salt were to end up in the fan, it'd be easy to clean. It's not like it will be in there ruining the electronics.

 

[Runfrumu]

Can someone help me better understand why we need and ATO if salt does not evaporate? I know some end up in the skimmer collection cup but not the rate my ATO reservoir needs to be filled.

Water evaporates, salt doesnt. If you didn't use an ATO, eventually you would end up with a big glass box of dried salt.

Your not topping off your tank with salt water are you?

 

[alton]

Guys I am aways amazed when I see people place expensive lights over open water. When I change to LED I will be using glass tops for a couple of reasons;
1. Protect my investment making sure they last 10 years
2. Since I have no heat no reason to have all the evaporation for cooling, saving a ton of RO water.
3. Plus with winter comiing on keep a bunch of heat in my tank so I do not have to invest in a large heater.
I will still have some evaporation due to my oversize sump amd fan blowing fresh air into my stand. Of the 10 aquariums I setup in the last twenty years the ones with glass tops had less issues with bad algae also

 

[aninjaatemyshoe]

The LED and electronics are still sealed away from the fan intake and the heatsinks. Even if salt were to end up in the fan, it'd be easy to clean. It's not like it will be in there ruining the electronics.

My main concern is buildup within the channel between where the air enters the fan and where it leaves out the sides of the fixture. This part of the light will not be easy to clean from salt. If you do have buildup here, you will get a reduction in cooling of the lights.

 

[PowermanKW]

Salt......... Does....... Not...... Evaporate. I think everyone misses this point! Why do you think you topoff with ro/di an not saltwater?

Now, random splashes could get up there, but typically, led's are hung higher than everything else so it shouldn't be a problem

The point you are missing is that it is not 100% gas that comes off the surface of water, it is vapor, and salt most definitely will leave in vapor. All substances have a moisture content in the process of evaporation, it is only until all the vapor has been turned to gas that it is in a pure state... H2O. Until then it has everything in it.

Now I don't have a problem with the fixture... not to say Ecotech can't make a mistake.... but you can be sure they have done what they feel is necessary to minimize any shortcomings from their design. So we shall see over time in the real world if those drawbacks have been adressed adequately enough. But it does crack me up that everyone seems to be having a cow over a photo without actually seeing the fixture, or having a clue as to the internal structure.... that basically Ecotech has blown a design that any two year old can plainly see is wrong. I don't think so.

 

[aninjaatemyshoe]

Water evaporates, salt doesnt. If you didn't use an ATO, eventually you would end up with a big glass box of dried salt.

Your not topping off your tank with salt water are you?

Again, salt spray does occur in many/most tanks. Ever notice the salty residue that collects on anything lying right above your tank. Wonder how it got there when that area never comes in direct contact with the water?

 

[BonsaiNut]

Reverse the mounting on the fan and have it blow downwards?

 

[PowermanKW]

...but even then a pushing fan will put the same salty spray on the same fins at roughly the same speed.

A pulling fan is simply more efficient as a design, i wouldn't have it any other way. (On a heat sink anyway.)

I have no idea what that means... there is no such thing at a pushing or pulling fan... fans have an inlet and an outlet. Low pressure, high pressure. Fluid flows from high to low pressure. This fan is discharging air across a heat sink.

 

[PowermanKW]

Reverse the wiring on the fan and have it blow downwards?

What will that solve?

 

[mikejrice]

Reverse the mounting on the fan and have it blow downwards?

That would vent fixture heat directly onto the water.

I'm working on getting some more information from EcoTech about the fan.

 

[djk83]

This thread makes me lol. Ecotech is a proven company. If you doubt their research and products you can buy an oddysea fixture.

 

[ganjero]

This thread makes me lol. Ecotech is a proven company. If you doubt their research and products you can buy an oddysea fixture.

Theres is not such thing as a proven company, specially when they are going into a new field.

 

[djk83]

Theres is not such thing as a proven company, specially when they are going into a new field.

Then as I said buy something else.

 

[ganjero]

When I pointed out my concerns about salt/water getting in the USB port, fans and other electronics the first answer I received was that I was determined against their product (which is not true). I decided to ask specific questions including more info about the fans and I received a better answer with good information (too subjective for my taste) but not precise facts:

No problem!

I can understand one's concern with the fans being on the bottom but we have tested this and there are no issues that were not also present with a fan on the top. Occasional splashing is actually not that big of an issue to a fan. The hardest condition for any fan is when the operating environment is sealed, such as within a canopy. When the fans are open to the room's air there is very little issue. Also, the channel that the fan blows into is completely separate from the electronics portion and we've inspected Radion fans run in extreme environments and have never seen salt within the electronics chamber.

Our fan can be kept in good health through basic maintenance of blowing the dust out every month or so and wiping down any salt that may get on it, plus it is replaceable and economically so. Lastly it is a very high quality NMB fan.

If you have concerns (like myself) I would say this fixture is not for you right now, I think we just have to wait until these lights are out and we get feedback from first hand experiences.

 

[aninjaatemyshoe]

This thread makes me lol. Ecotech is a proven company. If you doubt their research and products you can buy an oddysea fixture.

This comment is frankly one of the most fallacious and sophomoric ones I've read on RC in awhile. First of all, I don't think anyone (certainly not me) is directly attacking Ecotech or even this fixture overall. We're simply commenting on this particular design feature. Secondly, if you insist on being a fanboy of a company without any independent reasoning, go right ahead; nobody is stopping you.

 

[wayne in norway]

Ecotech are a good company, but that doesn't mean everything is perfect. I still have issues with my MP40 failing however....

I guess we're going to need to treat this like any other aquarium product with fans. It's not a great enviroment for fans, and a number will fail. Plennty of ATI fans fail, I've had clipon fans fail and I'm sure some Radion fans will fail too. As long as they're replacable at a decent price and relatively easily without voiding the warranty it's not a showstopper problem.

I'd be annoyed if the innards were prone to damage from saltwater splashing tho' as even tho' salt evaporation is negligible (not zero) I still get plenty of splashes on my ATI cover.

I'm not sure it would make much difference sucking or blowing?