Aquamedic Ocean light problems…

[NewbeeReefer]

Hello. I have three 250 watt Aquamedic Oceanlights (MH) over my 125 gallon. All 3 are plugged into the same GFI outlet which is separate from the rest of the tank (30 amp circuit). About 2 weeks ago my GFI started to trip every time one of the lights would turn on. I figured out which unit it was and unplugged it. The other two worked fine after that. Yesterday I came home from work and noticed the lights off. Another unit is causing the GFI to trip! Coincidence or is there a problem with the GFI, not the lights? Can MH’s be run off of GFI outlets? I know magnetic ballasts draw a large amount of power during warm-up. Maybe the GFI is seeing this as a short? Strange since I’ve had them setup this way for about a year now. I don’t feel safe running them off a regular outlet. Last year one of my light sockets melted and the GFI tripped, possible saving my house from burning down. Any help/opinions are greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[myakkareef]

I run my Aquamedic Ocean Lights on a GFI with no problem. If this is an old GFI outlet try replacing the outlet and it my be OK. I have had GFI get weak and trip for no real reason, replaced them and they worked normally.

[NewbeeReefer]

The GFI is about a year old. Should I replace it?

[dwdenny]

It could be the possible problem. It would be the cheapest thing to replace and eliminate as the problem.

[NewbeeReefer]

It wasnt the GFI. The end caps burned/melted. :( I contacted Aquamedic already. They're gonna help me repair them. Thanks for the help guys.

[myakkareef]

Wow, I don't like the sounds of that. How old is the light? Is this the Ocean Light Combo MH/T5 or just the Ocena Light?
I have the Ocean Light Combo and have had no problems, the light is around 4 months old at this point.

[NewbeeReefer]

The units are about 1 year old. These are just MH pendants, no combo. Last night I took each one apart and inspected them.

Pendant 1:
Works fine. Fires up perfectly. Both end caps are slightly charred/blackened. They’ll definitely need replacing in the near future if not immediately (to prevent a fire). One of these end caps was already replaced under warranty earlier in the year.

Pendant 2:
One end cap is completely toasted. The prongs are black, deformed and spread wide open. The metal end on my Hamilton bulb is damaged as well. The other end cap is fine. Unit will not ignite at all.

Pendant 3:
Both end caps look fine. One is really tight (hard to remove/install bulb). When I try to fire the unit up, a blue electric shock passes through the bulb and the GFI trips. If I plug it into a regular outlet the same thing happens, but after several attempt the bulb will fire. No clue what’s wrong with this one. Possibly bad bulb?

[mrkrispy]

wow, something for me to keep an eye out for. THanks for the heads up.

[NewbeeReefer]

I’m sending all 3 pendants back to Aquamedic for repair. I’ll keep you guys posted. My fish are going to wonder what happened to the light. Maybe they’ll think a storm is passing or something.

[myakkareef]

Newbee, just to help out, last year during hurricane Charlie i was without power for 9 days. Was able to run everything except lights during that time on generator. Was afraid of the heat from lights...Everything did really well without lights, actually seemed almost beneficial once I got lights back everything seemed to have grown slightly and really enlarged with the lights on. You should not have any problems and I am sure AM will turn these around quickly for you...