What's the consensus on the AI prime lifespan?

[Muffin87]

Whererever I read online, I seem to run into stories of AI primes lenses melting, fans breaking, overheating.
I understand that it's a popular light, so there's gonna be plenty of happy customers, as well as plenty of "this broke on me" customers, but I'm trying to understand what the consensus is.

I wanted to get an AI prime fuge, but I've read reports where people said it broke on them for the humidity in the sump area, and AI refused to replace it because "water damage".
Can AI primes work long term inside a sump cabinet?

Thanks.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I’ve had mine for 2 years with no issue on a 15 gallon tank.

I think a lot of people put these lights on big tanks, but to me they are nano tank lights. If used on a nano tank it should be fine but if trying to penetrate 24” of water then you have to keep the lights at 100% all the time so risk is higher to melt the lenses

 

[Blue Spot Octopus]

Is the sump open, do you have ventilation in there? Keep the lights below 100 % and should be fine. I have two Primes HD over my tank, I keep the fans clean and I have been happy with them.

 

[C_AWOL]

I've had a lense melt on me before but fortunately the replacement was fairly painless. Is there a reason why you would want one of their lights for a fuge though vs a kessil which they apply protection on the board for water resistance/something cheaper like a water proof led lightbar/inexpensive par38 bulb though?

Considering the higher potential of water damage, I would just pick something inexpensive and go with that (meaning I would even skip the kessil in favor of the cheaper option in this case)

 

[Muffin87]

I've had a lense melt on me before but fortunately the replacement was fairly painless. Is there a reason why you would want one of their lights for a fuge though vs a kessil which they apply protection on the board for water resistance/something cheaper like a water proof led lightbar/inexpensive par38 bulb though?

Considering the higher potential of water damage, I would just pick something inexpensive and go with that (meaning I would even skip the kessil in favor of the cheaper option in this case)

I wanna attach a 25 gallon cube to my 90 gallon to put seahorses and sun corals, so I need to maximise the nutrient reduction potential of the refugium.

 

[vcollins9850]

Whererever I read online, I seem to run into stories of AI primes lenses melting, fans breaking, overheating.
I understand that it's a popular light, so there's gonna be plenty of happy customers, as well as plenty of "this broke on me" customers, but I'm trying to understand what the consensus is.

I wanted to get an AI prime fuge, but I've read reports where people said it broke on them for the humidity in the sump area, and AI refused to replace it because "water damage".
Can AI primes work long term inside a sump cabinet?

Thanks.

Don’t know about sump. But I’ve run a prime over a 40 gallon cube for 3 years. Similar to ab setting with many channels at 100%. Just a few weeks ago noticed the uv and violet lenses had melted. Ordered some replacements and went ahead and ordered a new fan. Took everything apart and cleaned and changed out lens and fan fairly easily. Runs like new.

 

[tmc13]

Mine have lasted on average 2 to 2.5 years, before having to be replaced.

 

[Reign1]

I’ve had mine for 2 years with no issue on a 15 gallon tank.

I think a lot of people put these lights on big tanks, but to me they are nano tank lights. If used on a nano tank it should be fine but if trying to penetrate 24” of water then you have to keep the lights at 100% all the time so risk is higher to melt the lenses

This !!
I think people just need to adjust their expectations as I have 2 on a 4' tank and yes they are on full blast and I understand this will effect their lifespan. I additionally have 1 on a 14 cube (FW planted) and it is more like 75% on and i expect this one should last much longer.

 

[Jcon82]

Don’t know about sump. But I’ve run a prime over a 40 gallon cube for 3 years. Similar to ab setting with many channels at 100%. Just a few weeks ago noticed the uv and violet lenses had melted. Ordered some replacements and went ahead and ordered a new fan. Took everything apart and cleaned and changed out lens and fan fairly easily. Runs like new.

Do you run more than one prime and did you notice a difference in the UV color? I'm currently looking for a solution to one light being more purple than the other.

 

[C_AWOL]

Do you run more than one prime and did you notice a difference in the UV color? I'm currently looking for a solution to one light being more purple than the other.

That seems to happen from time to time. Best solution is to contact ai and they should take care of it as long as they're still in warranty.

 

[vcollins9850]

Do you run more than one prime and did you notice a difference in the UV color? I'm currently looking for a solution to one light being more purple than the other.

I only run a single prime, so can’t compare. But I would definitely think that the lens was slowly melting and affecting the spectrum. It just didn’t become obvious or honestly I just wasn’t checking that closely until I took the time with the light off to actually look and saw how dark those two looked and how the lens was starting to deform . I can definitely tell the corals pop more now, so melting lens was surely affecting the appearance of those channels. Have you checked closely to see how those two center lenses/diodes compare between your two lights?

 

[Acroconut]

Had to replace a lens on my AI Prime HD16 recently. I am running it very high as I have a lot of sps in the tank. I was also using a diffuser which may have been trapping some heat. I was surprised at how much higher my par readings have been since removing the diffuser. In all fairness I also have a jump screen over the tank which I'm sure reduces the light. Anyway I did have lens melt in the center of my lens.