Kessil Club

[JamesHolt]

Yes, I like the clean look too. But I also designed the entire display to be part of the decor of our remodeled living room...

Gonna need a bigger flower pot to hide the Kessil.....lol
Should have done a taller pot with a false bottom, hide the Kessil in the false bottom...:artist:

Going tomorrow to measure the par on a few different models, my LFS has several hanging over half his coral display tank (6'x6'x12") also has a large led panel and a MH on the other half..
The Kessils put out alot more light with a much nicer shimmer

 

[mmittlesteadt]

Gonna need a bigger flower pot to hide the Kessil.....lol
Should have done a taller pot with a false bottom, hide the Kessil in the false bottom...:artist:

Going tomorrow to measure the par on a few different models, my LFS has several hanging over half his coral display tank (6'x6'x12") also has a large led panel and a MH on the other half..
The Kessils put out alot more light with a much nicer shimmer

LOL. Good idea, but my wife beat you to it. She had an artificial vine plant with flowers and the Kessil (and the boom from the mic stand to hold it) now is concealed in a plant.

Yes, the Kessils really do put out a tremendous amount of light for such a tiny fixture.

 

[mrg02d]

17 gallon sps a160

17 gallon sps a160

I'm starting up a new, rimless, 17 gallon. I just ordered a 160 Kessil and the gooseneck for it. I am switching from a 20g acrylic mixed tank. At first I figured the 160 was overkill. Now I read a lot of conflicting ideas.

Can someone convince I am okay with a single 160 over my tank? It's 24in long, 12in wide and 14in tall. I plan to have my liverock under the 160 with the sps under the light. The Zoas and lps corals will go further out from the 160 spread.

So should I be okay? I'm coming from an older,custom, led light using 3w Cree leds. My sps have been growing under them and have good colors. Seems the Kessil 160 ought to be a major upgrade, no?

Matt

 

[minus9]

I have a single 160 over a 23x12x14 tank and have no problem growing sps.

 

[moondoggy4]

Welcome to Reef Central and the Kessil Club Matt.

A nice thing about a little light bleed off it is a perfect place to acclimate your corals

 

[mrg02d]

Welcome to Reef Central and the Kessil Club Matt.

A nice thing about a little light bleed off it is a perfect place to acclimate your corals

Thank you! I was hoping that would be the case. Good to hear you are seeing success minus9. I began to worry after reading how small a tank the 360 was getting advised for. For what these things are, they really should be good for more than pico tanks.

Minus9, what intensity are you running your 160 on?

 

[grego84]

I have 2 160s over a 57gal, it seems like enough light...but I don't have any sps yet so I can't really weigh in on that.

 

[grego84]

I took all my pictures off google last night and just noticed that I completely broke this thread. Sorry for that...looks like I cant go back and edit my posts to fix it.

 

[minus9]

I'm running about 85% now, backing down from 88% and I may back down to 80%, just waiting to see how everything reacts with a little less intensity.
Here's a quick shot I took a couple of hours ago. Not the best, but you get the idea.

 

[fourzero]

Have had 2 A350W units fail, same failure mode. See details here: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2506698

 

[grego84]

Have had 2 A350W units fail, same failure mode. See details here: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2506698

hmm starting to regret buying these if they will just fail outside of warranty

 

[mrg02d]

I'm running about 85% now, backing down from 88% and I may back down to 80%, just waiting to see how everything reacts with a little less intensity.
Here's a quick shot I took a couple of hours ago. Not the best, but you get the idea.

Looking good. I see a lot of people went with the 360, even on small tanks. I'm guessing none actually tried out this smaller and cheaper 160 first? Haven't seen anyone mention having to upgrade to the larger lights or buy another 160.

 

[Newbie Aquarist]

hmm starting to regret buying these if they will just fail outside of warranty

I'm sure that Kessil has addressed that issue and encorperated the fix in the new 160/360s and hopefully in the AP700s.

 

[mrg02d]

I'm sure that Kessil has addressed that issue and encorperated the fix in the new 160/360s and hopefully in the AP700s.

Could have also been a bad batch. Bad solder joint.

 

[JamesHolt]

2 - 2 1/2 year old lights failed, think how many on/off cycles that it has done (hanging over a salty tank).
The one pic looks like the wire tie they used for positioning of the wire was a little loose and loaded the connector up, the way it was turned it would be pulling against the split in the connector....
Add in some time and salty air and POOF...

 

[grego84]

Valid points, I suppose we will see if it's been fixed in due time.

 

[fourzero]

The two oldest lights I have that failed were from F/N E329222-QOVZ.

I have a third slightly newer light from F/N E353101-QOVZ, this one is just barely starting to turn brown.



The fourth, newest light (that was sold to me at a discount to replace the very first one that failed, is also from F/N E353101-QOVZ. They have done away with the 2 pin connector altogether!



So... the good news is, looks like newer lights have done away with the problematic connector altogether. Given that two lights with the same F/N are configured very differently, it must have been a change made over the course of time, unfortunately I don't know how to decipher their S/N or F/N data.

I have been contacted by Kessil and sent them all S/N, F/N and additional pictures. We will see what the response is. They have escalated it to engineering.

 

[fourzero]

Could have also been a bad batch. Bad solder joint.

It's not a solder joint, it's a white 2-pin connector on the +48VDC supply to the unit. Take a look at the other thread.

 

[fourzero]

2 - 2 1/2 year old lights failed, think how many on/off cycles that it has done (hanging over a salty tank).
The one pic looks like the wire tie they used for positioning of the wire was a little loose and loaded the connector up, the way it was turned it would be pulling against the split in the connector....
Add in some time and salty air and POOF...

If the expected lifespan of expensive LED units is acceptable at 2.5 years, that kind of ruins the economics, no?

2.5 years, turned on/off 913 times, run for 10 hrs. a day, 9,125 hours before failure. That sucks, when everyone is expecting 50,000..

 

[JamesHolt]

If the expected lifespan of expensive LED units is acceptable at 2.5 years, that kind of ruins the economics, no?

2.5 years, turned on/off 913 times, run for 10 hrs. a day, 9,125 hours before failure. That sucks, when everyone is expecting 50,000..

Didnt mean to imply that it was acceptable, just pointing out that it has been cycling for a while..
It still is a failure that should be corrected, its not like he was swinging the light around by its cord..
At least it just quit working and didnt go up in smoke like my T8 fixture....
Nothing like a little fire coming out of your lights to get the heart pumping..