Maxspect LED owners!!!

[canesfan44]

Originally Posted by v00d00

with the g1 u can also hold every coral u want buddy



my test coral is down near the sand watch for her on left side

I understand, your tank looks great and the crowth on your test corall was impressive, but I want to have my unit about 8" above the tank.

[f350power]

Originally Posted by kvmn

where is other thread talking about maxspect light ? Any one know?
Also can some one here let me know where to buy a replace led for max spect? Thanks

pm

[KMP]

1 of 2 lights came in today.

Same, same - door to door w/in 1 wk, packaged well, no damage, plug and play, initial 'lights on' a-ok. Only one issue; I purchased the clamp-on glass mounts and although in the package - did not include the screws to screw them to the back of the fixture. Easy fix - and I haven't contacted the supplier yet - only 'not perfect' aspect of the purchase thus far.

They won't be on the tank for a couple weeks since these were purchased for a new build [44x22x16 - arrives next week] - then need to pin-down some time to do the swap. I did hold the fixture about 2" above the water on my temp set up and am a little concerned with spread front to back being so close to the water seemed very pinpointed. Question: Is there a "power-on" time whereas like MH they need a few minutes to get to full light? If so, that most likely addresses my concern with light spread.

I will have 3 mounting options; rails, hang or clamp-on glass. I'm hoping to do the clamp-on glass as I currently have that arrangement on my work tank with an Elos Elite. If for some reason that doesn't suit my fancy I can change it up.

Looking forward to the next fixture arriving, the new tank arriving and the tank swap.

[KMP]

Contacted the vendor 30 minutes ago; immediate response - screws for clamp-ons brackets on the way. Amazing! I don't see customer service going south any time soon - these guys have nailed it time and time again. Two-thumbs up!

[tmgrash]

Originally Posted by KMP

1 of 2 lights came in today.

Same, same - door to door w/in 1 wk, packaged well, no damage, plug and play, initial 'lights on' a-ok. Only one issue; I purchased the clamp-on glass mounts and although in the package - did not include the screws to screw them to the back of the fixture. Easy fix - and I haven't contacted the supplier yet - only 'not perfect' aspect of the purchase thus far.

They won't be on the tank for a couple weeks since these were purchased for a new build [44x22x16 - arrives next week] - then need to pin-down some time to do the swap. I did hold the fixture about 2" above the water on my temp set up and am a little concerned with spread front to back being so close to the water seemed very pinpointed. Question: Is there a "power-on" time whereas like MH they need a few minutes to get to full light? If so, that most likely addresses my concern with light spread.

I will have 3 mounting options; rails, hang or clamp-on glass. I'm hoping to do the clamp-on glass as I currently have that arrangement on my work tank with an Elos Elite. If for some reason that doesn't suit my fancy I can change it up.

Looking forward to the next fixture arriving, the new tank arriving and the tank swap.

Dont have the maxspect but my LED's power on to 100% immediately

[pilyo143]

How many and which one of these would be good for a 72x30x24 ?

[crank2211]

Originally Posted by tmgrash

Dont have the maxspect but my LED's power on to 100% immediately

Same with the maxspect fixture. Lights fire up immediately and at full blast for me.

[SimonSKL]

Originally Posted by crank2211

Same with the maxspect fixture. Lights fire up immediately and at full blast for me.

If you have a sensitive GFCI outlet, the initial full blast of all LEDs coming on may trip the outlet. If you have this problem, try this. Program your timers from a non-GFCI outlet. Your programs are saved by an internal battery. At the time when all lights are supposed to be off, plug that into the GFCI outlet. This way, the groups of lights will come on gradually without tripping the GFCI outlet. It worked for me.

[KMP]

Thanks guys - when I'm at a point to install these properly your input will be helpful.

[gambitcobra]

also just FYI guys, all my units came with cheap plugs so if you wiggle them you will see they move alot in the power supply, I went ahead and purchased new ones from radio shack and they do not more and feel more solid in the power supply. So that might help with some peoples firing up problems I know it fixed all of mine!

[SimonSKL]

Originally Posted by gambitcobra

also just FYI guys, all my units came with cheap plugs so if you wiggle them you will see they move alot in the power supply, I went ahead and purchased new ones from radio shack and they do not more and feel more solid in the power supply. So that might help with some peoples firing up problems I know it fixed all of mine!

Gambit, can you be more specific which plugs in the power supply? Pics showing the locations of the plugs will be appreciated. This may save some of us from sending the unit back for what might be a simple fix.

[gambitcobra]

i have the 12 ft ones from radio shack, there white and they cost 9 bucks. TRUST ME I had the units flickering and then they wouldnt come on unless i messed with the crappy power wire so i decided to replace them and i have had NO MORE PROBLEMS

[Garage1217]

Funny part is, I think we all have received different types of power cords. I have seen some get grounded cords, I received non grounded cords & I have seen some come with overseas plugs. My non grounded versions fit very tight & snug. Seems like an issue with the grounded plugs maybe?

[SimonSKL]

Originally Posted by gambitcobra

i have the 12 ft ones from radio shack, there white and they cost 9 bucks. TRUST ME I had the units flickering and then they wouldnt come on unless i messed with the crappy power wire so i decided to replace them and i have had NO MORE PROBLEMS

Gambit, did you buy your units on Ebay or from one of the online stores from HK? Mine came with a US power cable/plug that is solid and tight. I had to push it hard to get it in. There was no wiggling at all and I never experienced any flickering. I know the US plug is not in the standard package so I wonder if the distributors just throw whatever they have in for US customers.

[pilyo143]

Please help me configure the lights for the following tank. The light would b my deciding factor.
1. 72x30x24
2. 60x30x24
3. 48x30x24
4. 48x30x20

Thansk in advance

[KMP]

pilly - i could be off base on this [will let the guys actually using them on their tanks confirm/deny], but my initial thought is it will depend on how you plan on mounting the fixture. i got 2 110w for a 44x22x16; however, after looking at what a couple others have done [mounting high above the tank] another option for me may have been a single 180w.

[KMP]

gambit, i got the cord you pictured however, the end that goes into the controller is straight not a 90. at the time i tested i didn't pay attention to whether it was a snug fit or not - but the lights worked fine.

regarding what cords are shipping; i would also predict [we shall see by others posts] that they aren't just throwing whatever they have in - hopefully they've figured out what we need.

[Ycore]

At least in my case, the GFCI trips not when the lights come on, but whever any of the individual LED banks are turned off/on, so the timer trick doesn't work for me. I had to settle for plugging it into a normal outlet.

The cable used is a standard computer PSU cable.

[gambitcobra]

ya a few came from overseas and the last 2 came from ebay, but All of them came with the same crapo plug that was loose and not snug. So I replaced them all because one unit i literally plugged in the power cable that came with the leds and the power supply fried! So I was lucky and Maxspect sent me a new power supply and i went ahead and threw away all the power cords that came with my units. I have had zero problems after that.

Its just a simple fix and a piece of mind knowing the wire is snug and isnt moving around in the socket which tends to make the flickering.

[gambitcobra]

Originally Posted by KMP

gambit, i got the cord you pictured however, the end that goes into the controller is straight not a 90. at the time i tested i didn't pay attention to whether it was a snug fit or not - but the lights worked fine.

regarding what cords are shipping; i would also predict [we shall see by others posts] that they aren't just throwing whatever they have in - hopefully they've figured out what we need.

yes i have the ones that go directly straight into the power supply also, I just couldnt find the image of the ones i bought.

and I wouldnt doubt they ship with cheapo power cables, If you look at the cables that are used on your computers you will see they are WAY thicker and fit better in the power supply from maxspects

[KMP]

hmmm - not to regress to far; however, odyssea fixtures used to come with under powered ballasts so you weren't getting 250w - rather, 168w. do you think the smaller cord vs. the larger diameter cord would restrict the potential wattage? could that be why the SemiLEDs are not a full 3w?

[gambitcobra]

Originally Posted by KMP

hmmm - not to regress to far; however, odyssea fixtures used to come with under powered ballasts so you weren't getting 250w - rather, 168w. do you think the smaller cord vs. the larger diameter cord would restrict the potential wattage? could that be why the SemiLEDs are not a full 3w?

hm good question but I honestly do not know. Ask GARAGE, he is the electrical wiz

[pecan2phat]

Do you guys find that with raw mounted LEDs (no focal optics), you are getting film algae on your glass rather quickly due to the 120 degree light spread?

I agree that the Maxspect are very appealing for the price and build quality. I am a 2 generation Solaris owner and also a G1 Pacific Sun Python user.
With the narrow focal optics (40 degrees, too narrow IMO) on the Solaris, cleaning the film algae on the glass is approx once every 5-6 days and with the Python that has no optics (120 degree spread), cleaning the glass is every other day.

[gambitcobra]

Originally Posted by pecan2phat

Do you guys find that with raw mounted LEDs (no focal optics), you are getting film algae on your glass rather quickly due to the 120 degree light spread?

I agree that the Maxspect are very appealing for the price and build quality. I am a 2 generation Solaris owner and also a G1 Pacific Sun Python user.
With the narrow focal optics (40 degrees, too narrow IMO) on the Solaris, cleaning the film algae on the glass is approx once every 5-6 days and with the Python that has no optics (120 degree spread), cleaning the glass is every other day.

Wow i will say that everyone brings up really good questions. And the answer to yours is OMG yes, I have to clean the glass EVERYDAY with 4 units running on my tank for a 12 hr period. But its not extremely bad, just a light film that takes a second to get off.

[KMP]

With my current set-up (MH) I'm not getting any algea on the glass. The difference (as I had those issues before (with both T5 and MH) is my tank now doesn't have a center overflow - rock pillars - and a powerhead in the back rear corner. So the current is running in a circular motion around the tank without obstructions. With that in mind my new tank will have an angled corner overflow - I'm hoping to have the same results.