Mr Squidd i am in need of your expertise.

[devilboy]

Dear Squidd,
I got a 12g nano tank for a christmas present. And i am having nothing but trouble with the lighting in the hood. and i am going bonkers trying to figure it out.
i bought 2 seperate timers, one for my 10k's and one for my actinics. i have my actinics to turn on at 8am, and my 10k's at 9am. BUT here is the problem, when my actinics are suppose to turn on, my 10k's turn on at 8am with my actinics. :notsure: i tried everything i could think of. i tried my timers from my other reef tank, and still did the same thing. i disassembled the splash guard and heat shield out of the hood and it did have 2 seperate ballasts. i have 3 power power cords, and 3 switches, they are independent of one another. i can manually turn on my 10k's or actinics individually but not with a timer. im still shaking my head. So i called current usa the makers of the tank. and they told me they have never heard of a problem like that and it should work independently on seperate timers. do you have any suggestions?

 

[squidd]

WOW...sounds like something might be cross wired in there...
"Should be" that each cord goes to a separate switch and operates a separate bulb...
But might be that one of the cords is fireing both bulbs...???
To test, turn on all three switch's and then plug in one cord at a time...
Each cord should light a different bulb...(then put timers on corresponding cords)
If one cord lights both sets of bulbs, you have a defective unit and would have to rewire or replace...
Now there is a possibility the lights "are" both on one cord but two switchs...
What other devices are the three cords running (filter, skimmer, heater)???
If the other two cords power something else, you will have to wire in an additional cord to seperate the lights to run on seperate timers...

 

[devilboy]

i have 3 switches, 3 cords, 1 for 10k's, 1 for actinics, 1 for LED moonlights. and that is the only cords coming off the hood of the cube.....
Mr Squidd you are a smart cookie..... i unplugged them from the timers, and plugged them in one at a time into my GFCI and sure enuff one power cord made both lights come on.
so what should i do? Current USA is not returning my calls or emails....

 

[squidd]

Do you have one "dead" cord then...?
If so trace it up to the switchs and see which one is running two lights and which one goes no where..
or trace and find each cord to switch to bulb and "seperate" and reconnect them as needed...

 

[devilboy]

hmm.... i dont know if i understand what u mean. but i can have them both plugged in at the same time. off of the timer, and one switch will fire the 10k only, and the other switch will fire the actinics only.....

 

[dogstar]

Be carefull with the dead cord because if you plug in the one that turns on both bulbs then it could backfeed to the prong on the dead cord so dont touch the prongs. Could get shocked.

 

[squidd]

Something like this

 

[devilboy]

Squidd,
thanks for your help but Ike from Current USA emailed me today, and also called me. and this is what he had to say
Dear Tim,
We apologize your having a problem with your AquaPod and use with timers.
After some investigation, we found that some units were wired in a way that
prevents them from being used with single outlet timers.
However, we do have an easy solution for your problem that we can send to
you in the mail. If you just provide your name and address, we will go
ahead and drop them in the mail to you.
Once again, we do apologize.
Sincerely,
Ike
Ike Eigenbrode
Current USA, Inc.
Ph: 760-727-7011
Fax: 760-727-7066