# Jebo = Cheapo?



## andbigdaddy2 (Oct 3, 2006)

Ok once and for all are these good lights or not?


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## Rex Grigg (Dec 10, 2002)

Like any cheaply made product from the far east you never know what you are going to get. Some people have had very good luck with these fixtures. Other people have had them fail in day or even catch fire.

You pay your money and you take your chances.


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## PineyMike (Mar 22, 2006)

Although I've never owned any Jebo stuff, I don't think the overall consensus is very good. I read alot of complaints and not many compliments. Their stuff is very low cost for a reason. I don't think it is meant for the serious hobbiest.


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## Canoe2Can (Oct 31, 2004)

andbigdaddy2 said:


> Ok once and for all are these good lights or not?


In my experience, if you have to ask this question, then the answer is no. There are plenty of reasonably-priced alternatives like Coralife and Current that seldom get bad reviews.


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## aquanut415 (Jan 21, 2006)

i use them on a few different tanks. they are not top of the line, but all mine still work. i wouldn't put it on a show tank, but for a fishroom/closet they do the trick, cheaply.


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## AnneRiceBowl (May 18, 2006)

I have a Jebo, and as soon as I can afford it, it's being replaced and sold.


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## spypet (Sep 15, 2006)

I bought a Jebo's Odyssea Blue Moon LED Aquarium Light,
and thought the quality was excellent for such a low price.


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## Lycosa (Oct 16, 2006)

I bought the Jebo Odyssea Metal Halide Fixture.....what a deal at $168.00:icon_frow. The ballast burned up in a week.....A WEEK! Sometimes a great deal is just too good to be true. I've had good luck using their PC's on terrariums and tanks. Since I'm a little sketchy about the PAR output of their bulbs, I replace them with something better. Just be careful.


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## lilevo (Jun 1, 2006)

I have a 36" PC Odyssea fixture and a 48" fixture. The 48" fixture has been running fine for probably 4 months with no problems. The 36" ballast blew out after 3 months, when it died, I noticed one of the fans was not spinning. I replaced the ballast and it's been fine ever since. I removed one of the stock fans and stuck a computer heatsink fan in its place. I also stuck a computer fan on one of the top vents above the ballast to suck heat out. I'm sure they would be fine with two reliable fans on the end of it.


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

Kim from A&H supply likes to put a Jebo 55 w next to his 55 watt set up.

I have a PAR light meter, anyone wanting to measure the difference between the two is welcome to ask me at the AGA convention.

I'd say they are about 1/2 or less the amount of PAR compared to the A&H lighting.

Same wattage etc, less than 1/2 the light...........

You get precisely what you pay for.

I can buy a Chinese version of the Nikon D200 for 628$, plastic body, no battery , CD etc, the USA model with Mg metal body and all the goodies: 1299$.

Choice is yours, but spending $ for a good light is well worth it, that and CO2 always are.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## Ryzilla (Oct 29, 2005)

I have 2 odyssea units one is dead after 11 months and the other dies in 1 1/2 months and has been replaced. Basically THEY SUCK!!!


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## MiSo (Oct 26, 2005)

my jebo fixture lasted 2 days.
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n91/AlanBountham/CIMG1706.jpg


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## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

MiSo said:


> my jebo fixture lasted 2 days.
> http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n91/AlanBountham/CIMG1706.jpg


What the hell happened?!


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## MiSo (Oct 26, 2005)

on the end of the fixture, there was a fan. 
i'm assuming faulty wiring or even the fan itself failed.
the whole end of the fixture caught fire. i woke up to the sound of my smoke detector going off. i was lucky because the first day i got it, i just plugged it in and left for work. but the next day, i put it on a timer and it turned itself on when i was sleeping. if i had not put it on a timer, i would've just turned it on before going to work and then come back to a burned down apartment.

lesson learned the hard way-


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## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

MiSo said:


> on the end of the fixture, there was a fan.
> i'm assuming faulty wiring or even the fan itself failed.
> the whole end of the fixture caught fire. i woke up to the sound of my smoke detector going off. i was lucky because the first day i got it, i just plugged it in and left for work. but the next day, i put it on a timer and it turned itself on when i was sleeping. if i had not put it on a timer, i would've just turned it on before going to work and then come back to a burned down apartment.
> 
> lesson learned the hard way-


Holy crap. I gotta be more careful of the brands I purchase now...not that the situation couldn't happen with any brand light or equipment. Some are just constructed poorly.


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## Rond (Jan 5, 2005)

MiSo said:


> on the end of the fixture, there was a fan.
> i'm assuming faulty wiring or even the fan itself failed.
> the whole end of the fixture caught fire. i woke up to the sound of my smoke detector going off. i was lucky because the first day i got it, i just plugged it in and left for work. but the next day, i put it on a timer and it turned itself on when i was sleeping. if i had not put it on a timer, i would've just turned it on before going to work and then come back to a burned down apartment.
> 
> lesson learned the hard way-


Damn, that really sucks and scary. I'm glad you are ok and safe.

Where did you buy it, online or LFS? If you bought in at your LFS, are you planning of returning it for a refund?


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## MiSo (Oct 26, 2005)

i bought it online from aquatraders. 
in my situation they were very understanding and did give me a refund back.
i did have to mail the item back so they can inspect it but they paid for that also.


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## Blacksunshine (Oct 11, 2006)

Wow. I did have an odyssea fixture. it worked well for just a basic light 54w 48" dual T5. 
But sold it long before any problems arose. Sold it due to a need to upgrade to more wattage.
I am using a CFS 4 for my main filter on my 75Gal. Has worked flawlessly for almost a year now. 
So I guess it's hit and miss with the knock off brands.


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## xcooperx (Jun 21, 2006)

my cousin have those Lights, i dont like the reflector. he got 4x55 watts but the fixture doesn't have any fan, so heat is really a problem.


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## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

MiSo said:


> i bought it online from aquatraders.
> in my situation they were very understanding and did give me a refund back.
> i did have to mail the item back so they can inspect it but they paid for that also.


What?! AquaTraders with good customer service? Well, that's a first!


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## Aquadise (Jul 26, 2006)

I bought only 2 products from jebo that works for me the best--the heater and the UV sterilizer. The whole UV system for Jebo was $38 comes with bulbs and everything, while buying a uv bulb alone was $45 at my lfs. Its hard to resist buying with such deals. But you get what you payed for.


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## esarkipato (Jul 19, 2005)

Blacksunshine said:


> Wow. I did have an odyssea fixture. it worked well for just a basic light 54w 48" dual T5.
> But sold it long before any problems arose. Sold it due to a need to upgrade to more wattage.
> I am using a CFS 4 for my main filter on my 75Gal. Has worked flawlessly for almost a year now.
> So I guess it's hit and miss with the knock off brands.


Be careful.......

My CFS4, after 1 year of great operation, sprung a leak and f*ck*d up my hardwood flooring, and the downstairs ceiling. Obviously, I'm not a big fan of Jebo/Odyssea!


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## MiSo (Oct 26, 2005)

i also had a cfs4. lasted a couple months before it started to make a really really loud horrible noise. a little later it started to leak. 
so i bought an ehiem.


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## Blacksunshine (Oct 11, 2006)

^&^^

Thank you both for the heads up. I will keep my eye on it and see how things go. Hopefully I will not have to deal with any such issues.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Just wanted to resurrect the thread after an interesting find. 

I recently acquired a 36" 2x96w Odyssea with 3 blue leds. With all the reports of catching fire, I decided to open this one up for inspection of wires and hardware. Low and behold, what do I find?? Severed wires 2 inches from the end caps, the area of the bare wiring matches up perfectly with what appears to be the origin of MiSo's fire. They have them pressed against the reflector and curling around it's sharp edge into the back portion that holds the guts. Not wise is their man in charge of quality control and safety. It's funny that they have a circle cut out of the reflector's corner with a rubber grommet but the wires are nowhere close to it. Needless to say, I'll be rewiring these end caps and flipping them so the wires aren't pressed against the reflector, and will be insulating the heck out of the area where they pass it. I'm also thinking of replacing the ballasts and fans while I have it apart, the ballasts look like they came out of a surplus pile, scratched and scuffed and the screw tabs that aren't even being used are bent all over the place waiting to eat hot wires.


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## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

You can use heatshrink tubing to make sure it goesn't move away from the exposed wires.


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## theatrus (Mar 20, 2007)

Jebo = junk, more or less. The ballasts they use aren't even UL listed. I had one for awhile, and while no major fires, the output of that unit was very sub-par (was on a reef tank, 4x65W CF).

If you need cheap, DIY it, with UL listed ballasts


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

That seems to be the right thing to do at this point, I don't trust a single part of it.

I should add that this one is brand new out of the box, the one listed as "New 2007 model", so if anyone is wondering whether they've tried to get their act straight, it's pretty evident that's not the case. But I'm glad it's here now, because I love electrical work.

Update: Rewiring didn't help, still filled the house with the smell of smoke, the end caps are heat cracked after three days of operation. I replaced it with a coralife.


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## bpmox (Jun 16, 2007)

I had the same problem with some jebo lights I purchased. I plugged them in and they constantly flickered... so I took it apart to check the wiring. Screws had pierced the wires in a couple of places.


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## ebilpanda (Jan 25, 2006)

i bought one of their oddysea 60" cf light setups off of ebay for about $100. 322 watts for that price seemed pretty good to me. got it couple days later, turned it on, the whole time it was on I smelled burning plastic or some sort of weird smell coming off of it.

after that, I just took it apart, made my own canopy and attached the lights to it. works great still after a few weeks.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

ebilpanda said:


> I just took it apart, made my own canopy and attached the lights to it.


Probably the next best move to replacing it. Mine has also served as DIY parts, the fans are cooling tanks, the reflector has been chopped and used in a few places including a chameleon cage, and the blue LEDs are out and waiting for me to stumble on some nice little enclosures for them.


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## jazzlvr123 (Jul 16, 2007)

well i have 4 jebo cannister filters and PC lights that have been running on my 75 gallon tanks for about 5 months now, everything is still working perfectly but after i read this i hope i do not encounter any problems in the future


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Just keep your nose on point for anything smoky coming from the pc. Aside from some cheap materials, It seems it's down to a few careless assemblers that have no knowledge of how electricity works or the dangers that lie in it. You might be one of the lucky ones, but if you know anything about that stuff, you might want to open it and have a look to be safe.


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## Mishmosh (Nov 27, 2003)

I have two All-Glass 2x55W PC striplights. Some time ago, one of the ballasts went bad. I replaced that unit with a Jebo 2x55W PC striplight which has never been as bright as the All-Glass. I thought that was due to the much larger All-Glass reflector.

Recently I obtained a "JEBO 2x55W replacement Ballast" from Ebay to replace the one in my broken All-Glass unit. I immediately notice on the label "2x40W" despite it also being labelled for 55W PC bulbs. Another odd thing was the amps was listed as 0.65 while my All-Glass unit states 1.15A. Just to make sure, I compared this replacement ballast with the one in the Jebo striplight and yes, they were identical. 

Now with two working All-Glass units, the only difference is the ballast, you can clearly tell the Jebo-ballasted unit is dimmer (see pic with exposure 2.5 stops down to show difference, bulbs are identical and have been on several hours).

Bottom line: I do not think these jebo ballasts are running the bulbs to their full potential--they are underpowered. Not only that, the 2G11 connectors on the Jebo striplight are junk...lose connection after a while.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Mishmosh said:


> the 2G11 connectors on the Jebo striplight are junk...lose connection after a while.


Mine showed heat cracks after only three days of use.


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