My Lights Have Gone Off

[petertr]

Hi,

I have a Rio 300 with standard lighting. The lights are plugged into a timer switch so that they come on automatically every evening.

However, last night, I noticed the lights were off much earlier than they should be. I assumed the timer plug was broken, so I took the plug out, and put it directly into the socket.
The lights came back on as normal, then 2 seconds later went off again.


I know nothing about lighting - please can someone advise on what I need to do to fix it?


Thanks,
Peter

 

[youngfisher]

I had this problem, but I had a powerpack so it was like PLUG-------POWERPACK---------LIGHT

and i just got a new starter for my powerpack only about £4 from hardware shop.

not sure if this helps.

 

[bae1994]

it could be the bulb/bulbs could be the plug fuse or the hole unit

 

[minxfishy]

Its either fuse, which would be my first thing to check, or the bulbs are gone or as normal with juwel lighting units, its bust and you need a new one. Down in the hardware section of the forum is a guide to fixing the starting unit, its pinned so easy to find

 

[petertr]

Its got 2 lights, if that helps.

 

[-SPB-]

It could be the actual lighting unit itself. Juwel lighting units have issues, where the ballast inside the lighting units are faulty. My friend has a Rio 125 and he has been having the same issues, he bought new lights but it never fixed the problem, I'm going to be opening the unit up for him when he gets the parts and fixing it. There's a pinned thread in the DIY section about fixing it, but involves opening the unit up, but if it's still in warranty juwel should change it for you no problems. Here's the pinned topic anyway:

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=265546

 

[petertr]

Oh god, this is a nightmare.


I know absolutely nothing about how this all works. Is there a standard "Take things in order" approach I should use to pinpoint which part is actually broken?


As you might know, I'm in the process of selling the tank - perhaps I'd be better off giving a discount instead of fixing it myself - what amount would people suggest to be fair... £20?

 

[minxfishy]

Have you contacted Juwel or the retailer you got the tank from? How long have you had it for? A new lighting unit will cost approx £80-90 without bulbs, so if it needs a new unit, expect to drop your price around that price.

 

[-SPB-]

I guess the discount is up to if if you don't fix it. If the person who bought it got a had to buy a new light unit, your talking £75+.

Bit of a tricky one I guess, to pin point it, change the fuse in the plug, then change the lights, but if you know they work, then I'm pretty sure it's the ballast inside the unit.

 

[petertr]

I don't beleive it. Just my luck

 

[-SPB-]

You could try and fix it as per the thread I posted if you feel you can do it, then you've got a working light unit, which would probably cost £10 max to fix, and would probably get you more in the long run if you sell it.

 

[petertr]

Looks like I'll have to give it a go.

Thanks for the advice everyone, much appreciated.

 

[petertr]

Going to take it apart and have a look tomorrow.


One curious thing - its still on the timer at the moment - and the lights try to come on, flicker for a bit (about 80% intensity) before going off completely.

 

[shelaghfishface]

can you try the plug without the timer.. prob a daft question, maybe the timer has the fault not the light

 

[petertr]

can you try the plug without the timer.. prob a daft question, maybe the timer has the fault not the light

Yeh, mentioned in the first post that I tried that.


Thought the fact that the lights come on for a couple of seconds, then flicker, then go off could help someone diagnose the exact fault - Starter, bulb, unit etc