Led's are a headache!

[Mr.Rodrigo502]

Yep check each led individually, 2 aa batteries will do it well. Don't look right into them they are super bright.

hmmmm im going to try that......

im in my living room right now and i have my halides on..and i can feel the heat from them..............lol

 

[JonsReef]

sounds to me like you have a bad solder joint. the solder connections are temperamental and you need to be very careful when soldering. i'm really surprised that a licensed electrician wasnt able to diagnose the problem and didnt think to test the lights individually.

 

[Mr.Rodrigo502]

yea the tech told me that the drivers are good....i had these running on my old setup......they worked good for a while....then i noticed one of the panels white lights flashing...idk why but i shut them off then it didnt do it again.....and there was other times that the blue ones would come on and other days they wont come on at all.....when i removed them from my tank they were working....and now they are just a headache....waisted my friday and saturday on these pieces of sh*t............. ill probably buy new led's from a different brand and keep the drivers...........does rapidled have warranty...they are not even 5 months old....... and i already have over 10 bulbs burned....and everyday i would find the cheap white optics floating on my tank...i even found one optic lens in my hawkfish's mouth......not cool!

i tore down my 120 and found all the optic lenses behind my rock work....these things are so cheap they wont stay on.......come cree! (upside down thumb)

 

[JonsReef]

if you want, i can bring it to my house and try to fix/diagnose it for you? no promises that i can fix it, but i have a lot of experience with wiring and working with LED fixtures.

do you have a pic of the entire setup?

 

[Mr.Rodrigo502]

yea ill post it right now................dude if u come and fix these...ur will be my hero!

 

[cps68500]

i even found one optic lens in my hawkfish's mouth

Did you glue the optics on? If so, super glue?

and i already have over 10 bulbs burned

Do you have any fans on the heatsinks?

 

[Mr.Rodrigo502]

yea did glue them.........but regardless arnt they only suppose to snap int...what if a bulb goes out u would have to buy the bulb and another lens....cuz u superglue'd the other one on the burnt bulb........

and yes i had fans on top of each heatsink................

 

[cps68500]

well... I hope you and/or JonsReef figure it out. Thats all I can think of. FWIW, mine have been solid for quite some time now. But with everything, everyone has their own good / bad experiences.

Good luck!

 

[Mr.Rodrigo502]

if you want, i can bring it to my house and try to fix/diagnose it for you? no promises that i can fix it, but i have a lot of experience with wiring and working with LED fixtures.

do you have a pic of the entire setup?

Uploaded with ImageShack.us


Uploaded with ImageShack.us

 

[CrazyCorals]

there actually not glued there screwed down with thermal paste .....and those lens are very annoying and falls off all the time.....white definitly sucks ......thats y the ai is better in color cause they use 2 different blues and less white......either way like i said you can always bring them over for me to help you.....like someone mentioned you can also use a 9v battery and test them all out......i know its not the drivers in any way cause i tuned them all to were they were suppose to be....anywho im here if you need me.......

 

[Mr.Rodrigo502]

aight dude thanks.....i think i might go for the ai's............and sell these.......i mean there not bad...but could be better............

 

[JonsReef]

first observation...i dont think you have NEARLY enough ventilation for the amount of heat that all those LEDs will put out. also, the drivers will put out some heat as well so those should be ventilated as well. its important that those heatsinks have constant air flow over them. i have my heatsink mounted almost directly on top of the backside of the heatsink. the heat may explain why you have some bulbs burnt out. have you measured the temperature of the heatsink when they have been running for a while?

i think it would be easy to diagnose the issue with a multimeter and some wire with alligator clips on the end.

do you have a 12V source driving those fans? parallel or series? does the power supply have enough amperage to run them at full speed?

 

[cps68500]

+1 on JonsReef post.

 

[Mr.Rodrigo502]

well i was thinking on upgrading on better ventilation......these fans were on top of the heatsinks when i removed them from my old setup...they were always on.....i also had a fan fixture with 6 fans running in my hood as well as a dehumidifier/exhaust.

 

[vp6799]

+2 on JohnsReef post.

Heat is def one of the players in that.

 

[Mr.Rodrigo502]

idk what type of fans i have...all i know is that they only work when layed flat on a horizontal surface....they run on a 12v source

 

[JonsReef]

the thing is, you pretty much need the fans to be ON the heatsinks. also, that is a quite a few LEDs on each of those heatsinks. im not saying there are too many; just that that is a LOT of heat that needs to be dissipated, even with the LEDs at 750mV.

 

[JonsReef]

idk what type of fans i have...all i know is that they only work when layed flat on a horizontal surface....they run on a 12v source

something isnt right. those fans should mount and run either horizontally or vertically. they usually mount in computer cases in the vertical position. im thinking there may be something wrong with the fans or the power supply to them. are they wired in parallel or series?

 

[Mr.Rodrigo502]

yea i know...the fans were on the heatsinks before...good thing u pointed that out...im putting these fans back on top of the heatsinks............

 

[Mr.Rodrigo502]

whats the difference in parallel or series?