[minorhero]

I've had my Chihiros WRGB II 30cm for about a year (maybe just under) and today it seems to have died. Its plugged into a surge protector along with the filter and heater. I turned off the surge protector to do my weekly water change and when I turned it back on the light did not come back. The app can't find it. My suspicion is that the bluetooth module (presumably built into the cord) is what died and without it telling the light to turn on it won't turn on.

Does anyone know of a way to get spare parts that does not involve buying a new light? I already emailed chihiros but I don't have a lot of hope there being they are a chinese company and I bought the light through aliexpress.

Thanks folks for any help.

 

[jeffkrol]

I'd suspect the power brick first

 

[minorhero]

Very possible, I don't have a replacement for it off hand but it is certainly easier to come by. The power brick does have a little green LED on it that still works, for whatever that's worth.

 

[kyle3]

yikes! that really sucks! I wish I could offer help but all I’ve got to offer is my commiseration - really hope you don’t have to replace the whole light!

 

[jeffkrol]

The power brick does have a little green LED on it that still works, for whatever that's worth.

My experience w/ various power bricks is the light is almost worthless.
If it's out yea. If it is on...????

 

[minorhero]

My experience w/ various power bricks is the light is almost worthless.
If it's out yea. If it is on...????

Gotcha, well I ordered a new power adapter, it should come on Wednesday. I fortunately have a sorta backup lighting option (this is for a tank that is under a kitchen cabinet. That cabinet had 6000k leds installed as under cabinet lighting). Definitely significantly dimmer then the WRGB, but better then nothing. I'll leave those on for 12 hours a day and hope the new brick solves the problem. If not I'll be shopping for a new light.

 

[jake21]

Let us know if the power brick solves the problem.

 

[jeffkrol]

Gotcha, well I ordered a new power adapter, it should come on Wednesday. I fortunately have a sorta backup lighting option (this is for a tank that is under a kitchen cabinet. That cabinet had 6000k leds installed as under cabinet lighting). Definitely significantly dimmer then the WRGB, but better then nothing. I'll leave those on for 12 hours a day and hope the new brick solves the problem. If not I'll be shopping for a new light.

Yes I hope that is it.
Shouldn't be hard to gut it down to just the board .....but let's not go there...yet.
I am curious where all the control " bits" are .

 

[minorhero]

Yes I hope that is it.
Shouldn't be hard to gut it down to just the board .....but let's not go there...yet.
I am curious where all the control " bits" are .

My guess is that the control parts are located in the cord. There is a weird bulge that is not part of the power brick. Here is a picture of another of their lights the C2 which has this part as a removable object (on mine it does not have the extra disconect) in the middle bottom of the picture.

 

[jeffkrol]

My guess is that the control parts are located in the cord. There is a weird bulge that is not part of the power brick. Here is a picture of another of their lights the C2 which has this part as a removable object (on mine it does not have the extra disconect) in the middle bottom of the picture.

Yes looks to be "in-line"
Sort of a good thing, You could replace it w/ any controller after you figure out "ground" which should be (+) ..
rest of the wiring will be each channels (-) which is what is switched on/off to dim..

 

[minorhero]

Yes looks to be "in-line"
Sort of a good thing, You could replace it w/ any controller after you figure out "ground" which should be (+) ..
rest of the wiring will be each channels (-) which is what is switched on/off to dim..

New power adapter came in, but sadly no joy. Any thoughts on how to open this thing up that doesn't involve say a dremel cutting disc?

 

[Plinkploop]

I'd say try this on the old one cuz it's probably not going to work. You could try cutting the cord at the base and using a razor blade to separate the housing... This advice is coming from my hubby- he just hacked apart a nano light with a short in that section of the cord and that's how he got to it... I don't listen to him all that often 😉 so take it with a grain of salt.

 

[minorhero]

I'd say try this on the old one cuz it's probably not going to work. You could try cutting the cord at the base and using a razor blade to separate the housing... This advice is coming from my hubby- he just hacked apart a nano light with a short in that section of the cord and that's how he got to it... I don't listen to him all that often 😉 so take it with a grain of salt.

I'll give it a shot. I'm planning to tackle this sometime in the next hour or so and then decide if I need to go buy a new light. I'm kinda done with my current under the counter arrangement. If I go to replace it, I will probably use a fluval 3.0 because I can pick them up locally.

 

[Plinkploop]

Lol I gave my hubby a lot of craps but he has honestly saved me thousands with his ability to take things apart and fix them.... I'm just the one that figures out how to put them back together so I get nervous telling anyone to cut into anything 😂😂

 

[minorhero]

Lol I gave my hubby a lot of craps but he has honestly saved me thousands with his ability to take things apart and fix them.... I'm just the one that figures out how to put them back together so I get nervous telling anyone to cut into anything 😂😂

I'll give it a shot, I'm planning to tackle this sometime today. If I can't open it up and find something clearly wrong with it I will probably just buy something tonight. I'm kinda over the whole undercabinet lighting backup solution.

 

[Plinkploop]

I'll give it a shot, I'm planning to tackle this sometime today. If I can't open it up and find something clearly wrong with it I will probably just buy something tonight. I'm kinda over the whole undercabinet lighting backup solution.

I don't blame you. Good luck!!

 

[minorhero]

No joy on the rebuilding of this light. I tried the razor blade into the crack method. Tapped it with a hammer even and while that worked to a limited extent it was very slow going. I decided to proceed with the use of a dremel and a cutting wheel. This worked but only after doing both sides. What I found was a little surprising. It looks like they filled the interior with some kind of silicone or rubber, after they put it together. I'm guessing this si done to make it waterproof. I forgot to take a picture before I started picking it apart, but here is what it looked like before I got it all off.

I was able to remove the vast majority of the stuff by picking it apart in small pieces with my finger and with a small metal tool.

Here is what it looked like then:

Sadly to my complete consternation there was no on/off switch flipped to the off position. Nor did I see any obvious burn marks of something having sizzled out. I did try plugging it back in and found the darn thing had a light on it! But that's where the excitement ended. Still no joy.

At this point I am considering other light options. Given its location I need a 12" light. Ideally one with app control but I don't think I will find one I like at the price point I want to pay. So likely its going to be something like a twinstar budget model or something similar.

 

[jake21]

At 12 inches you could consider a 50 watt or even 25 watt flood light for $20 ish dollars. They aren't as pretty but they are ip68, bright and effective.

 

[minorhero]

At 12 inches you could consider a 50 watt or even 25 watt flood light for $20 ish dollars. They aren't as pretty but they are ip68, bright and effective.

I definitely do care about colors though. I want a light that will make my fish look good. Plus I need to be able to dim it till I get the right amount of par.

 

[jeffkrol]

I definitely do care about colors though. I want a light that will make my fish look good. Plus I need to be able to dim it till I get the right amount of par.

That def. looks like it didn't want to come apart.. ever..

Why not just hack in a new controller..?
To be honest looks like it's constant current based..which it is really surprising.
4 (I think, only see hints of 3 atm) driver circuits and the wifi brains..
4 caps 4 coils (150)
Pretty odd all would fail unless wifi failed.


Light is for the wifi .
That board looks to be easily removable.. so pull the wifi.
Should pull right up..
err unplug it first.
If you get real lucky lights will go on.

There are replacements (4 is out of stock):

Chihiros - Dimming Bluetooth Controller - Commander 1

The Chihiros Dimming Bluetooth Controller allows wireless control of Chihiros lamps via the "My Chihiros App" making it possible to program a course of the day with a...

www.aquasabi.com