Halides

[Aquascaper]

As some of you know I bought a halide unit off a German company trading on eBay (Bavaria-Aquarist) and have had issues with them from day one.

I've had the halide for about a month and my problem now is that the Halide shuts off after approx 10 mins. I can turn it back on again after a few minutes which is why I thought it was maybe the ballast overheating so I installed a PC fan to keep it cool which has worked fine but the halide still shuts off after approx. 10 mins. The light itself obviously gets rather hot but I can't see how that would affect the unit, especially as it's been fine for a month.

Anyone got electrical experience or have any ideas?

 

[SkiFletch]

Hummm, do you have access to a voltmeter?

 

[Aquascaper]

Yep

You think it could be the ballast not outputting properly?

 

[SkiFletch]

I do. Monitor the voltage at the pins if you can during startup and operation. If it starts drifting down especially during operation you've got a big ballast problem I'd think. I'm not entirely sure what circuitry is involved in a Halide light. I'm very familiar with flourescents, but not very with halides. Do they operate on similar circuitry?

 

[Aquascaper]

Ballast - Ignitor - Bulb

From what I can gather the ignitor is working as it's firing up the bulb but i'm not too sure about the ballast. The ballast has a cut-out switch which prevents overheating which is why I thought it might be that.

The only other thing I came across is that it could be the bulb running in but i'm not sure that would happen after a month of perfect use

 

[SkiFletch]

When it shuts off, is the ballast really warm to the touch? Like too hot to touch? Also, did you see if the output voltage is dipping slowly across that 10 minutes?

Since its failing after about 10 minute of normal operation I'd lean towards some faulty capacitors, or solder connections in the ballast, or overheating. If you're confident you've addressed the overheating part, all points lead to the ballast. I cant think of any situation in which the bulb would cause it to fail after 10 mins, that just doesnt make a whole heck of a lot of sense.

Wish I could be of more help

 

[Aquascaper]

Well i've just dismantled the ballast unit and discovered this:

The ballast is all cracked up at one end and is held together with clear tape
Obviously a cheap and nasty second-hand ballast that has been chucked in to keep the costs down.

I will contact the company but don't hold out much hope as the are completely crap (Bavaria-Aquarist)

 

[SkiFletch]

ouch, yeah that'll do it... note to self, never deal with bavaria aquarist

 

[Aquascaper]

Hmmmmmm......weird thing is since pulling it apart and wiring it back together again it's seems to be working (fingers crossed)

We'll have to wait and see

 

[Aquascaper]

Back to broken again

Stays on for longer this time but still shuts down

 

[crazyelece]

Magnetic or electronic ballast?

 

[drag]

Well i've just dismantled the ballast unit and discovered this:

The ballast is all cracked up at one end and is held together with clear tape
Obviously a cheap and nasty second-hand ballast that has been chucked in to keep the costs down.

I will contact the company but don't hold out much hope as the are completely crap (Bavaria-Aquarist)

as an electrician in my experiences of trouble shooting ballasts and lamps, is in the "majority "of cases the lamps go much before the ballasts do. IMO the manufacturers do this on purpose to force you to buy more lamps.they make them to last for so long, constant switching them makes there expected life to go down. ( thats why IMO were going more and more into "smart" systems. you know when theres no motion in a room for so long the lights go out... when you enter room they come on saying you are saving your money on electric bill, sounds good huh...but decreasing your lamp life making you buy more lamps. in the long run manufactrers make more money with these systems.they also know its more practicle for you to change out a lamp before you change out a ballast. Thats that they mentioned back in school, and i think it makes sence.
when trouble shooting 90 percent of the time its the lamps.

but the only real way to check this is with a known good lamp. on the job, the customer stocks a bunch of lamps for all their types of ballasts.so there all readily accessible. since this is not to practicle for us as aquarists(halides arent cheap). were left with the problem you have. but since discovering what you did when you opened it, i think you will need a new ballast before its all overwith.

 

[Aquascaper]

Well as an update:

I have since mounted a 120mm PC case fan so that it actually blows at the halide from below to cool it. This has increased the length of time the halide stays on but its still cutting out. Whe the halide is on it sometimes flickers but then settles down again.

The bulb has only been used for 2 months and was supossedly brand new (but I have ny doubts)

 

[SkiFletch]

know anybody in the area with a similar fixture that you could test your bulbs in?

 

[Aquascaper]

Unfortunately not

I'm seriously considering dumping the unit and building a sealed hood with 4 x 55w white T5's + 2 x 30w Actinic T8's instead, problem is that will cost me about £120 + the hood and i'm skint at the moment.