what do you know about these t5's?

[IowaJeeping]

my wife has been wanting a new light set up cause she has a 48" tank and she only has 2 36" fixtures on them and she wants and needs a upgrade. she found these lights on ebay and was wondering if they are any good?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/48-324W-T5-...464?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20d2107d38


I been telling her to save up for ati fixture but she wont and don't want to do leds she likes t5s.

any comments please and if Im not allowed to link to ebay let me know

 

[degibson84]

looks very similar to the odysea lights that like to catch fire for no known reason

 

[IowaJeeping]

yeah that aint good!!! lol Have to keep a eye out in the for sale section then

 

[Kyuss]

The fire issue was a good 5+ years back, and only with some of their MH lighting. Kind of amusing that people trash Odyssea products til this day, no matter if it was even the product with the issues.. but plenty of people are running out and buying Jebao powerheads - supposedly Jebao and Odyssea are the same company. Just sayin.

 

[HUNTER1]

Difference between pumps and lighting, bad fixture can burn your house down. Even if it's just a bad rep from years ago, I will not take the risk. Buy better fixture with less risk of fire.

 

[Michigan Mike]

If you are trying to get T5 lighting for your 90g (48x18x24h) then you absolutely want to get either ATI, AQUATILIFE, GIESEMANN, or TEK for fixtures or LET retro kit.

Don't waste $ on a light that uses sub par ballasts, reflectors, wiring.

6x54w ATI Sunpower is the way to go, find a used one.

Btw my friend had his odysea t5 fixture melt and catch fire after 2 years of use.(he is a sponser on many sites) Very disturbing. Non UL certified "hobby lights" like odysea aren't the solution. Buy quality & buy right the first time. You need a powerful light on a 24" tall tank so you need the good ballasts, reflectors, and cooling to grow light demanding coral at that height.

 

[IowaJeeping]

If you are trying to get T5 lighting for your 90g (48x18x24h) then you absolutely want to get either ATI, AQUATILIFE, GIESEMANN, or TEK for fixtures or LET retro kit.

Don't waste $ on a light that uses sub par ballasts, reflectors, wiring.

6x54w ATI Sunpower is the way to go, find a used one.

Btw my friend had his odysea t5 fixture melt and catch fire after 2 years of use.(he is a sponser on many sites) Very disturbing. Non UL certified "hobby lights" like odysea aren't the solution. Buy quality & buy right the first time. You need a powerful light on a 24" tall tank so you need the good ballasts, reflectors, and cooling to grow light demanding coral at that height.

Thank you I show her all these post and show her its right to do it right the first time

 

[sirreal63]

An easy way to tell if you are buying a quality product is to look at the warranty. From the listing you linked...

Please note all returns must be pre-approved by Yescomusa and have a return merchandise authorization (RMA) number-unauthorized returns will not be accepted. The buyer is responsible for round-trip shipping costs and for sufficiently packing, insuring, and returning the item in "new" condition-used products will not be accepted.

So according to that, you have zero warranty if the product is used and if they should be gracious enough to take back a dead product you pay the shipping both ways. Spend a minute and see what it will cost you to ship an insured package of that size both ways. If someone is offering a new product with basically zero warranty, what do they know about the product that you don't and if the product is a good one why is there no real warranty? The places that sell these cheap import products are counting on you not understanding that you have no recourse if the product fails. They prey on people and know that if the price is cheap enough that someone will buy it. Don't be that someone. You may get lucky and have no issues with it but what if you do have issues with it?

 

[degibson84]

The fire issue was a good 5+ years back, and only with some of their MH lighting. Kind of amusing that people trash Odyssea products til this day, no matter if it was even the product with the issues.. but plenty of people are running out and buying Jebao powerheads - supposedly Jebao and Odyssea are the same company. Just sayin.

my little brother just bought a unit this past winter from odysea and the little T5 ballast caught on fire within a few hours of being plugged in. This was not 5 years back