Reliable LED lighting

CheyDogFlies

New member
I've had it with my three AI Sol Blue lights. I bought them new in 2011, and they have all been rebuilt/refurbished in 2015 or 2016. Now they're all acting up again. Refurb times for each light were erratic, and customer support became worse with each call. Unreliable all around for that company.

I would like to ask who has had good reliability and customer service with their LEDs? AI Sol just doesn't cut it. I don't have the time to build my own, so I need a plug and play.
 
I think part of Cheydogflies' problem with service is his/her location... Alaska. Nothing wrong with Alaska, but getting stuff to and from takes time. And customer service can vary a lot depending on who answers the phone and what kind of day they have had!

If you don't want to spend $750/fixture (and you need 2 or 3?) look at Reef Breeders new Photon V2. I have 4+ year old original Photons that are still in use over an old tank and I got 2 of the Photon V2 for a new tank 6 months ago. For my 125g, 60" long tank the 50" Photon V2 works perfect. It's slim, it has 6 channel color control, it comes with legs and hanging kits. Look at them over my tank> Build thread link in my signature below. Oh, and the cost was just $610, not $1500 or $2200.

Last point, I've had one occasion to deal with RB customer service (over Jebao Crossflow pumps... which they no longer even sell) and I got my replacements way faster than I expected. And they have a sponsor forum here at RC.
 
Correct--the AI Sol line is very old, and parts are difficult to come by. So when I would send one in, they could not tell me when it would be repaired. Sometimes, they would send it back without telling me it was done, with no phone call or written invoice or description of what work was accomplished.

Also, they would always be trying to sell me the new line of lights, and seemed uninterested in fixing the problem I had with the old lights. All of this said, the prices they charged me were almost always less than quoted, which I cannot complain about.

Location is not an issue. It takes 2-3 days to ship anything to/from AK, the same as an east-to-west coast shipping time.

My heartburn with any future EcoTech/AI line is this: Will customer service act the same? Will I have the same problems with parts as the "new" light gets old? Will my refurbs still not work correctly or fail again quickly? It's impossible to say if these problems will happen with another company as well.

Thanks for the replies.
 
My sol blues are now 4 years old and am losing leds. AI offered to give me credit for them if I sent them in for repair as they don`t have replacement pucks anymore. Spent $400 for them new and now can`t get repaired. Seems like my $1600 should of lasted a bit longer but maybe not? Don`t know if I really want to continue down the led road...
The credit would be for a new light and at a discount off the msrp. $600 new light for $450...
 
My sol blues are now 4 years old and am losing leds. AI offered to give me credit for them if I sent them in for repair as they don`t have replacement pucks anymore. Spent $400 for them new and now can`t get repaired. Seems like my $1600 should of lasted a bit longer but maybe not? Don`t know if I really want to continue down the led road...
The credit would be for a new light and at a discount off the msrp. $600 new light for $450...
So basically they are giving you $250 credit for each light. Even if they were brand new in the box, you couldn't sell them for that. Sounds like great customer service considering the product is well past warranty coverage.
 
My sol blues are now 4 years old and am losing leds. AI offered to give me credit for them if I sent them in for repair as they don`t have replacement pucks anymore. Spent $400 for them new and now can`t get repaired. Seems like my $1600 should of lasted a bit longer but maybe not? Don`t know if I really want to continue down the led road...
The credit would be for a new light and at a discount off the msrp. $600 new light for $450...

Well, I'd like to get that offer! Can you PM the details (AI Hydra)? I'd consider staying with AI for that deal.
 
I dont think it is that unusual for AI leds to start burning out on earlier models after a 2-3 years, but I know someone who has run same set of Sols for 6-7 years. The newer models are designed so that the LEDs are driven at well below then their rated capacity, which should allow the LEDs to last longer.
 
Well, I'd like to get that offer! Can you PM the details (AI Hydra)? I'd consider staying with AI for that deal.
They said they would sell me a 56hd for $450 or a 26 hd for $225 after I returned my sol blues to them..that was only for the 2 that are bad, not all 4 that I have on my tank..So you`d still would spend another $2100 for 4 new lights after 4 years? Math says 450x2=$900 for the relacements plus $600x2=$1200 for the 2 that are still working but wouldn`t match. I don`t know?
 
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For anyone else running AI Sol Blue:
I bought three in May 2011
1st one had to get refurbished in May 2015
2nd in Feb 2016
3rd in Jun 2016
All 3 already having problems again.

So I suspect you have a useful life of 4-5 years out of an AI Sol Blue, and due to repair time and lack of parts, and results from supplier repairs, just ditch them when they start acting up. I definitely lost money by extending the life with refurb for the months of service I got.
 
They said they would sell me a 56hd for $450 or a 26 hd for $225 after I returned my sol blues to them..that was only for the 2 that are bad, not all 4 that I have on my tank..So you`d still would spend another $2100 for 4 new lights after 4 years? Math says 450x2=$900 for the relacements plus $600x2=$1200 for the 2 that are still working but wouldn`t match. I don`t know?

Ouch. For over $500/year I'd go back to running T5s.

I'm trying to figure out what direction to go on my 280g but to drop $2,000+ on LEDs & then have to replace them in just a couple of years is ludicrous IMO.
 
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