Cali Kid Corals

SCARE from my Tek Light fixture. Advices on new LED lights

jellygeee

jellygeee

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Sorry mods if this is in the wrong forum.

I had a 6 bulbs 234 Watts Tek Light Fixture. it's at least 5 years old.
When I got back from work yesterday, I saw my tank without any light. Wifey said the Tek light fixture had been flickering and finally all the light went out. I thought the bulb went bad, so I brought the fixture down and tested each bulbs. After checking, I found out that 2 out of the 6 bulbs in the center wouldn't light up. Thinking that the bulbs might gone bad, I switched to my spare bulbs. After tinkering for a while (moving the bulbs around the socket, suddenly my Carbon Monoxide alarm went on. If you have one, you know how loud the sound is. It basically said "Carbon Monoxide detected. Get out of the house." That scared the crap out of me and my family. I didn't see any smoke so I know that is not what causing it. I know Carbon Monoxide are odorless and can't be seen any naked eye, so I am assuming that's the case.

Has anyone every experience this with the Tek Light Fixture. I'm not an electrical expert, but can Carbon Monoxide be generated from an electical fixture. I thought that happens with gas furnace (sorry if I am wrong)?

With that being said, now I am in the market for new lighting. I am leaning towards LED. Before I decided to plunge on it, I want to get some feedback. All I know is LED saves energy in the long run, but it gets expensive. LEDs like Kessil looks nice, but once they burn out, they are one since the bulb can't be replaced (that's my understanding, please correct if I'm wrong)?
I have a shallow tank (dimensions are 48" x 24" x 12" (4ft x 2ft x 1ft)).

Thank you for reading the thread and thanks in advance for the advice.
Rudy
 
False alarm? I believe CO is a product of combustion. I don't think an electrical fixture can produce CO.
 
Hi Rudy,

I can't help you with the question on the gas, or if the electrical / lighting unit could have been the cause.

However......I have done a LOT of research on LED lighting. Your shallow tank will cause you to raise the lights significantly so you don't burn all your corals. With that said, you can get away with a bit more as well. Meaning 1 AI sol would probably cover 1/2 your tank nicely, because you will have to raise it quite a bit (15-20 inches above water is where I would start with a 12 inch deep tank). The other option if you don't want to mount the lights so high, is to decrease the overall intensity of the light.........this is a pretty cool option with most LED's.

Personally, I would go with Aqua Illuminations, Ecotech radions, Maxspect, or Kessil LED's. I LOVE the Kessil's, however you can't dim them at all. Not a huge problem, but something to consider. As far as having to replace the Kessil lights..........they should last you over 4 years. At 275 bucks each, plus the energy savings.........this is still quite economical. Unfortunately there are SO many options out there, it will be difficult for you to make a decision on them. Price might factor in, as some are VERY expensive. I could go ON and ON, but you get the idea. You should look at each of the brands that you like and check youtube for video on how they look, and how people like them. Good luck. ;)
 
CO is the result of incompleate combustion. Usually where not enough oxygen can get to the fuel.
Normal combustion: CH4 + 2 O2 → CO2 + 2 H2O
Incompleate combustion: 2 CH4 + 3 O2 → 2 CO + 4 H2O
This is a very simple equation, in reality you would be burning a more complex hydrocarbon along with many impurties and there would be a combination of compleate and incompleate combustion.

If something in your fixture burnt out, it is possible it could have produced CO... electrical fires do happen. How close were you to the CO detector, some models recommend a certain distance (I think 3ft, not sure) from fluorescent lights to avoid false alarms from electrical interference.

A lot of the threads on RC debating the energy savings of LEDs make the asumption of $0.12 per kilowatt hour. But if you're like me, then you get to enjoy tier 5 of PG&E courtesy of your tank and you might end up saving a lot more! I'm working on a DIY fixture right now. FYI tapping aluminium is a fantastic PITA, something to consider if you choose this path. Broke 3 taps before figuring out you need to lube the tap.
 
Excess humidity can trigger a false CO alarm.
Is your alarm near your tank? Opening it to work on it, plus other random perfect conditions, might have caused it.

Definitely check your stove/furnace/water heater though. Never assume a false alarm.
(Looks for any yellow/orange, not nicely blue)

As Michael noted, yes, CO can be produced from most anything.
But seems pretty unlikely to be that without smoke (or nasty smell) for fried electronics.

---

I went all DIY LED. I have mostly good, but still mixed feelings.
Tons of LED info on tons of forums. The hard part is sifting through the mass of data.
Strong opinions:
1) Avoid cheap LED fixtures.
2) Avoid LED fixtures that are purely cool white + royal blue.
 
Thanks for all the information, guys.
The CO alarm was right accross from the tank (about 5-6 ft away from the tank). When I was working on the fixture, it was about 7-8 ft to the CO alarm. My gas heater was right accros in the other room behind my tank (so only a wall seperates them). It is a Gas heater made in 1980s.

I was twisting the bulbs around for a lot of times. The light was flickering. I didn't smell any smoke from fried electronics. I will check on the appliances tonight to make sure nothing is yellow/orange. Those these colors refer to CO impact? I mean i thought CO is odorless and can't be seen with naked eye.

I am not an electical expert, so DIY electrical fixtures is out of the question. I was looking into Robert's (Neptune Aquatics) tank and was thinking about the AI Super Blue. Will one set be enough for the tank? It is pretty expensive.

Thanks,
Rudy
 
jellygeee said:
I will check on the appliances tonight to make sure nothing is yellow/orange. Those these colors refer to CO impact? I mean i thought CO is odorless and can't be seen with naked eye.
Click to expand...
A yellow or orange flame is a sign of incomplete combustion, which means it could be producing CO.
A mostly blue flame means better combustion.
Yes, CO itself is clear.

The twisting and flickering could produce a bit of ozone. Which then could react with CO2 to produce a bit of CO.
Seems like it would be really trace amounts though.
 
If you call PGE they will test youe home. http://www.pge.com/myhome/edusafety/gaselectricsafety/carbonmonoxide/

Aqua Illuminations +1
 
Thanks for all the advices. I didn't realize that PG&E can test the CO. I will check on the color of the flames first.
I was reading more about the AI SOL Blue and some mentioned that you can adjust all the optics to 70 degress. I thought it only came with 4 pucks 40 degree optics and 4 pucks 70 degree optics. Am I missing something?

Any difference between the old and new black color SOL aside from the color of the bodys? I am thinking about getting 1 AI SOL blue plus the control module. Thought about the hanging kit, but will try with a T-Track aluminium to display it in perpendicular way in the tank.
Does anyone know of any store in that has this in stock?

Thanks,
Rudy
 
You can purchase additional lenses directly from AI and swap out as needed. IIRC a set of 40 or 70 degree optics costs $20, and can be obtained by opening a support ticket with AI: http://support.aquaillumination.com/home
 
Rudy, I believe on the AIs the inner 4 lenses are of a different range than the outer 4 (but cannot remember whether the 70 degree are the inner 4 or outer 4). If you want to change the optics you can do so by purchasing the desired optics off the IA website (1 pack of 4 optics will change the full fixture as you will only need to change either the 4 x 40 degree or 4 x 70 degree so all are the same).
 
So, I set up the light on the weekend. I mount the LED on a T-Track (got the idea from this link: T-Track
Using the T-Track allows me to re-use some of items I used to hand my Tek Light fixture.
The controller is easy to use. For now, I set the light power at 25% for all the 3 variant colors.
The intent is to slowly add the power (about 5% a week). Do you think that is too aggressive.
I might set up different time settings with different light output for noon time, evening time, etc.

I don't have a lot of corals, so AI Sol set works for me at this point.

Picture attached.

Rudy

Attached files /attachments/sites/default/files/Nightime.JPG
 
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