Replacing LEDs

[flower]

I have a 48" strip of blue LED moonlights, almost half the little bulbs are burned out. Can I replace them? They are in a reflective housing and it looks like a plastic tube around it. The lights are inside the clear tube. The housing does have screws on the end to be able to access them. The lights are pretty old, and I only paid around $40.00 for them, but I hate to toss it out because a few bulbs are burned out.
48" replacement unit will now cost $60.00

 

[2quills]

Hey, Flower. It's hard to say without seeing detailed pics of the leds themselves and how everything is connected, attached and how things come apart. My guess is that it could be done but it's probably going to be a lot easier to just replace the fixture at that price.

 

[foxandhound]

I am starting to realize the pain in replacing LEDs myself.
I have to replace ALL of mine from a 48'' fixture that I bought 5 weeks ago. I cant find a company that I trust for replacements. I got the fixture and lights from aquatraders BUT I dont want to buy from aquatraders since I am pretty sure they are selling used LEDs that come broken, burned out, or last a few days at max. Very disappointing! ! ! Two were dead on arrival and the rest burned out in a few days and aquatraders has awful/nonexistant customer service.
Any ideas?

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by FoxandHound http:///t/389979/replacing-leds#post_3450469
I am starting to realize the pain in replacing LEDs myself.
I have to replace ALL of mine from a 48'' fixture that I bought 5 weeks ago. I cant find a company that I trust for replacements. I got the fixture and lights from aquatraders BUT I dont want to buy from aquatraders since I am pretty sure they are selling used LEDs that come broken, burned out, or last a few days at max. Very disappointing! ! ! Two were dead on arrival and the rest burned out in a few days and aquatraders has awful/nonexistant customer service.
Any ideas?

O my (&&&%%$$$) and for the price they are selling those units, are you in tears? I would be so angry, can you send the unit back for the money?
My moonlights are something like 5 years old so I don't have any complaints, also a tank can survive without moonlights. I have no idea what else you can do. I wonder if others are having problems with replacement bulbs. I guess if you DIY you know where you got each component and know where to get parts.
New technology always has hickups. I purchased a T5HO back when they first came out and it lasted 3 weeks, I took the unit back and got 1/2 my money refunded. Now after so long I finally trust them enough to get that type of light.

 

[foxandhound]

I HATE aquatraders, this fixture was a deal, but apparently not. Paypal didnt care because aquatraders showed delivery confirmation. Paypal doesnt really care about functionality problems and wont get involved. I could have sent it back during the 30 days, but UPS wanted $40 for shipping since it was a long/oversized item. A pain!!!!
I agree, new technology always has hiccups!!! This is why I didnt want to go with an expensive reef led fixture. I figure give it a few more years!
Where do you guys get your replacement LEDs from?

 

[xcali1985]

Quote:
Originally Posted by FoxandHound http:///t/389979/replacing-leds#post_3450479
I HATE aquatraders, this fixture was a deal, but apparently not. Paypal didnt care because aquatraders showed delivery confirmation. Paypal doesnt really care about functionality problems and wont get involved. I could have sent it back during the 30 days, but UPS wanted $40 for shipping since it was a long/oversized item. A pain!!!!
I agree, new technology always has hiccups!!! This is why I didnt want to go with an expensive reef led fixture. I figure give it a few more years!
Where do you guys get your replacement LEDs from?
100% correct. I stop using paypal a while ago due to this. I use my credit card, they care. I bought a TV online and it came broken, Sound but no picture, the manufacture and the dealer were giving me the run around. 1 call to the bank and money was back within 24 hours. Filled out the paperwork they send and never heard from the dealer again. The manufacturer called me after 90 days and asked what was going on, I explained and they shipped out another TV, but the fedex guys dropped it sometime during shipment and it had a crack in it. LOL! FML right! So I call the manufacture again. I now have 2 useless TVs (52" at that). They send me another one out after 30 days of phone tags. Finally got a TV that works!!!
By this time, the bank would not allow them to recharge my card. So I ended up with a free 52" TV took about 5 months to get, but I got it!!!! Paypal would have been like, whatever, you can get shipped a brick in a box and they wouldn't do anything.
Good Luck!

 

[acrylic51]

Flower I'll ask my buddy about those lights.....He has those over his 65 gallon and I know he likes to rip things apart.....

 

[meowzer]

If I may make a suggestion.....Look into the R2LED moonlights....You would be amazed at the coverage it provides....I am using one right now on my 225G while I am waiting to fix the other lights.....and it covers more then 1/2 the tank

 

[travelerjp98]

Uhhhhh... I must argue about paypal... we always use them (since we're antique dealers)..... much better than checks, money orders, etc..... just saying IMO,

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by meowzer http:///t/389979/replacing-leds#post_3450600
If I may make a suggestion.....Look into the R2LED moonlights....You would be amazed at the coverage it provides....I am using one right now on my 225G while I am waiting to fix the other lights.....and it covers more then 1/2 the tank

I have some over the 56g and another short one on the 90g...It does indeed cover lots of area and looks good, but the full strip lights were awsome and I would like to replace the bulbs rather than toss it out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by acrylic51 http:///t/389979/replacing-leds#post_3450593
Flower I'll ask my buddy about those lights.....He has those over his 65 gallon and I know he likes to rip things apart.....
Thank you, surely we can can replace the bulbs someway.
Quote:
Originally Posted by travelerjp98 http:///t/389979/replacing-leds#post_3450622
Uhhhhh... I must argue about paypal... we always use them (since we're antique dealers)..... much better than checks, money orders, etc..... just saying IMO,
I'm with you...I love paypal, I can order online without giving away information everytime, it's fast and easy. I don't use cerdit cards, stuff costs enough without paying extra on interest. I have a checking card (Mastercard emblem) I use ONLY for the internet purchases, I can move money from my main account to that one when I buy anything online. That way I don't have to worry about thieves getting my card number, the only thing in the account is to pay for said purchase... otherwise it sits with $4.00 in it.
I try and be careful of what I order and from whom. I would never order a 52 inch TV online, fish tank stuff I order because I can't get it locally, if I can purchase any item at a local store I do, so that I can take the item back to the store if I have a problem.
We all have our own ways of doing things.

 

[wartooth1]

Can you contact the manufacturer? I've had 1 bulb go out on my LED fixture and when I emailed the manufacturer they offered to fix it for me for free.
The only reason I didn't do it was that its only 1 bulb (out of 24) and I didn't want my tank to be lightless for the 7-10 business days it would take to have my fixture fixed and returned... but if more go bad I'll take them up on their offer.

 

[wartooth1]

Hey sorry to threadjack but now I gotta ask (since I've never used moonlight myself and I kindof like those R2 lights that Meowzer posted)... Is the purpose of those lights just to make the tank look blue-er or is it supposed to be better for the tank to keep the moonlights on at night as opposed to just turning off the lights at night?

 

[2quills]

Yeah you're probably just going to have to contact the manufacturer. Without knowing the pertinant information then it's impossible for us to say whether or not the leds are something that you can easily replace yourself. Most of these cheaper fixtures, accent lights, etc. are not built in a way that makes them practical to fix. They would rather just sell you another one.

 

[florida joe]

FYI
I am running the marine land 60inch pro lighting. a few weeks ago the moon lights (LEDS) stared to go dim and flicker. I called the manufacturer and was sent out four new LEDS no charge (system is over 16 months old) I was told if that did not solve the problem they would send a repair man to my house. The replacements seem to have corrected the situation. Hardest part was removing the small screws securing the lights. Bulb and fixture come as one unit.

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Wartooth1 http:///t/389979/replacing-leds#post_3450758
Hey sorry to threadjack but now I gotta ask (since I've never used moonlight myself and I kindof like those R2 lights that Meowzer posted)... Is the purpose of those lights just to make the tank look blue-er or is it supposed to be better for the tank to keep the moonlights on at night as opposed to just turning off the lights at night?
Hi,
Moonlights allow you to watch your tank at night, there are lots of critters that hide in the day. Some of the coolest creatures in your tank go very active after lights out, such as your shrimp, the serpent and brittle stars and if there is an eater of coral...that's how you find his hiding place. Also it helps prevent fin nipping, since the smaller fish can see his nemsis approach so it can get out of the way.
Because the dim blue lights won't bother the fish, inverts or coral it's perfect for night time viewing, and it makes your tank look almost as awesome in the night as it does in the day.

 

[flower]

As always, where you purchase your equipment makes all the difference on how well they take care of you after the sale. Sometimes these off the wall new sites that spring up with super cheap prices turn out to be more expensive. If I'm going to pay the kind of money LEDs cost, I would rather trust a reputable dealer that I know will do the right thing if there is a problem. While hick-ups happen with new on the edge inventions, it makes all the difference to have good customer service when you need it.
Oh and I have to ask this...concerning LEDs in general, does every little bulb look like what Joe showed on his post? Do you have to unscrew every one of those little lights to replace them every 5000 hours of use?

 

[2quills]

No certainly not. Every manifacturer designs thier fixtures differently. Some you can unscrew and replace while others are soldered directly to the pcb board which you cant replace without the right equipment. Leds themselves are all different as well. So you cant just replace it with any ol led. Just like halides you have to make sure youre replacing it with the right type. And as mentioned unless you can tell us any of that information then theres not much we can do to help. Youll eithr have to get in touch with the manufacturer or take it to someone who knows what they are doing. Which will pronably cost more than the fixture.

 

[acrylic51]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Flower http:///t/389979/replacing-leds#post_3450785
As always, where you purchase your equipment makes all the difference on how well they take care of you after the sale. Sometimes these off the wall new sites that spring up with super cheap prices turn out to be more expensive. If I'm going to pay the kind of money LEDs cost, I would rather trust a reputable dealer that I know will do the right thing if there is a problem. While hick-ups happen with new on the edge inventions, it makes all the difference to have good customer service when you need it.
Oh and I have to ask this...concerning LEDs in general, does every little bulb look like what Joe showed on his post? Do you have to unscrew every one of those little lights to replace them every 5000 hours of use?
No.....5000 hours is a long time Flower!!!!!!

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by acrylic51 http:///t/389979/replacing-leds#post_3450932
No.....5000 hours is a long time Flower!!!!!!
LOL...I know 5000 hours is a long time, divided into 10 hour days makes it 500 days and some odd minutes...365 is one year, so what are we talking about...maybe 15 to 18 months. I also know that someday, sometime they will burn out or need replacing. Keep in mind I have ONLY seen moonlights in LEDs, I can't figure out how to change those bulbs..... For the life of me it looks like every tiny little bulb will need to be replaced and I'm asking how it will be done. I was looking at the following picture and it's a true mystery to me. On this unit it has 120 of these little bulbs...is it a strip at a time after you remove the covering, do you replace the entire panel...what???

When they say 5000 hours it sounds like soooo long, but in reality it isn't a much longer bulb life than a T5HO...they look better and they run 100% cool. I'm not bashing them, I really want to know how to change the bulbs and at what cost to do so.

 

[2quills]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Flower http:///t/389979/replacing-leds#post_3450965
LOL...I know 5000 hours is a long time, divided into 10 hour days makes it 500 days and some odd minutes...365 is one year, so what are we talking about...maybe 15 to 18 months. I also know that someday, sometime they will burn out or need replacing. Keep in mind I have ONLY seen moonlights in LEDs, I can't figure out how to change those bulbs..... For the life of me it looks like every tiny little bulb will need to be replaced and I'm asking how it will be done. I was looking at the following picture and it's a true mystery to me. On this unit it has 120 of these little bulbs...is it a strip at a time after you remove the covering, do you replace the entire panel...what???

In a lot of cases that's exactly what needs to be done. You may have to replace every bulb if they are all attached to one single panel. That's what I've been saying. But every fixture is different. Not all of them have individual bulbs that can be replaced. Without being able to see what you have I don't see how we can tell you how to replace them. You have to open it up to see.
BTW, here's some shots of one of the Maxspec led fixtures like you've shown above. They do have individual leds that are replaceable. But not many fixtures do.


Here is the Radion fixture...17 leds on 1 board. Soldered on.