2x Ai Prime 16HD - lenses melting on both

SauceyReef · Feb 26, 2024

Both of my AI Primes lens’ melted around the 1-2 year mark. AI replaced them for free, but I have a few questions about this:

1. What causes this to happen? Just old age?

2. Is it typically the same spot that melts for everyone?

3. It may have been like this for a while without me noticing. Was this causing significant PAR reduction, or a spectrum completely cut off? Should I acclimate the tank to the light with the new lense?

Spare time · Feb 26, 2024

I find the UV and Violet have this happen. No other light I am aware of has this issue. It is ridiculous. I've seen this happen numerous times. My best advice would be to minimize the use of the UV led as well as running the violet at a lower percentage or not as long.

The_Paradox · Feb 26, 2024

SauceyReef said:
Both of my AI Primes lens’ melted around the 1-2 year mark. AI replaced them for free, but I have a few questions about this:

1. What causes this to happen? Just old age?

2. Is it typically the same spot that melts for everyone?

3. It may have been like this for a while without me noticing. Was this causing significant PAR reduction, or a spectrum completely cut off? Should I acclimate the tank to the light with the new lense?

1. Bad design
2. I’ve seen different LEDs overheat but it’s almost always in the middle and usually the purples. Could be thinner casting there or the fact people seem to really like blue and purple now.
3. It most certainly affected output and longevity. Personally I would not bother adjusting intensity though unless you ran all the channels at 0 except for that one.

Spare time · Feb 26, 2024

I have an AI prime 16 over my refugium, and I just removed the lens and bought a diffuser for it. Now I don't have to worry about the lens melting

SauceyReef · Feb 26, 2024

Dang so far I have been in love with the AI primes, but this has been a big blunder on my tank. I don’t know how long the lights went like this. I noticed something was wrong when I tested with my lights with PAR meter and the PAR significantly dropped (I noticed corals were extending more than usual).

My presets I made definitely have a lot of UV and Violet. 75% at peak day. And yes those are by far the best colors. This is definitely a design flaw with AI. No wonder they give the lenses out for free.

SauceyReef · Feb 26, 2024

Spare time said:
I have an AI prime 16 over my refugium, and I just removed the lens and bought a diffuser for it. Now I don't have to worry about the lens melting

Can you send me the link? Was it difficult to setup?

SPS2020 · Feb 26, 2024

Common issue. It's on the UV and Violet diodes, IIRC. I replace mine about every year...16 lenses should be arriving soon.

Jesse Sunday · Feb 26, 2024

Hi there! I have the Primes as well so I'll have to look tonight to see if I have any issues... but I'm mainly here to comment on your preset.

Do you mind sharing your thoughts on the preset? (specifically why the changes after 6pm and why so many adjustment points in general) I'm a newbie with these lights so please forgive my ignorance.

Garf · Feb 26, 2024

And if you don’t replace them, well;

oreo54 · Feb 26, 2024

SauceyReef said:
Dang so far I have been in love with the AI primes, but this has been a big blunder on my tank. I don’t know how long the lights went like this. I noticed something was wrong when I tested with my lights with PAR meter and the PAR significantly dropped (I noticed corals were extending more than usual).

My presets I made definitely have a lot of UV and Violet. 75% at peak day. And yes those are by far the best colors. This is definitely a design flaw with AI. No wonder they give the lenses out for free.

Fun analysis...

Intermediate - LED - Cases of Lens Deterioration in Popular Lights

Since January 2021, we’ve been conducting a study on lens melt of popular light optics, with emphasis on those made by AquaIllumination/Ecotech. With a dataset of over 145 cases across product lines, we've collected enough data to come to a conclusion of the true cause of the issue. We...

humble.fish

Spare time · Feb 26, 2024

SauceyReef said:
Can you send me the link? Was it difficult to setup?

It was easy. I used the 3d reefing diffuser. https://3dreefing.com/products/prime-diffuser

SauceyReef · Feb 26, 2024

SPS2020 said:
Common issue. It's on the UV and Violet diodes, IIRC. I replace mine about every year...16 lenses should be arriving soon.

Will they replace all those lenses for free for you?

Jesse Sunday said:
@Jesse Sunday

Happy to explain. I first off copied Aaron Youngers Fluval Evo preset (his tank is wonderful), and I started making adjustments from there over time messing with the lights and finding what I liked most. The crazy changes around evening time is because I like to have more whites during the day, and than heavily switch to heavy blue/purples starting at evening time. This was my poor attempt at doing this lol. If you notice the whites ramp down as the blues/violets ramp up, or are a majority spectrum. A lot of the "squiggles" are just due to the somewhat difficult nature of adjusting the PRESET on my IPHONE. I have noticed a lot of nice tanks presets have these, so I didnt think to bother trying to straighten the line out.

Spare time said:
It was easy. I used the 3d reefing diffuser. https://3dreefing.com/products/prime-diffuser

I had one of those on my Evo for 3 years! I still have in stored away. Once my PAR dropped I wondered if it had anything to do with the diffuser so I took it off (I had not known the real cause yet). I was also worried it was cutting off to much light on the bottom corners of the tank - PAR meter confirmed it does do this.

Does it just prevent water from splashing in?

Spare time · Feb 26, 2024

SauceyReef said:
Will they replace all those lenses for free for you?

Happy to explain. I first off copied Aaron Youngers Fluval Evo preset (his tank is wonderful), and I started making adjustments from there over time messing with the lights and finding what I liked most. The crazy changes around evening time is because I like to have more whites during the day, and than heavily switch to heavy blue/purples starting at evening time. This was my poor attempt at doing this lol. If you notice the whites ramp down as the blues/violets ramp up, or are a majority spectrum. A lot of the "squiggles" are just due to the somewhat difficult nature of adjusting the PRESET on my IPHONE. I have noticed a lot of nice tanks presets have these, so I didnt think to bother trying to straighten the line out.

I had one of those on my Evo for 3 years! I still have in stored away. Once my PAR dropped I wondered if it had anything to do with the diffuser so I took it off (I had not known the real cause yet). I was also worried it was cutting off to much light on the bottom corners of the tank - PAR meter confirmed it does do this.

Does it just prevent water from splashing in?

It is supposed to better blend the colors from my understanding but I mainly used it to avoid having the lens on the light fixture and having that melt.

SauceyReef · Feb 26, 2024

Spare time said:
It is supposed to better blend the colors from my understanding but I mainly used it to avoid having the lens on the light fixture and having that melt.

My mistake!! I actually just got the AI Shade, not the actual diffuser. I did not realize the Diffuser comes with an added screen (I thought diffuser and shade were the same thing). Have you ever tested PAR with and without the diffuser? Also just to clarify the lens is still being used underneath the diffuser, correct?

Here is an interesting discussion on the diffusers and their effectiveness on AI Primes. Just a heads-up up the one person noted a 12% PAR decrease with the diffuser.

AI Prime HD - 3D Reefing Diffuser

Has anyone picked up one of these? https://3dreefing.com/collections/frontpage/products/prime-diffuser I'm about to pull the trigger on one but outside of some instagram posts I couldn't find anyone talking about them on R2R. Any insight or reviews would be super awesome. Thanks guys!

www.reef2reef.com

Jesse Sunday · Feb 26, 2024

SauceyReef said:
Happy to explain.

THIS! This is what I love about this forum and the people! Thanks so much! I'll check out his preset since I'm not super happy with mine. (actually, my wife isn't too happy with mine - she says it's too blue and washes everything out)

Also, I totally understand the struggle of editing on a phone... is there another way to edit the presets? (other than a text editor editing the .aip file manually, which I might end up doing)

Spare time · Feb 26, 2024

SauceyReef said:
My mistake!! I actually just got the AI Shade, not the actual diffuser. I did not realize the Diffuser comes with an added screen (I thought diffuser and shade were the same thing). Have you ever tested PAR with and without the diffuser? Also just to clarify the lens is still being used underneath the diffuser, correct?

Here is an interesting discussion on the diffusers and their effectiveness on AI Primes. Just a heads-up up the one person noted a 12% PAR decrease with the diffuser.

AI Prime HD - 3D Reefing Diffuser

Has anyone picked up one of these? https://3dreefing.com/collections/frontpage/products/prime-diffuser I'm about to pull the trigger on one but outside of some instagram posts I couldn't find anyone talking about them on R2R. Any insight or reviews would be super awesome. Thanks guys!

www.reef2reef.com

I haven't compared the par before and after since its just being used as a refugium light.

SauceyReef · Feb 26, 2024

Here is the new preset I worked up. Reduced the UVs from 75% to 45%. Decreased blues a bit, but I don’t want to change my violets they’re my favorite color. I also increased my whites reds and greens because I need more PAR.

Are those two melted parts on both lenses the violets?? If so I may have to change that also.

@Jesse Sunday happy to help. If you join the Fluval Evo FB group you can get it from him. I think he has a R2R account though. We all like blues/violets a lot. If you message me your email I can send you 2-3x good presets and you can change them around a bit (add more whites). You can use an Ipad to make editing a bit easier I heard.

SauceyReef · Feb 26, 2024

Does anyone know - are both of these melted lenses above at the Violet spot? I also just got recommended Luxidium Lenses. I am looking into those now!