LED life question

[TrojanScott]

Hi all,

I have original Hyrda 52s. These came with the used upgrade I did a couple years ago. I took the serial numbers off the units, called AI, and they couldn't give me mfg dates, which I thought was really odd.

Anyway, from what I researched, the originals came out in 2013 I believe, meaning my lights could be 7 years old now. The guy who had these prior to me ran an SPS tank, so I'm sure they were run at the higher end of the spectrum.

I rented a par meter about 8 months ago, and at the bottom of the two foot tank, the par was less than 100. Up top, up to 300. Middle, mid 100's. Seemed okay for what I was keeping, but now I'm wondering if these are on their last legs and I should start looking at new lights. I run these 10 hours a day. Doing the math, even at 7 years, 10 hours a day, that's only 25k hours. I guess the unknown here is I don't know how old these are.

And as I type away, I suppose I should rent a par meter again and check it out.

If anyone in OC has one I can borrow for a day, I'd trade a mushroom frag for it!

I hate this hobby.

 

[hersheyb]

I believe leds have lifespan expectancy of 50k hours but a lot of variables can affect the actual lifespan. I would check to see if all the leds are ramping up and down and are all working. I had a setup that some of the leds were out and I wasn't aware of it for months... my sps started to loose their colors and growth stopped... when I finally figure it out it took months to recover, it's been 6 months and I still have a few colonies browned out.

I would keep an eye out on your corals and see if anything changes, if they are doing fine I guess you can keep using the light... if you have the extra cash get some new updated lights.