bamburgb Posted December 28, 2018 Share Posted December 28, 2018 So curious as to if anyone can assist, I currently have a reefcorner 180P (programmable 180 Watt LED light) and it appears one of my blue channel is out. any ideas on how to trouble shoot and find/repair the problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Z Reef Posted December 28, 2018 Share Posted December 28, 2018 It’s likely one of 3 things: 1. (Most likely) a single led on that channel has burned out, causing a break in the circuit and the channel to go out. You can diagnose with a multimeter, the one I use will actually illuminate LEDs if they are good. Once found, use a soldiering iron and remove led and replace. Closer to 400nm and below LEDs tend to have the shortest lifespan. Blue channels tend to be effected more because of this. 2. Driver for that channel has gone out. Replacement will be needed and may need soldiered in if it doesn’t have a simple molex plug. 3. (Least likely) something in the controller has failed causing the channel to not switch on. I would diagnose other issues first. Id be more then happy to diagnose and fix if possible for you but I am an hour North... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bamburgb Posted December 28, 2018 Author Share Posted December 28, 2018 10 hours ago, Blue Z Reef said: It’s likely one of 3 things: 1. (Most likely) a single led on that channel has burned out, causing a break in the circuit and the channel to go out. You can diagnose with a multimeter, the one I use will actually illuminate LEDs if they are good. Once found, use a soldiering iron and remove led and replace. Closer to 400nm and below LEDs tend to have the shortest lifespan. Blue channels tend to be effected more because of this. 2. Driver for that channel has gone out. Replacement will be needed and may need soldiered in if it doesn’t have a simple molex plug. 3. (Least likely) something in the controller has failed causing the channel to not switch on. I would diagnose other issues first. Id be more then happy to diagnose and fix if possible for you but I am an hour North... Thanks so much man, Went out and bought a multimeter this morning and found there are 2 LED's that are out causing the blues to be out. Do you know of a good place to buy LED Diodes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Z Reef Posted December 28, 2018 Share Posted December 28, 2018 28 minutes ago, bamburgb said: Thanks so much man, Went out and bought a multimeter this morning and found there are 2 LED's that are out causing the blues to be out. Do you know of a good place to buy LED Diodes? I always get mine off eBay from China so they take forever to get here (usually about a month). If you just need a few quickly I could mail you some if you want to cover shipping. Not sure what the smallest mailer would cost but probably $5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Z Reef Posted December 28, 2018 Share Posted December 28, 2018 These are the last batch I bought of royal blues https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F263332974931 I always order extras since it takes so long to ship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bamburgb Posted December 28, 2018 Author Share Posted December 28, 2018 4 hours ago, Blue Z Reef said: These are the last batch I bought of royal blues https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F263332974931 I always order extras since it takes so long to ship. Thanks so much man, Im gonna be placing an order for a few to have on hand, but in the mean time I had a smaller spare LED light in the garage and was able to take 2 diodes from it and now the light is working perfectly. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertareef Posted December 28, 2018 Share Posted December 28, 2018 16 hours ago, Blue Z Reef said: It’s likely one of 3 things: 1. (Most likely) a single led on that channel has burned out, causing a break in the circuit and the channel to go out. You can diagnose with a multimeter, the one I use will actually illuminate LEDs if they are good. Once found, use a soldiering iron and remove led and replace. Closer to 400nm and below LEDs tend to have the shortest lifespan. Blue channels tend to be effected more because of this. 2. Driver for that channel has gone out. Replacement will be needed and may need soldiered in if it doesn’t have a simple molex plug. 3. (Least likely) something in the controller has failed causing the channel to not switch on. I would diagnose other issues first. Id be more then happy to diagnose and fix if possible for you but I am an hour North... Hey Jeff - I am going to file this away for future reference since I am a lot closer to you 😄 LED lighting is one of the "techy" things I haven't had the time to brush up on. Bamburg - glad you got it sorted out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Z Reef Posted December 29, 2018 Share Posted December 29, 2018 3 hours ago, bamburgb said: Thanks so much man, Im gonna be placing an order for a few to have on hand, but in the mean time I had a smaller spare LED light in the garage and was able to take 2 diodes from it and now the light is working perfectly. Awesome! Glad it’s sorted for now. Also, you can always jumper around the led in a pinch to get the channel up and going again. They are cheap enough it’s good to have extras on hand. 1 hour ago, albertareef said: Hey Jeff - I am going to file this away for future reference since I am a lot closer to you 😄 LED lighting is one of the "techy" things I haven't had the time to brush up on. Bamburg - glad you got it sorted out! Anytime you need a hand I’m happy to help. Can only really help with black box leds as the nicer ones typically have a pre fabbed pcb board that I don’t have the tools to fix unlike the Chinese style with individual diodes and easy soldier points. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bamburgb Posted December 30, 2018 Author Share Posted December 30, 2018 On 12/28/2018 at 5:38 PM, Blue Z Reef said: Awesome! Glad it’s sorted for now. Also, you can always jumper around the led in a pinch to get the channel up and going again. They are cheap enough it’s good to have extras on hand. Anytime you need a hand I’m happy to help. Can only really help with black box leds as the nicer ones typically have a pre fabbed pcb board that I don’t have the tools to fix unlike the Chinese style with individual diodes and easy soldier points. Ya I think Ill create a spot under my tank (sealed in a ziplock or something of course) just for spare Diodes, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 Great help @Blue Z Reef Nice work @bamburgb getting it fixed up. Love to see this kind of stuff happening! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bamburgb Posted December 30, 2018 Author Share Posted December 30, 2018 1 minute ago, TheClark said: Great help @Blue Z Reef Nice work @bamburgb getting it fixed up. Love to see this kind of stuff happening! Me too I love how everyone on the forum is really helpful and there was that thread going around a while ago of what people did for a living haha, lots of experience in different areas so its one of those have a question about ANYTHING (tank related or not) Im sure someone on here knows a thing or two about it haha. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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