Help Repairing My Aquarium Light
 

Hey guys,

my FW tank aquarium light seems to have finally quit working. I'm not sure what is wrong. I have changed the bulb to a new one and it still is not working so it's not the bulb.

It's a very simple 40W FW 4 foot lighting unit.

I've taken it apart and took a couple shots of the interior components tucked behind the reflector, they are below.

What component do you think may no longer be working?
Where in Calgary can I take it to be repaired or buy the necessary parts?

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...11/Photo27.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...11/Photo28.jpg

Is it an electronic ballast? (do you need to hold the button down for it to fire up or does it flicker and fire up itself?)

If you have a multimeter I would first check the switch to make sure that when you turn it on you get conductivity if so check that the 2 connections to each post of the light are still good. If everything checks out I would guess it is the ballast. A replacement ballast can be found at larger hardware stores (Rona - HD) or an electrical supply store.


- Joe

Hmmmm, it doesn't flicker on like my MHs on my salt water tank. It just clicks on.

I can't really test anything as I dont have the hardware.

The ballast says its a class P ballast and is an s40BP Robertson ballast, I believe.

Should I just take it to a shop and pay to get it repaired? I prob wouldn't wanna pay more than like 40 bucks for a repair though. Think thats possible?

Depends on the light, I had one that wouldnt work on me and was thinking of doing that, turned out to be a 50 cent starter. (small cylinder shaped piece) If its a good shop they should be able to tell you wether its worth it or not to have it repaired as its pretty tough to diagnose with no tools. Is the light run on a timer?

Yes the lights run on a timer. I've unplugged it form the timer and tried a working wall socket with no luck as well.

hmm well without the tools to do the tests joe suggested your pretty much shooting in the dark. Best bet if you dont want to get the tools is to look into repair costs vs new cost. Any electronic repair shop or possibly a lighting shop should be able to tell you wether or not its worth it. Sometimes if its a ballast, you factor the part, plus there time and you could of bought a new light.

Yeah, thats what I was thinking.

What is a good repair shop that would be smart to take it to for that kind of advice?

Anyone know of a good shop?

If I were you I would just pick up a electronic ballast, that rated for a single tube F40T12 or T8 and install it in the fixture. All ballast, has a wiring diagram for connections.

More than likely the starter, kind of looks like a "perfecto" T8 light. Those starters are cheap, and can be found at PetSmart. It has like a small white cylindrical part right?

Ken - BWA

Hmmm, I'll take a closer look at the starter and then decide if I think it's that or the ballast.

Ive gotten pretty busy, my fish have just had a lamp on top of the tank for the time being. Though my SW tank radiates quite a bit of light as its only a few feet away so it can't be that bad.

For less than $40 you can pick up a whole new fixture at home depot and either try retro fitting the components into your fixture or make a cheap canopy and use as is.