Daniel Posted November 27, 2020 Share Posted November 27, 2020 After @Cory discussed the water tightness of various lighting options in yesterday's live stream I had no intention of running an experiment. My cats were in the room during the live stream and must have heard the discussion because they ran a humidity torture test on one of my 36" Finnex Stringray lights (the one over the 'Nerm' tank in the dirted tank project). Here was their experimental setup: And from the top: I am not sure how long the cats had the experiment running as I was out for a couple of hours this morning getting cinder blocks and 2 x 12's for the aquarium stand for my two new 75 gallon aquariums. As far as I can tell being completely submerged and running for some period of time had little effect on the functionality of the light. I am pretty sure this voids the warranty, but given the durability of the lights my concerns about the warranty are reduced. 1 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggie Posted November 27, 2020 Share Posted November 27, 2020 Hi Daniel, do you have any experience with the Aqueon Opti-bright light? I hope I don't regret buying them as they are not cheap, more like mid-price, but still... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted November 27, 2020 Author Share Posted November 27, 2020 3 minutes ago, Maggie said: Hi Daniel, do you have any experience with the Aqueon Opti-bright light? I hope I don't regret buying them as they are not cheap, more like mid-price, but still... I don't have experience with the Aqueon Opti-bright light. In the last 10 years I have owned either fluorescent shop lights, ultra expensive LED pendent lights, and now Finnex Stingray lights. I have liked all three kinds of lights, but each has its place. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Cory Posted November 27, 2020 Administrators Share Posted November 27, 2020 Wow, wonder if they made improvements or you got lucky. I’m the past, as soon as they touched water for me by falling in, they were goners. I may have to test one in water now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrozenFins Posted November 27, 2020 Share Posted November 27, 2020 Even the cats listen to Cory! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ange Posted November 27, 2020 Share Posted November 27, 2020 Amazing test 😂 I use lids because the humidity (and limescale from evaporation) would kill me otherwise but I'm impressed by their resilience! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggie Posted November 27, 2020 Share Posted November 27, 2020 @ange, me too on lid use! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted November 27, 2020 Share Posted November 27, 2020 If I didn’t have lids on my tanks all the water would evaporate within a few days thanks to the forced air HVAC in my house. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemon Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 so my finnex stingray 30 inch just fell in my tank the red lights stay on while the power switch is set to off should I do something I've already unplugged it and took it out of the tank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan F Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 53 minutes ago, quirkylemon103 said: so my finnex stingray 30 inch just fell in my tank the red lights stay on while the power switch is set to off should I do something I've already unplugged it and took it out of the tank As with any electronic. Unplug it and disassemble it as much as possible to allow it to dry completely in a warm well ventilated area (I'm assuming you don't have a bag of rice that big.) The Finnex has a separate power supply so it should be safe to handle the light bar (disconnected from the power brick) without risk of shock. Since it was filled with unclean water you're going to want to rinse it with clean water, ideally distilled or RO (DI water if you can get your hands on it) I can't recommend cleaning with alcohol as some of the plastic parts may be made of acrylic and will crack flake and generally look like trash afterwards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemon Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 5 minutes ago, Ryan F said: As with any electronic. Unplug it and disassemble it as much as possible to allow it to dry completely in a warm well ventilated area (I'm assuming you don't have a bag of rice that big.) The Finnex has a separate power supply so it should be safe to handle the light bar (disconnected from the power brick) without risk of shock. Since it was filled with unclean water you're going to want to rinse it with clean water, ideally distilled or RO (DI water if you can get your hands on it) I can't recommend cleaning with alcohol as some of the plastic parts may be made of acrylic and will crack flake and generally look like trash afterwards. why would you rinse in rodi water? it wasn't filled with water I took it out almost immediately after seeing it fall Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan F Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 RO or DI water is going to dry cleaner than aquarium water. The idea is to flush away any contaminates, leaving just clean water to evaporate without leaving any deposits behind. Normally I would say use alcohol as it will displace water and evaporate much faster at room temp, but in this case it can damage acrylic. RO or DI or distilled water is your next best bet. Any contaminates that are left behind could potentially be a current path that would make the device not function properly or unsafe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemon Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 how would I clean it with rodi? Is there a way I can take off the cover? will that void the warranty? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan F Posted February 4, 2021 Share Posted February 4, 2021 That's really up to you to figure out. I'm pretty sure submersion in tank water has already voided your warranty. You're just looking to flush the system with very clean water. At this point though residues left from the dried tank water will be very hard to wash off without scrubbing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemon Posted February 4, 2021 Share Posted February 4, 2021 6 hours ago, Ryan F said: That's really up to you to figure out. I'm pretty sure submersion in tank water has already voided your warranty. You're just looking to flush the system with very clean water. At this point though residues left from the dried tank water will be very hard to wash off without scrubbing. i checked the warranty and your right :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemon Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 so i realized the cover for the on/off switch came off how do i put that back on and does it actually do anything(I'm assuming no since it was filled with water when my light fell in the tank) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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