White Led's Not working... Tao tronics....

Discussion in 'I made this!' started by salsalito25, Jul 31, 2013.

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  1. salsalito25

    salsalito25 Stylophora

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    This is more of a heads up for Tao tronics Owner's than a Oh crap what to do situation.. Came home yesturday from working noticed my tank was cycling off early.. I started looknig around all Wires plugged in and Reef controller still is set properly for time of day And so on....

    Removed unit off tank then started trouble shooting. After pulling it apart and verifiing both led driver's are working found out something with-in the white led's on the heat sinc is the issue..

    I have tried to contact Tao tronics to see how they can make good of the warranty so now is the waiting game..

    So my tank has lighting again, I am using my old 150 watt HQI 15K.. After doing a test run with that light .. I REALLY need my Led's working again.. lol the HQI doesn't put out near the light the Led's do..


    Again just a Heads up.. Hope no one else has issues..!!





    Happy Reefing..!!
     
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  3. Todd_Sails

    Todd_Sails Giant Squid

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    Wow, I runnng 2 of them, the NON dimmer ones too.
    Sorry to hear, that Sux.

    What is the issue/problem you had? Please share if you can.
    I'm a DIY'er, but fabbing LED's, drivers, etc. is not my thing, sounds like you already did more than I would have done to diagnose.

    And thanks for sharing
     
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  4. salsalito25

    salsalito25 Stylophora

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    I really don't know the true issue... I want to tear it down but do not wanna leave evidance that I did so if warranty will replace them.
    I am wondering if they are like old school X-mas light's when goes out they all go out.. they are linked in series i beleve. and if so maybe i can replace the problem child and move on smartly.

    Oh I did forget to mention my lights are now 13 months old now. with no issues untill now.

    Happy Reefing..!!
     
  5. barbianj

    barbianj Hammer Head Shark

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    Check the wires that run from the driver to the LED's. The ones with the long shrink wrap on them. I bought a used unit from a friend of mine, and one of the wires came apart at the solder joint. I fixed that one, then checked the others. One came apart with little effort. Very weak solder joints.

    I had the light laying around for a bit. I checked it just before I hung it with a wire suspension kit. Went to turn it on to see the final product, and the blues don't go on. Nice. Had to take it all back apart, but it was a simple fix.
     
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  6. salsalito25

    salsalito25 Stylophora

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    The way Tao has there's wired going from driver to led's there's a quick dissconect which I wiggled the .... out of it w/ no luck. But your right just after the quick Disc. going towards the led's theres is a good amount of shrink wrap I will have to break out the mulitmeter and check for continuity on the wires I hope that is all it is..

    Thanks For the Idea.. !!
     
    Last edited: Jul 31, 2013
  7. barbianj

    barbianj Hammer Head Shark

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    That's where my issue was.
     
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  9. salsalito25

    salsalito25 Stylophora

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    Cool beans.. will play with it more tonite if i have time. I was more worried to get the tank with a light source and only dug so deep trouble shooting it.


    thanks again..!
     
  10. salsalito25

    salsalito25 Stylophora

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    Update... My tao tronics ...... DEAD.!! I tore it down even farther. Did the trouble shooting as stated above to find out out all wires are fine.. Removed the the thin reflector only to find about 35 -40 micro phillip screw's.. That was a pain...! Removed led board from heat sinc and started to trouble shoot even deeper. Then gave up about 2 hours into it and figured its something to do with the led's them selves some where. Reassmeble my hot mess. I plugged it in one last time just in hopes I wiggled something back to gether ...... And still nothing...

    But thats my update am stuck with my pos HQI for now..


    Happy Reefing..!!
     
  11. salsalito25

    salsalito25 Stylophora

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    Tao Tronics.... I called and emailed.. And called again ... then 3 more emails.. then 2 more calls Needless to say If your goning to have a Contact us page for Question's ..Here's a idea pick up the phone or answer the emails!!!!

    Okay done venting.. as far as the Said waranty they suck.. I am sure theres some one out there that has better luck ... But I will do a dirty deed and get my lights going again..



    Happy reefing..!!!
     
  12. Todd_Sails

    Todd_Sails Giant Squid

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    I hope they honor their warranty.

    If not, you might mention to them that you plan to post on all the major boards,
    About how good, or not so good their warranty is!

    Good luck,
    Todd