Solaris Led lighting systems

[Steadyhand]

I'm very interested in a 36" Solaris - does anyone know where I can purchase one for a reasonable price? Even a percentage discount off of retail would be nice?

Thanks for the help,

Rich

 

[billsreef]

badpacket,

There is no need to fan the flames. Go back up a post or two and read MiddletonMark's post. It wasn't meant as a mere suggestion but something that needs to be done if this thread is to remain open.

 

[jmchzn]

Bad packet your right! Censorship is always bad. You guys w/ the science are definately forcing PFO and all vendors to perk up. I have yet to meet someone in this hobby that is not above avg intel. PFO and other vendors learn from RC members where WE want the hobby to go and if they put out crap WE here at RC will get that word out too and put them out of business. Solaris may not be for everyone but so far it's doing wonders for MY tank. Bean,bad packet and everyone else taking PFO and LED to task keep right on going! This kind of forum will make reefin a much better high tech sport than it already is!!! OH by the way SOLARIS RULES!!

 

[jmchzn]

steady hand
premium aquatics did a great job for me and was 5% under MSRP.

 

[Steadyhand]

Thanks - sorry you had to muddle through the fight going on - I didn't realize it 'till I posted my question.

Rich

 

[badpacket]

Hi Bill. So let me see if I get this, sarcasm is wrong, perhaps politically uncorrect because it might offend someone?
But trashing someone and trying to get them with the participation of a mod to in effect realize censorship is OK, fine and dandy with the RC Staff?

Your comment to me was not really unexpected. I'm long-winded and not averse to pushing the envelope. However that an RC Mod would sit idly by and not make an even sharper comment to JNB for his publicly stated desire to shut-up another member was, and should be disconcerting to anyone who has actively supported this site.


jmchzn, I'm still not sure if you were being sarcastic or not. However what you said is exactly what RC has meant in the past, hopefully that hasn't changed as RC has become bigger and bigger, from a hobbiest site into a business.
I had an informative PM from PFO last night, and they seem to be up to speed on LED binning. While I think their marketing may have raised expectations a bit too high, I think they're doing a decent job of ushering in a new technology to the niche. A natural response to anyone's claims is going to be investigation and discussion, and disagreement. That is what has helped educate innumerable reefers to the hobby and helped many of them avoid questionable products.

In this instance, considering the fact that there is a product that will cost a couple thousand dollars, of course people are going to want proof that it is better than something that costs several hundreds of dollars.
Anyone who is happy with their purchase, well thats fine. But if one is going to imply that people will save hundreds of dollars a month on electricity, or reap any other benefits, its certainly expected that those claims will be looked at logically and tested to verify their reliability and truthfulness.
I think most people know LED will become the dominant lighting if current advances continue for the next couple of years. In this particular instance though, the dispute is mainly with some of the marketing claims.
Anectdotal satisfaction aside, I think some of the comments and claims some owners are making are actually hurting PFO more than any help the poster thinks he/she may be doing. Now PFO has to either prove these claims are right, or make statements to the effect they do not make such claims, or do nothing and have people buying their product on basis of these users claims and be dissatisfied when they do not see those claimed benefits materialize for them. If the latter happens, then PFO's reputation is certainly not enhanced.

And thanks for the reply.

 

[billsreef]

badpacket,

Mark's warning/advise was meant for everyone. That's a far cry from "But trashing someone and trying to get them with the participation of a mod to in effect realize censorship is OK, fine and dandy with the RC Staff? "

To have you come and fan the flames after Mark made a warning in effort to put those flames out was in poor taste and just plain unnecessary. So please, help us put out the flames instead of fanning them.

 

[badpacket]

Hi Bill,


Bill, your admonisment was specificly directed at me, nowhere do I see any mention of JNB.
Is pointing that out fanning the flames, or underscoring that the mods find sarcasm more distasteful that someone trying to get someone banned from a thread, and maybe with a mod's help?

Either way, I just got Mark's PM threat too ban me a couple of minutes ago.

I think JNB made a mistake by trying to get Bean censured.
You and Mark think I made a mistake by being outrageously sarcastic.
I accept the admonishment, but think you both made a mistake by not taking a stand against the attempt at censure.

Am I fanning the flames here, or asking a legitimate question about why the mods didn't see the attempt at censure as worthy of comment?

 

[owsi]

Still running full power, Southern, comes up about 5:40AM and goes down about 9:30PM. I think the reason that so far only some lightening, not bleaching, is that it ran at 50% white first week or so at Northern (about 8 hours) and then at full Northern and now Southern. The controls will make acclimating a cinch, being lazy, sometimes I've taken a chance and skipped acclimatising in the past. No encrustment on the Tort(getting bluer) yet but some caps are going crazy. Liz is off this week so she can do some individual shots for later comparison.

 

[jnb]

I think you were smart to start off slow rather than too much light too fast - another user looks to be experiencing to much too soon and I think I did on one piece where the direct focused beam was drilling into a high acro -

my purple tipped acro's color is growing more intense and purpling up further down from the tips - I still don't know if I like the stress of keeping acros - these were given to me on a whim but have done well in the year I had them.

I think my orange recordia, sitting on the bottom may want more light but this guy has always liked being right under the MH near the surface - just had to move him away from encroaching gsp which covered his brothers

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8941584#post8941584 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by owsi
Still running full power, Southern, comes up about 5:40AM and goes down about 9:30PM. I think the reason that so far only some lightening, not bleaching, is that it ran at 50% white first week or so at Northern (about 8 hours) and then at full Northern and now Southern. The controls will make acclimating a cinch, being lazy, sometimes I've taken a chance and skipped acclimatising in the past. No encrustment on the Tort(getting bluer) yet but some caps are going crazy. Liz is off this week so she can do some individual shots for later comparison.

 

[jacmyoung]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8939072#post8939072 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jnb
i cropped the pic taking it from 3008 by 2000 to 2998 by 1600 then resized it to 800 by 422 and comressed it to around 75% of 100%. PM me and I'll give you my email and perhaps help with suggestions - there are a couple of ways to go but relly being a darker photo helps I think - what software are you using?

Thank you! I knew I was missing something, I did everything you did except file compression. Just tried that and reduced file size to half without visible degradation.

BTW, those pictures of yours did more to give a vote of confidence for the Solaris LED lights than many of the back and forth exchanges could do.

 

[jnb]

your welcome & thanks

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8942560#post8942560 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jacmyoung
Thank you! I knew I was missing something, I did everything you did except file compression. Just tried that and reduced file size to half without visible degradation.

BTW, those pictures of yours did more to give a vote of confidence for the Solaris LED lights than many of the back and forth exchanges could do.

:

 

[billsreef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8941127#post8941127 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by badpacket
Hi Bill,


Bill, your admonisment was specificly directed at me, nowhere do I see any mention of JNB.
Is pointing that out fanning the flames, or underscoring that the mods find sarcasm more distasteful that someone trying to get someone banned from a thread, and maybe with a mod's help?

Either way, I just got Mark's PM threat too ban me a couple of minutes ago.

I think JNB made a mistake by trying to get Bean censured.
You and Mark think I made a mistake by being outrageously sarcastic.
I accept the admonishment, but think you both made a mistake by not taking a stand against the attempt at censure.

Am I fanning the flames here, or asking a legitimate question about why the mods didn't see the attempt at censure as worthy of comment?

Your entirely missing the point of why I admonished you specifically. It is because you chose to continue the flames after Mark's warning in the this thread. No one else has made that mistake so far In other words, to be sure were clear here, my admonishment to you had nothing to do with shenanigans that went on before Mark's warning to everyone.

Now let's get back to reefing

 

[Icefire]

So who would like to put $ upfront for a DIY K2 Luxeon @ 100-140+ lumens/W
I can design the circuit, do real circuit board etc/etc

It won't be with micro controler/LED display but I can do an analog driven board with a reosthat for the white, one for the blue and could even put one on a timer for some "night" light (blue led dimed at 10%).

K2 White are 3.50$each and blue are 2.86$each if you go for a reel (5Kor25k?). about 6$ in 1k maybe
Add lens, a PC power supply, some triac/transistor and you got a 4 feets, 100 leds, Max 400-550W, for less than 1000-1500$

Less if you go for 3W/80lumens leds.

 

[BeanAnimal]

IceFire,

That would be a good thread for the DIY forum.

A few things to think about.

1) Binning is going to be a problem
2) LEDs are not going to DIM in a linear fashion with resistance. Using a uC with PWM is a fairly trivial task as long as your current source is stable.
3) Heatsinking is going to be a HUGE issue with those units and is 75% of the battle.

Start a thread in the DIY forum and I am sure you will get some input from easttn and a few others that have played in the field. A small 4x4 prototype should be easy to whip up, as long as you have the heatsinking issues under control.

 

[Icefire]

I can drive 10 leds on a buck driver and control the current.
Each driver cost 1.50$ in 1k

Heat? custom 4'x8-12" machined aluminium heatsink

 

[badpacket]

Bill, that makes sense now. I popped into the thread by hitting 'last' and saw your comment to me first thing before seeing Marks.

Cheers

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8942883#post8942883 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by billsreef
Your entirely missing the point of why I admonished you specifically. It is because you chose to continue the flames after Mark's warning in the this thread. No one else has made that mistake so far In other words, to be sure were clear here, my admonishment to you had nothing to do with shenanigans that went on before Mark's warning to everyone.

Now let's get back to reefing

 

[badpacket]

Icefire, I think a DIY thread would be good also.
FWIW, I doubt you'd need custom aluminum heatsink, for development.
Just hit up your local Fry's/equivelent, or look for places/Craigslist for used network racks. Usually made of aluminum, at least ours are, and chop them up.
I think Frys had 6' racks for sale once for $99.
I was going to disagree with you and second the use of controller, but googled my old buck memories back.

For a first run, I think you are correct in that a buck would be the simplest, fastest way to knock something together with fewer technical issues to solve. You can also dim with the buck,, so thats doable. Since most of the energy into an LED is released as heat and not light, the heatsink is probably the most critical part of the initial design as failures will be expensive.

I think there are a lot of electronics geeks here on RC, so such a thread would most likely garner significant help. Might be time to order 10 LED's to play with.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8943654#post8943654 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Icefire
I can drive 10 leds on a buck driver and control the current.
Each driver cost 1.50$ in 1k

Heat? custom 4'x8-12" machined aluminium heatsink

 

[jmkins]

jnb - nice tank shots. What were you running before the solaris and how was your growth?

Sorry if I'm being redundant but I made it about 5 pages backwards in this thread and gave up hope, but how have corals (in particular sps) been reacting to the LEDs? Also how have electric bills been after the change, especially those that went from MH to LED.

TIA

 

[jnb]

I was running 2 250wattMH 20k xm se sitting 3 inches off the water,
growth for a orange monti from 1 layer of 3 square inches to 64 square inches of at least 6 layers and

growing a 2 inch singe stalk acro to at least 10 stalks - all in a year

see (hit the second one for some reason the first does not work but if I take it out the sefcond one does not work?????
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/...sid=8Tct3LZuxKY
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8Tct3LZuxKY

tracks three corals from the first of the year 2005 - the first is a orange monti, 2nd is a small acro- the one to the left/down a little of the rather large orange monti, 3rd is a larger acro- the one to the right and down a little, 4th is tank shots with the corals mentioned above circled - went thru a move in April 2006 so things are moved - there ends up being 2 montis because a piece broke off and you can see the broken piece growth from 2 sq inches to the one in recent pics far left top

reaction to LEDs? the pics a page or so back shows growth since nov 19 - all softies seem to have no reaction as if I did not change the bulbs, purple tipped acro seems the same except its purple has expanded down further the stalks - the far left acro turned from green/blue to brown and seems to be coming back from that (but may have been caused by changing alk/salt adjustments) - overall - the monti seems about the same and the growth for all is there but my instinct is that growth might slow down a bit - time will tell

the shrooms and other on the back wall are getting less light because the beam is more narrow - those shrooms just expand more and are nice and I have some life expanding back there - life that does not like light like some interesting sponges, etc

the softies on the bottom up front are getting less light because of the more narrow beam but their color is very nice and they just expand more to get more light

i have an orange recordia on the bottom up front who wants to be higher but this guy always liked to be right under the MH high up - I had put it lower to avoid some encroaching gps which got his brothers

I have less algae growing on the panes due to the more narrow beam; my ph does not ramp up as fast or as high which may be due to the beam not supporting nuisance algae - it also does not dip as low at night...

I can not measure my electric bill for this purpose because it started to cool down here in S Florida right when I installed the solaris and I was not in this house this time last year for comparisons, starting April I will have some comparisons.

Noting that my MH was closer to the water than the LEDs - but it is very obvious to me that less heat is being generated and put to the room and water, heat builds up very slow in the water, so swings in temp are not so dramatic - my best guess is that in the hotter months my electric bill will be at least $50 lower a month taking into consideration the AC running, to compensate for chiller running, etc, etc I am hoping for 80$ savings in summer.

My heaters are running more of course, my chiller has not come on since I installed the Solaris

This about as honest as I can be - trust me please, I would be the first to relate negative results evidenced by my possibkly overreacting to the browning acro and shooting quieries around relating that I thought I was not getting enough light, putting the solaris up for sale for a week, putting the mh back on for two weeks until I realized I might have over reacted and put the solaris back on for another trial - I can easily accept and communicate that I spend $2,000 for an costly failed experiement - I have no pride or ego in that area. I am crazy in the way I spend money anyway in this regard having gone thru 3 major lighting systems, all still lying around except for the T-5. I just could not get past the T-5 intnsity on shrooms - I like my shrooms. If SPS was my priority - I would wait for the 400 watt LEDS.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8951326#post8951326 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jmkins
jnb - nice tank shots. What were you running before the solaris and how was your growth?

Sorry if I'm being redundant but I made it about 5 pages backwards in this thread and gave up hope, but how have corals (in particular sps) been reacting to the LEDs? Also how have electric bills been after the change, especially those that went from MH to LED.

TIA