radion 3/6 units FAIL

[A.T.T.R]

I recomended radion to a friend after using the vortech for years and loving it
He bought six units out of which 3 have failed within a month (fan died on one other two are flickering)

He spent 4 hours on the phone with support the other day and now they want to charge him for repairs for" water damage"

He does not ahve a RC account so i am asking for him

HAS ANY ONE ELSE HAD ISSUES with the lights blinking


also HOW does ecotech getoff claiming high humidity areas as "water damage" Are these not made to sit above a tank? ( nearly a foot above water line)

 

[GSMguy]

Depends on the nature of the water damage, if you splash a metal haide bulb it breaks, is that geismann or Hamilton's fault?

 

[A.T.T.R]

splashing IS water damage. humidity is NOT.

 

[rainmkr07]

splashing IS water damage. humidity is NOT.

it depends. what if the severe humidity took place in an enclosed canopy without proper ventilation?

 

[A.T.T.R]

Ok I can tell you fan boys have the same mentality that they did to him on the phone...

What if.. They have a junk product ?
What if aliens did it?
How about actual experiences with said issue?
Heck the fact the fan is on the bottom is a red flag for me...

And the air gets turned over a lot in the canopy.. Three exhaust fans two in one out ...

 

[RtReef]

good luck

 

[A.T.T.R]

Rtreef while I thank you for your input I'm sure they don't want ads for competitorrs in their paid section.

These units are beautiful looking so he'd like to try and keep them.

 

[GSMguy]

I'm not a fan boy, I don't even own any Ecotech products. I'm just pointing out that we do not have the info needed to make an informed decision

 

[RtReef]

Rtreef while I thank you for your input I'm sure they don't want ads for competitorrs in their paid section.

These units are beautiful looking so he'd like to try and keep them.

didn't realize it was in their section. I'll remove

 

[bigdaddystar]

Simply put, The customer is always right.....Your friend blew big bucks on these things..It cost minimal dollars for ecotech to replace them...They will never truly know who's fault it is...but if they dont replace them I am sure your friend probably will not be buying them ever again. And since I have been debating buying them myself but have been worried about the sensitivity of these fixtures...poor customer service will definitely push me away.

Keep us updated and let us know how it gets resolved

 

[A.T.T.R]

Thanks man. Just dont want a thread seeking help to turn in to war of the brands lmao


Well when he decides to back charge them I'm sure they will replace them but I don't want him in the situation I got in with the makers of icecaps solar dimmer.. They fixed it then 4 months later blew a gain.

Replacement is only masking an issue we need to know what happened and why.

I'll try and get photos but the salt build up is pretty typical for a light system ..

 

[bigdaddystar]

Yeah, its sad to say your friend probably had a hand in there failure, but only because they are very sensitive fixtures, and we are putting them over saltwater fish tanks...They need to be designed to handle the greatest abuse...but LEDs all it takes is to much heat over a good hit and they blow or start acting weird...still they should be replaced hassle free

 

[EcoTech Marine]

ATTR-

We are already in touch with your friend who is having issues with our product. Once we receive his lights back we'll get them fixed and have him running again. If there is a failure of components then he'll be taken care of under warranty, if there's massive water damage within the units due to something more severe then he may be subject to repair fees. Typically we're pretty lenient about this type of thing and it really all depends on the situation, but we won't know until we see the lights.

Regardless, we feel that we're on the path to a resolution for him. Considering this fact, posting here to drum up attention is not really appropriate.

T

 

[Jay-Hawks]

Ignore my post.

 

[A.T.T.R]

thanks Ecotech. Good to hear he got some where with ya. I was really annoyed that it happened to him after i spoke so highly of your other products. Going on 3 or 4 years with the vortech no issues.

HOWEVER on that note i am still intrested in if any one else has had similar issues.

 

[tkeracer619]

The service from Ecotech is second to none and they have always stood behind their products. I have seen several tanks with Radions. One of them has had them since they were released. I think he has 10 of them now and has never had any flickering issues. I have never heard of this or fan issues before but it could be something as simple as a loose connection. Maybe they got dropped 25 feet by ups... who knows.

The fan on the bottom is irrelevant. It actually keeps the unit cleaner since dust does not settle when the fan is off. The level of salt in the air is the same.

All this said there is something in your description that makes me wonder that they have seen some extra abuse. Some tanks with open tops have a lot of little splashes going on. If what you say is true that they are over 12" from the surface of the water, less then a month old, and have salt creep build up then something is not right. There is something splashing them. Take a look across the water surface for little tiny droplets splashing out. Does your friend turn off the return pump when he feeds? Any time you do this and air is injected into the tank you get a lot of water in the air. I suspect this could be the cause and if its really bad then Ecotech has every right to charge for repairs. Its just part of the deal. I am willing to bet Ecotech is going to take care of your friend unless it is obvious neglect (like me dropping Vortech controllers into my tank) and even then will still do their part to make it right. Threatening charge backs does NOT help this situation.

The simple fact that 3 of the units are having problems and they already have salt creep (no its not normal at 1 month) makes me suspicious and I am sure it would any manufacturer. The simple fact that they paid someone to sit on the phone for 4 hours suggests to me that they are continuing on with their excellent service. Not sure you could ask for more.

The design of the Radion is awesome (I am a manufacturing engineer, this is the kind of stuff I critique on a daily basis). I have taken one apart. The electronics are plenty isolated from water. Odds are your friend is going to come out of this feeling confident about the product and company. Its the reason there are so many "fanboys". Its not because we feel obligated to be one because we dropped good money. It is because we got a great product from a great company. We get taken care of and we feel a sense of pride. The same reason you recommended them to your friend is the same reason your friend is going to be recommending them to someone else in a few days. You have to give them a chance to take care of it.

 

[A.T.T.R]

"I have taken one apart. The electronics are plenty isolated from water. Odds are your friend is going to come out of this feeling confident about the product and company. Its the reason there are so many "fanboys"."


Was actualy going to ask about the electronics and how isolated they were from the outside. That is good to know.

Finding it odd no one else has had these issues before.
in fact only other person i know who has these lights is a store (ecoreef) and his lights are coated in salt and the only issue he has is the fan is LOUD with aclicking noise ( 6 months it took and this is over a zero edge tank that does splash alot)

Anyways since i got yelled at for starting this thread. Since apparently all he wanted me to do was RESEARCH it not talk about it lol ill let this die until we can post what they determined the cause was and what they did to resolve it.
When i bought my vortech they were partnered with icecap. If their service is anything like icecaps was i am sure my friend will be nothing but happy.

 

[rgauvin]

Simply put, The customer is always right.....Your friend blew big bucks on these things..It cost minimal dollars for ecotech to replace them...They will never truly know who's fault it is...but if they dont replace them I am sure your friend probably will not be buying them ever again. And since I have been debating buying them myself but have been worried about the sensitivity of these fixtures...poor customer service will definitely push me away.

Keep us updated and let us know how it gets resolved

no, no they are not :lmao: If you interact with customers on an even semi consistent basis, you'd know that at least 15% of customers have dilusional requests/expectations.

I think ecotech is taking the right approach, they'll take the lights, they'll open them up, and if it is a failed component, they'll replace/repair it. If it has been hit with an excessive amount of water (and therefore ABUSED) the repair would be billable.

There is no point in anyone getting their panties in a bunch because only one person in here has a vague idea of
1) how high they were mounted above the water
2) what the ventilation was like
3) if anything was protecting the lights

and no one in here knows if the lights were splashed with water, and if so, how much. everyone is theorizing on the outcome, and reacting to the this theory before ecotech has had a chance to open them and decide the outcome.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that ecotech told the end user "IF we look at them, and they have been abused, it will not be covered under warranty." Guess what, a good company SHOULD set the proper expectations rather then leading people on and keeping them in the dark. Does an end user having 3 units out of 6 fail raise suspicions that maybe the failures may have been induced by the end user? sure it does, but they are just suspicions and concerns, it could just as easilly be a coincidence. The only way to know for sure is to open up the lights and take a look at them.

Give ecotech a chance before convicting them. They cannot determine what is wrong with the lights over the phone, and no one on the forum can do it either. So until they have been opened up, everyones decision/opinion is based on guesses.

 

[Chichas01]

Agree with post above. Too much here we don't know about conditions around the lights. I've been running mine now going on 6 weeks at 8" above the water and I don't have any salt creep or spotting on mine at all.

 

[L8ndeb]

All this said there is something in your description that makes me wonder that they have seen some extra abuse. Some tanks with open tops have a lot of little splashes going on. If what you say is true that they are over 12" from the surface of the water, less then a month old, and have salt creep build up then something is not right. There is something splashing them.

I was thinking the same. 12" above the water and you are getting salt creep already, then there is something wrong with the design of the tank/plumbing. Unless there is a HIGHLY aggressive return system to vigorously agitate the surface, then I would not expect to find salt creep on the fixtures for quite some time.
On a side note, the only Ecotech product I own is a MP40, so I cannot address anything regarding the fixture. However, on all the tanks I have run in 20 years of doing this, anything hanging 12" above the water should be RELATIVELY safe from excessive salt creep. Good luck on resolving the issue. I have found Ecotech so far, to have superior customer service.