Interpet T5 Compacts

[Ste_J]

Quick update for those of you who have been following this issue

Last week I sent Interpet a mail asking if they would consider changing my single 55W for a double 36W when they were dispatching a replacement, this morning I have recieved a letter from them stating that they are willing to do this for me and have arranged for new units to be dispatched along with 2 36W triplus tubes and 2 55W tubes [daylight+] I presume

I really do hope that they have sorted out the original problem and that my replacements do not have to go back. Once again this Comapny has showed spot on customer service - I know that I have harped on about the whole customer service bit but essentially my job is based around the cost of failure in this area and as such I tend to know about what good service should look like.

I'll update when I have the units up and running - hopefully somewhat cooler than before!!!


Ste

 

[Ste_J]

Units arrived today - A double 55W and A double 36W with 4 Triplus tubes thrown in

The design of the tube appears to be slightly different with the white connection piece being longer than the older ones, there is also a square hole cut into the base - the ridge down the middle is no longer there. This now means that the tube is fully out of the rubber housing.


Miss the daylights and still have 3 55W tubes lying around but not going to take the chance of trying them for fear of melting the new units.


Zig if you happen to see this post could you please compare the ASL tubes with the Interpet? I'm interested in the length of the plastic termination.


Ste

 

[zig]

I dont understand what you mean, do you mean the rubber houseing encloseing the tubes or do you mean the white part at the end of the tubes?

Can you post some pics if you get a chance.

I recieved my brand new ASL unit last friday and after 6 days it is now broken, I spent most of yesterday redoing my tank (spent about 3 hours of that time planting HC painstakeing) so i didnt have the lights on at all yesterday until i had finished, went to turn the lights on to see my good work and only one tube lit up, anyway after much fiddleing about it turns out the problem is in the enclosed ballast, it will only light up one tube, i havnt tried to open it, tbh i dont know if their is any point, i opened up the interpet ballast but beneath the plastic cover was just a totally enclosed metal unit so i imagine its much the same with this.

At this stage i just feel like throwing the towel in, this lot will have to go back as well to Aquatics online and my situation is still unresolved im back to square one, maybe im unlucky with this unit and its not typical but it does not inspire confidence that it would break down for no known reason after only 6 days.

 

[karlp]

slightly off topic, but I read this with interest just because I've been having problems with a recently bought Interpet T8 3' controller which is turning the clear rubber light holders black and shorts out the timer I'm using.

I've junked it and changed it for an Arcadia unit which works fine.

I don't think I'll buy interpet in future. I've got another lighting controller from Interpet that is working but there are some carbon deposits in the lamp holder. I'm thinking of changing that one too to avoid problems. The last thing I want is an electrical fire!

 

[Ste_J]

I dont understand what you mean, do you mean the rubber houseing encloseing the tubes or do you mean the white part at the end of the tubes?

Can you post some pics if you get a chance.

I'll post pics later but in the interim I mean the white plastic termination of the tube i.e. where the 4 pins are. the old tubes were designed so that the tube itself wa partly covered by the rubber housing, with the new tubes there is no glass under the rubber which means less heat exposure to the rubber.

My tank is looking very pinkish though with 182watts of Tirplus over it Went to my LFS to see if they had any of the newer style tubes in but they didn't - wouldn't mind throwing a daylight or two into the mix at some point.


Sorry to hear about the ASL - Do you think that Aquatics online would offer some form of cross post service to get the replacement to you sooner?

 

[Ste_J]

Pics as promised



Top tube is the new one - notice the longer plastic part and the lack of groove

When these are fitted into the rubber housing you can see that the older version sits right into the fitting and a fair bit of the glass is covered

OLD


NEW


Only problem is that no where local has the newer tubes and it may be pot luck from Online retailers. The new tubes have been running withno heat problems for a while now and the fittings still look brand new, shame I'm not overly impressed by the triplus though.

Have just put 2 older daylight+ tubes in to see if they have changed the compound or if it is really the tubes that have changed. If the rubber starts to show signs of heat then I suppose I could get the dremmel on them to reduce the lenght of rubber

 

[zig]

Interesting Ste.........

Well the ASL tubes are identical to the old Interpet fittings so probably not a good option if the shape is the sole cause of the heat issues, the rubber lampholder fittings that come with the ASL unit only come up to about half way up the white plastic end of the tube, so all of the glass and about half of the plastic bit is exposed to air, they compensate for this and doubly make sure the rubber mounting is water proof by providing a type of rubber sock which covers the fitting in reverse (a picture would explain what a thousand words cannot, i will try and post some pics but my digicam sucks) anyway the point is that the total rubber mounting is only about an inch in length but with the reverse rubber sock thing its still very secure.

I still think the rubber houseing totally covering the tube on the Interpet units has to still be a problem, i wonder if a few months down the road even if the heat does not melt the rubber fitting will it corrode the tube sufficiently so you still will not be able to remove it without a pliers and broken glass.

Anyway i hope im wrong but only time will tell.

I bought one of the new type of Interpet tubes over here two months ago when i first had problems, the unit blew the tube the next day, but they are on the market, shops will probably just sell off old stock first of all, which obviously should be recalled by Interpet but probably will not be and they will remain on the market and still cause problems.

 

[Ste_J]

I still think the rubber houseing totally covering the tube on the Interpet units has to still be a problem, i wonder if a few months down the road even if the heat does not melt the rubber fitting will it corrode the tube sufficiently so you still will not be able to remove it without a pliers and broken glass.

Dremmel Thinking about getting the toy out to shorten the rubber housing - just enough to cover the plastic but not the tube.

 

[Fintasia]

mmmm one thing that hasnt been suggested yet is with all lights comes heat and with a lot of light units in a confined space heat will build up very fast
have you not thought about putting extra ventilation in your hoods to allow heat build up to escape or fitting a small computer fan as a heat exaust
most retailers i know would recomend some form of heat removal in hoods with high powerd lighting be it several t8's or t5's or mercury vapour or halide lighting as they all give off heat

not defending a faulty product here just a sugesstion for people to try and see if it stops further problems

 

[smithrc]

mmmm one thing that hasnt been suggested yet is with all lights comes heat and with a lot of light units in a confined space heat will build up very fast
have you not thought about putting extra ventilation in your hoods to allow heat build up to escape or fitting a small computer fan as a heat exaust
most retailers i know would recomend some form of heat removal in hoods with high powerd lighting be it several t8's or t5's or mercury vapour or halide lighting as they all give off heat

not defending a faulty product here just a sugesstion for people to try and see if it stops further problems

hmmm... bit of a bugger finding this thread now....

set this up yesturday for my new nano reef....

I had them on for an hour lastnight and the heat was crazy... will be popping to maplin tomorrow for a couple of fans.
I just hope that they have sorted the problems...

 

[smithrc]

Just to top it off - the tubes i have are the old ones

 

[zig]

Dont know if its any consolation but most of the problems were with the 55 watt versions, these got crazy hot, although with your hood being totally enclosed and a really tight fit for the lamps i would say you may have problems, any chance you can bring the tubes back where you bought them? or failing that get in touch with Interpet and ask them for a swop, pointing to this thread, they are aware of this thread.

I use the ASL fittings nowadays and have not had any problems since i bought the unit, problem is, the ASL unit costs top dollar, more than double the Interpet unit, anyway it was the best solution for me as i was limited for space and had no choice other than to use power compacts.

I will post pics of the ASL fittings later today if i think of it before i switch on the tank lights for the day, just to give you an idea of the difference, basically the ASL fittings only cover about an inch of the lamp fitting, the bottom end of the tube is not totally enclosed like the Interpet lampholders.

 

[smithrc]

any chance you can bring the tubes back where you bought them?

shouldn't be a problem... but what would i use instead??

the ASL ones come with reflectors... that wont fit...

Is this something a simple DIY trimming of the holders would help with?

I'm adding 2x 50mm fans tomorrow. these should help...

 

[zig]

any chance you can bring the tubes back where you bought them?

shouldn't be a problem... but what would i use instead??

the ASL ones come with reflectors... that wont fit...

Is this something a simple DIY trimming of the holders would help with?

I'm adding 2x 50mm fans tomorrow. these should help...

Yeah you would have to get the other version of the tube, your lfs might not have it, i'd say the fans will be a big help, If you were prepared to trim the lampholder i would say this will solve the problem, just want to make sure the fitting is kept dry though, if you trim the fitting it wont be waterproof, i'll post the pics and it should be a lot clearer for you to see how the ASL fitting solves the problem, you might be able to come up with something similar.

 

[zig]

Ok just a couple of shots of the lampholder section of the ASL unit that i have, basically the lampholder section is very narrow compared to the Interpet fitting, the whole fitting is only 1 1/2 inches in length, it has a rubber endcap which keeps the whole thing damproof, i have photographed that seperatly, i have glass covers on my tank so condensation is not an issue. These fittings are running 55 watt tubes and i can honestly say they are as good as the day i fitted them, they do not get hot in the slightest.

Personally i think the Interpet units are too enclosed and will enevitably lead to heat issues, normally you dont notice a problem with the Interpet fittings until you go to remove one of the tubes and then you may find it is stuck, and the only way to release the tube is to auctually break it and remove the endcap with a pliers or something like that.

Not sure how it would work if you cut the Interpet fittings to let a bit more air at the endcap lampholder, but i would definatly change the tubes anyway to the newer type, the fans may be adaquate for you to get away with any other radical measures such as cutting the auctual fittings themselves.

HTH