Lights smell like burning plastic.

[Elgonte]

Hello.

I recently got a 55 gallon with two 17watt lights on it from petsmart. It's the topfin brand. When I leave them plugged in, there's a plastic burning smell that comes up through the vents. It's usually pretty subdued, but if I leave my door shut it's quite powerful in the afternoon. Since the lights are new, I thought there might be a break in period where they do this. Has anyone experienced this? Also, I thought since it was coming from both lights it is unlikely to be a defect.

Please comment if you've had any experience with this kind of thing, or maybe if there's a particular brand you can recommend. I don't want to spend money on lights I allready paid for, but I also don't want them to burn up.
Thanks.

 

[daza]

Are they flourescent tubes?

I've never known a break-in period and never experienced a smell myself.

You've probably already checked but is there any packaging remaining inside the lid in contact with the tube?

Is the ballast/starter integrated into the hood or seperate? The burning smell could indicate a failing ballast. If it is a twin ballast then that might explain why the smell is present with both lights (how did you test this by the way - removing one tube at a time?)

You could try finding the support email address for petsmart/topfin and asking if this is a 'feature' with their product (which I doubt), but I would go back to the shop and ask for another lid with lights, etc.

 

[Jimmy927]

Try EBay they can have some good lights on at times.

www.ebay.co.uk


James

 

[BlueIce]

That smell means the ballast is bad and you should unplug it as it may cause a fire.

 

[BlueIce]

Are they flourescent tubes?

I've never known a break-in period and never experienced a smell myself.

You've probably already checked but is there any packaging remaining inside the lid in contact with the tube?

Is the ballast/starter integrated into the hood or seperate? The burning smell could indicate a failing ballast. If it is a twin ballast then that might explain why the smell is present with both lights (how did you test this by the way - removing one tube at a time?)

You could try finding the support email address for petsmart/topfin and asking if this is a 'feature' with their product (which I doubt), but I would go back to the shop and ask for another lid with lights, etc.

doh
i should have read the entire thread first..lol....

 

[Elgonte]

Thanks for your replies. Yes, it's flourescent. And there's actually two separate fixtures that are separated by the cross bar in the middle, which is why I was doubtful of it actually being a defect. No packaging inside. I just talked to petsmart and they said they'd exchange them, but I'm worried that it's a problem with the design.....we'll see what happens.

 

[Elgonte]

In case anyone's keeping score....

I brought back the lights and they gave me new ones which continued to emit the plasticky fumes. So, the second time I brought back the lights, the girl in the fish department was very helpful and gave me a complete 48 inch perfecto hood. Even though it has been a bit of a hassle, I feel I must praise petsmart for making it right in the end.

I was worried I would have to eat this one.

 

[Lateral Line]

All's well that ends well.

 

[enchanted]

Petsmart is the only chain store I have had any success with for fish stuff. They honor their pricematch, exchange anything broken, and overall take care of there customers. They also had clean tanks.

 

[Elgonte]

I've heard the pricematch mentioned on here before, but I've never seen it advertised anywhere else. Could someone explain how it works exactly? Specifically, I mean with respect to online retailers and shipping costs.