Lighting Unit Woes....

[kimfdim]

A little history on this light....
It's a Current USA Outer Orbit 48" Dual Actinic (2) and Metal Halide (2) light strip. I bought it used with the tank I bought used. I had to have 2 ballasts replaced by the seller before I could use the light. This was probably May or June.

Months ago, one of the metal halides stopped working - we even replaced the bulb which is no cheap feat. Very few times, the bulb would come on, the majority of the time, it would not. I suggested to hubby that it is the connection to the ballast or the ballast itself. He didn't agree and said it may be the bulb. After we replaced bulb and it didn't work, he took it down to look at the unit. He simply doesn't have a clue, and honestly I don't think he looked very well due to lack of interest.

Well, since it had been several months and one side of my tank has not been lit (all the mushrooms are sliding off thier rocks and relocating!!!!), I got fed up and took it upon myself to get new bulbs and try the new bulb thing again. Sure enough, after the bulbs were installed yesterday, we turend the unit on. Now, only one metal halide and only one bulb from a dual lights up. I have one metal halide not lighting, one dual actinic not lighting and one bulb from the other dual actinic not lighting. I am thinking "What the H#*% is going on with this thing?! I have so completeley had it with this light, it has been nothing but trouble since I got it. I am planning on upgrading to a larger tank come summer, so I really don't want to replace the lighting for this tank and be stuck with a light fixture that doesn't fit the larger tank (cannot do pendants, hubby said). Besides, your talking $800 at the least to replace it!!!! I've already put enough money into this piece of junk! But I need to get some light on this tank!!!

So the question...I know PetMart will do repairs on the light, but I really don't want to have to travel all the way to Batavia...I got baking, wrapping and babysitting to do today!!! Does anyone know if Randy or anyone at his place does repairs on lights? Anyone more local to Alden? Anyone have a clue what might be going on that I may attempt to fix it myself? Is it the Ballasts again? There is a little salt creep inside the light fixture...could it be that it is not sealed properly? Does it need to be sealed? Help, as I simply do not have clue!

Oh, anyone have the number to Reef Creations...I've looked in pasts posts and can't find it.....

Lisa

[weaver5]

Lisa
I am sorry to hear you are not happy with the lights.As you know I have the same lights and have not had a problem.I would guess it is not the ballasts that were replaced as they always seem to last a long time.The first thing I would do is check to see if you have power coming off the ballast to the bulb socket.If you do than you know it is the bulb.It would be a good idea to check connnections but I would dobt it becuase I used wirenuts and taped the ends together.I do have a extra ballast for the tube light that I ordered just to have on hand but I do not have a M/H ballast.If you want to try it you can and if it works than just order me a replacement.Again sorry to hear that, Scott

[kimfdim]

See...that's the funny thing...your connections are great! Hubby even commented on how watertight the connections are. He tried checking the power with one of those things with a red probe and black probe (I don't know what they are called!), and the lights don't light up on the tester. We then checked an outlet and they light up. I have since put 2 new bulbs in the one MH fixture, niether of them work, so I don't think it is the bulbs. They are brand new. This totally has us baffled, and please don't take my frustration the wrong way. I am upset with the light, not the person who sold it to me :0) We just can't figure out why this thing is being such a pain in the . I keep thinking it is the ballasts, but like you said, they were just replaced. The think that is baffling me is why the dual actinics are not working now. This makes no sence.

[bjromaine]

First, you have to go about this systematically. There isn't that much that can go wrong. The tester your hubby used probably won't work on the output of the ballasts as the voltage is too high. The only realiable way to check the ballasts is with a VOM, which is a Volt Ohm Meter.
From what I have read, it sounds like you have checked most everything except the connections. I would remove each wire nut, one at a time, and make sure all the wires are connected securely. Although it is rare, it is possible to use wire nuts and have one wire slip below the connection, but it isn't visible so you don't realize it.
You can check the incoming voltage to the ballast with your hubby's tester and that would be a good thing to do.
Start on one ballast and its lights and resolve that before going to the other.
Hope that helps....

[kimfdim]

Scott -
Where did you get the ballasts from? Are they still under warantee? Did you get them from Current USA? I may be able to get ballasts from Current, but not if the current balasts are not current. I believe them to be the culprit.

[SkiFletch]

I agree with Bryan, these things aren't too complicated. 110VAC comes into the fixture and goes to the ballast(s), in this case 4 of them. When the fixture fires up you'll likely see a slight decrease in voltage from the high starting current. Anyways, check to make sure that there is 110VAC going into each ballast. If not, you've got a wiring problem there.

Then, the ballasts output a very high voltage like Bryan said, often 400+ VAC. Each bulb is different. Unfortunately, most voltmeters cannot read that high of a voltage. If your hubby's voltmeter is a digital one, often you can tell if the ballast is working though with a little trick. You apply the voltmeter to the appropriate pins on the socket with the fixture off. Then have someone throw the switch while watching the meter. It should blip like 1VAC for a split second before it realizes its out of range and goes back to zero. Dead ballasts will not show that blip of voltage. I've never tried this with an analog voltmeter (the kind with the swinging arm) so I can't say if it would work.

One last thought, you said there was a lot of salt creep involved here? Could be a smoking gun...

[belgian_waffleman]

As Bryan and Skifletch are writing, it's most likely a wiring issue.

I've had this happen with a Coralife light fixture where all of the sudden 2 PC stopped working. I did check the wire nuts and found 1 to be loose.

If you have seperate cords for MH and PC, I would start checking and the Neutral side. Unplug the fixture, and give each wire on each wirenut/connection a tug.


Good luck,

Nico

[weaver5]

they were bought from marineandreef.com.Now remember there are 4 ballast in there and we only replaced 2 of them.Check to see if the light that are fired off the new ballast are turning on.I have dealt with that company a couple times and have had good luck so they will help you I am pretty sure.again good luck.....scott