So black box LEDs don't catch fire right?

[Ding2daDong]

Hey gang,

So I'm jumping back into the hobby after a while, 7ish years, and looking for lights. Never had LEDs before and was hearing good reviews of the Ocean Revive, K7 pro and Reef breeders. I just picked up a used 45g CADlights 36x24x12 aquarium and looking to give it some light.

Anyways while searching you find some horror stories, usually not first hand, but someone heard from someone and many of those were from a while ago. Is it pretty safe to say that was the first grouping and most of these black box LEDs are pretty legit now or at least very unlikely to spontaneously catch fire?

Thanks for any input.

-Matthew

[cvrle1]

As you said, none of those stories were 1st hand. They were all a friend of a friend who has this cousin, and her boyfriend knows this guy whose house burned down.

A lot of people use CBBs without any issues. Just like with all other lights clean them when needed (dust, salt creep, etc) and they will work just fine.

[outssider]

If everything is plugged into a GFI outlet, that should save your ***.....

[gcarroll]

Originally Posted by cvrle1

As you said, none of those stories were 1st hand. They were all a friend of a friend who has this cousin, and her boyfriend knows this guy whose house burned down.

A lot of people use CBBs without any issues. Just like with all other lights clean them when needed (dust, salt creep, etc) and they will work just fine.

Ok so you want first hand! I took my friend Dr Sanjay Joshi to Unique Corals. We watched as Dave Botwin (o2manyfish) turned on a Taotronics LED light. When it turned on, there was a buzz then flames shot out the end. Dave used a stick to pull the plug as black smoke poured out of the fixture.

I told my friend Ryan of BRS and he shared the story with his audience. Believe it or not I could care less. But you were welcome to talk to the other two parties and ask them if they had the same experience.

[gcarroll]

Originally Posted by Ding2daDong

Hey gang,

So I'm jumping back into the hobby after a while, 7ish years, and looking for lights. Never had LEDs before and was hearing good reviews of the Ocean Revive, K7 pro and Reef breeders. I just picked up a used 45g CADlights 36x24x12 aquarium and looking to give it some light.

Anyways while searching you find some horror stories, usually not first hand, but someone heard from someone and many of those were from a while ago. Is it pretty safe to say that was the first grouping and most of these black box LEDs are pretty legit now or at least very unlikely to spontaneously catch fire?

Thanks for any input.

-Matthew

If I had to pick from those, I would go Reefbreeders as Logan will stand behind his products. Don’t know who you would go to for customer support for the others. If it were me I would consider some used ecotech XR15 G4. They should be cheaper since the G5’s are out now

[cvrle1]

Originally Posted by gcarroll

Ok so you want first hand! I took my friend Dr Sanjay Joshi to Unique Corals. We watched as Dave Botwin (o2manyfish) turned on a Taotronics LED light. When it turned on, there was a buzz then flames shot out the end. Dave used a stick to pull the plug as black smoke poured out of the fixture.

I told my friend Ryan of BRS and he shared the story with his audience. Believe it or not I could care less. But you were welcome to talk to the other two parties and ask them if they had the same experience.

Well at least now I know where this whole story started. And if you couldnt care less, then feeling can be mutual.

2 things, I have no idea when this happened, but this light fixture is at least 6 years old. I think we can all agree that they came long way since then. Another thing that irks me a lot about that BRS video is that they painted every black box with same brush, which is ridiculous. People still to this day use that video as some sort of "proof" that black boxes will burn down your house and that they cant be trusted. Now they are saying how because some BBs arent UL listed for safety approval, they shouldnt be used. Little do they know that Radion fixtures arent UL listed for safety approval either, yet people think they are 2nd coming of Jesus.

Does it happen? Do lights catch fire, or start to smoke? Sure, it happens, but these days there is absolutely 0 proof that CBBs are fire hazards while AI, Radion and so on are not.Dont maintain your light fixture and it will crap out, no matter what the name printed on the box is.

[alton]

cvrle1 what are your par numbers from day 1 to six years later? I bought a single Mars Aqua to try it and I loved the colors, the fact it grew coral so I bought two more. The problem I had was longevity. To get the par numbers I had the first year running them at 50% I had to crank it up to 100% which sucked, so I sold them.

[cvrle1]

Originally Posted by alton

cvrle1 what are your par numbers from day 1 to six years later? I bought a single Mars Aqua to try it and I loved the colors, the fact it grew coral so I bought two more. The problem I had was longevity. To get the par numbers I had the first year running them at 50% I had to crank it up to 100% which sucked, so I sold them.

My 6 year old comment was about light fixture model that gcarrol said caught fire, and how in last 6 years LED fixtures have come long way in general. It makes 0 sense to paint all the CBBs with same brush for unit that is several generations old, and that is what BRS video did. People still take it as definitive end result when it comes to CBBs. I am pretty sure that video would disappear really fast if BRS happened to sell some of these cheaper units. I also wonder if BRS would do a video about AI Primes producing smoke and catching on fire.

Considering I didnt have a tank for most of last 6 years, my par readings were 0. But if you go to the other site, there is a massive thread about Viparspectra lights with PAR reading, settings, growth and color examples and so on over the last 3 years. 21 pages and going.

Its interesting to see that you had such massive drop off after only 1 year with MA. Cant say I remember seeing someone having same issue like that (not saying it doesnt happen) so maybe it was faulty unit or something like that.

[dadnjesse]

I think for the most part you get what you pay for. There is a reason they can make things cheaper.

[cvrle1]

Originally Posted by dadnjesse

I think for the most part you get what you pay for. There is a reason they can make things cheaper.

I will agree with this to a point. When it comes to features, then yes, you get what you pay for. Reason that CBBs are cheap is because they have no features at all and just 2 channels.

But when it comes to performance and safety, I will disagree. Viparspectra and similar will grow any coral just as good as AI, Kessil or Radion fixture for much less cost wise. Corals will look just as good under them as with much more expensive lights. And no, these days they will not catch on fire any more or less than any other light fixture or piece of equipment. Hell, I read more stories about Apex power bars smoking and catching on fire than CBBs in last year or so.