We had not yet tried the UV bars and were extremely curious to see the PAR value of the Orphek OR3 UV/Violet, especially since to our eyes UV lights appear low in power but we know they have high PAR value. Therefore, let us take a closer look.
This article is also available in: Italiano
Many parts of this review are identical, or very similar, to the other OR3 bars’, as the ceiling lights are absolutely identical.
We also had a strong curiosity for these ceiling lights to compare their differences with the other OR3 available to us, namely the Blue Sky The new Orphek OR3 Blue Sky LED bars in the DaniReef LAB – review, the Reef Day Plus Orphek OR3 Reef Day Plus LED bars in the DaniReef LAB – review and the Blue Plus, whose review you will see in the coming weeks. Having tested them all together we will in fact do closer posts than usual to tell you about them, otherwise we would have drowned you in numbers and stats.
The bars are beautiful, solid, and appear very well made, a common part of all OR3 bars: in fact the shell between the various bars is absolutely identical. Orphek has finally made available a dimmer, which allows dimming on and off, but without discriminating between the various colors. Dimmer that we have been anxiously waiting for, since, perhaps, it is the only thing these ceiling lights have been missing. Although, by the way, in LED bars the dimmer is much less important than in actual ceiling lights. But this is something we will see later, as we are testing it for you.
Technical Specifications Orphek OR3 UV/Violet LED Bars
- Driver: exterior;
- Input Voltage: 100-240VAC;
- Frequency: 50-60Hz;
- Consumption: 60 watts +-5%;
- Cos(phi) > 0.9;
- Input current (Amps) 0.55;
- Length: 123.5 cm;
- Width: 5 cm;
- Height: 3.6 cm;
- Weight: 2.3 kg;
- LEDs employed: 28x410nm, 8x430nm.
- Price to the public: 300 EUR for the 120 cm version, and it is the most expensive among the 4 OR3 bars.
The special feature of the Orphek OR3 UV/Violet
The new LED bar of the highly successful OR3 series is born with 410 to 430 nanometer LEDs. An avowedly UV/purple ceiling light, with the broadest fluorescent spectrum. Orphek says this coloration is very useful in photosynthesis, and has been found to be critical in stimulating fluorescent proteins in our corals.
As Orphek itself says: “Corals and anemones have at least two types of color compounds: fluorescent and non-fluorescent. Fluorescence occurs when a compound absorbs light and emits it (fluoresces) at a longer wavelength, so fluorescent compounds glow (or “burst”) under UV, violet or blue light, while non-fluorescent compounds do not, appearing in fact opaque under those wavelengths and are called chromoproteins. However, they are all proteins and are produced either by the coral or the anemone“.
The suspension kit
The bars are sold together with a suspension kit, which is very short, so if you want to hang them from the ceiling, you need to buy an extension cord. It is a kit that is good for connecting to Orphek suspension arms, or to the kit for suspending them along with the Atlantik iCon. We’ve said it before, but we’ll say it again, the Orphek OR3 UV/Violet bars are beautifully constructed. The aluminum outer finish functions as a passive heatsink, and given the weight and volume of the aluminum we are confident that these LED bars will never have overheating problems. The assembly is virtually perfect.
The Programming
LED bars generally are not programmable, and the Orphek OR3 are no exception, at least for today. Some competitive bars come with, or can be purchased separately, a controller that allows them to be dimmed in on, off and as total intensity. Orphek has long announced the arrival of a dimmer, and we are just testing it for you, soon you will also find the article of the long-awaited Osix. By the way with LED bars, in my opinion, the problem is relative. Since the spectrum is decided by the bars you pair, and dimming can be implemented in a similar, though not equal, way by turning on one bar at a time. Mind you, I am not saying that the dimmer is useless, far from it, but that the lack of it weighs much less than when it comes to ceiling lights.
Unlike usual, we cannot give you the power consumption and values of the various LED channels, because in the bars the LEDs all light up simultaneously.
All the values we have collected, and our working method called DaniReef LAB can be found on page two.
