Seeking Advice for Harvest 360 Light Issues

[rodduley]

Hello Folks, I have followed this forum for sometime but have never posted before. I'm hoping someone may be able to provide some insight or guidance for an issue I am having with my Harvest 360. I purchased the unit in July of 2021. I have grown a few gardens consisting of herbs and most recently gourmet lettuces. A couple of weeks ago I stated another garden of herbs when I noticed that there are about eight LED diodes on the outer ring of lights on the left side that are not working. I'm not sure what type of warranty Aerogarden would have on the unit but I would have hoped to have the lights last longer than a year and a half. Have any of you had similar experiences? Can the diodes be replaced or repaired? Any suggestions or guidance would be greatly appreciated. 

[maskedsonnet]

According to their website:

If your AeroGarden uses LED lights, you do not need to replace your LED light hood until individual diodes begin to fail. Diodes have a 2-4 year lifespan.

So it is early for your lights to be going out. Their warranty only runs for 1 year, so you're out of luck there. Best solution I can think of is to chat with AG on their website to see if you can buy a new light hood from them, I don't see it for sale on their website but I've had them send me replacement parts before that weren't for sale on there.

[rodduley]

Hey maskedsonnet, thanks for the quick reply. I did reach out to Aerogarden per your suggestion and this was the reply I received:


Sorry to hear the lights on your Aerogarden Harvest 360 are out. Unfortunately, this is not fixable and the garden will need to be replaced. We are happy to see that you've had your AeroGarden for so long and hope you have had fun AeroGardening with us. Your garden is out of the 1-year manufacturer's warranty, and we no longer carry any replacement parts for this particular model. Our Customer Service team is always happy to answer any questions or concerns you have about your AeroGarden, no matter how long you've been growing.


We do have updated and new models on our website, AeroGarden.com. If you are interested in a new AeroGarden, simply give us a call at 937-915-2583 and one of our specialists will place a discounted order for you.

Out of warranty...OK. No replacement parts...Wow! Looks like I bought a disposable Harvest unit that lasted only 18 months. Needless to say, I'm a little disappointed! 

[maskedsonnet]

That is super disappointing, I'm sorry to read that they responded that way!! I hate it when companies go to a disposable model instead of carrying replacement parts, it's all about profit over longevity. Sad to see AG go that direction, especially with how expensive their machines are. Figured we were paying for high quality and ability to repair, but guess not. If the base is still working well, might keep using it until more of the LEDs go out and then start using a different brand of grow light hung over the machine once that happens.

[veng1]

This is extremely disappointing.

Properly designed LED lights do not "burn" out, they just get dimmer.  Individual LEDs typically are supplied with an LM-80 report and for most visible LEDs a life expectancy of 50,000 hours to a light reduction of 70% of initial is reasonable.  This is assuming the LEDs are driven within the recommended current and have appropriate heat-sinking to insure the junction temperatures are within specification.

I don't know the part numbers of the AG diodes, so I can't get an LM-80 report.  However, I will venture to say that a 2-4 year life span sounds pitiful.

[swimmom500]

I had the same thing happen to me with my Aerogarden Ultra LED. I used it for one planting. I waited a few months and when I went to turn it on the LED lights kept flashing. I contacted Aerogarden and was told that I was out of warranty and they did not offer a replacement light hood. I paid around $150 for this garden and told them I couldn’t believe they did not support a product that was just over 1 year old. They really should offer a longer warranty on the lights or make replacement light hoods available for purchase. I know how you feel as I was very disappointed as well.

[veng1]

If all of the LEDs are flashing at the same time, it may actually be the power supply or the timer.

[swimmom500]

I tried a led hood I had on another unit and it doesn’t flash so I am assuming it’s the hood. I switched the 2 hoods and the one flashing on the ultra also flashed on a different unit. It may be something else but my electrical knowledge is lacking. Needless to say, I too was disappointed that something that expensive isn’t supported. I actually was so disgusted I quit using all my Aerogardens for a while. The price of produce in the grocery store made me go back to them a couple of months ago.

[swimmom500]

How do you check the timer?

[birdsatflight]

Last week my Ultra LED lights were flashing/strobing too. I had read about this issue before on the FB group. I learned there are three capacitors on the circuit board for the LED hood. These can burn out and that’s what makes the strobing light.

I was able to desolder the old ones and bought new ones to replace them. And now new life was given to the lights.

Here’s the YouTube video

[maskedsonnet]

That's fantastic to know!!! Saving this video in case it happens to any of my machines!

[rodduley]

Hey birdsatflight thanks for posting that video. That addresses lights that might be flashing/strobing but why (in my case) would eight diodes just stop functioning while all others appear to be OK? Is there a fix for that? 
I'm still a bit upset with Aerogarden customer service response to my issue. I realize they state a one year warranty but to still continue to sell the very same unit today and not have a replacement part is a little odd and hard to fathom. Instead they direct me to a specialist that will place a discounted order for me. Their aerogardens are always discounted as evidenced in the daily advertising that I receive from them. In other words they are saying to me, sorry for your problem, please buy another unit from us, and better luck next time. 

[swimmom500]

Thanks for posting this birdsatflight. My son thinks he can fix mine now! 🤞

UPDATE: Mine is fixed! Can’t wait to start some peppers!