Maxspect LED owners!!!
- Thread starter gambitcobra
- Start date
Well you can add me to the "I am really disappointed at Maxspect" group. Even though the unit was purchased less than 18 months ago and it clearly states on the Manual that the warranty is for 18 months, maxspect (coralvue says that they are powerless due to the factory insisting that the warranty is for 12 months) is claiming that the warranty for G2 160W is only 12 months and it will not replace my main fan (large one on top of the heatsink) which stopped working. Not only that, 2 sometimes 3 of Blue LEDs are not lighting up even after replacing them on my own dime. I scanned the user manual to prove my case to Coralvue but why do Maxspect have to lie about the warranty?
elFloyd
Member
I feel your pain. I bought my three G2-160s from Fish Street. Only problem I've had in two years is one of the fans going out. They sent me a new one, and I found a place that sells them online for about $9. Here's the link, but it wasn't working a few minutes ago... maybe it will later.
http://www.aquashoponline.com/
Thanks for the link. But it looks like it does not work anymore.
Well good news (hopefully), after sending Chris at Coralvue the scanned owners manual stating the 18 month warranty, the factory has agree to honor the stated warranty :celeb3: I sent the shipping info so I will update when the replacement parts come in.
Rosscopeco
New member
This is what the LEDS from the maxspect 160G2 look like after 2 years.
This is what the LEDS from the maxspect 160G2 look like after 2 years.
I recently gutted one of my Maxspect fixtures and thought I would share the pics.
The blues are all completely fried on both of my fixtures. The 3w whites are ok. The 30watters are good but the wiring connection was browned from the heat and I feel it needs a solder connection to help.
Can anyone tell me what type of LEDs the 30w whites are and any specs I'll need to purchase a new driver?
This is what the LEDS from the maxspect 160G2 look like after 2 years.
I recently gutted one of my Maxspect fixtures and thought I would share the pics.
The blues are all completely fried on both of my fixtures. The 3w whites are ok. The 30watters are good but the wiring connection was browned from the heat and I feel it needs a solder connection to help.
Can anyone tell me what type of LEDs the 30w whites are and any specs I'll need to purchase a new driver?
CalmSeasQuest
Active member
FWIW, I went through 2 fans in the first year of running a G2-160. I finally gave up as this is over a small FT and I don't use the 30Ws. It's been running fine for over a year without any active cooling. Although I did swap out a number of LEDs for Crees at about 6 months, I haven't lost any as of yet.
Animadverto
New member
Has anyone on here encountered a problem with the controller not responding on a Maxspect 110 G2 light fixture? All the lights came on this early morning and they were not programmed to come on until noon. I checked the controller that came with the unit, and both the blue and white led buttons were blinking as well as the clock blinking 00:00. I tried to turn the lights off manually, but nothing responded. I thought there was a power outage, but all the other digital clocks on other appliances were fine. Any suggestions?
Rosscopeco
New member
Just go without the connectors and solder them up. Plenty of cheap LEDs online that are driven at 700mA.
Animadverto, That sounds like maybe something has come loose inside the control box. I remember the first units having lots of issues with loose components.
Send it back or get a sparky to open it up. It's easy to zap yourself inside the casing.
Animadverto
New member
Thank you Rosscopeco. I'll look into opening the control box up. I've contacted Eric from Fishstreet in HK and he quoted me $150 U.S. just to ship the controller back to them to have it checked out. I would rather use that money to upgrade to a an Ecotech Radion.
In regard to your question above about the type of led chips Maxspect used for the 30w leds in the 160 G2, I'm almost certain they were Semileds unless you upgraded them to Cree leds when you bought your unit. If you need more technical information, Garage1217 would be a good person to contact as I know he used to have the 160 G2 units until he built his own.
In regard to your question above about the type of led chips Maxspect used for the 30w leds in the 160 G2, I'm almost certain they were Semileds unless you upgraded them to Cree leds when you bought your unit. If you need more technical information, Garage1217 would be a good person to contact as I know he used to have the 160 G2 units until he built his own.
Rosscopeco
New member
Thanks mate. I found the info on the 30w whites on the fishstreet website.
Why did you buy the unit from Eric?
I'm just going to gut my units and replace the drivers with meanwells instead of paying a fortune for the new control box without warranty. The Leds will all be replaced as well.
It's a real shame that these units only last a short time before the leds fail. A better design would mean much longer lifespans on the leds.
Why did you buy the unit from Eric?
I'm just going to gut my units and replace the drivers with meanwells instead of paying a fortune for the new control box without warranty. The Leds will all be replaced as well.
It's a real shame that these units only last a short time before the leds fail. A better design would mean much longer lifespans on the leds.
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Animadverto
New member
I bought it directly from Fishstreet in HK 2 years ago back when there was not any U.S. distributors for Maxspect. They were really good with customer support until the warranty runs out. Then, they only see $$$. This is the type of business practice that would turn people away from buying anything else from Maxspect. My light fixture is only 22 months old and in that time I've had to replace the cooling fan once. Now the control box is not working. Eric quoted me $150 USD just to ship the control box back for inspection. I know for a fact it does not cost $150 to ship a 3-pound object from the U.S. to Hong Kong.
I completely agree with you, Rosscopeco, that it's a shame indeed these units fail before they even reach their half lifespan. I've also contacted Chris at Coralvue, the U.S. distributor for Maxspect. Perhaps I'll have better luck there.
Maxspect HK and Maxspect U.S. I sure hope you are looking closely at this forum to get a feel of what customers or soon to be former customers are saying about your products and services.
I completely agree with you, Rosscopeco, that it's a shame indeed these units fail before they even reach their half lifespan. I've also contacted Chris at Coralvue, the U.S. distributor for Maxspect. Perhaps I'll have better luck there.
Maxspect HK and Maxspect U.S. I sure hope you are looking closely at this forum to get a feel of what customers or soon to be former customers are saying about your products and services.
Rosscopeco
New member
I've been sharing my experiences in the hope that future customers will demand more support before buying. It's really not good enough for the leds to burn out after 12- 18 months.
Are your blue leds char grilled like my pictures above?
The fans on mine are still going strong after two years while I've had top dollar computer fans fail in less time. The fan on the ballast is complete rubbish and needed replacement.
It's interesting that you were quoted $150US to have a look at the ballast. That's the same price I was quoted for a replacement ballast that would not be covered by warranty. Put two and two together and it seems pretty obvious where the figure comes from.
Good luck with the local distributor. I imagine they would be able to help you out.
Are your blue leds char grilled like my pictures above?
The fans on mine are still going strong after two years while I've had top dollar computer fans fail in less time. The fan on the ballast is complete rubbish and needed replacement.
It's interesting that you were quoted $150US to have a look at the ballast. That's the same price I was quoted for a replacement ballast that would not be covered by warranty. Put two and two together and it seems pretty obvious where the figure comes from.
Good luck with the local distributor. I imagine they would be able to help you out.
Animadverto
New member
Fortunately, all my leds are still working and not fried like yours. I can only turn them on and off without the ability to control the blue and white lights to come on and go off at different times because the control box is now useless. I have to take off the plastic top cover to allow for better passive cooling since the fan stopped working when the control box went out. I sent Chris at Coralvue requesting support and inquiring about the cost of a control box replacement. I sent the email last week and so far I haven't gotten a response.
I actually just had a pretty extensive back and forth with MaxSpect regarding the blue LED's in the G2's. Some of which I can talk about, some of which I can't, but I'll lead with saying that I was very happy with the conversation as a whole..... even if I am also in the group with problematic lights.
First off, regarding the burnt connectors on the 30w LED's. I had that problem too. Those connectors just aren't rated for that much power. Once I directly soldered everything down instead of using crimp connectors, they've been fine ever since. Just make sure to use some heatshrink tubing or something, as it's easy to short out those tabs. They did replace one faulty 30w unit for me about 6 months ago while still under warranty.
The blue SemiLED issue is something they are well aware of. I am also outside of warranty, so I didn't even ask for replacements. Usually, if your LED has failed, you will notice it DOES work for a few seconds when you power up. The problem apparently isn't the LED itself, it's the transistor on the LED chip. That transistor is designed to maintain the series circuit in case the LED fails. Ironically, it's the transistor that's failing, and cutting power to the LED. They did suggest a fix for it, which should restore the failed blue chips. I am going to try it and report back in the next few days. I don't want to give the details yet, just in case it doesn't work.
The blue LED's are also going brown on the chip because they are essentially at their rated limit. The 3w blue LED's are rated at 700ma, and they are being driven at 700ma, and they are getting hot as a result. I deal with this type of overheating all the time with other circuit board repairs I do. It's annoying, yes, but not unusual or anything to be terribly worried about. If it was getting hot enough to desolder the LED, then you should worry.
They also said the problem with the failing LED's is essentially limited to units with the SemiLED's. Folks who opted for the Cree units..... yeah, you spent your money well. Apparently those are not failing due to the different design.
We also discussed the design changes in future models as a result of all these problems with the G2's, these updates kick in with the Mazarra's and anything after that. First big change is that they went to all Cree LED units (which may be why the replacements are pricier?). The Cree's have the series protection circuit already built into the LED itself, and they have seen little to no failures of Cree LED chips. They are changing the cable connectors between drivers and led modules, so you won't see the corrosion problem anymore. They went with meanwell drivers in the power supply, which eliminates the problem with the failing driver modules from the previous supplier.
So, yeah, the G2's have been dissapointing for sure. But at the same time they spent a good amount of time communicating with a nobody like me, and I appreciated that. They also admitted the issues, and have what looks like a solid plan that should make anything after the G2's into rock-solid units. So I've got no problem buying from MaxSpect again in the future.
Now I just need time to crack my lights open again and test the suggested fix on the blue LED chips. I've got 10 of them that are bad right now..... didn't realize it until I did my last water change.
-Hans
(Oh, anybody NOT using their blue chips anymore? I'd love to snag a few spares to do some testing with if you can part with them.)
First off, regarding the burnt connectors on the 30w LED's. I had that problem too. Those connectors just aren't rated for that much power. Once I directly soldered everything down instead of using crimp connectors, they've been fine ever since. Just make sure to use some heatshrink tubing or something, as it's easy to short out those tabs. They did replace one faulty 30w unit for me about 6 months ago while still under warranty.
The blue SemiLED issue is something they are well aware of. I am also outside of warranty, so I didn't even ask for replacements. Usually, if your LED has failed, you will notice it DOES work for a few seconds when you power up. The problem apparently isn't the LED itself, it's the transistor on the LED chip. That transistor is designed to maintain the series circuit in case the LED fails. Ironically, it's the transistor that's failing, and cutting power to the LED. They did suggest a fix for it, which should restore the failed blue chips. I am going to try it and report back in the next few days. I don't want to give the details yet, just in case it doesn't work.
The blue LED's are also going brown on the chip because they are essentially at their rated limit. The 3w blue LED's are rated at 700ma, and they are being driven at 700ma, and they are getting hot as a result. I deal with this type of overheating all the time with other circuit board repairs I do. It's annoying, yes, but not unusual or anything to be terribly worried about. If it was getting hot enough to desolder the LED, then you should worry.
They also said the problem with the failing LED's is essentially limited to units with the SemiLED's. Folks who opted for the Cree units..... yeah, you spent your money well. Apparently those are not failing due to the different design.
We also discussed the design changes in future models as a result of all these problems with the G2's, these updates kick in with the Mazarra's and anything after that. First big change is that they went to all Cree LED units (which may be why the replacements are pricier?). The Cree's have the series protection circuit already built into the LED itself, and they have seen little to no failures of Cree LED chips. They are changing the cable connectors between drivers and led modules, so you won't see the corrosion problem anymore. They went with meanwell drivers in the power supply, which eliminates the problem with the failing driver modules from the previous supplier.
So, yeah, the G2's have been dissapointing for sure. But at the same time they spent a good amount of time communicating with a nobody like me, and I appreciated that. They also admitted the issues, and have what looks like a solid plan that should make anything after the G2's into rock-solid units. So I've got no problem buying from MaxSpect again in the future.
Now I just need time to crack my lights open again and test the suggested fix on the blue LED chips. I've got 10 of them that are bad right now..... didn't realize it until I did my last water change.
-Hans
(Oh, anybody NOT using their blue chips anymore? I'd love to snag a few spares to do some testing with if you can part with them.)
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Rosscopeco
New member
I'd give you mine but they're all brown.
If they're brown and dead, that's actually perfect for what I want to try. But I see you're all the way in Australia, shipping may be prohibitive.
-Hans
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