Solaris LED Lights

[Amphibious]

Hello Moshe,

Congratulations on purchasing the Solaris. I'm sure you will love it.

It's easy to describe the replacement, no drawing needed. Lay the unit on it's top on a table. Preferably with a towel underneath to prevent scratching the table. On the end of the unit where the power cords come out, remove the 4 screws that hold the end plate on. No need to remove the fans. Gently pull the end cap with fans attached out. The wires for the fans are long enough to just let it rest outside the fixture. Carefully remove the acrylic splash guard and set aside. Locate the strip that you are replacing. Unplug it's electrical connector. Remove two screws, one on each end of the light strip's aluminum mounting strip. Set new strip in place, replace screws, plug strip into connector. Replace splash shield. Remount end cap with fans and secure with screws being careful not to strip any threads.

That's it.

Your welcome, Moshe.

Dick

 

[Amphibious]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12425229#post12425229 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pk-sd
Can Solaris or Aqua Illumination units be mounted in a well ventilated canopy ?

Yes. It's best to drill holes corresponding to the fans on the Solaris. Because I can't "see" the well ventilated hood you have I don't want to say you'd be OK if you didn't drill the holes.

I can't speak to the AI unit.

Dick

 

[pk-sd]

Thanks Dick,

For the AI unit, I was thinking of cutting open 6" wide opening above the whole unit.

 

[J3REEF]

still having LED strips die...
:lol:
PFO should put a white paper out on "how to replace LED strips on a Solaris"
:lol:
I am glad they sell out, but I wish people would really tell the truth about how these units are still having issues with LEDs strips.
BTW - Did you figure out the s/w for moon rotation doesnt work either.
Lots of money for a great light that works most of the time.

 

[mga345]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12425254#post12425254 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Amphibious
Hello Moshe,

Congratulations on purchasing the Solaris. I'm sure you will love it.

It's easy to describe the replacement, no drawing needed. Lay the unit on it's top on a table. Preferably with a towel underneath to prevent scratching the table. On the end of the unit where the power cords come out, remove the 4 screws that hold the end plate on. No need to remove the fans. Gently pull the end cap with fans attached out. The wires for the fans are long enough to just let it rest outside the fixture. Carefully remove the acrylic splash guard and set aside. Locate the strip that you are replacing. Unplug it's electrical connector. Remove two screws, one on each end of the light strip's aluminum mounting strip. Set new strip in place, replace screws, plug strip into connector. Replace splash shield. Remount end cap with fans and secure with screws being careful not to strip any threads.

That's it.

Your welcome, Moshe.

Dick

Hello Dick,

Thank you for the perfect explanation.
As soon as the strip will come, I will do the replacement.
In the meantime, can I use the whole fixture, even if one strip doesn't work correctly?
What is the reason for a led to blink?

I will inform about the progress of my new tank. It is now at the end of the cycle (2 months) and I want to start and put starter fishes and soft corals first.

Thanks,

Moshe

 

[buck50bmg]

This is why I got rid of mine. Halides are much better.

 

[GSMguy]

MH>>LED

LED has not saved anybody money Yet...

right now it is a luxury that costs more money than it can save.

AND YES THEY DO PRODUCE HEAT JUST AS MUCH AS MH AND T5 AND PC the fans just divert the heat away from the tank, this can be done with any MH/t5 setup/.

 

[buck50bmg]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12431842#post12431842 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by GSMguy
MH>>LED

LED has not saved anybody money Yet...

right now it is a luxury that costs more money than it can save.

AND YES THEY DO PRODUCE HEAT JUST AS MUCH AS MH AND T5 AND PC the fans just divert the heat away from the tank, this can be done with any MH/t5 setup/.

Thanks I was going to get into that.

Also, it draws just as much power as 3 250se halides

 

[GSMguy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12431947#post12431947 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by buck50bmg
Thanks I was going to get into that.

Also, it draws just as much power as 3 250se halides

and produces exactly the same amount of heat , it is just directed away from the bulbs/tank.

I run 600w of MH over my 50g sumpless tank for 11 hours a day and 2 small fans do all the cooling I need, IMO a chiller is only needed in poorly planned systems and special needs situations

 

[pk-sd]

For a 2-250w MH setup, how much power is consumed by the ballast alone? I would assume it would be at least 50-100 watts.

So for a 5ft tank I am looking at:

LED(AI unit): 5x100w/ft = 500 watts of peak power consumption. Average might be around 475 watts

MH: 2x250w + 50w (ballast) +100w (actinics) = 650 watts

That is difference of about 25% in energy saved. Not so easy to dismiss.

I still have not decide if I will use MH or T5 or LED system, so I am looking at all of the options objectively.

 

[GSMguy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12432336#post12432336 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pk-sd
For a 2-250w MH setup, how much power is consumed by the ballast alone? I would assume it would be at least 50-100 watts.


MH: 2x250w + 50w (ballast) +100w (actinics) = 650 watts

That is difference of about 25% in energy saved. Not so easy to dismiss.
.

?????? what





2x250 halides w e ballasts =500w, AI at 500w=500w

what are you missing why do you add 50w for the ballasts????

you dont need actinics, also if you have them when the actinics are on and the halide can be off, this lowering the time you run those 500w or you can use 175w iwasakis and get 250w type par with far less energy used..

 

[pk-sd]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12432443#post12432443 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by GSMguy
?????? what





2x250 halides w e ballasts =500w, AI at 500w=500w

what are you missing why do you add 50w for the ballasts????

Thats is my question. If ballast is delivering 500 watts to the bulbs, how much power is consuming for itself? Ballast cannot work for free. It might be less than 50w, but I would like to know for sure.

AI unit is 100watts/ft of actual power consumed, bulbs + ballasts

 

[pk-sd]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12432443#post12432443 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by GSMguy

you dont need actinics, also if you have them when the actinics are on and the halide can be off, this lowering the time you run those 500w or you can use 175w iwasakis and get 250w type par with far less energy used..

Good to know....I will look into that. Its that I have always seen MH tanks running both MH bulbs and actinic bulbs simultaneously.

 

[buck50bmg]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12432336#post12432336 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pk-sd
For a 2-250w MH setup, how much power is consumed by the ballast alone? I would assume it would be at least 50-100 watts.

So for a 5ft tank I am looking at:

LED(AI unit): 5x100w/ft = 500 watts of peak power consumption. Average might be around 475 watts

MH: 2x250w + 50w (ballast) +100w (actinics) = 650 watts

That is difference of about 25% in energy saved. Not so easy to dismiss.

I still have not decide if I will use MH or T5 or LED system, so I am looking at all of the options objectively.

In an ideal world it would 500 watts. But it will never be less...... The cooling fans and the controller will also add to the power consumed. Also a big one is the dc power supply for the LED is only 75% efficient at best. SO on a 100w panel your giving 25w to the power supply alone.

MH ballasts are about 90% efficient.

 

[pk-sd]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12432751#post12432751 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by buck50bmg
In an ideal world it would 500 watts. But it will never be less...... The cooling fans and the controller will also add to the power consumed. Also a big one is the dc power supply for the LED is only 75% efficient at best. SO on a 100w panel your giving 25w to the power supply alone.

Actually, according to AI website. The unit (I am assuming it includes bulbs, electronics, power supply and the bulbs) consume 90watts per foot. So 5 ft fixture (if their claims and my assumption is correct) will consume no more than 450w of power at any time. Less at dusk and dawn time.

Maybe AI/PFO rep can chime in and clarify this ?

MH ballasts are about 90% efficient. [/B]

I think that is correct. So 500w ballast will consume 550w of power. 500watts of electricity to the bulbs and 50watts to operate the ballast.

 

[kalare]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12431842#post12431842 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by GSMguy
MH>>LED

LED has not saved anybody money Yet...

right now it is a luxury that costs more money than it can save.

AND YES THEY DO PRODUCE HEAT JUST AS MUCH AS MH AND T5 AND PC the fans just divert the heat away from the tank, this can be done with any MH/t5 setup/.

This has been discussed endlessly in the other thread, along with the energy costs...I believe Hahn broke it down and came to the conclusion that money could be saved based on a 5yr return.

I love halides just as much as the next guy, but if someone wants to keep a fixture for 5 yrs, I believe they can save money (now, with regards to whether or not you get the same amount of light for said saved money, I'm not sure). That's not to say you couldn't go out and buy t5 and save energy costs as well!

As to the heat production thing, well, all energy isn't always converted to heat. While in the end, they amount of heat/watt will be similar, released in a much different fashion. No matter how much heat an LED produces, it will never heat the water as much as a halide, fans or not. Fans can cool the air around the halide but they will ALWAYS introduce heat into the system from all the radiant energy.

 

[hawk66]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12432443#post12432443 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by GSMguy
?????? what





2x250 halides w e ballasts =500w, AI at 500w=500w

what are you missing why do you add 50w for the ballasts????

you dont need actinics, also if you have them when the actinics are on and the halide can be off, this lowering the time you run those 500w or you can use 175w iwasakis and get 250w type par with far less energy used..

The latest 2 ft. versions of leds (AI at 90w per ft) are suppose to be equivalent in light output to 1x400mh, so "if" the claims are true, previous cost comparisons to 250mh are a little out of date.

 

[pk-sd]

Recovering initial investment cost is only half of the motivation for me, other half is energy conversation. Other benefit is not replacing bulbs for 5-7 years. Even with my current T5 system, I have to change bulbs every year, which creates waste.

I have never seen a LED fixture, but I can't imagine it introducing much heat into your tank like T5s and MH do.

 

[silverwolf72]

Last I saw they were comparing it to a 400W 20K bulb, which has a lot less output compared to a 10K. As far as heat they produce the same amount, it's just concentrated on the back of the LED and has to be heat sinked away, so it would not make your room run any cooler than any other comparable light source.

 

[pk-sd]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12433968#post12433968 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by silverwolf72
As far as heat they produce the same amount, it's just concentrated on the back of the LED and has to be heat sinked away, so it would not make your room run any cooler than any other comparable light source.

I think that is a good thing. Kind of like your car exhaust, you would want that ejected away from your car, not back into your cabin. Heat radiated away from the light might raise your room temperature by 1/4 degree (maybe), but T5s and MH put it right where we don't want it.