Kessil a160we problem

ddanis60 · 07/28/2017, 11:43 AM

So I have around a 200 gallon system with 2 kessil a360we's bought new last year on the 90 gal display, and then I have 3 a160we's above two 40 breeders, all 3 bought used. Last week, one of them didn't match the other two (all hooked up to a spectral controller running the same program) and appeared less blue. I unplugged it from the controller and manually adjusted the intensity and color knobs and all seemed fine. Didn't troubleshoot further as I didn't have a ton of time and didn't think much of it. Well a few days later, it was very different than the other two 160's. Taking a closer look, all blue spectrum is gone and only the white output led's function. So right now, no blues, and only whites work. I took it down and nothing looked out of the ordinary. I blew the dust out and hooked it back up and still no blue. I looked around for similar problems across both forums but these things seem to be pretty non-problematic. I did try messing with the power cable as mentioned in a thread I found, but it's solid and not the issue.

I will try calling kessil soon as I've heard amazing things about their customer service, but not expecting much as I bought it used and not sure of its age. I would ask the original owner, but I bought all three from separate sellers and not sure which is which haha. Just wondering if anyone here has any similar issues or tips/tricks to get some blue back!

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ca1ore · 07/28/2017, 12:47 PM

Sounds like something may have fried on the control board. I had one die, but it was completely dead, not just the blues. You could try blowing compressed air though the unit just in case it's a dust problem. My experience with Kessil is that if the light is less than 2 year sold and you can tell them where it was bought you are covered - ask the person you bought them from.

LobsterOfJustice · 07/28/2017, 12:54 PM

Did you try switching around the control wires? I have three a360s I bought new a few months ago that are daisy chained and one of the Kessils doesn't get long with one of the cords. If you jiggle the cords the whites come and go. I switched the cords around and the issue went away.

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ddanis60 · 07/28/2017, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ca1ore

Sounds like something may have fried on the control board. I had one die, but it was completely dead, not just the blues. You could try blowing compressed air though the unit just in case it's a dust problem. My experience with Kessil is that if the light is less than 2 year sold and you can tell them where it was bought you are covered - ask the person you bought them from.

Yeah I know it won't hurt to ask. I also know the WE model isn't that old, but I'm not sure exactly when they started. But as mentioned above, I bought all three used on here from 3 separate sellers, and not sure which came from which seller. I could possibly look through the sale ads I bought from for a pic to match up SN I suppose.

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ddanis60 · 07/28/2017, 12:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LobsterOfJustice

Did you try switching around the control wires? I have three a360s I bought new a few months ago that are daisy chained and one of the Kessils doesn't get long with one of the cords. If you jiggle the cords the whites come and go. I switched the cords around and the issue went away.

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Yeah. I disconnected it and messed with it solo. Definitely not related to the controller or other lights. Thanks for your input tho!

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oscargrumete61 · 07/28/2017, 02:12 PM

Get another link cable could be internal damage

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ddanis60 · 07/29/2017, 09:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oscargrumete61

Get another link cable could be internal damage

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If you're referring to the 3.5mm link cable to daisy chain lights, they are not a factor. The light still malfunctions as a stand alone, only hooked up to power

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minus9 · 07/29/2017, 05:53 PM

That's funny, I have a used one and it's doing a similar thing. Seems like all the blues are gone? If I turn up the intensity to 100% and color to 0%, it's really a dull white, absolutely no blue at all. I wish I knew what size the allen wrench is that opens these up? I know it's smaller than a .050 though.
Lmk if you find a solution? In the meantime, I'm going to open it up somehow and see what I can find. The kicker is, I only need the light for another month or two until I get my 90g going. I have two AP700's ready to go!

ddanis60 · 07/30/2017, 02:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by minus9

That's funny, I have a used one and it's doing a similar thing. Seems like all the blues are gone? If I turn up the intensity to 100% and color to 0%, it's really a dull white, absolutely no blue at all. I wish I knew what size the allen wrench is that opens these up? I know it's smaller than a .050 though.
Lmk if you find a solution? In the meantime, I'm going to open it up somehow and see what I can find. The kicker is, I only need the light for another month or two until I get my 90g going. I have two AP700's ready to go!

Exact same issue. When the color is turned all the way up, it looks almost as it should as there wouldn't be much blue at that setting. But when turned all the way to 0 color, all that's left is the dull whites and half unlit leds. I have the correct Allen wrench to open it, but I am holding off on doing so until contacting kessil tomorrow to see what they say. I've heard they have excellent customer service so figured it's at least worth a try as the WE model isn't that old. If they tell me sorry as I'm kind of expecting, I'll open her up and take a peek. I'm pretty sure I've read that the circuit board is gel/resin coated to prevent water damage.. but anything is worth a try. I'm pretty handy with an acid brush and some isopropyl ha. I dropped my old current USA led remote in my old tank once and it stopped working even after dry. I took it apart a washed it with freshwater and some alcohol and worked perfect after dry as nothing had time to corrode yet. Maybe I'll get lucky and that's all I'll find.. but I doubt it.

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minus9 · 07/30/2017, 03:07 PM

What size allen?.035 or .028? I'm not worried about the warranty, it's way past and I'm the third owner. Lmk if you find a fix?

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minus9 · 07/30/2017, 03:12 PM

I've found that their customer service is good, at least in my case. My second light was bought used and I thought there was an issue with it and they offered to sell a new one at a reduced price. I found the problem was my apex wasn't outputting the right voltage, so I bought the spectral controller and haven't had an issue since.

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theGil · 12/21/2018, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ddanis60

I have the correct Allen wrench to open it, but I am holding off on doing so until contacting kessil tomorrow to see what they say.

Sorry to revive this old thread, but I need to know the Allen/hex size and can’t find it anywhere :/

Mel-E-Mel · 12/21/2018, 04:58 PM

Call Kessil. This same exact issue just happened to me couple days ago and their customer support was going to tell me the size but I thought I had it in my set and didn’t bother getting it from her.

ddanis60 · 12/21/2018, 10:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theGil

Sorry to revive this old thread, but I need to know the Allen/hex size and can’t find it anywhere :/

Kessil ended up replacing the light under warranty so I never had to open it up. Wish I could be more help.

theGil · 12/22/2018, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mel-E-Mel

Call Kessil. This same exact issue just happened to me couple days ago and their customer support was going to tell me the size but I thought I had it in my set and didn’t bother getting it from her.

What a novel idea! Haha. I emailed them. Gotta love Kessil customer support

“Thank you for your email. The hex size is 0.9mm.

Feel free to let me know if you have any other questions.”

Damphair · 01/14/2019, 05:09 PM

I'm having the same issue with my A160WE. Anyone ever find a diy fix for this?

07/28/2017, 11:43 AM	#1
ddanis60 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Minot, North Dakota Posts: 105	Kessil a160we problem So I have around a 200 gallon system with 2 kessil a360we's bought new last year on the 90 gal display, and then I have 3 a160we's above two 40 breeders, all 3 bought used. Last week, one of them didn't match the other two (all hooked up to a spectral controller running the same program) and appeared less blue. I unplugged it from the controller and manually adjusted the intensity and color knobs and all seemed fine. Didn't troubleshoot further as I didn't have a ton of time and didn't think much of it. Well a few days later, it was very different than the other two 160's. Taking a closer look, all blue spectrum is gone and only the white output led's function. So right now, no blues, and only whites work. I took it down and nothing looked out of the ordinary. I blew the dust out and hooked it back up and still no blue. I looked around for similar problems across both forums but these things seem to be pretty non-problematic. I did try messing with the power cable as mentioned in a thread I found, but it's solid and not the issue. I will try calling kessil soon as I've heard amazing things about their customer service, but not expecting much as I bought it used and not sure of its age. I would ask the original owner, but I bought all three from separate sellers and not sure which is which haha. Just wondering if anyone here has any similar issues or tips/tricks to get some blue back! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

07/28/2017, 12:47 PM	#2
ca1ore Grizzled & Cynical Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Stamford, CT Posts: 17,319	Sounds like something may have fried on the control board. I had one die, but it was completely dead, not just the blues. You could try blowing compressed air though the unit just in case it's a dust problem. My experience with Kessil is that if the light is less than 2 year sold and you can tell them where it was bought you are covered - ask the person you bought them from. __________________ Simon Got back into the hobby ..... planned to keep it simple ..... yeah, right ..... clearly I need a new plan! Pet peeve: anemones host clowns; clowns do not host anemones! Current Tank Info: 450 Reef; 120 refugium; 60 Frag Tank, 30 Introduction tank; multiple QTs

07/28/2017, 12:54 PM	#3
LobsterOfJustice Recovering Detritophobe Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Cary, NC Posts: 7,443	Did you try switching around the control wires? I have three a360s I bought new a few months ago that are daisy chained and one of the Kessils doesn't get long with one of the cords. If you jiggle the cords the whites come and go. I switched the cords around and the issue went away. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk __________________ If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right. I remember when zoanthids were called things like "green" and "orange" and not "reverse gorilla nipple." Current Tank Info: 180g reef with all the bells and whistles

07/28/2017, 02:12 PM	#6
oscargrumete61 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2017 Posts: 82	Get another link cable could be internal damage Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

07/29/2017, 05:53 PM	#8
minus9 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: I'm in the Valley, Dude! Posts: 1,349	That's funny, I have a used one and it's doing a similar thing. Seems like all the blues are gone? If I turn up the intensity to 100% and color to 0%, it's really a dull white, absolutely no blue at all. I wish I knew what size the allen wrench is that opens these up? I know it's smaller than a .050 though. Lmk if you find a solution? In the meantime, I'm going to open it up somehow and see what I can find. The kicker is, I only need the light for another month or two until I get my 90g going. I have two AP700's ready to go!

07/30/2017, 03:07 PM	#10
minus9 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: I'm in the Valley, Dude! Posts: 1,349	What size allen?.035 or .028? I'm not worried about the warranty, it's way past and I'm the third owner. Lmk if you find a fix? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

07/30/2017, 03:12 PM	#11
minus9 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: I'm in the Valley, Dude! Posts: 1,349	I've found that their customer service is good, at least in my case. My second light was bought used and I thought there was an issue with it and they offered to sell a new one at a reduced price. I found the problem was my apex wasn't outputting the right voltage, so I bought the spectral controller and haven't had an issue since. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

12/21/2018, 04:58 PM	#13
Mel-E-Mel Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Shark City San Jose, CA Posts: 1,950	Call Kessil. This same exact issue just happened to me couple days ago and their customer support was going to tell me the size but I thought I had it in my set and didn’t bother getting it from her.

01/14/2019, 05:09 PM	#16
Damphair Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2017 Posts: 11	I'm having the same issue with my A160WE. Anyone ever find a diy fix for this?