# Staying Power of AquaRay Grobeam 1000 ND



## rjordan393 (Nov 23, 2012)

I am in the process of contacting the distributor for replacement or repair of two of these led models. They were in service for 2-1/2 years and I noticed one of the led's was blinking. Usually this means that the power supply needs replacing. I had already replaced one power supply after one year of use. One of the led's has a few lamps that are dimmed and has one lamp that is out. The other led has 5 out of 10 lamps that are blinking while two of them are out.
I believe the product started to fail about 2 months ago, when pearling started to cease on my hygrophilia corymbosa. On a day to day basis when lights start to fail, one gets used to the failure without noticing until it becomes obvious.
I think even after the repair or replacement of the AquaRay's, I may look elsewhere when its time to replace them for a unit with more staying power; especially the power supply.
Its aggravating when this happens especially when one pays about $250.00 for each led and if one has to replace the power supply every one to two years adds to the real cost.
On an online review which appears to be written by an expert, the AquaRays were rated top notch along with one or two other models; but the author did not review the staying power of these led's.
Your thoughts?


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

I'm sorry for your troubles. This has always been my concern about purchasing a commercial LED fixture. It's not as easy as replacing one component by yourself such as a burned out LED. 

I know a few other folks use these same fixtures. Maybe one of them will chime in soon.


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## rjordan393 (Nov 23, 2012)

When they are sent in for repair or replacement, it may take more then 2 weeks before my tank has lights. I wonder if my plants can handle it. I am thinking about purchasing another manufacturer's product and using the AquaRays as a spare. Marineland seems to have a nice led fixture with a built in timer. But for a 75 gallon tank, I think I might need two fixtures which would price me out of this idea. I'll have to check further on it.


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

2 weeks is a long time without light. Why not grab a couple of cheapo shoplights from Home Depot to tide you over? That's the cheapest backup solution I can think of.


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## rjordan393 (Nov 23, 2012)

I decided to go with Marineland's led for plants and use the AquaRays for backups. Marineland has a good reputation for customer service also. Now I need to call them and find out if their 48 inch to 60 inch extended fixture is too much light for my 75 gallon, it has 46 white lamps and 8 RGB lamps. That does seem like a lot of light considering my AquaRays only have 10 lamps each. The aquarium dimensions are 47.0 inch long by 17.5 inch wide by 17.0 deep to the substrate.


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## rjordan393 (Nov 23, 2012)

I just found out that the marineland led product for plants has a smaller footprint and that my 75 gallon tank would need two of these fixtures. The marineland product is a strip fixture with a narrow light projection. They recommend two fixtures if a tank is more then 12 inches wide.
They only give a 1 year warranty or guarantee which is not good at all. Now the AquaRays are looking better then marinelands product and here's why:
AquRay 30 watt Grobeam Ultima 1500 Tile is cheaper by cost. $236.99 vs 339.00
The led tile is guaranteed for 5 years.
If I go with the AquaRays, I can still use the canopy I built for them.
So dispite the short life of the product; I hope its an isolated incident. My lights are 2.5 year old and the manufacturer has upgraded the product and their power supply. So I will order new AquaRays and find out if its economical to have my other Led's repaired so as to have a backup set.


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

If you really want the best thing, build your own. If you have time, of course.


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## rjordan393 (Nov 23, 2012)

I do most of the plumbing, carpentry and electric work around the house but configuring electronic work and all its parts with no experience makes it not worth it. We are talking quality materials and I would not know the differance. Besides, I have already ordered replacements. The replacements have been improved over the originals.


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## TropTrea (Jan 10, 2014)

rjordan393 said:


> I decided to go with Marineland's led for plants and use the AquaRays for backups. Marineland has a good reputation for customer service also. Now I need to call them and find out if their 48 inch to 60 inch extended fixture is too much light for my 75 gallon, it has 46 white lamps and 8 RGB lamps. That does seem like a lot of light considering my AquaRays only have 10 lamps each. The aquarium dimensions are 47.0 inch long by 17.5 inch wide by 17.0 deep to the substrate.


Do not compare LED's by the number of LED's in the system. There are some commercial fixtures running less than 1/2 watt per LED and other running up to 3 watts per LED. I have bulit systems already running at 4.5 Watts per LED and you can go as high as 10 watts per LED's on a DIY system.

As far as the ability to last from my home made systems I had one personally failure of a LED which turned out to caused by poor workmanship mounting the LED with a bad transfer of hear to the heat sink. I also had a failure for one system I built for someone else but that was caused by them dropping the whole system in salt water with the power on. If you ask me a well built system of LED's should work flawlessly for over 5 years.


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## rjordan393 (Nov 23, 2012)

I received an email from American Aquarium Products and my new AquaRays have been shipped and after I install them, I will ship the old one's back for their inspection. If they do not pass inspection or cannot be repaired, then I get the new one's free under the 5 year guarantee and my cost will be refunded.
But if they can be repaired, then they will contact me to see if that is acceptable. There will be no cost for the repair but there will still be a charge for the new one's. 
If I accept that, then I will have a backup set of lights. So I'll see what happens.


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