Faulty Juwel Light Unit

[tonysathome]

I have a juwel light unit that the light shuts of for maybe a few seconds then restarts, this can happen any time of the day. have checked light connections, switch and power plug.

Does any one know what is wrong?.

 

[rabbut]

It could be the tubes or it coulb be the balasts in the unit itself. How old is the unit? Old tubes (1 year +) may do this. Juwel also had a dodgy set of T5 units go out about 5-6months ago. I work in an lfs, and will never forget the week that we sold 6 new juwel tanks with t5 lighting, and had them all come back within 48 hours with failed units Run time accross that batch ranged literaly between 12hours and 12 seconds according to customers Not supprisingly they wern't happy
Juwel seam to have got their act together since then, and the units have been lasting better cince then We never worked out if it was the tubes, the balasts or both.

My advise if it is failing, is to take it back and claim under warrenty, if its still in date. If not, still take the unit to the lfs, and they can try running it with a replacement tube, to see if its the balast or the tube

HTH
Rabbut

 

[tonysathome]

Thanks

Ive had the system 13 months

The light switch and plug are moulded, I may replace them if all else fails

 

[denis coghlan]

Thanks

Ive had the system 13 months

The light switch and plug are moulded, I may replace them if all else fails

What type of Juwel tank do you have? I had the same problem with a Rio 180.

This is what I found out after cutting off the top of the light box.

When the lights go on, the digital ballast heats up!

This in turn makes the air around it expand. Pressure builds up inside the bar and it is pushed out through the four "not very well sealed" contact points!

Then when the lights go off, the digital ballast cools and the pressure inside the light bar is less than outside and it draws air back in through the four "not very well sealed" contact points!

The only problem is that the air drawn back in is ladened with moisture from the tank. This done continually for a number months will eventually lead to a build up of water in the light bar.

Thus causing the problem with the oxidization of the contact points or may even lead to a short in the digital ballast.


In the end I had to replace the digital ballast with a new one and reseal the hood with silicone. This fixed the problem and still works to this day. It was a far cheaper option that replacing the entire light unit.

Denis