Helialux Spectrum 1200

[Stu1407]

Tearing my hair out at the moment. I want to replace the light on my Juwel Rio 350 not because the lights aren't adequate but I would like some control over them and also some ability to blend some red and green into the mix to make my fish pop a bit more.

I had two Hydra 52 HDs over my marine set up and I'm looking at the Prime HD's for the Juwel. One big drawback is that would mean going open topped again and the Juwel at the moment needs minimal topping up to the degree that my auto top up is redundant and I'm not sure I want to go back to daily window cleaning to get rid of condensation.

The long and short is has anyone had any experience of the Helialux Spectrum and if so what do you think or should I just bite the bullet and buy some glass for the top and go with the Primes. Although I'm not convinced that the two braces in the Juwel wouldn't limit the light a tiny bit in two strips.

 

[alto]

You can see the HelioLux Spectrum in the Lido tanks - beginning @ 8min



Check Felipe Oliveira Youtube channel for some AI Prime lit tanks
(note that unless they’ve updated the driver, AI LED spectrum will alter with intensity - I’d expect this would’ve been sorted with the Prime HD upgrade but you might confirm with tech support)

 

[rebel]

AI LED spectrum will alter with intensity

Wow I didn't know that!!

 

[zozo]

AI LED spectrum will alter with intensity

I'm not sure that this is a driver thing.. And the whole technical explination goes a bit to deep for to fully explain.

But it seems to be temperature related and the way a diode (Semi conductor) emits light. Than if temperature increases the wavelenght band gap increases resulting in a red shift.

Most likely cause intensity increas = Temp increas = Red shift and visa versa.

Than with color stability it more likely comes down to type of led used and how warm it gets and or how well it is cooled.

There is another small issue i'm not sure if it has a relation.. But since all white led light uses a phosphor coating, a natural propperty of phosphor is it changes color the warmer it gets.

 

[Stu1407]

Thanks guys. Looking at the video from George I think I may just go with the Helialux's. Less hassle for me and they look like they do a good job. Only downside was the disco ball effect on the back of the tank.

 

[zozo]

Only downside was the disco ball effect on the back of the tank.

If the lights is overpowered anyway and should be dimmed, you could try a opague light cover instead of dimming or if strong enough still dim it... That will eliminate the disco reflection on the back ground.. Cause it looks more like a mirroring reflection on the glass than a prisma effect caused by lenses.

No backround at all and place the tank a few cm off the wall. A.so prevents mirroring.. Since covering a glass panel from the outside always results in a glossy surface, the darker the color the more the mirroring effect. Imagine the tank in the vid having a black back ground and it likely would be worse.. Maybe the reason why he went for white.

 

[alto]

I'm not sure that this is a driver thing..

I simplified statements made by someone far more LED technical than me - but he was definite about it being driver related and not temp or LED

Only downside was the disco ball effect on the back of the tank.

It isn’t just HelioLux Spectrum that displays from this effect - some companies offer addon accessories that remove this effect
It’s possible this effect is more apparent on camera than in real life - perhaps you can find a shop with various branded display LEDs or return policy which allows you to test the light
(I have Kessil’s so can’t comment)

 

[Stu1407]

I simplified statements made by someone far more LED technical than me - but he was definite about it being driver related and not temp or LED


It isn’t just HelioLux Spectrum that displays from this effect - some companies offer addon accessories that remove this effect
It’s possible this effect is more apparent on camera than in real life - perhaps you can find a shop with various branded display LEDs or return policy which allows you to test the light
(I have Kessil’s so can’t comment)

No I know but it didn't appear to happen with Hydra's. Any way I'm going to order the Helialux from my LFS in Burscough this afternoon.

 

[zozo]

I simplified statements made by someone far more LED technical than me - but he was definite about it being driver related and not temp or LED

Interesting.. Since the driver should be relatively constant in voltage or current..

Depending on how the led is driven, say for example constant current 300mA and the driver aint stable making it 450mA. That's about the only fault a driver can make so far. Than the led will get hot, change color and also burn out sooner. Ok the driver is faulty in that case, but its the led making the light and the color not the driver.

Than a beter or non faulty driver results in cooler and more color stable leds. Of course constant current leds can function at a lower Amp than specified and it can solve the problem with a different driver. But its going to cost, in this case less luminosity with beter color rendition.

Simplefied both statements are correct. I wasnt thinking of the incorrect driver but more in the line of beter cooling.

 

[Stu1407]

Picking the Helialux Spectrum up tomorrow. Once I've had a chance to unbox etc, I'll let you know first impressions.

 

[Stu1407]

Just a quick first impression. The light is very well built and seams robust. A lot of control over the timing and colour buy no advice on intensities or timing. I found this site that may be useful for people. Loads of advice on planted tanks including lighting www.advancedplantedtank.com Eight hours with a one hour ramp up / down either side which I will monitor closely for it affect on the plants which are growing like weeds at the moment.

Ok so so far looking good, except for one thing and actually it's quite a big thing that could have been addressed relatively easily. AI lights such as the Hydra seem to blend colours really well so that you don't see greens, reds, blues etc they just seem to blend. I suspect this is something to do with the lenses. Anyway colour blending on the Helialux is non existent, green is green and red is very obvious to a degree that to me is intrusive. This light and its controller are not cheap by any means (nothing like the cost of a Hydra I know) but I am very surprised that no one at Juwel looked at the light and thought actually we need to blend these colours. It will make a more aesthetically pleasing light effect to complement a planted tank.