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AI SOL vs Ecotch Radion vs Vertex Illumina PAR Readings

kevin

kevin

NJRC Member
nice. I have the Radion, but my tank is still cycling. The colors it produces are veryyy nice.
 
TanksNStuff

TanksNStuff

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
After seeing that, and considering the Apollo LED's were almost double the PAR of the AI Sol's, I think I'm going to get the Apollo LED's.

Thanks for the link Jim.
 
TanksNStuff

TanksNStuff

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
If the Radions didn't have the fan on the bottom (which I believe to be a serious design flaw for a couple obvious reasons) and if they weren't so expensive... I'd consider them.
 
B

bmoney

If you look at the unit broken down the fan is in a cooling channel within the lite. The leds and electronics come in no contact with the air being moved by the fan only the case which acts as a heat sink. If you are worried about the salt air taking out the cooling fan, I have lights with the fan on top and sides and have had the salt air take the out.
TanksNStuff said:
If the Radions didn't have the fan on the bottom (which I believe to be a serious design flaw for a couple obvious reasons) and if they weren't so expensive... I'd consider them.
Click to expand...
 
redfishbluefish

redfishbluefish

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Don’t quote me on this because my knowledge is a couple years old (well maybe more than a couple)……not all fans are designed to lay flat (horizontal). Fans with bushing (most “low-end” fans....most fans) should only be mounted vertically. Mounting horizontally with cause premature failure. Some fans with bearing, if designed for such use, may be mounted horizontally or vertically.


My question about Radion fans.....do they blow down or suck air up? For some reason blowing down seems to be a better choice in my little brain.
 
TanksNStuff

TanksNStuff

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
I'm not looking to start a war over the radions... I'm sure they're very nice LED's. But, to explain my previous post, here's a pic of the interior of one:

http://cdn.manhattanreefs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/IMG_5518.jpg

Here's a side view:

http://cdn.saltwaterfish.com/f/fa/fadf4471_radion-led-ecotech-13.jpeg

As you can see, the fan is mounted to the heat sink and the LED panels are mounted right next to them on either side. I'm not sure if the heatsink has a hole in it (allowing the fan to blow into the area where the fins are...which would make the most sense) or not. If it doesn't, then cooling the flat part is pretty much worthless and the salty air will surely leak through and be exposed to the electronics around the fan.

Or, if the fan is just sucking out instead of blowing in, then it's also not pulling much heat out because the heat will be drawn to the fin side of the heatsink. But even if it did, it would be blowing hot air towards the tank, which everyone would agree would be a bad idea.

So, I'm going to assume they designed this with an opening in the heatsink so the air blows through it and then spreads air outwards towards the sides, along the fins. OK, that would work for cooling, but why wouldn't they just put the fan on the top of the case... if nothing else but to avoid any water from splashing up inside there? It's not just the salt that I'm concerned about! Water can be dangerously corrosive too, especially salt water.
 
R

ReeferNets

George,

These fixtures are not intended to be mounted directly over an aquarium 3 inches away. They are meant to be mouth 8- 20 inches over a tank. My radion is 10 inches off the water i have no splashing problems.
 
TanksNStuff

TanksNStuff

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
ReeferNets said:
George,

These fixtures are not intended to be mounted directly over an aquarium 3 inches away. They are meant to be mouth 8- 20 inches over a tank. My radion is 10 inches off the water i have no splashing problems.
Click to expand...

That's a valid point that I can't argue with.

Do you have an answer for my "too expensive" issue? :grin:
 
R

ReeferNets

You get what you pay for and in this hobby it couldnt be truer.

My radion and aqua Illuminations fixture beat the snot out of any chinese fixture i have seen, functionally and power wise.

The radion is an amazing fixture that can mimic any lighting color and intesity. its awsome. My mp10 works in sync with the lights.
 
Brando457

Brando457

As far as the fan pulling in salt air, last I checked salt doesn't evaporate only water. Even if there was "salt air" then regardless of the fan's position it would still leave the components vulnerable to suck in the "salty air" and damage them. I don't think a manufacturer like ecotech would risk having a class action lawsuit on their hands due to their improper design of a fan....

As far as the expensive part look at the price difference of a mp40Wes $455 for 3,200 gph or korallia 8 for $120 that does 3,200 gph.

IMO sure the koralia will provide the same flow and at 1/3 the price, but the mp40 has more functionality and more options for the price.

Now compare an AI to a radion and same thing, price $400 to $750 and the radion wins with function and color spectrum etc.

Also a lot of people don't take in consideration fixtures like vertex or acan lighting or other high end lights that are significantly more $ than the radion with similar options!
 
howze01

howze01

NJRC Member
I don't get why one has to be better. They're both awesome lights. Cj's Radions are one of the coolest things out there. They don't look like a light for a tank, they look like jewelry. Are they better lights then my AIs? Probably. Would I want them for my tank? Nope. I like my AIs. To me it's all a matter of preference. If you like Radions, get them. If you like AIs, get them. If you like power compacts, get them.

I don't really see your point about function though Brandon. With it's three colored LEDs the AI is just as functional as a Radion. Each color is controllable independently and can be set to come on whenever you want at whatever intensity you want. They ramp up, they ramp down. Now I don't hook them up to my computer and get a graph but to be honest, I don't want to. There's a line between functional and overly busy which is how I see the Radions. Is the function the part when the lights and MPs go into night mode at the same time? Again, not really a feature I'm looking for. But it better be something I want because Cj's Radions decided I wanted it.

Like I said, it's all a matter of what you want. Or what Cj's Radions think you want;)
 
Brando457

Brando457

I agree except to the function last i checked the radion has 2 more additional color of leds, am i right? Right oh and higher power :x

Also the software while you may not like it/see a need for it, makes it nice to program the light for all throughout the day for different modes and settings. Such as my case where I can program it for growth between 7 am - 5 pm and then more for my viewing pleasure 5 - night. Granted you can do this on the AI, but you have to scroll through the settings and such. With the radion its a few clicks and done/done.

But I agree if you are happy with it you are happy with it thats the bottom line really.
 
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