ozzie2011
Fish Crazy
Running the risk of making myself look a prat I thought I would share the experience of the last few days. 
Got up Sunday to discover one of my halides were off. Checked the timer first as sometime I do catch it
That turned out to be fine. Pulled out the ballast fuse and checked , fine. I replaced the bulb about four months ago but was a cheapy so I resigned myself to a new one. Jumped on Ebay found a decent 14k 150w for £20 and ordered it, and paid for express delivery £6. The tank is horrible with one halide and the one that went out is over my nem and I didnt want to leave too long incase he started wandering.
So Pacrel force finally delivered the new bulb last night (Wednesday) at 6pm! Anyway took all my lighting unit down, stripped it and gave it a good clean, salt gets everywhere, cleaned out the dust from the cleaning fans etc.
Removed the 'blown lamp' thinking to myself "this doesn't look blown" as one I have replaced in the past have been black, but replaced none the less. Plugged it all back in and hit the switch leaving the timer off for now, and nothing
So after the initial shock of I have just wasted £25 on a bulb and sitting there scratching my head thinking what might it be....Ok so be methodical, I attached the working ballast from the halide I know works to the one that doesn't and "there was light", I tried with the lamp that didnt work and low and behold it came on.
Now Im thinking "#28###, (and more colurful profanities), the ballast has gone. So, just spent £25 on a new lamp and now have to probably spend £100 on a new ballast. Afterall I checked the fuse in the ballast.
I dont know how many of you notice but most things we buy these days have molded sealed plugs on, not these ballasts though. so unplugged the ballast, took the plug apart and opened it up. 3amp fuse, the type you cant see the wire so dont know if they are gone or not. Put in a new fuse and turned it on....
"AND THERE WAS LIGHT!"
Ah atleast Ive got a spare bulb now
So..the moral of this story, before you buy anything new, CHECK THE BLOODY FUSE!
Got up Sunday to discover one of my halides were off. Checked the timer first as sometime I do catch it
That turned out to be fine. Pulled out the ballast fuse and checked , fine. I replaced the bulb about four months ago but was a cheapy so I resigned myself to a new one. Jumped on Ebay found a decent 14k 150w for £20 and ordered it, and paid for express delivery £6. The tank is horrible with one halide and the one that went out is over my nem and I didnt want to leave too long incase he started wandering.So Pacrel force finally delivered the new bulb last night (Wednesday) at 6pm! Anyway took all my lighting unit down, stripped it and gave it a good clean, salt gets everywhere, cleaned out the dust from the cleaning fans etc.
Removed the 'blown lamp' thinking to myself "this doesn't look blown" as one I have replaced in the past have been black, but replaced none the less. Plugged it all back in and hit the switch leaving the timer off for now, and nothing
So after the initial shock of I have just wasted £25 on a bulb and sitting there scratching my head thinking what might it be....Ok so be methodical, I attached the working ballast from the halide I know works to the one that doesn't and "there was light", I tried with the lamp that didnt work and low and behold it came on.
Now Im thinking "#28###, (and more colurful profanities), the ballast has gone. So, just spent £25 on a new lamp and now have to probably spend £100 on a new ballast. Afterall I checked the fuse in the ballast.
I dont know how many of you notice but most things we buy these days have molded sealed plugs on, not these ballasts though. so unplugged the ballast, took the plug apart and opened it up. 3amp fuse, the type you cant see the wire so dont know if they are gone or not. Put in a new fuse and turned it on....
"AND THERE WAS LIGHT!"
Ah atleast Ive got a spare bulb now
So..the moral of this story, before you buy anything new, CHECK THE BLOODY FUSE!
thanks for sharing, gna keep me smiling after a long hard dsay at work, on the bright side you have a spare bulb for when that one blows, haha
