Juwel Vision 180 Lighting Hood

[spongy]

Hi there,

I finished work today and went straight up the pub after a hard days graft (as you do) had a few pints and just got home.

I've walked in, ordered a Chinese with the missus and noticed the tank lights weren't on, seeing as they're on a timer this has, even in my inebriated state struck me as odd.

I've checked the plug, the timer and the switch (by which I mean turning them off/on, unplugging etc) and they're still not working.

I've opened the hood to investigate further and came across a rather disturbing issue, the flaps (*snigger*) were covered in condensation as per normal, I removed them and picked up the unit, and felt a load of water slosh about in the unit. I've never felt this before, normally when I open the flaps water runs into the groove they sit in, a tilt to the side runs it out, I've never had a problem, I remove the hood every week to do my water changes, and I've never felt this much water in there before.

Is this what has caused the failure?

I've had a look to drain it but I can't find out how to open it, how do you get the water out? Can I just drill a hole in it and let it dry out?

Any ideas or fixes would be awesome.

I stopped writing this half way through as dinner arrived and I must say that was one of the best Chinese pork currys with special fried rice I've ever eaten!

Anyway, I digress, any answers would be great.

 

[Shelster]

I have had my vision 180 for about twelve years and am now on my third light unit. I have never had water in the actual light unit before, although it does often get condensation and slight algae build up on flaps (tee hee hee) I wouldn't recommend you drill a hole into unit, slightly enebriated or sober though.
IMO I would be straight onto eBay and get one ordered, you don't want to shock urself my last unit went within a year which was rather annoying, think they go for about £100 ish.

 

[spongy]

I have had my vision 180 for about twelve years and am now on my third light unit. I have never had water in the actual light unit before, although it does often get condensation and slight algae build up on flaps (tee hee hee) I wouldn't recommend you drill a hole into unit, slightly enebriated or sober though.
IMO I would be straight onto eBay and get one ordered, you don't want to shock urself my last unit went within a year which was rather annoying, think they go for about £100 ish.

I won't dare drill it now! I will kill myself and end up on a stupid idiot compilation video on youtube!

I've never had water in there before, I remove it every week and stand it on end next to the tank when I do my maintenance, never felt water sloshing about before, I unplugged it and turned it over/tilted it and none of the water came out, it feels like there's about a quarter of a pint in it. I don't understand how so much got in within 5 days.

I haven't got £100 odd to replace it at the moment, I'll drill a hole and drain it and try and dry it out, but I've just seen the sticky at the top of this section, it may be my answer but I'm not an electrician, I'll read it again tomorrow when im sober and see if its something I can do!

 

[Shelster]

Yes I have just read that too, and thought that will come in handy next time the unit goes.
Well good luck then, maybe stand it by a radiator or something when you do it to allow it to dry out some. In the mean time, I hope the mrs keeps you away from the drill!

 

[spongy]

She doesn't have to! When i dropped a mouthful of curry down me whilst eating the look she gave me anyway was enough to convince me I shouldn't attempt anything tonight.

I've got enough problems trying to get into the car every morning with this freezing weather we're all having, stupid pillarless windows on the car keep freezing so I can't get in, takes ages with warm water in a watering can on the doors so I can get in every morning. When it rains it pours eh?!

 

[l33d5.dr]

Water can get in if the seals in the end caps fail.You could drill a hole to drain it and dry it out then plug the hole with silicone sealant.New end caps are about £5, I got some from Seapets online.

 

[spongy]

I drained it today when I had a proper look, both bulbs blown and it stinks of burned electrics, I'd say the whole thing is knackered

I'm looking to upgrade now, im intending to keep the tank for a long time so its worth my while to invest i suppose, just wish i could afford a luminaire to go on top but its too close to Christmas but I need to replace it sharpish. I'm torn between spending or making do......

 

[Aquamaniac]

If you are good at DIY you could simply repair the thing. when i had my 60 litre tank the light on the hood fried. So i removed the damaged parts and wires and replaced it with new one's. Boutght the parts in a hardware store It was a cheap repair compared to buying a new system.
I resealed everything with silicone so to make sure i would not have more problems with condensation.