Short in my fixture from spitting fish...

[Barko]

Hi all,

My Teklight T5 seems to be on the fritz and I was wondering if this could be fixed? It's a 36" 4xT5 tube(bulb) fixture with two separate switches.

Basically what is happening is that the lights will come on and then turn off after a few seconds. If I flip the switches on and off a few times it will stay on. I'm wondering if it is a short in the fixture as my fish seem to love splashing it during the day.

I bought it exactly a year ago from a local fish store here in Calgary, but I don't think the store will cover spitting fish as a warranty item.

Is there an easy fix? If not, could someone recommend a good T5 fixture that I could buy to replace this one?

Thanks!

[BC564]

do you actually use the switches or is the fixture on a timer.....I would take the light apart and either replace the switches or just wire around them if they are not being used. (if on timer)

[Leah]

Maybe think about the acrylic covers J&L sell. Once you rewire.

[Barko]

They are on a timer and it seems that I have to either flick the timer on and off or the switch to get the lights to stay on. I thought it was the timer at first, but I'm pretty sure it is the fixture itself.

Thanks

[Barko]

I thought that it was bad to put a cover over you lights? Something about reducing par... intensity... etc.

Thanks Leah

[banditpowdercoat]

I have the cover on my lights, seems fine. I havn't measured PAR though. I would reallly be interested to know if it does

[mike31154]

I assume the lights are in pairs then? Does it happen with both sets? Waterproof endcaps on the fixture? Have you tried new bulbs?

Most newer T5 light setups have ballasts with EOL (end of life) protection. This means it will no longer attempt to light the bulbs if they are worn out. I have a Hagen Glo 36" 2xT5 fixture and it will do similar to what you are experiencing when one of the bulbs is gone. It will light for a second or two and then turn off. My fixture doesn't have any switches to play around with though, it's just on a timer.

[parkinsn]

I am not familiar with the Teck lights but some lights do have thermal trips in them so if they get to hot the will turn off the fixture. Is it the switch or does the light feel hot? Also maybe check the pins on your lamps to see if they are rusted from water hitting them. Its possible that they are not making good contact in the socket and when you are flicking the switch the light is moving slightly and getting them to make contact. But what the heck do I know, just something to check.

[xtreme]

I'm just curious, what type of fish do you have that is doing the spitting?

[Barko]

Hi everyone...

Sorry about the lack of response. I lost the thread. Anyway... I changed one of the lights and all seems to be working now :smile: Thanks for the suggestions.

I was replacing one tube every three months so that none of the tubes were older than 1 year, but I must have mixed one of them up.

BTW, the fish that were spitting/splashing at the lights were the blue throat trigger and the blue hippo tang. That is their way of telling me that they are hungry. The blue throat trigger spits or jumps out of the water while the hippo tang swims up to the surface turns around and flaps its tail so that water splashes up.

At any rate, I think the problem is resolved as the lights come on properly now.

Thanks everyone.

[fkshiu]

Teklights don't have waterproof endcaps. Keep an eye on them with splashing fish around.

[Binare]

I'm an electrician and my best advice to you is not to change 1 bulb at a time, change all the bulbs on a ballast. If you have 2 ballasts with 2 bulbs burn out... Change both on that ballast not just the one. By changing one bulb only you are reducing the life of the ballast and both bulbs due to harmonics, applies to electronic and magnetic ballasts. Something else to consider is one of the greatest advantages of t5 is there effiency. A t5 bulb will only lose on average 5% of its effiency when it finally burns out. Changing a t5 every year is like flushing money down the drain. Mine are 3 years old now, measured with a par meter from work about 7 months ago and I had only lost between 1% and 6% across the 4 bulbs I have.

[banditpowdercoat]

I'm an electrician and my best advice to you is not to change 1 bulb at a time, change all the bulbs on a ballast. If you have 2 ballasts with 2 bulbs burn out... Change both on that ballast not just the one. By changing one bulb only you are reducing the life of the ballast and both bulbs due to harmonics, applies to electronic and magnetic ballasts. Something else to consider is one of the greatest advantages of t5 is there effiency. A t5 bulb will only lose on average 5% of its effiency when it finally burns out. Changing a t5 every year is like flushing money down the drain. Mine are 3 years old now, measured with a par meter from work about 7 months ago and I had only lost between 1% and 6% across the 4 bulbs I have.


Funny, Ive seen lots of posts with PAR readings saying the opposite.


I gotta buy a PAR meter and test myself I guess

[Binare]

Ya for sure, all information should be taken with a grain of salt. I tend to agree with an industry that is responsible for installing hundreds of thousands of t5 fixtures over an extremely small industry serving the needs of hobbyists ;) I also do not buy $30 bulbs from germany for the most part, no choice for actinics, I can buy a case of 40 bulbs for the cost of 4 'reef' bulbs. Again I'd trust the quality of companies like sylvania and ge making millions of these over some rebranded bulb. Kelvin rating is changed by the phosphor coating on the inside of the bulb... Is that worth 10 times the price and supposedly far far less effiency? Ill stick to my $3 10k bulbs that seem to work as effiently as was intended for T5. The way this hobby industry portrays T5 negates almost all of the benefits of T5, I'm guessing to sell more bulbs. Again grain of salt ;)

[mike31154]

I thought the colour temperature changed over time as well on fluorescents, not just the loss of efficiency?

[Binare]

If it changes its slight, basically electrons bouncing around in the glass tube interact with the coating on the bulb, the phosphor coating doesn't break down all that much, its the vapour inside the tube that breaks down, causing the effiency to decrease.

[hillegom]

So, Binare, what brand and model of T5 do you use?

[Binare]

I use workhorse ballasts along with GE 10k bulbs.

The GE bulbs are rated at 25,000 hours lifespan. and are 95% efficient at 40% of there lifespan.

I run my lamps 10 hours a day, which works out to a 2500 day life span (average) or almost 7 years. Take into effect the efficiency (95%@40%) and I change em roughly every 3 years or so.

They cost me about 3-4 bucks a piece. 17 bucks per ballast.

[banditpowdercoat]

I use workhorse ballasts along with GE 10k bulbs.

The GE bulbs are rated at 25,000 hours lifespan. and are 95% efficient at 40% of there lifespan.

I run my lamps 10 hours a day, which works out to a 2500 day life span (average) or almost 7 years. Take into effect the efficiency (95%@40%) and I change em roughly every 3 years or so.

They cost me about 3-4 bucks a piece. 17 bucks per ballast.

4 x 39W on a 12g?

[Binare]

That is correct

[banditpowdercoat]

That would equate to 1560w on a 120g!!!!!!!!!

[Binare]

hardly, would not be adding up like that.

depth has more to do with anything then full volume. thats why watts per gallon is pretty useless as a measurement.

my tank is 3' long and 8" deep, I can grow just about anything without worrying about depth. If this light was say over a 40 breeder which is twice as high, would you be growing sps on the bottom of the tank? by growing I mean thriving, not just living.

[banditpowdercoat]

Got any pics of your tank?

[Binare]

ill post up pics in the build section n let ya know. be awhile yet... this little tank just got finished building 2 months ago, this is replacing a 10" deep by 4' long that decided to **** all over my floor.

[soapy]

Binare, I like the idea of doing your own lights, sounds good I look forward to seeing some tanks shots also.