Lights smell like burning plastic.

Elgonte

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

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