Can you run two Orbit LED's off one controller?

shollis2814 · May 27, 2018

OK, had a bit of an overflow today. It looks like the controller for my Orbit Marine Pro (5101 on the tag, but the website only shows 4101) is stuck on 00:08 time and won't respond to the controller. I have it in a bag of rice hoping for the best.

If I end up having to buy a replacement (the controller is 119, the new set is 123 and this system is 3-4 years old) could I somehow run both lights off of one controller? Do they make splitters for the blue and white channel?

Sarah24! · May 27, 2018

Hello,

I would call current and have them send a replacement. They sent one to me for free, under warranty. They are extremely good at replacing those. I had you same problem about two weeks ago, and they are hard to find.

You can not run two at once, you have the pro dual ramp timer correct. If so email currrnt USA and ask for Brandon And he should be able to help you. More than likely the rice won’t help because it was in salt water. They did send me an extra one just in case that I have put away just in case. I would also check your local aquarium, and lfs. They possibly have some of those laying around. My aquarium had three, and I bought two for 10 dollars. Which with the two current sent me, I have spares for each one of my orbit marine pros 72 inch.

Let me know what you find out, I would be willing to help you by going to current and or my local aquarium since they called me and have a few more.

shollis2814 · May 27, 2018

Sarah24! said:
Hello,

I would call current and have them send a replacement. They sent one to me for free, under warranty. They are extremely good at replacing those. I had you same problem about two weeks ago, and they are hard to find.

You can not run two at once, you have the pro dual ramp timer correct. If so email currrnt USA and ask for Brandon And he should be able to help you. More than likely the rice won’t help because it was in salt water. They did send me an extra one just in case that I have put away just in case. I would also check your local aquarium, and lfs. They possibly have some of those laying around. My aquarium had three, and I bought two for 10 dollars. Which with the two current sent me, I have spares for each one of my orbit marine pros 72 inch.

Let me know what you find out, I would be willing to help you by going to current and or my local aquarium since they called me and have a few more.

Thanks. I may reach out. This was bought 3 years ago, so it's not under warranty. The replacement controller is only 10-20 dollars less than a newer model of the pro.
I may try to reach out, but I am afraid my corals are going to start fading by the time the long weekend is over and I may have to go ahead and order something.

Sarah24! · May 27, 2018

Hello,

Mine were not under warranty either and they sent me to since they discontinued them. Remeber the new ic loop lights are substantially less power than pro, and may not work. When I cslled current they had my the new timers in two days. They were super fast about it. Also try your local aquarium they probably have some or your local fish shop

Sarah24! · May 27, 2018

Hello @shollis2814

Here is a pic of what I run and one of my spares. Is this the one your running?

shollis2814 · May 27, 2018

That is my controller. I did email Current. I also ordered the IC Pro which is supposed to be OK for coral (when you say they may not work, you mean for coral or with my power supply?). I have a homemade light strip now supplementing my Orbit, so best case, I have two Current strips.

Thanks again for the suggestion.

PerplexyHexy · May 27, 2018

shollis2814 said:
OK, had a bit of an overflow today. It looks like the controller for my Orbit Marine Pro (5101 on the tag, but the website only shows 4101) is stuck on 00:08 time and won't respond to the controller. I have it in a bag of rice hoping for the best.

If I end up having to buy a replacement (the controller is 119, the new set is 123 and this system is 3-4 years old) could I somehow run both lights off of one controller? Do they make splitters for the blue and white channel?

I have a brand new one in the box that I bought, but never used!

Sarah24! · May 27, 2018

shollis2814 said:
That is my controller. I did email Current. I also ordered the IC Pro which is supposed to be OK for coral (when you say they may not work, you mean for coral or with my power supply?). I have a homemade light strip now supplementing my Orbit, so best case, I have two Current strips.

Thanks again for the suggestion.

Hello Sir,

I would be super careful, since the power supply to the pros are a 5 amp 150 watt power supply. The ic are between 3-4 amps and 70 watt-90 watt power supply. Worse case I can send you my spare so your tank doesn’t suffer. The ic lights will not work on anything above 100 gallons and anything probably 18 inches tall. They won’t grow sps very well, or clams or super high light critters. The pro is twice the light the ic loop is. The controller in the loop FYI will not run your pros. But worse case let me know what happens I can see what I can find here.

Sincerely
Sarah

shollis2814 · May 28, 2018

Sarah24! said:
Hello Sir,

I would be super careful, since the power supply to the pros are a 5 amp 150 watt power supply. The ic are between 3-4 amps and 70 watt-90 watt power supply. Worse case I can send you my spare so your tank doesn’t suffer. The ic lights will not work on anything above 100 gallons and anything probably 18 inches tall. They won’t grow sps very well, or clams or super high light critters. The pro is twice the light the ic loop is. The controller in the loop FYI will not run your pros. But worse case let me know what happens I can see what I can find here.

Sincerely
Sarah

Thank you. I will double check the power.
This is the light I have coming:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00WFDCL52/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

My tank is a 36 gallon bowfront. I only have one SPS and it's close to the top and I have a homemade reflector hood with 2 24" Ecoxotic Stunner Strips that I run for a few hours in the middle of the lighting cycle. Do you think the lights above with that should be comparable to my older set?
I appreciate you offering your spare. I may take you up on that, but hopefully won't have to.

shollis2814 · May 28, 2018

PerplexyHexy said:
I have a brand new one in the box that I bought, but never used!

If I can't get a replacement from Current, willing to sell?

PerplexyHexy · May 28, 2018

Sure man... send me a pm whenever

Sarah24! · May 28, 2018

shollis2814 said:
Thank you. I will double check the power.
This is the light I have coming:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00WFDCL52/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

My tank is a 36 gallon bowfront. I only have one SPS and it's close to the top and I have a homemade reflector hood with 2 24" Ecoxotic Stunner Strips that I run for a few hours in the middle of the lighting cycle. Do you think the lights above with that should be comparable to my older set?
I appreciate you offering your spare. I may take you up on that, but hopefully won't have to.

Hello,

The light you have now is quite a bit stronger than the one you ordered. In theory according to Currrent, you would need two of those to equal one of the pros that you have now. I would definitely keep it, and or add it as well. Regardless the ic light is still a really good light, it’s just the pro is in the same rank as the Radion and hydra. I have seen a lot of tanks just use the ic loop version and they do amazing. So lol yes the light you bought is awesome, is it as good as the one you have now, not quite. At the same time I don’t want you to be discouraged either. Currents best lights are the orbit marine pro, and the one after it, which is the ic pro. The ic pro is more for the lower budget customers per say (from what they told me). The pros where in the high class range. They are releasing a new light that is the orbit pro and the ic pro combined and stronger than the pros we have now yay.

shollis2814 · May 28, 2018

Sarah24! said:
Hello,

The light you have now is quite a bit stronger than the one you ordered. In theory according to Currrent, you would need two of those to equal one of the pros that you have now. I would definitely keep it, and or add it as well. Regardless the ic light is still a really good light, it’s just the pro is in the same rank as the Radion and hydra. I have seen a lot of tanks just use the ic loop version and they do amazing. So lol yes the light you bought is awesome, is it as good as the one you have now, not quite. At the same time I don’t want you to be discouraged either. Currents best lights are the orbit marine pro, and the one after it, which is the ic pro. The ic pro is more for the lower budget customers per say (from what they told me). The pros where in the high class range. They are releasing a new light that is the orbit pro and the ic pro combined and stronger than the pros we have now yay.

Thank you for that info. When I went to Amazon and looked at my original order for the light, the picture was for the Loop system, which makes me think they discontinued the light I have and replaced it with that one in the link. And Actually, I don't think I ordered the Pro the first time around. It was just the base Current Marine LED. I think I opted for that due to budgetary concerns at the time.

OK, whew, it sounds like I should be OK. I was getting good growth with only 6 hours or so of lighting with my old Current and I don't think I had it all the way to 100%. Sounds like my corals will adjust and may slow down, but still keep going ok. IT also sounds like if I can get both sets of Currents going, then I will be much better off than my Current + homemade stunner strip hood. And I don't

Bayareareefer18 · May 28, 2018

I'm running the 2 48" ic

I chose to order a 48" UV strip from Orphek for some added pop and par with whites on

shollis2814 · May 31, 2018

Update: @Sarah24! , you were spot on. Current is sending me a new controller under warranty. After a couple of days the old controller lit up and started working. I don't trust it fully, so I will swap out the controller when it gets here and use that one as a spare.

The new lights also came and while the light fixture itself is about 6" shorter than the ones I have, it has some red LED's along with the red and blue. My acans and duncan is opened up more than I have ever seen it.
Since it is a lighting change, I am running both about 80% for a shortened period for a few days before slowly adjusting the photoperiod and intensity.

Thanks for all the help! Thanks to @PerplexyHexy for being willing to sell his spare and just being a cool dude when I didn't need to buy it!

PerplexyHexy · May 31, 2018

shollis2814 said:
Update: @Sarah24! , you were spot on. Current is sending me a new controller under warranty. After a couple of days the old controller lit up and started working. I don't trust it fully, so I will swap out the controller when it gets here and use that one as a spare.

The new lights also came and while the light fixture itself is about 6" shorter than the ones I have, it has some red LED's along with the red and blue. My acans and duncan is opened up more than I have ever seen it.
Since it is a lighting change, I am running both about 80% for a shortened period for a few days before slowly adjusting the photoperiod and intensity.

Thanks for all the help! Thanks to @PerplexyHexy for being willing to sell his spare and just being a cool dude when I didn't need to buy it!

Just glad it worked out for you man. I know it sucks when stuff like that happens, so Im hoping someone would do the same for me when I have a problem. Hope your good for awhile bud!!!

Sarah24! · May 31, 2018

Hello,

@shollis2814 that is amazing and so glad. Current usa by far has the best customer service and warranty I have ever seen. They really do care about their customers, and are determined to make things right. I’m glad your acans are opening up that’s good. Be careful with the rgb (red green blue) ratio. The red and greens if turned to high will grow lots and lots of algae. Now that they have sent you the new controller, what are your plans to light your tank?

shollis2814 · May 31, 2018

Sarah24! said:
Hello,

@shollis2814 that is amazing and so glad. Current usa by far has the best customer service and warranty I have ever seen. They really do care about their customers, and are determined to make things right. I’m glad your acans are opening up that’s good. Be careful with the rgb (red green blue) ratio. The red and greens if turned to high will grow lots and lots of algae. Now that they have sent you the new controller, what are your plans to light your tank?

Well, I had the two Ecoxotic stunner strips that I put into an old strip light with reflective tape covering it for a home made light. I took that off. So now I have the old 5101 and the new LED Pro going. I'm going to have to think through the programming there and determine if I run the same program for both lights, or have one run longer at a lower intensity with the other coming on during the height of the photoperiod, etc.

Sounds like another thread ;-)