Help with LED install

PCKRAJ

PCKRAJ

New member
Anyone have any info on how to contact Mike from Ultrashineled's? He did a custom install of led's for my 6' tank in January. The white lights on the front have all dimmed and I've tried to call him for over a month and he's not returning any of my calls.

He did a nice job on the lights and came back once to fix a problem, but now I'm getting worried that he's out of business or something - and I don't know what to do next - this cost me over $1000.00

Any ideas????

Thanks
 
Sorry to hear about it. That is usually a terrible sign when they don't call back. You can always see if one of the people on URS who have built their own LED fixture can help replace a dimmer.
 
Yep, it appears we're screwed. We live in Alden and would so appreciate it if anyone with led experience could come over and take a look.

I just checked and his website is no longer there. Does anyone know if there is any legal action we could take?

I just don't understand how someone could do this. I guess I'm too trusting. I hope he's okay, seemed like a really nice guy.
 
Carol, are the blues and whites on separate drivers. ?? Just wondering if you can switch them out and see if its a driver problem...

Greg
 
Careful, that might not be the greatest idea depending on the lamps used... Sometimes drivers are very tailored to voltage and current rating of the diodes themselves. You don't want to OD them and either fry the LED's, and/or toast your corals.
 
Ohh yea, great catch flech, didn't even think that. . But if she has the same amount of blues and whites its feasible correct. ?
 
Depends on the specifics of the LEDs and drivers. It's pretty common for different colors of LEDs to have different maximum drive currents, and for them to be driven differently. For instance, a build with Cree XP-G whites (max 1.5A) and XP-E royal blues (max 1A) might have a white driver running at 1.5A and a blue driver running at 1A. Swapping the blues to the white's driver could fry the blues.

Hopefully some documentation exchanged hands giving you some sort of an explanation about what you were getting in terms of LEDs, drivers, and other components? That would be the best way to get help on here. Otherwise, close up photos of any labels or writing on the drivers would be good.

Are any of the LEDs not lit? Or are they just really dim?
 
Yeah, with a custom-made fixture, I'd be a bit careful about swapping drivers. Even if the number of diodes is the same, they might be operating at different forward voltages. And if the driver used is a linear style that's tweaked closely to the total forward voltage, you could over-whelm the driver and break that if it's not heat-sunk properly. It's really a "know before you swap" sort of thing :)
 
SkiFletch said:
And if the driver used is a linear style that's tweaked closely to the total forward voltage,
Click to expand...

This is why legit LED drivers include things like thermal cutoffs and undervoltage lockout. There are definitely DIY drivers out there without these features but I'm not aware of any commercial units you can fry by underloading them.
 
The first link (below) shows up fine. We'll need to see more pictures of the wiring behind the LED's, and the drivers to really help

100_3053.jpg
 
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