See post # 43. It has the type of diagram that you are looking for on your new ballast.
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Fixing Juwel Light Bar.
- Thread starter doresy
- Start date
nigee
New Member
hi all can you help me with wiring on my jewel light bar . i got a replacement ballast after opening up the unit but it an osram type and has oly 1-4 connections and the oroginal has 1-8 can anyone help me alter it please .
nigee
New Member
//photo now posted for dorsey from nigee showing wing diagrams as requesed hope for help on rewiring my ballast
OP
OP
doresy
Sometimes Right, Sometimes Wrong but ALWAYS certai
Hi, I am no electrical engineer but my best guess is....
Wire 3 is connected to terminal 1. Wire 4 is connected to terminal 2. Wires 1 and 8 are joined together then connected to terminal 3. Wire 5 is connected to terminal 4.
That leaves you with wires 2,6 and 7. which I really don't know where to connect as the diagram doesn't show.....maybe they are just connected together or earthed to the ballast's case, I am not sure...sorry
Jonno
Fish Crazy
hi there,
is domestic sealent ok for this project or do you have to use aquarium sealent?
i'm going to be glueing mine in place as i've cut a bit too close to the edges, what sort glue is best?
thanks.
is domestic sealent ok for this project or do you have to use aquarium sealent?
i'm going to be glueing mine in place as i've cut a bit too close to the edges, what sort glue is best?
thanks.
OP
OP
doresy
Sometimes Right, Sometimes Wrong but ALWAYS certai
Super glue will do the trick but I recommend aquarium silicone as it's easier to undo if you need to get back in sometime in the future and it stops mosture getting in
nigee
New Member
hi doresy /its nigee , thanks for the wiring help you are right with what you gave me and 2, 6, 7, wires are not connected light unit works fine now and you saved me a packet keep up the good work cheers untill next time..
Hi, I am no electrical engineer but my best guess is....
Wire 3 is connected to terminal 1. Wire 4 is connected to terminal 2. Wires 1 and 8 are joined together then connected to terminal 3. Wire 5 is connected to terminal 4.
That leaves you with wires 2,6 and 7. which I really don't know where to connect as the diagram doesn't show.....maybe they are just connected together or earthed to the ballast's case, I am not sure...sorry
OP
OP
doresy
Sometimes Right, Sometimes Wrong but ALWAYS certai
Excellent news and glad to be of service. Maybe if I worked for Juwel then perhaps not so many people would be in this sort of jam....hi doresy /its nigee , thanks for the wiring help you are right with what you gave me and 2, 6, 7, wires are not connected light unit works fine now and you saved me a packet keep up the good work cheers untill next time..
Hi, I am no electrical engineer but my best guess is....
Wire 3 is connected to terminal 1. Wire 4 is connected to terminal 2. Wires 1 and 8 are joined together then connected to terminal 3. Wire 5 is connected to terminal 4.
That leaves you with wires 2,6 and 7. which I really don't know where to connect as the diagram doesn't show.....maybe they are just connected together or earthed to the ballast's case, I am not sure...sorry
Hiya's
Got my mom a rio 240
This morning the lights won't work
If i unplug them then turn on 1 tube tries to fully light up along its length, at the same time the other tube shows an orange colouring at the clip holder (each end) end of it
Any ideas ??
Got her the tank 4th of january i think it was so by no stretch of the immagination is this unit old
Also, i've read about the 2 types of colour stickers they put on the light units, orange generally = fubar sooner or later, blue sticker = better ballast that seems fine
(maybe hoping it's just a tube gone, did look at 3 pet places today but none stock juwels as the previous problems with returns etc lol)
Any advice be much appreciated
Tony
Got my mom a rio 240
This morning the lights won't work
If i unplug them then turn on 1 tube tries to fully light up along its length, at the same time the other tube shows an orange colouring at the clip holder (each end) end of it
Any ideas ??
Got her the tank 4th of january i think it was so by no stretch of the immagination is this unit old
Also, i've read about the 2 types of colour stickers they put on the light units, orange generally = fubar sooner or later, blue sticker = better ballast that seems fine
(maybe hoping it's just a tube gone, did look at 3 pet places today but none stock juwels as the previous problems with returns etc lol)
Any advice be much appreciated
Tony
It sounds to me like your tubes are just about dead.
Hiya's,
Well after looking at all my lfs's not one stocked juwel
They all and i mean all said it was due to consumers coming back complaining about the light fittings dying and either having to deal with juwel which they found problematic or too time consuming, one lfs said unless they could throw in a trade priced order for £500 or more juwel wouldn't deliver because of a £500 minimum trade spend
So what the lfs's in my area did was stop stocking juwel to remove the pain of replacing faulty light units (one lfs was the Holly Bush) so makes you think as that's about the largest lfs near me
Anyways i ordered tubes online with no lfs to chuck money at
And i emailed the place where i got my moms rio 240 setup from, really surprised actually, i explained about them being two types of light fittings
They are sending a new unit out with a returns sticker in parcel to send her original light unit back, now that's what i call good service and will be using this shop again
Aint it a shame when a company loses not only customers but large retailers due to problem items which they knew about years ago (ohh yes two large shops told me very bluntly, give the more likely to fubar units as replacements and if customer comes back then and only then give them the latter type, to me that's not the best way to get attention drawn to your business)
Not that i would ever have a juwel setup, and the juwel light tubes are a special non stock size specified by juwel, this is so juwel can corner the light market for their units and squeeze more ££ out of you (hmm kinda like their stuck-in filters ! )
Anyways, All's well and hopefully not too much damage done to all the plants i not long put in her tank
Cheers
Tony
Well after looking at all my lfs's not one stocked juwel
They all and i mean all said it was due to consumers coming back complaining about the light fittings dying and either having to deal with juwel which they found problematic or too time consuming, one lfs said unless they could throw in a trade priced order for £500 or more juwel wouldn't deliver because of a £500 minimum trade spend
So what the lfs's in my area did was stop stocking juwel to remove the pain of replacing faulty light units (one lfs was the Holly Bush) so makes you think as that's about the largest lfs near me
Anyways i ordered tubes online with no lfs to chuck money at
And i emailed the place where i got my moms rio 240 setup from, really surprised actually, i explained about them being two types of light fittings
They are sending a new unit out with a returns sticker in parcel to send her original light unit back, now that's what i call good service and will be using this shop again
Aint it a shame when a company loses not only customers but large retailers due to problem items which they knew about years ago (ohh yes two large shops told me very bluntly, give the more likely to fubar units as replacements and if customer comes back then and only then give them the latter type, to me that's not the best way to get attention drawn to your business)
Not that i would ever have a juwel setup, and the juwel light tubes are a special non stock size specified by juwel, this is so juwel can corner the light market for their units and squeeze more ££ out of you (hmm kinda like their stuck-in filters ! )
Anyways, All's well and hopefully not too much damage done to all the plants i not long put in her tank
Cheers
Tony
nice one on the creativity.
im tryin to fix mine but it seems to be quite unique. most of the ballasts i see in this thread have 8 outputs, mines only 3
Im thinking of changing to saltwater. Any help would be great.
(yea i busted it open, figure duct tape should do)
im tryin to fix mine but it seems to be quite unique. most of the ballasts i see in this thread have 8 outputs, mines only 3
Im thinking of changing to saltwater. Any help would be great.
(yea i busted it open
, figure duct tape should do)Cheers Doresy.
Your post (and pictures) inspired me to have a go at fixing my (recently broken) Rio 180 Juwel light bar and it worked a treat! Saved me 150 Euros (the repair only cost 10 Euros in total) I have a couple of comments to add based upon my repair which others might find useful:
The most important point I want to make concerns the electronic ballast (the unit in my Rio 180 is a T5 2x45W). If you open this up (if it's like mine) you'll see that all the electronics (and the PCB) are covered in a waterproof resin coating (which makes sense given the environment it operates in). As such, I would be very wary of replacing the Juwel ballast with an 'off-the-shelf' model which would not have any of this environmental resistance. This is unless you can be 100% certain that the unit is still completely airtight after the repair (which is necessary to humid air getting into the light bar and condensing) or is over-pressured with dry air (see later).
An alternative (and cheaper) option instead of replacing the ballast is to repair it, provided you know what you are doing of course. I discovered that in my broken ballast one of the capacitors had gone (you can usually tell just by looking at them - the top bulges out), and I'm guessing it's the same problem in most of the broken light bars. You can buy these for just a few dollars/euros, although you'll need to scratch off some of the protective resin around the old solder before you can replace it. Once you have replaced them (change all of them - not just the broken one), use some nail varnish or epoxy to reseal the PCB and also cover the top of the new capacitors.
In other changes to Doresy's method I used strong double sided tape to fix the ballast back into the housing and waterproof tape to fix a plastic cover (made from thin acetate) over the hole. I found this works well and is easier than screwing on a new part. I also rigged up a ventilation system using a spare air pump outlet to make sure there is always a slight over-pressure inside the light bar. This not only stops humid air from the tank getting in but also helps to keep the electronics cool. To do this I just drilled two 8mm holes on either side of the bar and fixed on two 8mm air hoses, one going to the air pump and the other exhausting outside the tank hood. If you've done it well you should be able to put the end of the exhaust hose in some water and checking for bubbles!
So I think that's everything. A really cheap fix!!! Hope this has been helpful and good luck!!!! Thanks again Doresy.
Your post (and pictures) inspired me to have a go at fixing my (recently broken) Rio 180 Juwel light bar and it worked a treat! Saved me 150 Euros (the repair only cost 10 Euros in total) I have a couple of comments to add based upon my repair which others might find useful:
The most important point I want to make concerns the electronic ballast (the unit in my Rio 180 is a T5 2x45W). If you open this up (if it's like mine) you'll see that all the electronics (and the PCB) are covered in a waterproof resin coating (which makes sense given the environment it operates in). As such, I would be very wary of replacing the Juwel ballast with an 'off-the-shelf' model which would not have any of this environmental resistance. This is unless you can be 100% certain that the unit is still completely airtight after the repair (which is necessary to humid air getting into the light bar and condensing) or is over-pressured with dry air (see later).
An alternative (and cheaper) option instead of replacing the ballast is to repair it, provided you know what you are doing of course. I discovered that in my broken ballast one of the capacitors had gone (you can usually tell just by looking at them - the top bulges out), and I'm guessing it's the same problem in most of the broken light bars. You can buy these for just a few dollars/euros, although you'll need to scratch off some of the protective resin around the old solder before you can replace it. Once you have replaced them (change all of them - not just the broken one), use some nail varnish or epoxy to reseal the PCB and also cover the top of the new capacitors.
In other changes to Doresy's method I used strong double sided tape to fix the ballast back into the housing and waterproof tape to fix a plastic cover (made from thin acetate) over the hole. I found this works well and is easier than screwing on a new part. I also rigged up a ventilation system using a spare air pump outlet to make sure there is always a slight over-pressure inside the light bar. This not only stops humid air from the tank getting in but also helps to keep the electronics cool. To do this I just drilled two 8mm holes on either side of the bar and fixed on two 8mm air hoses, one going to the air pump and the other exhausting outside the tank hood. If you've done it well you should be able to put the end of the exhaust hose in some water and checking for bubbles!
So I think that's everything. A really cheap fix!!! Hope this has been helpful and good luck!!!! Thanks again Doresy.
I replaced the light box on my Rio 400 around 2-3 years ago after it died (think it was around £80).
It went again recently so I went to buy another (£119 gulp).
At that price I thought I would have a tinker and found this very useful post, so I bought a new ballast and started to cut out the bottom.
Anyway the Rio 400 light bar has a metal bracket that runs along the bottom of the plastic casing so you cant access the ballast as shown in the original post.
The only way to do it (on this particular box) would be to cut a 15 inch hole in the middle on top of the box.
The metal bracket makes it very hard to access from the bottom - you would need to cut almost the entire length and it would be difficult to leave a flange due to the shape of the bracket.
Hopefully the attachments show what I mean.
Anyway I am now going to part with far too much money for a replacement box that will probably stop working again in a couple of years
Hopefully this post wont stop lots of people saving lots of money with DIY repairs - it probably only affects newer Rio 400 light boxes.
It went again recently so I went to buy another (£119 gulp).
At that price I thought I would have a tinker and found this very useful post, so I bought a new ballast and started to cut out the bottom.
Anyway the Rio 400 light bar has a metal bracket that runs along the bottom of the plastic casing so you cant access the ballast as shown in the original post.
The only way to do it (on this particular box) would be to cut a 15 inch hole in the middle on top of the box.
The metal bracket makes it very hard to access from the bottom - you would need to cut almost the entire length and it would be difficult to leave a flange due to the shape of the bracket.
Hopefully the attachments show what I mean.
Anyway I am now going to part with far too much money for a replacement box that will probably stop working again in a couple of years
Hopefully this post wont stop lots of people saving lots of money with DIY repairs - it probably only affects newer Rio 400 light boxes.
Attachments
Spishkey
Spishkeys Turtle Rescue
can i just add --- BEFORE you go chopping up your light bar try mailing juwel direct about the problem. i mailed them 3 weeks ago about my 3yr old light bar unit. they replied last week offering to replace the whole thing free of charge. but as they took so long to reply i already tried the chopping into my unit and having a go at fixing it myself (which didnt work god knows where i went wrong) but because i opened the unit juwel will no longer replace it
so give them a mail first......might save a bit of work
so give them a mail first......might save a bit of work
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