Fixing Juwel Light Bar.

[Truck]

This could be the solution to my problem.

The lights come on for a few seconds then go off, I am not sure why this is happening.

I will try changing the ballast


Thanks it seems like a really good guide

how olds ya tank mate?
and what colour sticker is on the underside of the light unit?

 

[Hawkins]

Tank was bought 10th August 2008.
Found the receipt the other day lol

The sticker is blue, it has t5 lights (i think) which are 28w? They are the thinner kind

cheers

 

[Hawkins]

This is the e-mail i received from Juwel.

Hello Jamie,
Many thanks for your email.I'm very sorry the light unit has failed, it is quite difficult toestablish the reason this is happening because the unit has electronicballast and is not easily accesible. The light unit itself but not thetubes is covered by a 24 month warranty and an exchange can be donethrough the retailer you purchased it from if you can provide proof ofpurchase. They in turn send the faulty item back to their wholesalerfor a credit. Please check the end caps are on secure and that the light tubes arefully in the housing as this is a common fault. You may also have a unitwith an "end of life switch", these have a blue sticker on the undersideof the light unit. If so you would need to re-set the light, UNPLUG theunit - remove the tubes - replace the tubes again - replug in the socket- this should re-activate the light. You may though find you need new tubes.



I will try this and see if it works!

 

[Craig89]

what a usefull topic if people are struggling with condensation at all try removing the top cover. i drilled threw the two holes at either end then used a heat gun to warm up the glue and ran a sharp knife down the seal. Came right off if your are carefull you can re-use the top then just dont slice threw like i did .

 

[B7AXT]

hi, i have two tube that say 25w on them. but i cant seem to find 2x 25w T8 ballast. there are other ballasts with different wattage for the tubes on ebay but not the correct 25w ones. so do i need to buy 2x 36w T8 ballast for the tubes to work or is there a correct one out there that i need to buy.
would be grateful if you could help me please

many thanks

 

[The Croust]

Hello, I've been keeping fish for a number of years but I'm totally new to fish forums.

This post is a bit of a life saver, we've just bought a second hand rio 300 with a dodgy light unit (it was reflected in the price!)and we're going to be repairing it ourselves after reading this thread. I was also wondering about buying a new balast with a rating over the wattage of the tubes, ie. a 2x40w ballast to run 2x38w tubes. Also are the juwel T8 tubes standard lengths or do I need to buy juwel specific bulbs?

For those of you with the same problem not wanting to fix / wanting to upgrade to T5 there's a company (ukdelivered) on ebay selling Hagen Glo T5 luminaires for about £22-£24 to fit 4 foot tanks. They've got other sizes too.

We'd rather repair but its as I don't like the look of over tank lighting.

 

[gogo]

i have 2 juwel light unit one for day and one for night both on timers sometimes the night one wouldnt work so i tried my self to repair it (before finding this thread) i cut a hole in the back removed the ballast and to my suprise after removing the top cover of the ballast that the internals had MELTED and could have caused a fire which i was not happy about so with that i ordered 2 x ballast from ebay for £15 (to my door) i replaced the night bar unit one and it worked fine tested it for 2 days all fine so resealed and refit on to my hood and it made me worry about the larger one so i replaced that one aswell just incase. I wouldn't buy a brand new juwel prehaps 2nd hand one but would definatley replace the ballast 1st thing just thought id share my expereince with you all

 

[Always Learning]

Hi there, sorry for my first post being in this section, but it's kind of urgent due to my new tank having no lights and my old one due to go next week. I've been a long time browser, but only just registered..

Basically, I have the Rio 125 and as usual (Going by all the complaints) the ballast has gone. It would flick on for a split second, then nothing. I've cut into the bottom as it shows in the first post and removed the ballast. Seems it has all got a bit wet in there, so I'll make sure it's nicely covered with silicone when it goes back

The problem I now have, is when looking for a new one to replace it! My wiring inside the unit has only 3 (other than the live/neutral) which I'm guessing there's joins somewhere along the lines. All the ones I have seen have been 6 pin connections. So I'm lost there already. I also can't find a reasonably priced 2x18w, though I have found http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/New-Electronic-Fluorescent-T8-PLL-Ballast-Just-6-00_W0QQitemZ310186266032QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_BOI_Lights_Lighting_ET?hash=item48388acdb0 on Ebay which says it will do 2x18w.

Would this be suitable and does anyone know how I would go about wiring it up? Seeing as they are linked, would I just be able to buy a 1 x 36w ballast as they seem more readily available?

Many thanks!

 

[Always Learning]

Ok, problem solved, though I now have a butchered light unit, when there was probably no need for it.

I took the ballast out and allowed it all to air out overnight. Expecting it to still be goosed, I tried it anyway and guess what.. it works a treat So my suggestion would be, if you have tried everything else and it still appears to not be working, then drill some small holes in the underside and try dry it out with a hair dryer or similar, then leave it overnight or so. You might just save yourself more hassle and cost and only have some small holes to seal.

 

[OldMan47]

That ballast is rated at 2x36 watt tubes. The little table they provided says that it pushes about 43 watts when wired to two 18 watt tubes. Over driving tubes like that will shorten bulb life and can cause a heat build up in your light fixture. It would be better to find the right ballast at a good electrical supply shop than to get into the ODNO, Over Driven Normal Output, area of lighting without taking the usual precautions. Some plant people do go with an ODNO fixture on purpose but it strikes me that you really just want to repair the fixture that you have. In my own twin tube fixtures, I have had to research the specific wiring used and adapt the ballast to operate them properly. Each ballast comes with a wiring diagram for a standard connection to the fixture that should be followed for it to work correctly. I have no experience with your particular fixture so I will not guess whether or not a 6 wire ballast can be wired to work correctly with it.
6 wires sounds like a hot and neutral power supply and 4 wires that are wired to the tubes. In my own fixture, two of those ended up spliced to each other when I actually installed the ballast.

 

[Always Learning]

Thanks for the answer OldMan

As you can see now by the post before yours, at the moment, I don't require one, but I'm sure the information will come useful when it does go (It WILL happen, even more so now I have cancelled the order...). I did think the extra output would be beneficial, but didn't take into account the extra heat and wear on the tubes. So i'll stick with a 2 x 18w if needed and find a local electrical retailer who could hopefully point me in the right direction.

Thanks again

 

[pcamore]

HI, what a great fix it job.
i was hoping somebody could help me. in Doresy's pictures there is a grey fitting that the tubes push into, i have a similar set up but by a company called ocean free who i cant get parts from.
I need to know what those grey things are called and where can i get them from because over time mine have perished and broken.
thanks

 

[seffieuk]

I dont know what they are called but juwel sell them

Seffie x

 

[nigee]

thanks for the info on jewel light repair / please could you advise me how to wire up my ballast it has 4 connectors and my original one in the jewel unit has 8 i am not quit shure about connecting the others wores into the 4 connectors

 

[doresy]

thanks for the info on jewel light repair / please could you advise me how to wire up my ballast it has 4 connectors and my original one in the jewel unit has 8 i am not quit shure about connecting the others wores into the 4 connectors

Hi, if you have purchased a new balast that is a replacement for your old one and you are sure it's the right one then can you post a close up photo of the wiring diagram?