Vertex Illumina Official Thread

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crayon said:
Hey that's perfect! We will be adding a couple multi colour pads into our light shortly. Proline Aquatics has been awesome. We had to replace a part on the light and got it directly from them within 2 days. Best light we have ever had for any tank. Will be playing more with the levels as we add pads.
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Did you guys get a Vertex Illumina from Proline? They have great customer service.
 
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We got the light itself from the local dealer and that was ok. Not the speediest, but gave us a chance to discuss aspects of various lights in order to make a decision. Our intent was to get the best equipment possible, and the vertex gave us the most flexibility, and I really liked the idea that it was modular. Which was proven to be a really good thing (modular design) cause within the first two weeks, the control end cap took a small dip and although it still worked, we couldn't adjust any light levels or talk to the computer. On a 2800.00 light (Canadian), the end cap with the control board cost us 125.00 to replace. That was a lot better than we expected and also easy to change ourselves so avoided not having light if we had had to send the whole fixture in for repair somewhere.

The computer light interface program can be a bit weird at times. I have a habit of loosing points, and I don't know why, or how. The only way to check and make sure I haven't done something stupid is to close the program and then re open to check and see what the settings were saved as. I save settings, upload program to light, do everything right, (I think), but somehow, I generally manage to loose a point. It's working now, and I have figured out how fix it, just a little weird.

I 100% still recommend the vertex light over anything else! and we are going to get a little 12" one for over the nano tank build we are doing this winter.
 
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Try to call Jen at Proline, 1(877)682-3474 she should be able to hook to your light remotly and see what the issue may be. Tell her I told you to call, Alabamareef.

crayon said:
We got the light itself from the local dealer and that was ok. Not the speediest, but gave us a chance to discuss aspects of various lights in order to make a decision. Our intent was to get the best equipment possible, and the vertex gave us the most flexibility, and I really liked the idea that it was modular. Which was proven to be a really good thing (modular design) cause within the first two weeks, the control end cap took a small dip and although it still worked, we couldn't adjust any light levels or talk to the computer. On a 2800.00 light (Canadian), the end cap with the control board cost us 125.00 to replace. That was a lot better than we expected and also easy to change ourselves so avoided not having light if we had had to send the whole fixture in for repair somewhere.

The computer light interface program can be a bit weird at times. I have a habit of loosing points, and I don't know why, or how. The only way to check and make sure I haven't done something stupid is to close the program and then re open to check and see what the settings were saved as. I save settings, upload program to light, do everything right, (I think), but somehow, I generally manage to loose a point. It's working now, and I have figured out how fix it, just a little weird.

I 100% still recommend the vertex light over anything else! and we are going to get a little 12" one for over the nano tank build we are doing this winter.
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The optional leg kit puts the light at 3" above the edge of the tank. It's a very cool leg kit, clean, simple, and lets me slide the light back quite easily to get in and do tank maintenance. We debated canopy vs some other mounting system for the light and in the end, glad we opted for no canopy cause it would be a pain to have to work around a canopy, and have to move the lights.
The light itself is quite heavy, but the cool thing is, the whole body acts as a heat sink so I don't think the fans have come on once since we have had the light. But then again, maybe the fans are so quiet I don't hear them.
 
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Alabamareef said:
Try to call Jen at Proline, 1(877)682-3474 she should be able to hook to your light remotly and see what the issue may be. Tell her I told you to call, Alabamareef.
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Good idea. If I can't figure this out, I will give her a call. My thought is that it's just user error (me as user).
 
When you set a point you should see it right away. Then when you upload it to your light that exactly how it should be. What you've described does not sound like user error.

QUOTE=crayon;1657336]Good idea. If I can't figure this out, I will give her a call. My thought is that it's just user error (me as user).[/QUOTE]
 
Thanks for the vote of confidence Bama, you might be right and a call is required. I get 2 weeks off over the holidays so will spend some time with the program and hopefully installing new pads. (Yeah). It will give me a chance to see if the issue comes up again. This time I will pay attention to each step and make sure I don't accidentally unclick something.
 
I actually just got my light back from having some work done on it at Proline. Have you done any updates on your light? If so did it go through smoothly or did you ever get an error code? I Recomend buying a USB extension so you can set the Vlink on top of your light. Also if your having any connection issues you can change the radio frequency to 13, 14 or 15 as these seem to have less radio interference. If you ever get an error message on an update proceed with caution. Make sure all your wireless connections on your system are turned off and change the radio frequency. The frequencies 13, 14 and 15 are rarely used here and seem to give the best results. You change them on the display




crayon said:
Thanks for the vote of confidence Bama, you might be right and a call is required. I get 2 weeks off over the holidays so will spend some time with the program and hopefully installing new pads. (Yeah). It will give me a chance to see if the issue comes up again. This time I will pay attention to each step and make sure I don't accidentally unclick something.
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Alabamareef said:
I actually just got my light back from having some work done on it at Proline. Have you done any updates on your light? If so did it go through smoothly or did you ever get an error code? I Recomend buying a USB extension so you can set the Vlink on top of your light. Also if your having any connection issues you can change the radio frequency to 13, 14 or 15 as these seem to have less radio interference. If you ever get an error message on an update proceed with caution. Make sure all your wireless connections on your system are turned off and change the radio frequency. The frequencies 13, 14 and 15 are rarely used here and seem to give the best results. You change them on the display
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Interesting. I have done no updates on the light, and have not had rf or connectivity issues. The unit is sensitive to which sequence I load the program and USB stick, but beyond that, nothing has come up. I can sit with my lap top about 3' from the light and communication seems fine. Will keep the rf channels in mind though, if we run into issues. Am picking up 2 multicolour pads next week. Will also be discussing Cerebra with the store. Just discussing, that's all.
 
Cerebra is still in the testing stages. Proline said they would let me know as soon as they are out. Currently I've got an apex on my system and don't know what I'd do without it.
 
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Why did you send the light to Proline? Surely not to install more led pads?
 
Adding a multicolour pad to our 4' light today. Trying to figure out what the paste in the tube is for. Everything else looks straightforward. Called the store. They said check you tube! Off to check videos!
 
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crayon said:
Adding a multicolour pad to our 4' light today. Trying to figure out what the paste in the tube is for. Everything else looks straightforward. Called the store. They said check you tube! Off to check videos!
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It goes on the back of the pad, use it where you see the tips sticking out. Helps to give it a better connection
 
Few extra pads!!! Bama, I think you filled all the available slots! No room anymore in that light for any more pads it sounds like. Would love to see the programming. Send a pic of your daytime settings.
 
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So.......yesterday, we installed our first extra pad in the light. Instructions that came with the pad were basic, and good, if you like game apps like Machinarium (meaning study the pictures carefully to make sure you understand what you are supposed to do). Here are the things we learned:
1. When they say install the pad as close as possible to the connecting pad, they mean right up tight against it. Our first try had a 1/8" gap, which was too much space for the wiring harness.
2. The tube of paste is heat sink paste and not conductivity paste. It is applied directly behind where the LED lights are, and is intended to help migrate heat away from the pad.
3. Have a pair of very small tip needle nose pliers to help seat the wiring harness. Using finger tips is about as easy as trying to perform surgery on a ladybug, and the pliers made it 1000% easier, but there are small parts and connections everywhere, so be careful. We used jewellers pliers, as they had a pointy tip that was only about 1mm wide at the end and was able to squeeze the connectors together well.

That's it! We installed the pad, cleaned the light, put it back up on the tank, turned it on, connected up the vlink, and it recognized and saw all the new colours right away! Yeah!

Now to figure out the levels for each. Considering there is only 1 green and 2 red, I assume that these should be turned up pretty high (eventually). Same with uv. Will keep them around 25% for now and raise them slowly.

If anyone wants to post their day time light levels would love to see how everyone is running their vertex lights.
 

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