MH flickering, any ideas?
 

My lights have begun to flicker recently and I don't know why. It kind of dims and looks bluer when it does this. It does it quickly like a flicker but has also stayed dim for some time on occasion. It usually does this once the balast has warmed up. I'm running an XM 20K 400 watt SE, on a Galaxy balast. It's also on a digital timer, that I've had for several years. Any thoughts from you lighting guru's out there?

Thanks,

Danny

Is the ballast electronic or or transformer style? How old is the lamp (approx. runtime hours)?

I don't really have any ideas here but figure it couldn't hurt to know those two details (sorry, I'm not familiar with the Galaxy, I assume that is electronic?)

I would say it's the bulb, but I've seen these ballasts burn out before. I would try changing the bulb first, then I would try changing the ballast. Good Luck!

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Ya, forgot to mention that. It is an electronic balast. The bulb has only been up and running for about 6 months at 8-10 hours per day.

My ice cap did this and then I switched the bulb and did the same thing. I think my ballast was shot. Changed the ballast and it was good to go. Sucks I know.

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I'm in the process of testing it with a different bulb. Thats the less expensive route. Hopefully I only need to replace a bulb and not the balast.

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If it is the balast after all, does anyone know if they are repairable? I've had the old magnetic ones fixed at the local grow supplies shops, but I'm not sure if they will fix the electronic variety.

Something you'll have to ask the manufacturer. It likely won't be repairable by any local tech. If the circuitry is encased in epoxy (some electronic ballasts are) it won't be serviceable at all.

You will have a hard time finding anyone to fix the ballast. If you were to open it up and look inside, you will see that everything is coated in a thick layer of black rubberized something-or-other. It's probably more cost effective to buy a new one. Sorry man, wish I had some good news:sad:

J+L has a good deal on them usually, Good luck!

That's one thing about the electronic ballasts I don't like. I think only Icecap as far as I know, makes it so that their product is serviceable. Any others with this epoxy coating idea and you're S.O.L. Had it happen to me, spent $250 on a ballast, got 5 minutes of use on it until a short in the reflector wiring caused one of the lamp leads to ground out. Says right on the ballast "DO NOT CONTACT LAMP LEADS TO GROUND". All I could do in the end was throw it out. :( I'm still bitter over that one. I steer well away from electronic ballasts, the five cents per month savings you might get on your power bill will have to take a long time to recover the premium you pay for buying electronic in the first place and it will never reach the point where it pays for a lost ballast like that case. At least in your case it is still working .. kind of .. so find another lamp and see if the problem goes away. My money is that it's the lamp and not the ballast in this case.

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Well, I've had my other bulb plugged in for over an hour. So far no flickering. I'll leave it in for a couple of days just to be sure, but so far it looks like the bulb is the problem. The bulb I put in for this test is my old Aqua Connect 14K, which seams to still be in fairly good shape. There isn't even burn marks or however you describe the usual discoloration on the inside bulb thing, or whatever you call it.:lol: So I might just keep it in there. I left a message with XM regarding warranty on the bulb, so we'll see what they have to say. J&L, where I bought it, wouldn't even talk to me about it.

If this bulb starts to flicker, and it is my ballast, I might just switch over to a T5 fixture for the same price as a new ballast. But thats another post all together.

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It's the ballast. I just saw the test light dim. Bummer! Well, I might start shopping for a new T5 light.

Ballasts are not that expensive anymore.

Give Kevin @ Red Coral (Calgary) a call. He has great pricing and can ship to you.

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I just checked out REd Coral's web site to see their pricing and noticed that my ballast should still be under warranty. I've only had it for 2 years. Now if I can just find the reciept.

I had my electronic crap out as well (Galaxy) but the warranty is excellent and Wendel at OA just exchanged it for me what more can you ask for.
That is why OA is my number one place to shop.

OA keeps all the stuff I buy there on file maybe Red Coral does as well?

I had a similar issue. My 175 Watt Hamilton 14k Bulbs worked great, but were old. I replaced them with 10K AM Bulbs and had issues with flickering and the bulbs turning off. My Hamiltons worked fine. About a month later the ballast completely died.

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I hope the T5 lights I order come soon. Right now I'm lucky if the light is staying on even half the time. My poor corals and fish don't know what the heck is going on!

So did you order a T-5 fixture? if so what did you get?

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I ended up getting 2 24" Nova extremes for a total of 4 lights. Added them to my existing T5 to make 6. It's hard to look at such a dim tank now, being that I've downsized from my 400 watt MH. I'm looking into getting 1 more Nova extreme to add some more light.

so....thats what 144 watts? that just a hair under what i'm running......what bulbs do you have in them?

If there still the stock bulbs you might notice a large difference once you replace them?

Also, do you have them mounted in you hood?

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They are mounted in the hood, which situates them a little higher then I think they were intended. I'm going to try and post some pics in my tank build thread to see what everyone thinks.

If not encased in epoxy you will more than likely find the part numbers on the semiconductors scrubbed off.