How to swap optics on Evil's Par38's...

[pismo_reefer]

I swapped the 40* optics out for the 60*'s....

 

 

First off, grab you a screwdriver.

 

 

Bend the flanges until they're all at an angle, like so....

 

 

The rim slides right off.

 

 

B-e-a-utiful.

 

 

Lift off the the optics "tray".

 

 

Stand back Kiddie's.... LED Pron lay ahead.

 

 

 

The new 60* lenses....

 

 

Its about to get durrty....

 

 

...

 

This is how I did it....

I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR YOU VOIDING YOUR WARRANTY!!!

 

 

I Grabbed the Tray....

 

 

Popped out the lenses from the back....

Apply pressure, they pop right out.

 

 

Then repeat....

 

 

The empty tray...

 

...

 

[coolwaters]

the whole thing looks really high quality.

i thought it was just way overpriced up im thinking just a little now. =)

[pismo_reefer]

Honestly.....

 

they arent overpriced.

 

These lights are the chizz, and I defy ANYONE to prove that wrong.

 

For $120 you get a COOL running lamp, the size of a Par38, w/ the output of a 400w Halide.

 

Granted the Light spread on th 40* optics is very "spotlight-ey",

but the spread on the 60* optics has ONE BULB covering the entirety of my 24x22" sand bed,

(from 26" up...and the PAR is RIDICULOUS!)

 

These lights are an AMAZING VALUE!

[sae647]

w/ the output of a 400w Halide.

[pismo_reefer]

 

Oops... I meant better.

 

400w halide readings, 6th pic down >>> http://www.melevsreef.com/par_readings.html

 

Par38 LED readings.>>> http://glassbox-design.com/2010/par-spread...-led-spotlight/

[Nemo Niblets]

Oops... I meant better.

 

400w halide readings, 6th pic down >>> http://www.melevsreef.com/par_readings.html

 

Par38 LED readings.>>> http://glassbox-design.com/2010/par-spread...-led-spotlight/

Noooo only with less spread. You could not replace one 400w MH with one of these.

[Noonan]

40 optics are shed more of a tighter light span- as opposed to 80s that spread out more- correct?

[pismo_reefer]

Noooo only with less spread. You could not replace one 400w MH with one of these.

 

I said output... not spread.

 

Then again...

3 Par38's would run you the same price as a hamilton 400w.... (just purchase price)

(and have a better, moar even spread)

 

Thats not to mention that You'll prolly NEVER have to replace these led's,

whereas a 400w mh bulb runs you $90 a year.... just sayin.

 

Add to that, the fact that you wont need a chiller with Par38's.

That alone saves you $300+ power.

 

Then consider your power savings from running a 400w mh+actinics+chiler,

as compared to 3x 21w Par38's....

 

 

This seems to be no contest to me.....

The only arguably better things about metal halide.... are opinions.

 

[CleveDawgPound]

Oops... I meant better.

 

400w halide readings, 6th pic down >>> http://www.melevsreef.com/par_readings.html

 

Par38 LED readings.>>> http://glassbox-design.com/2010/par-spread...-led-spotlight/

 

Dude, come on. First of all, Melev posted like 12 different sets of readings. He was illustrating cleaning lamps and reflectors and comparing different reflectors and old and new bulbs.

 

You would need several of these to replace even a 250w MH and achieve the same coverage. Great for a pico, yes, but on a 280g you would need 20 or more of these.

[ccjung]

First off, thanks for doing the write up. I Hate to do this, but you did the lenses WRONG.

 

You can pop the lenses (60 degree) out of the plastic holders and they will be "bare".

 

Then you wont have to drill or cut anything. Just simply use a qtip or something that isnt sharp to pop the lenses out from the back. We like to use a ball socket allen wrench + paper or cloth.

 

If you are nice, I may be a peach and send you another white faceplate.

 

HTH

 

Chris

[sae647]

so, to clarify, the OP replaced the bare lens with a lens plus a housing, but if he had removed the housing from the new lenses, he could have just done a lens for lens swap?

[evilc66]

Yeah, pretty much. This isn't the first writeup for changing the lenses.

[pismo_reefer]

First off, thanks for doing the write up. I Hate to do this, but you did the lenses WRONG.

 

You can pop the lenses (60 degree) out of the plastic holders and they will be "bare".

 

Then you wont have to drill or cut anything. Just simply use a qtip or something that isnt sharp to pop the lenses out from the back. We like to use a ball socket allen wrench + paper or cloth.

 

If you are nice, I may be a peach and send you another white faceplate.

 

HTH

 

Chris

 

Oh chris....

 

Youre me hero....

 

 

I guess I have to re-do the write up...

[kthehun89]

where'd you get the lenses? I'm looking to do this...

[pismo_reefer]

nanotuners.com

[pompeyjohn]

nanotuners.com

 

Just curious - is there a new write up?

[sephly]

i have one of these bulbs, and am looking to do the same thing you did, but unfortunately seems like the company is out of business now which leaves me in a learch , any ideas where i can get the lenses?

 

Also did the faceplate fit over the new optics? may i see a picture? did it come back together just the same? did you need to glue the new optics on or did they snap on?

 

Thanks in advanced.

[anizato]

Pismo_Reefer:

 

Damn! This was posted 4 years ago! WOW!

 

Anyway, i have the Ecoxotic par38 20k. It is awesome but the optics are 40* angles and that sucks! I would like to increase to 60 because the edges of my tank aren't getting any "sun."

Can I do that without having to replace the LEDS themselves? or are the optic lenses attached to the LED?

 

I guess my question really is, can I replace the optic degree angles without replacing the LED-bulbs? AND would I perform the same procedure as you did with the Evil's?

I read somewhere they are the same skeleton as the Ecoxotic, is this true?

 

Thanks for any help.

[evilc66]

The 5 LED 21W PAR38s from Ecoxotic are the same as the ones I used to sell. The optics can be replaced, but finding those optics has become hard of late with the XR-E LEDs going out of favor. You can't just use any old lens if you still want to keep the stock appearance. If you don't mind cannibalizing things a little, then you should be able to make almost anything work.