160 W LEDs

They arrived the day I left for a business trip. so I haven't done much bu plug them in and see what they are like. My retinas still hurt from them.

I'll give a full report later, but the initial pics are as follows:

unboxing


the lights


blues on


whites on


Tank with 96W dual 10K/Actinic lamp


Tank with LED blues


Tank with all LEDs

OK a few notes so far.

This particular unit is the G1 model. Much cheaper than the G2, but lacking two things
1) moon lights
2) 3 level programming. This one has two levels (blues and whites)

on the other hand, this is still 160W in a much smaller package than the 20" PC fixture.

One thing of note... I will spend several days figuring out how to program it. There are no instructions.

I still don't have the glass top. The glass shops around here are not open on Saturdays... sigh.

Actual unit info...

This seems to be well built. The whole fixture and power supply/programmer seemed to be machined from solid billets of aluminum. It's smaller than the 10" fixture and much lighter. The lamps are just a few millimeter thick layer of the actual light fixture. The rest is aluminum heat sink. The two fans drawn air in through the side vents, through the heat sink channels, and out the top. The fans are super quiet (much quieter than the PC fixture).

As the top can be easily removed, this should make cleaning a very easy process.

I have some concern about the LEDs on the G1 unit. They are not top-of-the-line CREE units, hence the reasonable price. That means though that the effective life for these LEDs is only about 24 months. (Oh darn, two years before bulb replacement).

I think it will be possible to replace these LEDs and even upgrade them throughout the life of the unit. I used to be pretty handy with a soldering iron.

This is the Maxspect G1 160W unit. The G1s are basically out of production as the G2s are now shipping. The G2 is the same thing except the 30W floods are on a separate programmable timer and there are 4 violet 'moon' lamps.

They are also (currently) only available overseas and with shipping the price for the G2 160W will hit almost $700.

There's some really good stuff on the web about these lights and when I found this one, I had to try it.

They really aren't that much more expensive that a 175W metal halide.

The LEDs have an effective life for corals of 24 months or so. They will not burn out for 7-10 years. However, they will lose 5-10% of intensity per year.

The temps should actually be less than even a PC bulb. The lights are designed to shut off if the light temp goes above 55 degrees C.