lights broke HELP

[ghola5]

hi there i need help bad, i think there is something wrong with my lighting and i think its the icecap system, when i went to turn on my lights i have 4 rows of 48inch lights, the first 2 flickered and then they go off, the other 2 dont light up at all, i went and bought 3 new lights and the 4th is less then 6 months old, what does it sound like? what should i do? will my corals die? there are no saltwater stores by me that can test my icecap untill monday afternoon, do the cords just unplug out of the icecap system anyways ? i tried pulling them out but not really hard but they dont seem to come out? someone help i dont want all my corals to die, i hardly know anything about the lighting and really nothing on how to fix it or what to test, should i move the bulbs around or does it sound like the ice cap?

 

[ghola5]

is it ok if i put a shop light above my tank with like 110wt untill i can get this tested and replaced?

 

[jonthefishguy]

first thing you need to do is relax. Having your ights off for a couple of days wont hurt anything. Consider the fact that it is always sunny everyday in the ocean. Even light from a window is beter than no light. Puting a different light especially of the wrong spectrum might cause more harm than good such as algae growth. 2nd, check and see if the fue in the ballast is bad, and 3 make sure that there is curent going to that plug. plug in a light or something to the plug to make sure it is working. check timers if you have them. Now the icecap ballas has a set of cables that snap in and some that are to the wall. Unplug from the wall and then lift the locking pin up and pull and the plastic, NOT THE WIRES or you will pull them out of the connector. Then take your ballast to get checked

 

[ghola5]

thanks so much for your info, I put a shop light on it for now with only about 80watts of light but only left it on for less then 5 hours to feed fish and such, im just worried about my corals and dont want them to die, but ithink that little bit of light is better then nothing even if it isnt the best, i am letting the sunlight get in to it as well. im going to have it tested on monday and then if its that im gonna see if icecap company will fix it, have u ever heard anyone sending theres in to get it worked on? the lady at my lfs said they have good service or whatever that means. There just not cheap so i hope they can work on it, if not the big selling sight has one for half off. thanks again

 

[ghola5]

how does this sound? putting 2 lamps by my tank with 100watt of light in them for about 8 hours? does that sound ok?

 

[jonthefishguy]

what I meant to say is that it ISNT always sunny everyday in the ocean and that having your tank unlit for a couple of days acts like a couple of cloudy days. I personally would not add any other lighting on it and just leave it alone. Think about what you would do if the power went out, ..put a battery operated araetor and maybe a pump and possibly a bag or two of icecubes in a ziplock bag to keep the temp down. In order to do that, you would need to have the lights off until the power comes back. A day or two with no lghts ISNT going to hurt anything....open a window and let natural sunlight in , not directly on it, but just in the room.

 

[scsinet]

Icecap ballasts shut down entirely when a problem is detected with any part of the setup, even if it's only one lamp. They will fire the lamps for about 1/2 second, then shut down until the power is removed and re-applied. It does not sound like your ballast is operating abormally. It's most likely a failed lamp.
The first thing to do is to buy (4) cheap F40T12 or F34T12, 48" lamps (the cheapo cool-white lamps will work), or yank them from another working fixture you have around. Remove all of your lamps and put those in. Icecaps can run (by overdriving) 34 or 40w lamps safely so no worries there.
See if that fixes your problem. If it does, take one lamp out at a time and put one of your aquarium lamps in. You'll probably find that at some point, the fixture will stop working again, and you'll have identified your bad lamp.
If the fixture behaves the same way, start looking at the wiring on the sockets of the lamps that do not turn on at all. Check the contacts, wires, etc to make sure nothing is loose or corroded. Also check any connectors, including the big white connector on the ballast.

 

[reefraff]

Originally Posted by ghola5
hi there i need help bad, i think there is something wrong with my lighting and i think its the icecap system, when i went to turn on my lights i have 4 rows of 48inch lights, the first 2 flickered and then they go off, the other 2 dont light up at all, i went and bought 3 new lights and the 4th is less then 6 months old, what does it sound like? what should i do? will my corals die? there are no saltwater stores by me that can test my icecap untill monday afternoon, do the cords just unplug out of the icecap system anyways ? i tried pulling them out but not really hard but they dont seem to come out? someone help i dont want all my corals to die, i hardly know anything about the lighting and really nothing on how to fix it or what to test, should i move the bulbs around or does it sound like the ice cap?
If you replace 3 of 4 lamps and it still has 2 lamps that don't light up the ballast is likely bad. Make sure the 4th lamp was one of those that flashed previously. Once you know all 4 lamps are good check your wiring on the 2 slots that don't flash. If thats all good you need to send your ballast to IC for repair. w w w icecapinc dot com will have the info for troubleshooting the ballast.

 

[ghola5]

I tried to call icecap today and they say they will call you back the guy is on vacation, i was going to ask them what it sounds like to them. Im going tomorrow to have my ballast tested, the thing that im confused on is that at first on 2 lights where flashing, i moved my lights around and then all 4 where flashing but then it dies very fast, im praying its the ballast cause i can send it in and get it fixed for 65 dollars and if its the wiring or end caps im going to have to find someone to do that for me, does it really sound like its the ballast? also i have heard they have a fuse in them so maybe its that?i hope so, the thing im just still worried about is if i dont get this fixed for over a week, who knows how long it can take them to fix it, has anyone every sent theres in before?

 

[ghola5]

well got ballast check and its perfect, i had enough so i called in a pro from this saltwater store, he says my end caps are to old and some of the wires have problems, thurs im spending 500 on a new lighting system and new lights, i will show pics when i get it up and get the tank cleaned up, some of my coral look droopy but there just sick of not having light . Im just glad i had the person come out, he said i had a fire waiting to happen.
let me know if anyone wants to buy my ballast its in great condition just had it tested today and its less then 3 years old, let me know!!!

 

[reefraff]

Wait a minute. You need new endcaps which would cost maybe 60~70 bux but the LFS sold you a 500.00 lighting fixture instead???
What did you get?

 

[ghola5]

he said it would be cheaper to get this whole new lighting system because what i would pay in labor which is 45 dollars an hour, plus fixing my wires and my end caps would cost more then if i just buy this whole unit, that 500 is counting all new 110 wat bulbs and 4 of them at that plus there the best kind you can get , so its for the while new lighting system, light and the labor its going to take plus tax,

 

[ghola5]

got my new lights and my tank is back to normal, my montipora and acropora and a yellow leather are all dead im pretty sad about it, i got to trade my cc star fish for a almost 50 dollar chunck of xenia so im happy about that, like i posted for sale my ballast and the wires and end caps for someone who knows what there doing with it and can fix the few wires that seem to be not working so good, the ballast is less then 3 years old and is retail of 190 to 250 just fot the ballast and its in great shape but will throw in the other stuff with it, .

 

[ghola5]

48' VHO's with 420 watts in all, corals loving their light back