leds fell into tank

ctsps · Jan 22, 2012

About 6 weeks ago i was reaching into the back of my tank and knocked in my 2 led fixtures which were mounted on a pvc pipe rack that kinda looks like a goal post.
I had 2 reeffiltration fixtures 150w and changed to 120w fixtures,and was wondering if the difference in light is killing some of my wild acro colonies or something to do with the lights in the water.All of my parameters are stable and the tank was perfect before this happened,still getting some residule effect.Innitially when this happened i had the lights on a reefkeeper and none of the fish in the tank died when the lights whent in,any opinion would help thanks

revhtree · Jan 22, 2012

Sheeesh man sorry to hear that! How long were the lights in the water. I would say though that isn't the issue.

ctsps · Jan 22, 2012

just a couple of seconds until i could get over the shock and grab em,there goes $800

Larsen · Jan 22, 2012

I know the feeling bro I dropped my 8 bulb T5 fixture in my tank last month. But I Lucked out and only had to replace two ballast

revhtree · Jan 22, 2012

I almost knocked my AI fixtures in my tank!

Reef Breeders · Jan 22, 2012

OUCH! I hope your livestock recover. Maybe you can get a refund on the lights?

Troylee · Jan 22, 2012

Rinse them real well with distilled water and let them dry... They will prolly fire right back up... "take them apart of course"

Lateral72 · Jan 22, 2012

Troylee said:
Rinse them real well with distilled water and let them dry... They will prolly fire right back up... "take them apart of course"

As long as you quickly unplugged them, and nothing shorted out, a thorough cleaning (RO/DI water + Compressed Air + maybe Corrosion X) would have probably saved them. However, it's been 6 weeks since it happened, so corrosion has probably ruined the unit.

Legion Aire · Jan 22, 2012

I dropped one of my AI nanos into a bucket of water. Since the power adapter was not in the water I reached into the bucket and yanked it out, and unplugged it. It was under the waterchange waste water for about 5-10 seconds. They dimmed and acted all crazy until I unplugged them. I completely stripped the unit down to it motherboard and cleaned everything. Left it to dry overnight and then plugged it back in and worked like new.

If the powersupply for the leds is in the fixture and hit the water, I would replace that with one that holds the same voltage and amps. If you have a multi meter you can check the power supply and see if it is even putting out the correct voltage. You can inspect the board the leds are connected to for any cross line burns from the arching power.

I would try to fix them myself since they are probably not covered under their warranty anymore.

ctsps · Jan 23, 2012

thanks guys i just blew the drivers and have luke sending me replacements,i was more concerned about my slow decline in acros,racking my brain trying to figure out whats wrong,bad salt,light change,added remote deep sandbed(WHICH I THINK HAD A MINI CYCLE 40LBS SAND LIVE ARAGALIVE) changed my calcium reactor media??????????,tested for everything and its all in range

btkrausen · Jan 23, 2012

anemonekeeper said:
OUCH! I hope your livestock recover. Maybe you can get a refund on the lights?

A refund? Just curious on why you would expect anybody to refund the fixtures after dropping them in the water?

SmokeyCFH · Jan 23, 2012

perhaps one day this will help everyone in the hobby to avoid water damage to their equipment:

Samsung and Apple looking at new waterproof smartphone tech - Pocket-lint

Reef Breeders · Jan 23, 2012

btkrausen said:
A refund? Just curious on why you would expect anybody to refund the fixtures after dropping them in the water?

It is very unlikely, but you can always try to at least get it repaired.

returnofsid · Jan 23, 2012

anemonekeeper said:
It is very unlikely, but you can always try to at least get it repaired.

Attempting to get a refund, on an electronic device that you dumped in the water, is not only "very unlikely," but very unethical...

Lateral72 · Jan 23, 2012

Most manufacturer's are generally willing to help if something goes wrong and you ask nicely, even if it was the fault of the end user. That's not quite the same as trying to get them "warrantied", however.

ctsps · Jan 23, 2012

i would never even try,its totally my fault,

mcarroll · Jan 25, 2012

Too many changes all at once. All the things you listed could contribute stress, and as we all know as humans, stress is cumulative.

Sorry about that bad stroke of luck, man!

-Matt

mcarroll · Jan 25, 2012

Lateral72 said:
Most manufacturer's are generally willing to help if something goes wrong and you ask nicely, even if it was the fault of the end user. That's not quite the same as trying to get them "warrantied", however.

Yeah, unless you are dealing with a lowest-price oriented product/retailer. Someone who makes a respectable profit is usually pretty sympathetic - they may still not offer a replacement, but they may have some advice you hadn't thought about that could partly or totally resolve the situation.

Worth the call, in my book.

-Matt