Do Not Buy SB Reef Lights

AquariumSchmo

AquariumSchmo

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WARNING: Do not buy from SB Reef Lights. I have an 18" sBox Basic. The knob for the blue channel no longer adjusts the brightness, only off and on; it stays at the same brightness level no matter what. Also, both channels don't click on until about 12%. They supposedly have a 2 year warranty, but won't respond. I have sent multiple emails, left multiple voice messages over the last two weeks, and just recently tried contacting them through Facebook too, but haven't heard back. Save yourself the hassle and don't buy from them. Apparently they don't stand by their product.
 
I "like" your comment but of course I don't actually like that you can't get a reply from them. Thanks for the heads up and maybe someone on here has a contact that can help out?
 
Are you in their support group on Facebook? Mike Herman or his wife Colette usually respond. Their response time is generally slow. There are only 3 US employees I think and they run a LFS.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 
popsbjd said:
Are you in their support group on Facebook? Mike Herman or his wife Colette usually respond. Their response time is generally slow. There are only 3 US employees I think and they run a LFS.
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I saw that they have one, but to join, they make you agree to not post warranty issues.

Lighting is one of the most essential parts of a reef tank. If they can't respond within a day or two, then they shouldn't be selling lights. Two weeks and still no reply is absurd. People have lots of expensive coral that relies on light. Luckily I still have an old MarsAqua.
 
That’s odd that you can’t get ahold of them. Everytime I’ve called them, they answer the phone. I’ve never been able to reach their voicemail. Its always either the owner, his wife, or in one case it was their daughter. They’re always super friendly too. In the past, other friends have told me that they honored their warranty long after 2 years too. I wonder if there is extenuating circumstances for their lack of responses, or if they actually turned bad and are actively ignoring you.

I’m happy to call them for you and give it a try; maybe during the next meeting. I don’t know if they’ll remember me; but it couldn’t hurt.
 
I have 5 of their sBox 16" Basics. 3 of them have been wired to dim via my Apex. I haven't tried to contact them in a while but every time I have in the past I got a response.

If for what ever reason you can't get it fixed I can do it for you. I have spare nobs and drivers. Doesn't take long at all to repair.

There are many lights that won't dim below about 10%, even Kessil's before the latest gen don't. These are really just Black Boxes with a much better spectrum than the dirt cheap ones.
 
I'm normally pretty chill, but after two weeks of no reply, I sent one final email yesterday evening and told them if I don't hear back by the end of the day today that I would be writing about their poor customer service on all the reef forums and Facebook groups. Savage maybe, but I feel like I am justified in being upset. After sending that email, I finally heard back. No apology, they just gave some instructions and told me to try to fix it myself. I understand there is a possibility that a family emergency could have come up, but if that were the case, I think they would have put up a message on their website or setup an auto email reply.

I opened the case and everything looked fine. The cable they told me to check was still plugged in. They said to try swapping them and that I may need a new dimmer module, but it doesn't look like the other end of the white cable can come out. At the moment, I'm waiting on a reply again; I want to send it in for repair.

From what I read on their site, customers have to pay to ship it to them. I've only had this light for 4 months at most.
 
Sorry to hear you’re having difficulty. I don’t own their product but generally I’ve heard good things about them. I hope they get this resolved for you.
 
So after finally hearing back, I paid $15 to mail the light to them for repair. They sent it back and I received it today. The light is now even worse than before. Before the blue channel was on full brightness with the knob not working. Now the blue channel doesn't even come on and the white channel is on full strength even though the knob is turned off. So frustrating. Before all this, I was even considering buying one of their more expensive Ultra's when I upgrade next year... not anymore. I emailed them and sent a video demonstration; hopefully they will respond. Certainly not going to pay another $15 to mail this to them again.
 
Haven't heard back yet, but decided to open it up and see if there is anything obvious. On the note that they sent back, they said they replaced the dimmer knob and the driver. I just opened it and found a couple of wires not even plugged in. After plugging them back in, all is well. While it is possible they could have come off during shipping, they fit pretty snugly, so I would be surprised if that was the case. Anyways, all is good now; hopefully I won't encounter anymore issues with this light.

On a different note, I put my old Mars Aqua on the tank about two and half weeks ago. I'm kind of hesitant to put the SB Reef Light back on now out of concern stressing the corals with another light swap. What do you guys think? If the PAR matches, it should be fine, right? Thinking I could rent a PAR meter, take some readings as it is now, then put the SB Reef Light back on and match the PAR. Would that work?
 

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Glad they got back to you. Sorry it still isn't fixed.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 
popsbjd said:
Glad they got back to you. Sorry it still isn't fixed.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
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I don't know why I couldn't see your second post earlier. I'd switch it back to SB. I think the spectrum is better and I think it would benefit your corals long term to have the better spectrum.
 
Casey I had an issue with one of their lights. Had to replace the potentiometer as well on one of them as well. Seems like a common issue... :(
 
FutureInterest said:
Casey I had an issue with one of their lights. Had to replace the potentiometer as well on one of them as well. Seems like a common issue... :(
Click to expand...

Yeah, the blue being stuck on full power explains the high PAR readings that we were seeing. Don't know how long it was like that and unfortunately I lost a few SPS corals because of it. I guess that is part of this hobby though; the ups and downs. What shouldn't be apart of this hobby though is poor customer service from companies. Despite calling them yesterday and leaving a message, emailing, and sending a recorded video to tell them how they made the light worse, they haven't replied today. I decided not to tell them that I fixed them myself afterwards by plugging those wires in, to see how long it actually takes them to reply.

My advice to you is to do regular PAR readings of your tank in case yours gets stuck on full power as well.

I rented a PAR meter from Pure Reef today. Not sure how accurate it is. It is made by Sun System and from what I read it can only measure light in the 400-700 range; however, the sensor says Apogee on it, so I don't know. Whatever the case, I figured it is close enough for most of the usable light spectrum, other the whites.
 
Steve Burton said:
What were the rental terms for the par meter from Pure Reef?
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$10 per day. You pay upfront for the number of days you want to rent it for and he wrote down my credit card info to charge if I don't return it, but no temporary large charge like BRS.

I'll be returning it tomorrow during my lunch break, no later than 2:00 (but probably closer to 12:00 or 1:00), if you are wanting to rent it. Not sure if they have more than just this one.
 
I have had mine for 2 years and never encountered any problems with that. My zoa garden love it.
 
I used a 150W LED MaxSpect light, and it was great. However, it was too bright for my 29 Gal second tank, and the fish would look for shade, and algae overgrew, and I had to decommission the tank.
 
jbartell123 said:
I used a 150W LED MaxSpect light, and it was great. However, it was too bright for my 29 Gal second tank, and the fish would look for shade, and algae overgrew, and I had to decommission the tank.
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I've had this light over my 30g for about a month and my coral love it! You have to program each time point to get the best results. I added 8 different time points throughout the day and I've never had any issues from it.
 
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