Reef Beam RB50 Review

[jrob3rts]

Hi All,
I have recently acquired a Reef Beam RB50, this is the smaller of the 2 available units, and the specs are here:

Input Voltage: AC230V
Power: 50W
LED Qty: 45 (1Watt LED)
Colour: White/Blue (W:27/B:17)
Kelvin/Wavelength: W:14000K B:460nm
IP: IP50
Working environmental temperature: -20~+50degrees
Dimensions: 400mm x 213mm x 71mm
Weight: 4.5kg (Nett)
LED Life time: 50000 hours
Par Reading:
2" Depth: 360 Par
12" Depth: 137 Par
24" Depth: 68 Par

Note - Following a recent fault with my unit, Reef Beam units should be run via an RCD device - The warranty service provided by Little Ocean and the Reef Beam team was excellent.

The specs have been taken from Little Ocean's website. For more detail, please visit Little Ocean's page here

I do not have a PAR meter, and this is a photographic comparison between the following:
1. 5 x Aquaray 500 Series, 2 of which are All White, the other 3 are White and Blue.
2. Reef Beam RB50
3. Reef Beam RB50, and 5 Aquaray Lights

Please note, than in all cases, I am running 2 AquaFX lights, these (as mentioned in my other review) give out a much lower light output and I do not believe it affects the review.

Here is the lighting with the Aquaray lighting, this retails for approx £460, assuming a Duo is £180, and a single is £100 (Cost to run per month at approx 8hrs a day is £1.80):


Here is the lighting with Reef Beam RB50 lighting, this retails for £249.99 (Cost to run per month at approx 8hrs a day is £1.20:


Here is a picture of all lights running (Cost per month at approx 8hrs a day is £3):


All lights have been placed at the same level for comparison purposes, the Reef Beam unit should be mounted higher thus giving a larger light spread and will in effect give a nicer result. I am happy with the unit, it is well designed and looks smart. It contains 3 fans which run constantly though they are pretty quiet. This should overcome any cooling concerns peopls have with this unit.

For now, I shall be looking to supplement the RB50 with 2 Aquarays, thus giving a more varied spread but they are in mind a good purchase, especially given the relative cost of 3 x Aquaray units.

James

[Ged]

Note - Following a recent fault with my unit, Reef Beam units should be run via an RCD device - The warranty service provided by Little Ocean and the Reef Beam team was excellent.

Hi James,

I have exactly the same issues, with my units blowing the PSUs on at least 5 occasions in the last 14 months.

I have done a request for others to let me know about their failures etc, so as I can take legal action against them, if they do not sort out to my complete satisfaction.

http://www.thesaltybox.com/forum/equ...led-units.html