Fixing Juwel Light Bar.

[doresy]

Great article doresy. I got as far as taking the ballast out but was thrown when I saw it as it is nothing like the ones I've seen in this article. There is no casing around it at all. It's just glued onto a rubber matting. I put this down to the age of the unit and so I decided to buy a spend the £60 required for a new lighting unit. I'll be trying the rest of your instructions out on the old unit anyway just in case I need to do this again at some point with my new unit.


I've attached a photo of the ballast for interest.

Yeah that looks pretty old if it's not in a sealed casing

 

[dayzofspeed]

what a brilliant thread, it's making me feel lucky as i have had my juwel rio 240 for over 4 years now and not had any problems with the lighting (fingers crossed just in case i'm tempting fate here). my question is this, could i use this method for upgrading my lighting from t8 to t5, obviously i will also have to replace the tube holders as well as the ballast, i would also like to add some extra tubes so i'm thinking i would need 2 new ballasts instead of 1 but i cant figure out where i could fix the extra tubes, would they have to go onto the removable flaps? any suggestions welcomed........many thanks, kevin

 

[paulreilly]

Greetings folks.

I've got a large Juwell corner tank and the light unit is playing up - thi is the second one I've gone through. Not sure if it's the starter though - when switched on both lamps light ut then go off after about 3 seconds - is it the bulbs?

Thanks

Paul

 

[ben3486]

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

Similarly, my Juwel lighting unit died on me the other week. I purchased a Juwel Lido 120 off of eBay in spectacular condition, with the lighting unit working. This didn't last long. I tried everything bar cutting it open; no luck. The unit was little over 2 years old and obviously I couldn't provide proof of purchase. Anyhow, having emailed Juwel last night, I received a reply this morning:

Dear Luke

Thank you for your e-mail.Sorry to hear you have hadissues with your light unit.Unfortunately you are outwith the 24 month warrantyperiod and have no proof of purchase.However as a goodwill gesture if you careto send the light unit minus the tubes to myself at the address below I willhave it inspected and checked out to see if there is an issue with your lightunit.

Yours

****** *********

I'm not sure if they'll provide a repair/replacement, either free of charge or at a cost, or maybe just identify the fault. Either way, I'd class this as a result.

Cheers,

Luke.

Just a quick update - JUWEL today announced they have dispatched a brand new replacement lighting unit to my house, saying it should arrive tomorrow.

Cheers,

Luke.

Well after readin this I have just sent an email to Juwel also. Fingers crossed..... All though i am still tempted to chop into it as im really keen to get the light working. Ive only just got the tank second hand off of ebay and was a bit gutted the guy who sold it to me lied, saying only the bulbs had blown

 

[ben3486]

well got told to do one from juwel pretty much lol....now i need to find a 2x 18w ballast. A question i wondered is......can i only use 18w buls with this ballast or can you use any bulb?

 

[fluffycabbage]

Greetings folks.

I've got a large Juwell corner tank and the light unit is playing up - thi is the second one I've gone through. Not sure if it's the starter though - when switched on both lamps light ut then go off after about 3 seconds - is it the bulbs?

Thanks

Paul

Ive got exactly the same problem I dont know whether to replace the bulbs or the ballast! In the meantime, half my plants have died/are dying

 

[scaredpassenger]

hi guys, joined up to add some info and ask some questions!

I'm repairing my workplaces rio 400 tank, it has two light units in it with 4 x 120cm T8 bulbs, all the bulbs have stopped working and new bulbs don't fix the concern, plug fuses are both okay and the in-line switches are both fine, so it looks like I'll be opening them both up, I've found the following :

http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160536934948&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_500wt_922

is this okay to replace the ballasts?

also I've found that the grey connectors that the bulbs plug into on both sides have broken seals and have gone rusty around the electrical connections, not good, I'd like to replace these whilst I'm there, but don't know what there called or where to find them, nothing listed on the juwel website for this particular part, any help asap would be very much welcomed!!

regards

Tony

 

[scaredpassenger]

oh this is the connector, picture stolen from another user from earlier in this thread!!!

http/img.photobucket.com/albums/v225/scaredpassenger/juwelbulbfitment.jpg

Thanks!

 

[juwel190]

Hi Doresy/all,

What a great post and very helpful, basically i have cut my unit out, it is from a Trigon 190. The unit was working one day and stopped the next, had the local shop test unit and they said it needs replacing.
After research and finding this post i have attempted to do fix mine myself although i am not sure what ballast to buy, can anyone please help???
I have attached a pic of my current ballast but it is a T5 - 2x28W Fluorescent Ballast.
There are a number of them on ebay but not sure which is the right one for me, any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in Advance

 

[juliedavis]

have just replaced light unit on my juwel vision 260 cost me £89, nearly went mad not being able to see my fish for the 2 weeks it took me to save the money ! but i am so glad i kept the old unit cos now when /if the same thing happens i can try your d.i.y. tip, however i can't complain too much as the original unit lasted 5 years or so and it wasn't new then.

 

[suzukisj32]

Hi all


Im a newbie to the site having my juwel vision 180 light playing up looking around on ways to fix it,and came across this site and how to fix it,my juwel 180 light is playing up if the ballast needed replacing would the light not work at all,just mine comes on for a few mins then goes off give a tap and it comes back would this mean it would be the ballast ive also put new bulbs in and still does the same.

thanks andrew

 

[Dan-CR4]

Hi all


Im a newbie to the site having my juwel vision 180 light playing up looking around on ways to fix it,and came across this site and how to fix it,my juwel 180 light is playing up if the ballast needed replacing would the light not work at all,just mine comes on for a few mins then goes off give a tap and it comes back would this mean it would be the ballast ive also put new bulbs in and still does the same.

thanks andrew

I got the exact same tank as you and this week my light unit comes on for a second or two then goes straight off, my light unit is the T8 version. been searching for 3 days for a ballast for mine (2x25w), if you have a T8 unit and find a ballast for it, please let me know where u got it.

My plants are not liking being in the dark.

 

[Londoner]

I got the exact same tank as you and this week my light unit comes on for a second or two then goes straight off, my light unit is the T8 version. been searching for 3 days for a ballast for mine (2x25w), if you have a T8 unit and find a ballast for it, please let me know where u got it.

My plants are not liking being in the dark.

My vision 180 light unit uses 2x25w tubes also but after opening up the light unit case I found a 2x36w Juwel ballast! I'm wondering of this is the cause of the fault?? I cannot find a 2x25w ballast anywhere for love nor money, I have just ordered another 2x36w electronic ballast from ebay to replace the one that's in there.

 

[Ashers]

Just did my rio 180, but I used a Hagen glo system. I just broke the old juwel connectors off and fixed the new tubes and connectors to the old juwel lightbar and the ballast for the glo lights in screwed onto the side of my cabinet. Easy and cheap if you buy it off ebay, also a excuse to upgrade to T5.

 

[OldMan47]

You should be fine Londoner. Most ballasts have multiple ratings and they can handle a fair range of lamp loads. I would expect that an electronic ballast that is designed for a 36W tube would work for a 25W but I would definitely feel better if both were listed on the possible applications listing right there on the ballast. I just got done installing a ballast in a fixture for 2 32W tubes that is also rated on the label for 2 40W tubes. Even though the rating addressed my situation, I would not have been as comfortable with a ballast rated only for the 40W tubes. Do not be misled into thinking that only the original manufacturer's ballast will work in a fixture. As long as the ratings and wiring diagram match your fixture, all will be fine.