IceCap CLOSED!

[nuclearheli]

Over the weekend I lost one of my 250W 20K's from my Icecap light. I always keep a spare so replacement was only 15 minutes. The factory for Icecap is half way between my office and home so I generally stop by to buy bulbs and parts directly from them. Everyone there has been great.

On the way home from work yesterday I stopped by the factory and everything was dark. Nobody home. I drove around the back of the building and found a loading dock open and somebody inside. I asked the person, who turned out to be one of the owners, when they would reopen, assuming they were already closed for the day. His response was "never". The brand, Icecap, has been sold and they are officially closed down, out of business.

He did graciously offer to have me look for the bulbs I wanted so I went inside and looked around. Everything is being boxed to ship or dispose of. I had a really nice conversation with the owner there. As usual people always have issues with companies and their support but I must say that I have always found them to be responsive and a huge help. I am sorry to see these guys go.

I want to say good luck to the owners of IceCap and thanks for the bulbs yesterday and the support you have provided to me. He is not sure how the new brand owners will be handling parts and service as of yet. He apologized for that but as I already realized, it's now out of their hands. I still like my fixture and intend to keep it running.

If any local reef groups swing by the place and somebody is there you will get a great assortment of miscellaneous bulbs and parts that they are willing to donate to a club.

[tom obrecht]

A huge lose to the hobby indead! Even though I currently am not involved in the hobby the years that I was included IceCap. I ran VHO bulbs fired by IC ballasts for many years with few issues and when issues arose were handled promply and professionally. I can not say that about MANY of the companies I have delt with through my years of aquaium keeping. It's too bad things like this happen to great companies and people.

[Beaun]

From what I have been reading about it is they are restructuring and will probably be reopened in about 60 days. Reef Builders and GlassBoxDesign both are covering the story in more detail. IMO they are in need of some restructuring, reorganization, and refocus. The industry is moving faster than they are keeping pace and need to focus, IMO, on LED and better T5 fixtures. A single 48" fixture is not the way to produce T5 units. A nice, middle of the road (something better then Tek but not as high end as ATI) T5 fixture, that comes in different sizes would put them in a good spot.

Dear Valued Customer,
First, I would like to extend a Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to you, your
family, and employees. I know this comes somewhat bitter sweet as many of you
have attempted recently to contact IceCap, Inc. with little to no success. For
that I am truly sorry.
IceCap, Inc. has been around for about 20 years and many of you have been
dedicated and loyal customers of IceCap, Inc. through the ups and downs over the
years. Unfortunately, we finally hit a trough in our business cycle due to
several factors that impaired this business to the point where we could not and
can not recover. Therefore, by the direction of the IceCap, Inc. Board of
Directors we have suspended operations.
What this means is we are aggressively and actively seeking opportunities to
keep the IceCap brand viable in the markets and with the customers we have
served over the past 20 years. In doing so, we expect to bring closure to this
process within 60 days and plan to align the new management team, investors,
and/or owners with our valued customers in hopes this continuation of business
and the relationship with the IceCap brand will mitigate the effects of recent
events.
In the interim, please direct all inquiries to chuck.troiani@icecapinc.com.
Please allow 48 hours for a response depending on the e-mail volume. Thank
you!
Again, my apologies for the situation.
Regards,
Chuck Troiani
IceCap, Inc.

[nuclearheli]

That's an interesting letter. I can only tell you that the factory is being cleaned out and from the detailed conversation I had with one of the principals the company was sold. I was in their back stock area looking around. Everything is going or gone. The offices are cleaned out, lights out and nobody else around. He did say the brand would continue but didn't know where or how it was going to be supported or continued. From what I saw first hand I doubt there will be anything left in that building in 60 days.

[1badbrd]

i have been talking with some vendors and they were all very upset how the company left them out in the open with no answers or support. The vendors i spoke to were not happy with what happened since they had no idea that it was coming, all had a good idea since they were unloading there products ASAP but were not told a heads up of the complanies future.

[nuclearheli]

Yeah, he sort of touched upon that and was actually upset at the bad press. As he said and I agree, it's a tough position to be in when you are trying to close a deal to sell your company and the purchasing company puts legal requirements on you to keep your mouth shut. Sometimes your stuck between a rock and a hard spot. I am not defending them but I do understand that negotiations are tricky and sometimes you can't give people the information you want to. I can't tell from what we discussed if the sale was a distressed sale due to economic factors, or a deal they couldn't pass up. My guess is the company had to be sold. It's tough to survive in a narrow market in today's economy.

[ankur1113]

It sucks that they have closed their doors for now, but I do hope that they do open up again and this time with LED products along with few others they they offered.

[mthomp]

what a shame

[d0ughb0y]

that probably means the icecap brand will still be around and supported, but just by a different company.

[nuclearheli]

That's the impression I got. I agree with ankur1113, a nice line of LED's would be good for them. I will miss the convenience of just stopping on my way home from work for parts and stuff.

[JasonD]

Icecap was one of the first ballasts I ever got, the Icecap 430 yess. I also purchased a 175 MH ballst that actually ran your bulb at around 200 watts, wish I never got rid of it.

I'm sure Icecap will be back in one form or another. In many ways they were a pioneer in the hobby with products and great support. Looking forward to the reorganization and then their reincarnation.

Jason

[SpencerG]

Sad to hear this news about a good American company. I don't think the past two years have been very kind to the reef and aquarium business with the recession. I've seen a lot of people sell off their reef tanks and not many start new tanks from scratch.

[bmkj02]

Sucks for me as I just got a brand new 250w MH ballast last week. I hope I dont have any problems

[fishguy86]

WOW ,, Heard that rummer a while back ,, Hopefully a good company is picking up the brand ,, Good luck to all the employees that just lost their jobs at a very unforunate time..

[TommyA]

Bummer, i have used 6 of their ballast w/ good results.

[The Velvet Sea]

This is sad but I'm not extremely surprised. Years ago I had a very high opinion of icecap when compared to industry average. Their electronic ballasts and endcaps which I regularly used for VHO fluorescents were the best of the best. Then power compacts started gaining ground, then T5s and now LEDs. IceCap seemed to lose that leading edge that they had back when their VHOs components were so dominant. I hope they can turn it all around, but it sounds like a total restructuring is going on there at the very least.

[CJ 1098]

There ballasts were and are garbage, I have a pile of 440's and 660's that do not work!
Even brand new ones!

[on the spot]

Originally Posted by CJ 1098

There ballasts were and are garbage, I have a pile of 440's and 660's that do not work!
Even brand new ones!

Well there you have it. I'll rest better knowing your extensive experience.

Their ballasts are used in many industries...I'm betting the aquarium trade was but a very small part of their pie. I wish the new owners much success.

[nenna]

Originally Posted by CJ 1098

There ballasts were and are garbage, I have a pile of 440's and 660's that do not work!
Even brand new ones!

I kinda have to agree. I hate to see an american company like this have issues, but go into any LFS and I'd bet that they have a stack of IC's behind the counter ready to send back for repair. I've had countless 660's blow up for no reason, then I'd send them back, pay the $75 fee, they would work for a year and blow up again. I finally gave up and went with another brand and have had no issues. I've always thought their customer service was mediocre...still it's a shame. Hopefully, whoever buys the company improves their 660/430 design

[radicaltimes]

I bought some of there 250 watt DE 20K bulbs, One quit working after 6 weeks. That was a lot of money for nothing. This was a while back and they would not respond to any contact. You can bet I'll not buy anything with the Ice Cap brand again.

[nuclearheli]

Now that's interesting. The reason why I stopped by was to pick up a spare bulb after replacing one that I purchased there about six weeks ago.

[467echo]

Sent my 6 month old ballast in for repair in November. Guess what, I still dont have it and have no way of finding it. profanity removed

[nuclearheli]

I CANT promise anything but I pass by the road their factory is on, obviously from this thread. I was by about 2 weeks ago and they were still in the building, not open for business but the shipping door was open and I saw people in the building. I would be happy to stop by there for you if you PM me with your information. If they are there and have your ballast I will try to get it for you and ship it back.

Might not do you any good if it is still broken, maybe they will replace it. When I was in the warehouse I saw a ton of inventory they were going through.

If I can help I will try but can't make any guarantees. I hate being screwed.

[chilwil84]

coralvue has picked up there 660 and 430 ballasts so who knows what else is going to be picked up around the industry

[467echo]

Its mostly the principal. Couldn't they just refuse the shipment? Send it back? If I would have known, I could have maybe opened it up and given a look over to see if there was something I could do to fix it myself. And there probably are still people sending warrant work there that don't know about their closure. The website is still up and no notification of what is going on.

Thanks for the help, I'll pm you