OCreef Tesla 108w LED

[geno]

Just received 3 of these units for my 125g DT.

They seem well made and solid. They have 4 channels all of which are programmable. There are 4 seasonal preset programs -- but the documentation does not provide the values for the 9 programmable settings.

I have custom programmed the 9 settings and have them running in my office for a few days to test them out before installing them over my tank.

They each come with a remote control or they can be programmed manually. The remote needs to be fairly close to the unit when programming.

While the units themselves seem well made, the documentation is terrible. I have contacted the co-owner (David) at OCreef, and we are going to work together to really beef-up the instruction manual. I have a number of ideas that, if incorporated, should reduce the emails and calls he gets after the sale.

The units come with a 2-year warranty -- hope I' won't have to use it. They also have passive and fan cooling. The fans kick in and out as needed -- at least so far in my office at home which gets pretty warm with my desktop computer and other electronic stuff heating things up.

Will update this post next week after my conversation with David and further experience with these units.

I've read a number of criticisms about these units since they are VERY similar to the Razor. Those criticisms appear to come from people who have never even seen a unit in person. That's why I'm sharing my experience -- good or bad as the case may be.

Regards,
-gene

 

[ringo®]

I've been interested to see some first hand reviews on these. How about some photos of the new rig?

 

[curtismaximus]

Wow those are some nice lights but seem a bit pricey. Ill be sticking around to see how they do for you. Is this unit full spectrum or just the royal, actinic, and white?

 

[porpoiseaquatics]

Curtismaximus;894683 wrote: Wow those are some nice lights but seem a bit pricey. Ill be sticking around to see how they do for you. Is this unit full spectrum or just the royal, actinic, and white?

Pricey? compared to what? The Razors? Not even close. At roughly $329 each shipped, you can't touch them with anything else on the market that has the offering the Tesla's do. I'd have to agree with Gene that the people providing critisism has probably never seen or even read anything about the Telsa units. While I've not seen them yet, I have read several articles about them and how they are made. I came down to these vs the AI Sols that I got and if I hadn't gotten the Sols at a steal of a deal, I was going with Teslas.

Keep us update Gene and oh yeah....welcome back from the Bush!!! :up:

 

[geno]

Hung the lights today. So far so good. After a number of emails back and forth with David of OCreef, I got a pretty good handle on programming, channels, etc. As mentioned previously, the documentation for these lights absolutely stinks. I told David I would put together what I would want -- and I so I did. I sent it to him -- not sure if he will use it in the future. If any of you think you might be interested, I'll be glad to send you what I wrote. Just send me your email address.

I have the lights running at about 50% at peak time. In a few weeks, I'll increase that a little. BTW, since I hung 3 lights together, the only way I can program these suckers is to take them down. I cannot access the middle unit as I have them configured.

Now, if anyone is interested, I have a 72" Outer Orbit fixture that is for sale. The unit has 3x150 MH bulbs (fairly new) and 4x96 power compact bulbs. Here's the truth -- only one of the power compact bulbs works. I thought it was strange that 3 of them went out at the same time. So I bought 4 new bulbs -- that didn't fix the problem so I bought 4 new ballast -- that didn't work either. Frankly, I don't know what the problem is and I'm not good a tinkering. If anyone of you loves this kind of thing -- and you want to play with this light -- it's yours for $275. It was originally about $1500 -- but, it may now be considered old tech -- but the MHs work just fine. I also disconnected the 8 small moon LEDs in the unit. Just want to be completely up front in case anyone has an interest.

Regards,
-gene

 

[curtismaximus]

Do you have any pics of the lights and how you set them up?

 

[geno]

Thought I had updated this post last night -- guess it didn't take or it was removed (I mentioned the sale of my old light in the update -- perhaps the admin folks took issue).

Anyway, the lights are up and are working well. As noted in a previous post the documentation with these lights is really really bad. After a number of email exchanges with David at OCreef, I put together a document that I wish I had received from the start. If anyone is considering these lights and wants the 'user manual' I created, please send me your email address.

I'm not very good at posting pics (will work with my main man Jeff to upload some in a few days).

Will gladly reply to any questions regarding these lights.

Regards,
Gene