About a year ago, I decided to take the plunge and purchase some LED lighting for my reef tank. I spent many weeks researching the different manufactures and models of lamps. It really came down to two manufactures. AI and Pacific Sun.
I finally decided to purchase the Pacific Sun Black Python 120 watt master and 120 watt slave from a company called Aloha Tropics NY. They were very expensive. But I was looking forward to keeping my money from my electric company, by not running my chiller or HVAC as much.
When I received the lamps, they were fantastic. They evenly lit my tank, and the temperature of the water hardly ever rose above the room temperature. Water evaporation was half of what it was with the metal halides. Even my living room temperature seemed cooler. And my electric bill was substantially lower than it was with the halides.
However, a short time after getting the lamps, I started having problems with the lights flickering. I also noticed the fans never came on. I contacted the retailer where I purchased them. They had me send them back to them. In a few weeks they sent them back to me and all was good for a few months. Then the slave unit quit working. Again I sent the unit back and again the retailer repaired the lamp and sent it back.
Now while the lamps were working, I saw astonishing coral growth in both my SPS and LPS corals. Most of the corals, tripling and quadrupling in size.
I believe this is due to the strong lighting and stable temperatures.
Now a year has passed and again my lights fail. They become uncontrollable. Coming on and going off by themselves. Unable to connect to the Bluetooth. So again I sent the unit back to the retailer. After a couple of weeks, the lamps were sent back to me. Upon receiving the lamps back, I was able to connect to Bluetooth, but the lamps keep starting up and then shutting down. So I contacted the retailer. This time demanding the lamps be replaced with new lamps. This is when I found out the retailer had not been dealing with the manufacture for about one year. The repairs had been conducted in house. Now do not misunderstand what I am saying here. Aloha Tropics NY had been trying very hard to resolve these issues for me. But trying and being successful were two different things.
A local retailer here in the Orlando, Florida area that I have purchased a few things from in the past had sent me a sales flyer.(Salty Supply) I noticed that they had started to carrying Pacific Sun products. I contacted Chris at Salty Supply to see if he had someone whom did his LED repairs. Now be aware that I did not purchase the lamps from Salty Supply. But Chris went way out of his way to help me with this matter. He has dealt with the owner of Pacific Sun and suggested that I Email Pacific Sun's technical support and explain my situation. Chris even Emailed me the link.
I took the time to Email in detail my situation to Pacific Sun. Within a very short period of time I had gotten a reply from the owner of the company. He apologized for my situation and of course explained that he had not been aware of my situation as my original retailer and Pacific Sun had not been conducting business together for a long period of time.
However, once I had informed him, he immediately resolved my issue. NOT by taking my lamps and having the lamps repaired. Not even by taking my lamps and giving me new lamps of the same model. No, what he did was to upgrade my lamps with a brand new Metis CRP. This is the newest lamp with the newest CREE bulbs. I was totally and utterly surprised by this offer.
And he made good on his offer. Two days ago, I got my new lamp. It is a beautiful fixture. Extremely bright LED's. From what I can read regarding the lamp, it has 4 different bulb colors VS IE's three colors.
I am not going to post all the technical information here that everyone else can go to the manufactures websites and read.
What I do want to say here is that in my 50+ years of life's experiences, I have found that every manufacture of every product has put out lemons. But how many manufactures stand behind their product this well?
How many would take old technology you purchased a year ago and not give you something of equal value,.....but something of much better quality.
I believe that AI and Pacific Sun each has a good product with each having it's own strength's and weaknesses. But when a manufacture really does stand by it's product as well as Pacific Sun stood by me, then I have to say Pacific Sun is the better value.
I want everyone to be sure that I am not affiliated with Pacific Sun. I am just amazed and happy at how well Pacific Sun took care of my issues. I should of contacted the manufacture in the first place.
I often see questions about which brand is better. I believe AI puts out a very good product. I also believe that Pacific Sun puts out a very good product. But just like a Rolls Royce, Mercedes or a Porsche, they can and will eventually break down. To me, if both products are very good, I want the one that is going to stand by their product the best.
I would like other peoples opinion on the best and why. Also would like to hear if anyone else has had the same experience with Pacific Sun or other manufactures of LED lighting.
I finally decided to purchase the Pacific Sun Black Python 120 watt master and 120 watt slave from a company called Aloha Tropics NY. They were very expensive. But I was looking forward to keeping my money from my electric company, by not running my chiller or HVAC as much.
When I received the lamps, they were fantastic. They evenly lit my tank, and the temperature of the water hardly ever rose above the room temperature. Water evaporation was half of what it was with the metal halides. Even my living room temperature seemed cooler. And my electric bill was substantially lower than it was with the halides.
However, a short time after getting the lamps, I started having problems with the lights flickering. I also noticed the fans never came on. I contacted the retailer where I purchased them. They had me send them back to them. In a few weeks they sent them back to me and all was good for a few months. Then the slave unit quit working. Again I sent the unit back and again the retailer repaired the lamp and sent it back.
Now while the lamps were working, I saw astonishing coral growth in both my SPS and LPS corals. Most of the corals, tripling and quadrupling in size.
I believe this is due to the strong lighting and stable temperatures.
Now a year has passed and again my lights fail. They become uncontrollable. Coming on and going off by themselves. Unable to connect to the Bluetooth. So again I sent the unit back to the retailer. After a couple of weeks, the lamps were sent back to me. Upon receiving the lamps back, I was able to connect to Bluetooth, but the lamps keep starting up and then shutting down. So I contacted the retailer. This time demanding the lamps be replaced with new lamps. This is when I found out the retailer had not been dealing with the manufacture for about one year. The repairs had been conducted in house. Now do not misunderstand what I am saying here. Aloha Tropics NY had been trying very hard to resolve these issues for me. But trying and being successful were two different things.
A local retailer here in the Orlando, Florida area that I have purchased a few things from in the past had sent me a sales flyer.(Salty Supply) I noticed that they had started to carrying Pacific Sun products. I contacted Chris at Salty Supply to see if he had someone whom did his LED repairs. Now be aware that I did not purchase the lamps from Salty Supply. But Chris went way out of his way to help me with this matter. He has dealt with the owner of Pacific Sun and suggested that I Email Pacific Sun's technical support and explain my situation. Chris even Emailed me the link.
I took the time to Email in detail my situation to Pacific Sun. Within a very short period of time I had gotten a reply from the owner of the company. He apologized for my situation and of course explained that he had not been aware of my situation as my original retailer and Pacific Sun had not been conducting business together for a long period of time.
However, once I had informed him, he immediately resolved my issue. NOT by taking my lamps and having the lamps repaired. Not even by taking my lamps and giving me new lamps of the same model. No, what he did was to upgrade my lamps with a brand new Metis CRP. This is the newest lamp with the newest CREE bulbs. I was totally and utterly surprised by this offer.
And he made good on his offer. Two days ago, I got my new lamp. It is a beautiful fixture. Extremely bright LED's. From what I can read regarding the lamp, it has 4 different bulb colors VS IE's three colors.
I am not going to post all the technical information here that everyone else can go to the manufactures websites and read.
What I do want to say here is that in my 50+ years of life's experiences, I have found that every manufacture of every product has put out lemons. But how many manufactures stand behind their product this well?
How many would take old technology you purchased a year ago and not give you something of equal value,.....but something of much better quality.
I believe that AI and Pacific Sun each has a good product with each having it's own strength's and weaknesses. But when a manufacture really does stand by it's product as well as Pacific Sun stood by me, then I have to say Pacific Sun is the better value.
I want everyone to be sure that I am not affiliated with Pacific Sun. I am just amazed and happy at how well Pacific Sun took care of my issues. I should of contacted the manufacture in the first place.
I often see questions about which brand is better. I believe AI puts out a very good product. I also believe that Pacific Sun puts out a very good product. But just like a Rolls Royce, Mercedes or a Porsche, they can and will eventually break down. To me, if both products are very good, I want the one that is going to stand by their product the best.
I would like other peoples opinion on the best and why. Also would like to hear if anyone else has had the same experience with Pacific Sun or other manufactures of LED lighting.
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