Kessil Discussion

Crabs McJones · Jul 25, 2017

Long term users of Kessils, what are your opinions of them? What maintenance do you do to keep them running? Any issues you've run into with them? And any modifications or upgrades you would recommend?
I have a pair of A360WE's that I absolutely love, and would like to keep them running for a long time. So i'd like to get some words of wisdom from people who have been using them for a while. I've only had mine for about 6-8 months.

Thanks!

ebushrow · Jul 25, 2017

The only things I could suggest is to
1 - clean out the dust bunnies inside with q-tips and canned air
2 - clean the lens often

andrewkw · Jul 25, 2017

ebushrow said:
The only things I could suggest is to
1 - clean out the dust bunnies inside with q-tips and canned air
2 - clean the lens often

That's really all you can do. I had issues with one but giving it a good cleaning got it going again. The BRS videos do a good job of showing what they can do, how many you need ect. My A350 is still running strong along with my a360's (I have 3 across a 5 foot mixed reef).

jd371 · Jul 25, 2017

I started with 2 160's and added 2 more a year later to my 75g (2 years running). A blast of air and a wipe of the lens every 6 months is all I do. About a few months ago one of them developed a very faint noise from the fan, it lasted a couple of hours until the lights shut off for the night, next morning when they turned on again the noise was gone and hasn't returned.

Crabs McJones · Jul 25, 2017

andrewkw said:
That's really all you can do. I had issues with one but giving it a good cleaning got it going again. The BRS videos do a good job of showing what they can do, how many you need ect. My A350 is still running strong along with my a360's (I have 3 across a 5 foot mixed reef).

How long have you had your A350?

Crabs McJones · Jul 25, 2017

jd371 said:
I started with 2 160's and added 2 more a year later to my 75g (2 years running). A blast of air and a wipe of the lens every 6 months is all I do. About a few months ago one of them developed a very faint noise from the fan, it lasted a couple of hours until the lights shut off for the night, next morning when they turned on again the noise was gone and hasn't returned.

Dust bunny lodged in the fan blade that dislodged in the morning possibly.
Thanks for the response!!

Crabs McJones · Jul 25, 2017

ebushrow said:
The only things I could suggest is to
1 - clean out the dust bunnies inside with q-tips and canned air
2 - clean the lens often

I've been doing this monthly. I use an air compressor to blow it out and use a cloth wipe to clean the lens. Do you think taking it apart and cleaning the inside is necessary?

ebushrow · Jul 25, 2017

crabs_mcjones said:
I've been doing this monthly. I use an air compressor to blow it out and use a cloth wipe to clean the lens. Do you think taking it apart and cleaning the inside is necessary?

I wouldnt take it apart....that would void warranties and be a potential disaster....you cant imagine how many people never clean their kessils

Crabs McJones · Jul 25, 2017

ebushrow said:
I wouldnt take it apart....that would void warranties and be a potential disaster....you cant imagine how many people never clean their kessils

I read horror story's of people whose kessils went out on them, and then when they're asked if they cleaned them the answer is almost always no.

andrewkw · Jul 25, 2017

crabs_mcjones said:
How long have you had your A350?

Since 2012. Out of the 350 360 and 360we the 360 is the only one I've had problems with. It used to blink like crazy randomly throughout the day (i don't run them on a controller). I had to take it apart and clean it.

They are VERY HARD to take apart and one part I was unable to separate. Sorry no technical terms I can't even remember what the issue was as it was a couple years ago. The warranty is 1 or 2 years I believe and I think most people plan on running the lights long after the warranty so taking it apart is no big deal. While compressed air works great, a lot of dirt does get baked in so it won't get it all.

Hopefully I'll get a few more years out of the 350 and then I'll probably replace it with a 360we or whatever new version is out by then. I could be wrong but I seem to recall the lifespan being about 7 years for the a350's. I'm not sure if anyone has actually had any burn out yet.

Crabs McJones · Jul 27, 2017

andrewkw said:
Since 2012. Out of the 350 360 and 360we the 360 is the only one I've had problems with. It used to blink like crazy randomly throughout the day (i don't run them on a controller). I had to take it apart and clean it.

They are VERY HARD to take apart and one part I was unable to separate. Sorry no technical terms I can't even remember what the issue was as it was a couple years ago. The warranty is 1 or 2 years I believe and I think most people plan on running the lights long after the warranty so taking it apart is no big deal. While compressed air works great, a lot of dirt does get baked in so it won't get it all.

Hopefully I'll get a few more years out of the 350 and then I'll probably replace it with a 360we or whatever new version is out by then. I could be wrong but I seem to recall the lifespan being about 7 years for the a350's. I'm not sure if anyone has actually had any burn out yet.

Thank you for the response. That's pretty good lifespan out of your 350. I hope my 360we's last that long!!

minus9 · Jul 29, 2017

I have three 160's over my 22g nano. The first one I bought was new, the other two were both used, one of them was only a couple of months old when I got it, the other one, I'm not sure? Today I notice the mystery used one stopped working properly, so I need to take it apart and give it a good cleaning. Anyone know what size allen wrench works?
Anyway, the other two are going strong without issue. Like everyone else mentioned, spray with compressed air and wipe the lens clean with a little alcohol and you're good to go. Make sure the light is cool before you do any cleaning, including the lens, but that goes without saying.

Crabs McJones · Jul 31, 2017

minus9 said:
I have three 160's over my 22g nano. The first one I bought was new, the other two were both used, one of them was only a couple of months old when I got it, the other one, I'm not sure? Today I notice the mystery used one stopped working properly, so I need to take it apart and give it a good cleaning. Anyone know what size allen wrench works?
Anyway, the other two are going strong without issue. Like everyone else mentioned, spray with compressed air and wipe the lens clean with a little alcohol and you're good to go. Make sure the light is cool before you do any cleaning, including the lens, but that goes without saying.

Thank you for the reply. I just cleaned mine out last night. I take them off the tank and blast them with the air compressor, and you wouldn't believe the dust bunnies that came flying out of them! After only a month. So I can see why not dusting them out regularly could cause them to overheat and fail. And I generally wait until after lights out over the tank so it doesn't mess with the corals at all. That way the light is cool to the touch and I don't annoy any of my corals by taking their light away