Need Some Help With My Light Fitting Thingy Wotsit

[shelaghfishface]

hia, bear with me, as im not good with this sort of thing heres the problem...

my daughter thought it would be fun to stand and press the on/off button for the light for several thousand shots, when i have gone up to turn it on ( thinking i have forgotten) it wouldnt do anything
so i changed the bulb ( after checking plugs etc) and it will work if i wiggle the bulb,then if i put the lid down it goes off again and i have to lift it and wiggle the bulb again for it to go on.
its the sort of fitting where the strip bulb has 2 pins and you slot them in and twist into place,so any ideas or am i to start saving for a new whole thing?? ( which will come out of my new tank fund )

if you need a pic of the unit let me know, im just assuming they are all pretty much the same

thanks for any advice in advance
shelagh xxx

 

[smithrc]

bung up a picture

there are different types of Ballast (the big black bit)

Magnetic ones and electronic ones.

The magnetic ones will have a white cylindrical "starter" sticking out of it somewhere, if it has turn the unit on and twist the starter to take it out - then put it back in and out a few times - it it starts ok - the starter needs replacing (a few pence)

If that dosnt work try replacing it anyway - because after the simple things like the fuse in the plug, the bulb and the starter, your onto replacing the whole unit

If its electronic it wont have the starter - then just check the fuse in the plug and replace the bulb - If that fails - its time for a new unit

 

[shelaghfishface]

hia,thanks, heres the photos og the on switch,power supply,and the bulb bit, not much more to see

shelagh xxx

 

[TheConstantGrower]

finally! something i can help with! Horticulture man to the rescue!

Having dealt with faulty timers and the world of lighting, in all of its ups downs and several trips to the ER for electrocutions and blackouts.

You have what sounds like a common ballast failure. If your a qualified electrical engineer with 10+ years under the belt then you and 3 friends might want to risk opening the ballast and seeing what totally went wrong...

But in our cases, its far easier to just get a fresh hood for the fish tank.

If there's ANYTHING that working with High Intensity Discharge bulbs has taught me, its; DON'T mess with a busted ballast.

Sure it could be a faulty firing load. (the part of the ballast that ignites bulb).
Sure it's not a bank of 1000 watt HID MH / HPS lamps

Call me the cautionary whale but this is one thing I've learned over the years not to mess around with, better a new 900 dollar light then a burnt down home.

Possible outcomes include

Electrocution
Explosive bulbs (due to irregular / faulty conversion within ballast)
Death
Electrocution
Fire
Death

With that out of the way. to DIRECTLY diagnose your situation with experience i once had a timer to wonky on me and caused the power to switch on and off at a rate of about .5 second intervals, On the same level with a child's need to see flashes of bright light and fish seizures.

Upon disassembling the now flaming hot ballast i noticed that circuits had been fused, the firing mechanism on the entire bank was toast due to being fired hundreds of times per minute.

This smells like the same meal served on a different plate. Take the time to think it through ask around, and see what your best options are

 

[shelaghfishface]

oh no! im sure something can be done??? surely)...people have these faulty lights in the kitchen all the time and they dont get a new one,
sorry to sound thick, but i cant see it being THAT dangerous as its near water( must be low voltage??)

i wanted to keep fish and learn about them, and i know that they like having the lights on,as they associate dark with the bottom of the tank( no idont put them there and turn the light off,i turn the light off and they go there),so they must be getting grumpy by now


edit** have just realised,people will have the magnetic type in the kitchen wont they, like i have on my other tank,i know the fuse in the plug is ok as the plugs powers the filter and the light, filter is fine ,and that was a new bulb,but its stopped working now,even with a wiggle

if i am really clever - could i replace it with an arcadia starting unit??? the bulb is a 15w. or would that be a bit dodgy?

 

[TheConstantGrower]

The world is not ending as my post may seem to suggest, its just a matter of safety really. I've lost entire indoor crops to faulty lights / ballasts. I just don't want to come on here and see a post that reads:

"Hey guys, just tried to switch in the other bulb, flickered to life, then caught fire, by the way i am writing this from a hotel cause my house is cinders"

And kitchen lights and low grade hoods such as that are a totally different ballgame, most being magnetic ballasts because of the size of the light and wattage being so low. and electric ballast is the more secure source, and certainly the one id want hanging over my aquarium.

I know it sucks but just get a new hood, this ones not worth the gamble.

 

[shelaghfishface]

ok point taken, ill start searching for one

thankyou very much
shelagh xxxxx