Pfo Solaris Iv Power Supply Schematics

ADVRESOURCE · 01/27/2009, 03:48 PM

Does anyone have a power supply schematic? One of the supplies went south and I am looking for a schematic, parts list and circuit board layout diagram so that I can possibly fix the supply.

cdmurphy · 01/27/2009, 05:55 PM

I'm after the same thing only for the I4 series. One of my power supplies went down on Friday night. Have you tried calling PFO? I sent them an email and they responded that the didn't have any in stock and basically left it at that. Since then I have tried to call numerous times and they won't answer the phone or reply to my voice mail or email. Not sure what going on because Carla at PFO is usually very good about getting back to me.

tufacody · 01/27/2009, 06:40 PM

Keep trying. I have had to bug Carla many a time and they don't always call back quickly. They have always resolved my problems eventually though. I would think an I4 might still be under warranty? Odd that they have none in stock though. Doesn't this just **** you off? KEEP ENUFF OF THIS CRAP IN STOCK TO SATISFY YOUR CUSTOMERS PFO!!! NOT HARD TO UNDERSTAND!!!

cdmurphy · 01/27/2009, 07:16 PM

It is still under warranty, I've only had it 10 months and so far I've had to replace 10 LED strips and the main control board and now the power supply has gone out and thats all been in the last 3 months prior to that I was really happy with the light. Carla has always been good about replacing everything under warranty but I'm not so sure what going on this time. Needless to say I'm not very happy at the moment. I don't have a back up light so I can see my SPS browning out by the minute.

GSMguy · 01/27/2009, 07:19 PM

Fix it and sell it while It's under warranty, that way you won't have to spend hundreds just keeping it running.

tufacody · 01/27/2009, 10:05 PM

I had all these problems with my first "chinese" Solaris, and they replaced it with an american-assembled one. I haven't had a problem since.

GSMguy · 01/27/2009, 10:10 PM

if you can do that, then go for it, but id also ask for a fresh 2 year warranty.

cdmurphy · 01/28/2009, 07:39 AM

Tufacody, how long had you had it before they replaced it for you? I've asked Carla at PFO if I could have it replaced several times and been denied.

magnoliarichj · 01/28/2009, 07:54 AM

i think you can upgrade the i4 to the i5.

cdmurphy · 01/28/2009, 08:27 AM

I asked if I could upgrade and the response from PFO was that I would have to sell my I4 and buy an I5. My response was "why would I want to sell all the problems I'm having with the light to some other poor person". Pretty poor form shown by PFO I thought.

stolcpart · 01/28/2009, 08:42 AM

I have an H4 that had a powersupply that went south after 9 months, I contacted Carla and it took 3 months to get a powersupply mind you it was not Carla's fault. The supplies were on back order and somehow had been lost in China. Once I recieved the powersupply I found that several of my LED segments had gone south as well. I contact the owner and was told he did not handle that? So I talked to the person that did and was told that fixture was poorly made? , but that they would upgrade the electronics in mine to the I series but that they would not replace the fixture or send me a temp replacement. That was months ago, I have been trying to decide what to do since, finally I have some replacement lighting so I will be shipping it back for repair. Talk about customer service, what a joke.

cdmurphy · 01/28/2009, 08:51 AM

The Solaris is the worst investment I have made for my tank by far. I didn't mean this to get into a slanging match over PFO's poor customer service but they should have stock on hand of parts that are mostly likely to fail so that they can ship things out right away. Its not like your tank can survive months without light and not everyone has backup lighting fixture. I still have two banks of LED's working so I've been turning the fixture around every 6 hours and running my old PC fixture at the back of the tank.

stolcpart · 01/28/2009, 09:06 AM

Wow that sounds familiar, I moved what was left of my corals to one side of the tank. So frustrating, especially considering what was paid for these lights, if they were cheap I might understand.

buck50bmg · 01/28/2009, 09:18 AM

Ashame PFO hasnt changed..... My H4 went back a while ago, MH are the way to go if you want reliable.

zorden · 01/28/2009, 09:45 AM

thanks for the feedback. i almost got a new toy from them.

cdmurphy · 01/28/2009, 04:18 PM

Still no answer from PFO, I've been calling all day and can't get through to anyone. Once again PFO's customer service is outstanding.

tufacody · 01/28/2009, 04:33 PM

Mine was switched after about 6-7 months of use. None of the Chinese-assembled ones should be accepted. Period.

cdmurphy · 01/28/2009, 05:00 PM

I emailed PFO today requesting an upgrade, haven't heard back yet. If the Solaris was a car it would be covered under the Lemon Law, and that was this thing is. And thats exactly what it is, a $2700 lemon.

chadfarmer · 01/28/2009, 08:54 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by cdmurphy
I emailed PFO today requesting an upgrade, haven't heard back yet. If the Solaris was a car it would be covered under the Lemon Law, and that was this thing is. And thats exactly what it is, a $2700 lemon.

if i spent that kind of money on a light that didnt work i would have sent it back

GSMguy · 01/29/2009, 09:26 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by chadfarmer
if i spent that kind of money on a light that didnt work i would have sent it back

You would not have spent that kind of money without researching it..,

These solaris threads have all been the same since I got here in 06, customers who trust that PFO will change with each new generation, will continue to be dissapointed.

LarryW · 01/29/2009, 11:02 AM

There are several people i know who have been trying to call them. last contact was 1/19 with carla, and that's it. calls to all departments go unanswered, even accounting. they are registered on the site, and they were on a few days ago. I will go look at their last activity ,and post it.

PFO Lighting is the username.

jtma508 · 01/29/2009, 12:23 PM

At this point, if I were a Solaris owner I'd be building a list of all the Solaris owners I could find and contact an attorney. I smell bankruptcy.

stolcpart · 01/29/2009, 12:46 PM

I am not normally the sue'ing type, but I would think about getting in on that one, as I feel that I have been taken big time. Everyone there can be hard to get in touch with, the owner was "out of the office" for almost three weeks straight. At least that was what I was told.

01/27/2009, 03:48 PM	#1
ADVRESOURCE Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: TUCSON Posts: 569	Pfo Solaris Iv Power Supply Schematics Does anyone have a power supply schematic? One of the supplies went south and I am looking for a schematic, parts list and circuit board layout diagram so that I can possibly fix the supply.

01/27/2009, 07:19 PM	#5
GSMguy Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Northern New Mexico Posts: 17,420	Fix it and sell it while It's under warranty, that way you won't have to spend hundreds just keeping it running. __________________ Nick. Conehead. Shallow Reef club. Current Tank Info: 48"x27"x14" Envision Acrylic rimless, 6x39w ATi Sunpower, Custom ATB Deluxe Skimmer, 4x tunze nano stream,ATB flowstar 1500, ACJR, Tunze osmolator.

01/27/2009, 10:10 PM	#7
GSMguy Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Northern New Mexico Posts: 17,420	if you can do that, then go for it, but id also ask for a fresh 2 year warranty. __________________ Nick. Conehead. Shallow Reef club. Current Tank Info: 48"x27"x14" Envision Acrylic rimless, 6x39w ATi Sunpower, Custom ATB Deluxe Skimmer, 4x tunze nano stream,ATB flowstar 1500, ACJR, Tunze osmolator.

01/27/2009, 05:55 PM	#2
cdmurphy Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Virginia Beach, VA Posts: 154	I'm after the same thing only for the I4 series. One of my power supplies went down on Friday night. Have you tried calling PFO? I sent them an email and they responded that the didn't have any in stock and basically left it at that. Since then I have tried to call numerous times and they won't answer the phone or reply to my voice mail or email. Not sure what going on because Carla at PFO is usually very good about getting back to me.

01/27/2009, 06:40 PM	#3
tufacody Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 1,890	Keep trying. I have had to bug Carla many a time and they don't always call back quickly. They have always resolved my problems eventually though. I would think an I4 might still be under warranty? Odd that they have none in stock though. Doesn't this just **** you off? KEEP ENUFF OF THIS CRAP IN STOCK TO SATISFY YOUR CUSTOMERS PFO!!! NOT HARD TO UNDERSTAND!!!

01/27/2009, 07:16 PM	#4
cdmurphy Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Virginia Beach, VA Posts: 154	It is still under warranty, I've only had it 10 months and so far I've had to replace 10 LED strips and the main control board and now the power supply has gone out and thats all been in the last 3 months prior to that I was really happy with the light. Carla has always been good about replacing everything under warranty but I'm not so sure what going on this time. Needless to say I'm not very happy at the moment. I don't have a back up light so I can see my SPS browning out by the minute.

01/27/2009, 10:05 PM	#6
tufacody Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 1,890	I had all these problems with my first "chinese" Solaris, and they replaced it with an american-assembled one. I haven't had a problem since.

01/28/2009, 07:39 AM	#8
cdmurphy Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Virginia Beach, VA Posts: 154	Tufacody, how long had you had it before they replaced it for you? I've asked Carla at PFO if I could have it replaced several times and been denied.

01/28/2009, 07:54 AM	#9
magnoliarichj Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: florida west coast Posts: 1,455	i think you can upgrade the i4 to the i5.

01/28/2009, 08:27 AM	#10
cdmurphy Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Virginia Beach, VA Posts: 154	I asked if I could upgrade and the response from PFO was that I would have to sell my I4 and buy an I5. My response was "why would I want to sell all the problems I'm having with the light to some other poor person". Pretty poor form shown by PFO I thought.

01/28/2009, 08:42 AM	#11
stolcpart Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 98	I have an H4 that had a powersupply that went south after 9 months, I contacted Carla and it took 3 months to get a powersupply mind you it was not Carla's fault. The supplies were on back order and somehow had been lost in China. Once I recieved the powersupply I found that several of my LED segments had gone south as well. I contact the owner and was told he did not handle that? So I talked to the person that did and was told that fixture was poorly made? , but that they would upgrade the electronics in mine to the I series but that they would not replace the fixture or send me a temp replacement. That was months ago, I have been trying to decide what to do since, finally I have some replacement lighting so I will be shipping it back for repair. Talk about customer service, what a joke.

01/28/2009, 08:51 AM	#12
cdmurphy Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Virginia Beach, VA Posts: 154	The Solaris is the worst investment I have made for my tank by far. I didn't mean this to get into a slanging match over PFO's poor customer service but they should have stock on hand of parts that are mostly likely to fail so that they can ship things out right away. Its not like your tank can survive months without light and not everyone has backup lighting fixture. I still have two banks of LED's working so I've been turning the fixture around every 6 hours and running my old PC fixture at the back of the tank.

01/28/2009, 09:06 AM	#13
stolcpart Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 98	Wow that sounds familiar, I moved what was left of my corals to one side of the tank. So frustrating, especially considering what was paid for these lights, if they were cheap I might understand.

01/28/2009, 09:18 AM	#14
buck50bmg Moved On Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Pittsburgh, Pa Posts: 792	Ashame PFO hasnt changed..... My H4 went back a while ago, MH are the way to go if you want reliable.

01/28/2009, 09:45 AM	#15
zorden Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Singapore Posts: 181	thanks for the feedback. i almost got a new toy from them.

01/28/2009, 04:18 PM	#16
cdmurphy Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Virginia Beach, VA Posts: 154	Still no answer from PFO, I've been calling all day and can't get through to anyone. Once again PFO's customer service is outstanding.

01/28/2009, 04:33 PM	#17
tufacody Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 1,890	Mine was switched after about 6-7 months of use. None of the Chinese-assembled ones should be accepted. Period.

01/28/2009, 05:00 PM	#18
cdmurphy Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Virginia Beach, VA Posts: 154	I emailed PFO today requesting an upgrade, haven't heard back yet. If the Solaris was a car it would be covered under the Lemon Law, and that was this thing is. And thats exactly what it is, a $2700 lemon.

01/29/2009, 11:02 AM	#21
LarryW Premium Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Colorado Springs, CO Posts: 1,778	There are several people i know who have been trying to call them. last contact was 1/19 with carla, and that's it. calls to all departments go unanswered, even accounting. they are registered on the site, and they were on a few days ago. I will go look at their last activity ,and post it. PFO Lighting is the username.

01/29/2009, 12:23 PM	#22
jtma508 Premium Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: MA Posts: 1,232	At this point, if I were a Solaris owner I'd be building a list of all the Solaris owners I could find and contact an attorney. I smell bankruptcy.

01/29/2009, 12:46 PM	#23
stolcpart Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 98	I am not normally the sue'ing type, but I would think about getting in on that one, as I feel that I have been taken big time. Everyone there can be hard to get in touch with, the owner was "out of the office" for almost three weeks straight. At least that was what I was told.